Peugeot Landtrek 1,9d 4action 4x4

The Landtrek is loosening up nicely while it waits for a some substantial cargo to be added to the loadbay

+ Draws lots of attention

- Heavy tailgate

The Peugeot is running in perfectly and the overall fuel consumption has dropped to 9,5 L/100 km. This bakkie is on the limit of acceptable size to my mind and is even quite a mission to wash as it’s so tall. If they build them any larger, we will have to import roads and parking bays from the USA. There is a switch next to the soft leather-clad gear lever that presents a choice of driving modes. It reads Eco and

Sport but when toggling, I realised there is an extra mode in the middle. The instrumentation display identifies it as “Normal”. Eco mode is perfectly suitable for all driving as the torque output at low revs takes care of most needs. When asked to tow a stricken VW Microbus, I was surprised at the lack of a towing eye under the rear of the load bay and had to decline. We are still planning to load the well-protected load bay to see how easily the Landtrek copes. If nothing presents itself, we could still resort to loading some of our concrete blocks onto the rear.

The interest from fellow motorists when spotting a bakkie they do not recognise never ceases to amaze, even though the appreciation that South Africans have for these versatile family/ workhorse vehicles is well known.

When searching for a reasonably priced double cab for a friend requiring seating for five plus space for farm-related goods, I have failed to find anything suitable. All the used doublecabs are pricey, some are heavily abused, and most have already covered more than 300 000 km, leaving them susceptible to high maintenance costs.