Ah, China. The land of mystery and technology which advanced a lot in the past century, enough that even the United States of America fears it would surpass it if it keeps on advancing like that. Chinese products are found everywhere. Anything you see in daily life would have at least one component made in China. The famous “Made in China” tagline is found everywhere. There is a word in the air that Chinese products are not durable. Well, to some extent, that is true. Chinese products do not last long if put under stress. However, this does not apply for most of the Chinese products. While some manufacturers might make a short-living product for a really low price, the majority does not do this. With LDV T60, we are going to show you how good a Chinese product can be and remove the misconception from your mind.
About LDV T60:
You might be asking, what is LDV? Is that a new company? Or is that the Leyland DAF Vans, the old British car manufacturing company? It’s the latter. LDV is responsible for supplying Australia with the LDV T60, an Australian version of Maxus T60 made by Chinese SAIC Motor. LDV introduced the last “Maxus” series of their vans in 2004 and haven’t been heard of ever since. SAIC Maxus Automotive Co., Ltd. is actually doing business as LDV in Australia, so all in all, it’s the Chinese company that is the head of operations in everything related to the LDV T60.
LDV T60 Overview:
The LDV T60 is a pickup truck that is available in a lot of variants. It is a nice, performance delivering pickup truck with a pretty good exterior and interior. There is enough space inside of it as well as on the back for your regular usage. If you want to push it, you will be a bit disappointed since it does not have THAT powerful an engine and there are some suspension issues. All in all, the truck is pretty good for its price since it is much cheaper than the competitors; Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara.
The LDV T60 has four different models:
- 2-Door Single Cab
- 4-Door Extended Cab
- 4-Door Crew Cab
- 4-Door Crew Cab Extended
The LDV T60 has a different level of trims. The common components in all of the trim levels are 2.8L SC28R 150 Q5 VGT (Euro 5) diesel engine, 6 airbags, disc brakes, ABS, EBA, EBD, Hill Descent Control, Traction Control System, hill start assists, TPMS, TCS, and VCD.
The trim levels are:
- Cab Chassis (4WD) manual transmission.
- PRO (4WD) dual cab, manual & automatic transmission.
- LUXE (4WD) dual cab, manual & automatic transmission.
- Trailrider (4WD) dual cab, manual & automatic transmission.
LDV T60 Positive Aspects:
The LDV T60 is a powerful truck, and there are some things that are even better than just the power itself. The truck can be used literally anywhere, just like most of the trucks, however, the LDV T60 comes with customized body exterior that handles many of the environments. Some of the positive features or aspects of the truck are as follows:
Price:
One of the best things about the truck is its low price. Being a Chinese product, the truck does not really have brand popularity, therefore, the price is lower than the competitors. Its price starts at $28,990 and tops at $36,831, which is pretty low considering some of the direct competitors even go up as much as $20,000 extra from the price of this truck.
Reliability:
The performance of the truck is good enough. Although it is not a high-powered engine, it gets the job done well. You can rely on the truck to do all sorts of things for you which it is capable of doing.
Looks:
It looks like an absolute beast! LDV T60 is an amazing looking truck with a good enough interior that makes it one of the top choices. All of this comes at a low price, so you know that this is a good vehicle.
Technologically Advanced:
All the latest technology is equipped inside the truck and available for the users. It is easy to access, simple and straightforward so there is no steep learning curve on how to operate the tech inside the truck.
LDV T60 Problems:
While there are a lot of good things that come with the truck, there are a few negative aspects of it too. The problems with LDV T60 are as follows:
Suspension:
Many of the customers have complained about the suspension of the vehicle. It is a really big deal considering the vehicle is a pickup truck and its suspension should not act that way.
Under-powered engine:
Yes… it has an underpowered engine. That’s one of the worst issues with the vehicle. The engine is not REALLY heavy performance one, it gets the job done, but still, a bit under-powered in our opinion.
LDV T60 Colours:
No vehicle looks good if it is just monotonic. There should be different colors available to attract customers. That is what the LDV T60 has done and has made the truck available in the following colors:
- White
- Red
- Grey
- Blue
- Black
LDV T60 Customer Reviews:
The customers have a lot to say about the truck. All of these are reviews are extracted from ProductReview. The people of Australia have collectively given a 3.3/5 score to the vehicle which is pretty good considering the site is known for having really bad reviews for everything. Let’s see what the people have to say about the truck:
Review 1
“It's my first LDV and it will be last. Power string is very hard, always have transmission problem it cost me $39k I wish I spend more bought another......”
Review 2
“Do not buy this vehicle. The suspension is a major problem which they are aware but even under warranty, they did not fix. Terrible service and large clunky that does not fit into normal parking spaces. DO NOT BUY”
Review 3
“I love my LDV T60 Trailrider and it was really affordable. Although, as has been told by other reviews, the Infotainment is really hard to work with. It uses Easycon not Android Auto. Low in torque. But overall, as I don't pull the trailer and don't go 4WD'ng very often, the car is above average for my liking.”
Review 4
“It's our everyday car. My wife normally drives it, but occasionally she lets me drive it. It tows a horse float like a dream. We have had a couple of extremely minor issues, but they have all been dealt with under warranty. I would gladly buy a second one.”
Review 5
“I would never recommend this service center. The manager is an arrogant p*g. He was so rude and told us he didn't care if we got our van serviced from Parramatta or not. Walked away and left us standing. This is our 2nd LDV van and can't wait for free service to be finished so I can very drive elsewhere.”
Review 6
“Have had the Ute for 12 months and 25,000 km done on it. I love Ute. Have 3 boys aged 2 to 10 and plenty of room for them and car seats. Take it off-road a lot camping with my van and fully loaded with all the gear. Only negative side is the tyres that came with the Ute are not great. It only got 15,000 km and had to replace it. As I said though I go off-road a lot so have got better AT now. I have added an I drive, electric breaks, spotlights, and nudge bar. Have taken it in sand, mud, and snow with no issues.”
Conclusion:
All in all, it would not be wrong to say that the Chinese truck is good. Although it does not match the competitors in performance the price justifies it. If you were to ask us for a recommendation, we would definitely say yes if you want to go a bit cheap and want something other than the usual stuff.
If you are thinking about purchasing a vehicle, make sure that you run the relevant and recommended checks. QuickREVs runs them all for you so you can be certain about the history of the vehicle along with the vehicle itself at a really low cost!
