The 215 Hilux Surf: Is it worth buying?
The 215 Hilux Surf entered the market in mid-November of 2002. The early 2000s saw a shift in the design paradigm for cars across the board. Gone were the days of boxy-shaped tough-looking SUVs and trucks. The new millennium saw the rise of rounded, bubble-eyed, slightly less aggressive but more aerodynamic automobiles.
Today, while the Hilux Surf line has been discontinued in its birth country of Japan since 2009, it still lives on in North America as the 4Runner. Today, you can still buy a 215 Hilux Surf in Japan, but it’s hard to find one unmodified, which is a plus in my book. They’re all generally in great condition. Despite it being old enough to vote, drink, and get married, it still maintains its value. Some people invest in stocks, bonds, or crypto; I say put your money in a big Toyota truck—it’ll hold its value. Some models are even selling for more than their original price, which just blows my mind.
I bought mine heavily discounted at one million yen because the 4WD was broken, and the interior carpet was a nightmare. The dealer I bought it from offered to fix the 4WD for two hundred thousand yen, but why pay for what you can do for free? Toyotas usually have a reputation for being bulletproof, which is usually true, but their trucks from the early to mid-2000s have a habit of getting the 4WD actuator stuck if it’s not used regularly. This could have been solved if it had full-time 4WD instead of part-time. Then the computer would periodically engage the 4WD when needed, keeping the gears in the actuator from seizing. Sometimes it’s just a broken vacuum line. YouTube has a full array of videos showing you how to diagnose and repair the problem. It only took about 15 minutes and an impact driver with a wrench adapter I got off Amazon.
It also came with aftermarket headlight assemblies. The angel eyes were faded, they fogged up when it rained, and made it hard to see in the rain. I opted to take them out and replace them with some close-to-OEM assemblies and fitted them with the finest of Amazon LEDs. I made sure to adjust the reflectors to not blind incoming traffic. I think I still dazzled some folks because of my 3-inch lift, but it couldn’t be helped.
For the carpet, I bought an Iris Oyama steam cleaner off Amazon. It was hot garbage! It didn’t make its own steam and required you to put hot water in, which squirted out and then vacuumed up. Unfortunately, because I had to use it to find out it was crap, it got dirty. Because it was dirty, I felt bad about returning it. So I sold it at a loss to my local secondhand shop. Iris Oyama, I’ll never forgive you! I ended up having to take out the carpet. That wrench adapter for the impact cost 500 yen but had a massive ROI. After the carpet was out, I used the foam gun on my Karcher to spray it down with Pinesol. I let it soak for a few minutes, then blasted it for a few minutes. I repeated the process until the color was restored and the only smell it gave off was of my childhood Saturday mornings after we’d finished mopping the tiled floors. I left it to dry on the clothesline, and that solved that problem.
I hated my old faded silver running boards, so I took them off, sanded them, and sprayed them black. The truck looked even more aggressive without them, but I liked the built-in LEDs that were embedded in the running boards. They came in handy when I went camping, and my wife suffers from being 5’5”, so she wouldn’t be able to get in without them. I only painted the silver parts; the section where you step to enter the vehicle was black plastic. I used my own special trim restorer to bring it back from faded white to shiny black. I just have to touch it up every two or three weeks.
The wheel wells were originally coated with a rubber coating, but that was over twenty years ago, and boy oh boy were they dry-rotted. It was falling off in clumps, exposing the white metal underneath. This is actually really common for this model year—I see it a lot around town. I went to my local home center store and got a plastic paint scraper and 4 cans of black chassis paint. I used a rubber mallet to tap the wheel well, and most of the rubber just fell right off. I got the paint scraper and rubber mallet to scrape off the remaining pieces. I used isopropyl alcohol and a towel to clean the area and wrapped the tires and suspension parts with 60L garbage bags. This would have been a great time for me to use primer, but it was my first time and I didn’t know. The price of learning is making mistakes. Don’t ever let the fear of messing up stop you from learning.
I went ahead and applied five coats of the black chassis paint with a 15-minute break in between. Afterwards, god, it looked gorgeous.
The wheel well also had a fender guard problem. They were dry-rotted rubber as well. I got some semi-hard plastic models off Amazon and put them on. They were a little smaller than the originals, but I had intended to make my own out of aluminum when I had the time.
Let’s take a minute to talk about the interior. The previous owner had tinted the windows as black as the devil’s heart, and I loved it. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see spit. I installed a digital driver recorder and rearview mirror. I bought it off Amazon for about fourteen thousand yen. It took maybe forty minutes to install and was far superior to traditional glass. It had a wide-angle lens and could swipe up or down to see what was on the ground behind me or above me.
The navigation was an old Alpine that supported Bluetooth audio. I ended up using a nine-inch Atoto PF, which was a massive upgrade. Since it had space for a front camera, I bought a cheap one off Amazon for about a thousand yen and wired its power to my position light. So I can turn on the front camera when I need it. It’s useful for when you need to park quickly and don’t have time to reverse park. The camera came with a ton of accessories, including a drill bit. I ended up just mounting it to the back of the license plate. The camera quality reflected its price, lol, but it was good enough to park with.
Let’s talk about the engine bay! The insulation had dry-rotted as well, so every time you closed the hood or hit a bump, it would coat the interior with flakes. I bought some heat and sound insulation off Amazon and cut it to shape. It kept my engine room clean, but unfortunately, it reduced the engine noise as well. It’s great if you want a quieter ride, but I love the sound of engines.
The previous owner had retrofitted a late model grill on the early model Surf. This had the side effect of scratching a groove into the bumper every time you closed it and had a gap between the headlights and the grill. Because the late model had changed the front design, I ordered a Toyota grill off Aliexpress with amber DRLs. It came unpainted, so I scuffed it with some sandpaper, then went to my favorite home center to find the right shade of Toyota black and a fuse splitter. The previous owner had removed the rear wipers, and it had accessory power, so I used that slot to run the amber DRLs.
The fuel economy was poor. I was spending around twenty to thirty thousand yen a month on gas. The yearly tax was based on engine displacement, for this 3RZ-FE, it was about fifty-nine thousand yen. All in all, I had so much fun with this car. It was capable in the snow, mud, and sand. I found it funny that if you went to the dealer and bought a fancy new SUV or truck, you’d still have to look up at the stoplight if you wanted to make eye contact with me. I ended up driving it for two years and then I sold it for something more fuel-efficient. I spent most of my time on the highway driving between Hyogo and Kagawa, so it just didn’t make enough sense to keep it. I hope the next owner takes care of it.
If you’re looking to buy one or another large truck/SUV in Japan, I’d recommend getting a turbo diesel model since diesel is cheaper at the pump. Be aware that you’ll be paying more for everything here because your vehicle is bigger, so you’re going to have to become a DIY expert or prepare to be price-gouged into extinction.