Buy and register one in Mexico. That means getting a residency permit in that country or opening a shell company in one of the border towns and registering it as a company car. Then KEEP the Mexican plates on (OK I hope you are a WASP because you will be pulled over a lot by the INS and the DEA) and ship the car back out every year to comply with US LAW, and bring it right back. Sadly they only do 2wd and NO diesel engine. However, if you sweet talk a local dealer he will most probably get you a diesel 4×4 Hi/Lux in any spec and color you want and register it for you as one off.
Sure that would be shipping the truck back and forth to Mexico every year but you might want to try to re/register it in TX, NM, or AZ after a few years. Stay away from CA.

I would also contact these guys http://us.toyotaownersclub.com/

BTW before you do anything check with the Authorities and a Lawyer. The Feds are not renowned for their sense of humor. Make sure you know all relevant Law and Regulations.

SOMEONE HELP ME FIND ONE PLEASE!!!

I’ve met Dave and had a tour of his “farm”. Eccentric is a mild term.

Anyway, the hilux extra cab costs 35.000€ here. Or 43.000€ if you go with the double cab, which raises the tax from 35% to 72%. That’s with the 2.5D + manual( only options) and no options whatsoever. Then again something like a Silverado is around 80.000€ if im not mistaken.

but if you must have a hilux get the supercharged one also check out the ads for them, you should find them on youtube, the best ive seen in a long time

The only plus I can think of for the driving experience was a pretty forging clutch which made it easy for me to keep my passengers heads from bobbing around with every shift. Otherwise, it was bullet proof as I flogged it dodging the crater-size potholes, donkey-pulled carts, family of four on a single bicycle, and aforementioned ratty buses.

It is the same with the 4 Runner my fellow TTAX

That anecdote is likely attributable to the design of the Dana 35 rear axle used in many jeeps: if you break a rear axleshaft, there’s nothing left to hold the wheel on. Durability-wise, it’s nothing to brag about. I don’t know if the Toyotas have the same issue, but not all axles are designed this way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwIHRWSULRs

While you are at it, check out all the fun he has with cars at the END of their life!! He likes Toyotas; but this was too much of a challenge to let go.

Put a machine gun mount on that!

We have several Hiluxes, and someone stole the keys to mine (which is basic with no fender flares) when I needed to take photos, so I stole my 1st Sergeant’s Hilux, which has a power package and fender flares. They stick the captain with manual windows…. go figure

Huh? Three fifths of your photos show fender flares on what is presumably on your test vehicle, since you’re posing with the vehicle in the first picture. 100% agreed about the awfulness of the graphics on the side, however.

It did. If it was really cold, I let it run. I never once coddled it, it was a real huntin’ and fishin’ mobile. I rode like a ox cart, the seat was a form of torture and the clutch made for a very strong left leg. It was slower than the second coming. The diesel made so much torque that lo range was really unnecessary.

I had that truck for 15 years and 450,000 km. My buddies were on their fourth or fifth Ford or Chevy by then, they having fallen apart the day the warranty expired. And like Top Gear, I tried to kill my Toyota.

Unsuccessfully. My nephew is driving it.

My location shall remain “classified”. You don’t know whose reading our reviews, after all, maybe certain unfriendly anti-US members are looking for a review on the Hilux as well.

@ cretinx,

I gave it three stars because it does what it is supposed to do, but it goes about it in a very rough manner. In combat, I give it 5-stars everytime, but most of our readers are not getting shot at, so I look at it from a buyer’s perspective. The Tacoma shows what polishing and softening this platform can achieve. However, if you want a no-frills work truck….

And the truck reviewed was brand new, less than 2,000 kms.

Mine is an up-armored version purchased used from the UN. It has a 2.0l diesel, a bench seat, and a gun port in the windshield. My biggest complaint is the armor kit – this truck is solid and doesn’t make any noise when I do drive it on the one or two smooth stretches of pavement in and around Kabul or any of the northern provinces.

I have enough room for an AK and two grenades on the seat between me and my passenger. I’ve been hit numerous times (speeding taxis, a guy running head-down with a wheelbarrow, and an obnoxious ISAF convoy run by the Belgians whom I thought weren’t allowed outside of KIA) and I’ve done some hitting of my own.

Since mine spends a majority of its time either running back and forth to Jalalabad or on the road from Gheshm to Faisalbad, it doesn’t look nearly as nice as your, Mike. Any chance that you use that thing for anything else besides back-and-forth trips to “The Green Bean” and Air Ops?

As an aside, are you at Bagram or Khandahar? I can’t tell from the pictures.

Was this a used work truck? Hell, I can find the employee to screw up any work truck.

The Hilux claim to fame is to be sturdy, economical no nonsense transpiration, superior handling is obviously not included on the list.

So could somebody please remind me why a basic, economic, sturdy truck would not sell in the US?

For anybody that has not seen the Top Gear videos they are a must.

Part one: http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/killing-a-toyota#/uk/video-search?ContentSearchPhrase=hilux
Part two: http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/killing-a-toyota-part-2-a#/uk/video-search?ContentSearchPhrase=hilux
Part three: http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/killing-a-toyota-part-2-b#/uk/video-search?ContentSearchPhrase=hilux%20

And while you are at it why not watch them drive a heavily modified Hilux to the magnetic pole: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rOGmGXcR7M&feature=related