New to campers and surprised by the high prices. How come a camper is half the cost of a car?

[MM4Overland]

Sounds like you will be better off with a Toyoace or Dyna.

I would love to but it all depends on serviceability and how good it is on fuel and if it is able to hadle rough roads, some of them narrow ... I would like to travel the central asia countries and sone of rhose have really narrow roads .. (inspired and based on grizzlynbear and a couple of other ausies that drove those)

 

[tacollie]

The Hilux is rated to carry more which may be important for liability reasons. A Tacoma with a pop-up camper is most likely going to be over weight. Pretty much every midsize truck is rated to carry more than a Tacoma. Not as big a deal in the US but it can be an issue in other countries. Hilux is also offered in diesel but that has its own problems. Honestly if you're still 9 years out I wouldn't commit to a truck yet. There may be better options.

 

[MM4Overland]

There may be better options.

Like what? I am not commited to anything I am just in the itinerary planning phase

 

[tacollie]

Like what? I am not commited to anything I am just in the itinerary planning phase

Pretty much all midsize trucks will be due for an update in the next 9 years. The current gen Tacoma has some deficiencies that need to be addressed. The auto is not paired well with the motor. It's under geared and struggles with added weight IMO. There manual is better but not great.

 

[Todd780]

Pretty much all midsize trucks will be due for an update in the next 9 years. The current gen Tacoma has some deficiencies that need to be addressed. The auto is not paired well with the motor. It's under geared and struggles with added weight IMO. There manual is better but not great.

Agreed. In fact I'd say every truck regardless of size will have been updateD in 9 years.

 

[Porkchopexpress]

Agreed. In fact I'd say every truck regardless of size will have been update in 9 years.

I bet the Tundra will be the same in 9 years after the upcoming refresh.

 

[MM4Overland]

yeah don't tempt them )

 

[JaSAn]

Agreed. In fact I'd say every truck regardless of size will have been updateD in 9 years.

Uncle Joe signed an executive order (14037) mandating 50% of all cars and light trucks sold in US be electric in 9 years. So the the truck market will look a lot different.

 

[billiebob]

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/[B]why-are-the-toyota-tacoma-and-hilux-different-trucks[/B]/

Well, in North America the pickup has replaced the sedan. We did Rancheros and El Caminos for a while, todays half tons and smaller trucks are just Crown Vics with a box.... because we have wide open space. 50 years ago our pickups were work trucks, just as the Hilux etc are in Asia, Europe, South America. Overseas the compact car is the top seller mostly due to congestion.

But here in North America we are a massive market for bigger vehicles and cheap gas plus high incomes with unlimited space means Toyota and everyone else can build quarter ton quad cabs for the masses...... the Hilux etc are not here for many reasons, the big one is it would be a niche market. The other reason is the USA has a massive tariff on import trucks called the "chicken tax". Hence the Ford Transit van when shipped from Italy arrives with rear passenger seats which are shredded after passing customs.

The Chicken Tax is the reason no one imports the cool trucks the rest of the world gets.

Thank Linden B Johnson and the UAW for that. Which explains why altho we got the VW Micro Bus with 21 windows, a passenger vehicle, we never got any of the real cool VW commercial workers vans.

 

[MM4Overland]

What a heck do they put in these campers that is worth 74k AUD???

EXP-4 - BruderX - Ultimate off road camper trailer

Explore your favourite destinations in supreme comfort and security. With no setup or pack up – the EXP-4 takes the stress out of camping.

bruderx.com

 

[Cambruggeman]

Hilarious. At the end of the day, time is money. I bought a big truck and family camper, love them both, and after 6/7 years, i now have most of the bugs worked out of it.
needed a compact camper for short trips without the kids, so for me it made sense to build a custom one, so now i have both, and love them both. I can live indefinitely in either one, and have lived in the big one for months at a time. At the end of the day, everyone’s circumstances are different.

 

[john61ct]

What a heck do they put in these campers that is worth 74k AUD???

EXP-4 - BruderX - Ultimate off road camper trailer

Explore your favourite destinations in supreme comfort and security. With no setup or pack up – the EXP-4 takes the stress out of camping.

bruderx.com

Again, that is relatively cheap, especially for outside the US.

At least there you are more likely to get good build quality.

Americans have become the poor cousins, relatively little disposable spending money.

 

[Paddler Ed]

What a heck do they put in these campers that is worth 74k AUD???

EXP-4 - BruderX - Ultimate off road camper trailer

Explore your favourite destinations in supreme comfort and security. With no setup or pack up – the EXP-4 takes the stress out of camping.

bruderx.com

Australian minimum wage is about AU$20/hr, for the fabricators working on that probably nearer $40/hr. That'll add up pretty quick...

We saw one out bush one day; total outfit was probably north of AU$200k once you included the VDJ79 with portal axles, matched axle width, tray and toolboxes etc.

 

[MM4Overland]

Australian minimum wage is about AU$20/hr, for the fabricators working on that probably nearer $40/hr. That'll add up pretty quick...

We saw one out bush one day; total outfit was probably north of AU$200k once you included the VDJ79 with portal axles, matched axle width, tray and toolboxes etc.

They make Honda and Ford in Ontario for under that price (1CAD=~1AUD) so that is not a valid argument

 

[Paddler Ed]

They make Honda and Ford in Ontario for under that price (1CAD=~1AUD) so that is not a valid argument

Canadian minimum wage is about 75% of the Australian minimum wage (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_Canada).

I've found that when you look at the cost of things expressed as minimum wage units, then things often level out.

Things like this will never achieve the economies of scale that Ford or Honda can achieve, they buy in more individual components and require more hand work to get it assembled.