Is Surf good for tour services?

Hi Paul, I am thinking of buying a second hand Toyota Surf for my upcountry tour business but I would wish to know its merits and demerits such as fuel consumption, maintenance, spare parts and comfort and purchase price. Godfrey Mfitumukiza

Hello Godfrey, the Toyota Surf comes in five generations spanning from 1984 to date. The concept of the Surf is a mid-size compact SUV which was designed on the renowned Toyota Hilux frame, suspension and engines with the Hilux truck capabilities.

This concept is attractive for the up country tour business because Surf is a go anywhere vehicle.
The main credentials of the Hilux Surf are: off road ability due to 4WD, practicality in terms of affordability; good ground clearance and easy repair or maintenance.
The pure utility value of Surf was embraced by the builders of the first generation (N60:1984-89) and second generation (N120:1990-95).
These two generations were robust and as thought as nails. Like the Ford Bronco and Chevy Trail Blazer at the time the earlier Surf Runners were not very good looking and had basic comfort features and amenities.

These two generation Surfs came with petrol engines (2.0 litre; 2.2 and 2.4 litre) and more popular diesel engines (2.4L; 2.8L & 3.0L TD).
The first and second generation Surf had a low roof profile and limited headroom with legroom.
This isn’t good for the tour business which requires higher roof profiles for comfortable road trips.
The first and second generation Surfs have basic easy-to-service or fix petrol and diesel engines suitable for safari. However, they were not as fuel efficient or powerful as the third, fourth and fifth generation engines.

The third generation (N180: 1995-2002) and fourth generation (N210:2002-2009) Surfs are radically improved but maintained the shape.
Mounted on the Land Cruiser Pearl chassis and suspension, it is wider, longer, with better head room and legroom.
The interior layouts and comfort features were improved to provide more modern comfort and safety features such as Air Conditioning, supplementary restraint system airbags as well as ABS brakes with Electronic Brake force distribution and Traction control.
These two generations came with better crash safety ratings. Their petrol and diesel engines are more modern with technology like Variable Valve timing for petrol and common rail turbo diesel which provided even more power and better fuel economy.

I would comfortably recommend either the 3rd or 4th generation Toyota Surf were it not for legroom, headroom and passenger or cargo space limitations, crucial in the tour business.
The post 2009 Surf, though more comfortable doesn’t cut the tour operator profile at all. Price for the 2nd generation Surf ranges from 20 - 30 million Uganda shillings.
The third generation can be found between 35-45 million while the 4th generation hovers between Shs55 and Shs60m depending on mileage and age.