[n.devdath]

You are coming to India, are a fan of the Hilux, and want a truck like vehicle. Pick up the Toyota Fortuner here in India. It is based on the Hilux platform, has a torquey diesel engine with a proper 4wd, is tough as nails and has a decent loading bay too.
Toyota has a good After Sales Service reputation, has a wide spread network and most of all, is cost effective too.

It would be the best choice for you in India if you can afford it.

MODS: Duplicate post, pl Delete.

[SinghBHP]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

You are coming to India, are a fan of the Hilux, and want a truck like vehicle. Pick up the Toyota Fortuner here in India. It is based on the Hilux platform, has a torquey diesel engine with a proper 4wd, is tough as nails and has a decent loading bay too.
Toyota has a good After Sales Service reputation, has a wide spread network and most of all, is cost effective too.

It would be the best choice for you in India if you can afford it.

100/100 ...... Toyota Fortunner is only vehicle which can give some sort of satisfaction level (if not all) like your Hilux. I agree that it is not exactly a Truck and may not have all the Technicalities of Hilux but as per Indian standards it is a wonderful vehicle, Highly appreciated and is a HIT.
It also comes in 4x4 and above all when it runs on Road it runs with a roaring statment "Khaa Jaaungaa" and all vehicles will automatically leave space for you on normally crowded Indian Roads.

[David95436]

I am bringing my camper to India, so I need pickup and can't use an SUV. I use it as a home way from home when I travel. Here are some photos:




To summarize, the problem bringing my Toyota to India are:
1. Conversion to right hand steering;
2. Cost of gas vs. diesel; and
3. Duties and customs

The problems of buying a xenon or getaway are:
1. significant lack of features;
2. The cost of buying a new truck vs. keeping my 2002 used truck; and
3. Possible safety issue with the gateway because of the overhang (although with my camper the weight may be evenly distributed over the entire bed).

If anyone has a xenon or getaway could they please provide the inside dimensions of the bed, including the location and size of the wheel wells? I need to determine if my camper will fit in the bed.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by David95436

I am bringing my camper to India, so I need pickup and can't use an SUV. I use it as a home way from home when I travel.

I may be wrong, but I am not sure if India is the right place for this.
Some reasons
- You aren't going to find trailer parks or camping places, where you get decent bathrooms, electrical connections etc.
- You can find a lot of laundries which wash your clothes for you & give it back after 2-3 days, but laundromats where you can wash your clothes in a couple of hours is very few & far between.
and lots of other stuff

Anyway, I think you should also post your question at India Travel Forum | IndiaMike.com - it's a site for foreigners in India - you may be able to find other Americans who have tried this or at least considered it.

[David95436]

Correction: I should not have said "home away from home". I use the camper to go camping in places where there are few roads and no hotels or services. Last week, for example, I was in Death Valley, California, a desert with almost no services. The solar panel on the top provides electricity. The purpose of the camper on a 4x4 is adventure and leisure.

[Mpower]

Dont waste your time thinking about importing and RHD conversion.

Its waaay cheaper to pickup a Tata Xenon. You can always customize it to add the features you need.

[roy_libran]

8.70 Lacs and 6 weeks waiting, is what was quoted to me today for the Xenon 4x2 and an additional Lac for a 4x4. (Gurgaon). The Bay cover has to be ordered as an accessory.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by David95436

I use the camper to go camping in places where there are few roads and no hotels or services. Last week, for example, I was in Death Valley, California, a desert with almost no services. The solar panel on the top provides electricity. The purpose of the camper on a 4x4 is adventure and leisure.

David can you please throw some light on how familiar are you with India. You might not be able to go camping in India the way you can in USA. There are not many places and its not exactly safe in India.
Please think twice before going on any such trips in India if "Self Preservation" is high on your agenda.

As far as the truck I would also recommend you against getting your truck to india. You will be baffled by all the bureaucracy here. Also If you would need to commute in any indian city it will be very tough for you to drive it leave alone parking it.

[MileCruncher]

You can buy a Hilux here. It has been homologated and is available as a Completely Built Unit (CBU) Import. Only downside is it will cost you many multiples of $13k that you paid in the US. In my building itself someone has it and had got through this route about 1.5 years back.

As about Campers, a fellow BHP-ian has done something similar which can be found here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...away-home.html

[David95436]

Are filling stations that sell gasoline as opposed to diesel rare? It is my understanding that India is attempting to increase the number of stations that sell gas.

If I decide to buy a truck in India, is there an online listing of used vehicles?

[David95436]

I will be coming to India for the first time next year. I am doing research on the internet, so I would say my knowledge of India is low. I will be living in a rual community, not the city, so the local dealears will know something about 4x4 parts, service and pricing. I plan to go into areas with few people on back roads, somewhere in the Seven Sisters area.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by David95436

Are filling stations that sell gasoline as opposed to diesel rare? It is my understanding that India is attempting to increase the number of stations that sell gas.

In India, when they talk about Gas, we are referring to CNG or LPG - something with is actually gaseous & not liquid. What you call gasoline is called Petrol here. It's already available all over the place - if there is a fuel station, it will usually sell gasoline. What the companies are attempting to do is increase stations that also sell Gas (CNG or LPG) for vehicles which are modified to run on CNG or LPG.

You don't need to worry about Gasoline. In the cities & around, I have never seen a fuel station which sell diesel but not Gasoline. It may be a little different outside cities, but I wouldn't think it would be very different.
Majority of passenger vehicles in India still run gasoline. Diesel is still 2nd for passenger vehicles.

[shankar.balan]

David - this is only a suggestion.

You could consider buying a 4x4 Pickup truck like the Getaway and/ or Tata Xenon off the shelf. Then you could invest some good efforts, time and money with Dilip Chhabria design (DC Design) to get that raw vehicle beautifully customized to your special camping requirements. Else you could buy a standard 2WD Toyota Innova MUV and have that customized as per your requirements.

This might make far more sense than the current plan of bringing your Hilux into the country along with its camper-van accoutrements.

And I second drmohitg on the fact that camping per se is not that organized nor safe here in India. We simply havent evolved to that extent of an outdoor active lifestyle. Most people you see driving SUV's here use it for their daily city commute and occasional road trip outside on the highways - between two towns/cities only. Taking a vehicle like a camper alone into the seriously wild places in India is NOT a good idea - most of the people here would NOT have seen even a fraction of the kind of gizmos that you are used to and in a country where life is more about survival than anything else, you would be laying yourself open to certain dangers which are best avoided in my opinion.

Plus there are no facilities like a boat yard or camp site where one can for example have the toilets and facilities cleaned out/ flushed out in the camper, the way it is done with the pressure hoses in an eco-friendly, non-polluting manner like it is in Europe and the US.

Bear these things in mind.

If necessary, make the investment of time and effort in a trip to India and study the scenario on the ground before making your vehicle decision.

[Aroy]

David,

From just personal safety point of view I would not get into the truck-camper combination. A better and safer course is to get a 4x4 SUV and convert it into a camper, as is done with expedition vehicles.

Please do some math - converting you vehicle to RHD, import duties, transportation cost etc against getting a new 4x4 here.

As stated by others there are no camping sites offering facilities as in US. The only places where you may have access to sanitary facilities are a few motels on the highways. When you are out in the wild, you are really in the wild with very few trails permissible for private vehicles. Most of the places are either national parks or remote hills. No matter how remote, there are always villages and people, and where there are people there are shops.

Many remote and scenic areas are safe havens for extremists and it may not be prudent visiting those. You are thus left with visiting areas where most tourists or adventure seekers go, and those are well serviced in terms of facilities, stores and boarding. Yes you can carry tents, sleeping bags, cooking paraphernalia etc, if you just feel like stopping some where, but civilisation will always be five or ten kilometers away.

[David95436]

If we go to the desert in Rajasthan, for example, we would want to drive on dirt roads, or no roads, away from cities, towns attractions or services.


We would not need a laundry. We don't like to camp at camp sites with toilets or other people.


We like to go out into the wild with nothing around us.


We bring what we need and hope not to see anyone or anything man-made. For example, last week, I was in Death Valley. We found lots of spent gun and riffle shells but few people. We get our water where we find it, then zap it with UV rays to make it safe to drink.


We plan to say away from areas of known conflict.

Let me know if anyone thinks what I have in mind is possible. Thanks for all the posts.