Advice for newcomer on pickup choice

[borderfox]

Hi all. I'll post here for the purpose of introducing myself to the group and also kicking off with what will probably be the first of many queries given that I'm a total newbie to demountable campers.

Some background.....I'm Irish but live in Paraguay. I'd like to hit the road and discover what this southern cone of South America has to offer (Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil and Bolivia) and I think a pickup + demountable is the best way to do it. That leads me to my first question.

I'm starting from scratch and I'll have to buy a pickup. I'd prefer to find out now rather than later if there's a pickup that's better suited than others for the job - no point finding out afterwards. I'll be buying a single cab pickup. The local market offers me the following:


Toyota Hilux
Isuzu DMAX / Mazda BT50
Maxus T60 D20
Ford Ranger
Chevy S10
Nissan Frontier
Mitsubishi L200

Is there any specific consideration when picking among this list - related to mounting a camper? In general the Hilux is preferred here due to the horrible road conditions although while I will be driving on potholed roads I don't necessarily have plans to go off-road as such (but of course, who can tell what the future holds).

Any feedback would be gratefully received. I tend to prefer to go for the value option with purchases - but of course I don't want to do that in this instance if it would be to my detriment. I think the Maxus is the cheapest of that bunch ...although it remains to be seen how durable it will be over the longer term.

[zildjian]

Hello,
Initially I had a camper fitted to a Nissan D22 which was neither powerful or strong enough, many here in UK & Europe were bought up by Nissan due to the chassis rail failure, I've bought Hilux ever since so I'm bias.

Ford Rangers seem popular here at least and many members have them, Isuzu get a good report that I've heard too.

I asked local recover company which make they towed in most, and then bought something else. (Toyota)

In terms of campers I only know one camper originating in South America The Coati but those designed weight wise with an eye on the Japanese pickup market will all fit between rear wheel arches in loadbed (about 1 metre width)

If you are thinking of a US camper, Lance,Bigfoot,Palomino, or those campers with slide out sides etc they will be heavier and require a larger truck probably a dual rear wheel.

Site has a guide section which may be of help but it relates to UK market of course, but I'll help if I can of course

Zildjian

[borderfox]

Thanks for your post.

I'll probably have to go with a locally manufactured demountable as importation in this part of the world is out of the question (due to insane import duties/fees). I'll probably buy one in either Brazil or Argentina as not much choice in Paraguay.

[zildjian]

Will be interesting actually to see availablilty there,
I wondered if any of the main US manufacturers operated in South America,


must say in any travel reports I've read, they've taken the truck and camper with them in a shipping box so I'd be interested
what products are manufactured there, good luck in your project

[borderfox]

The reports you've read are likely for those that have arrived in South America as temporary visitors having shipped their rig there - so that they can travel the continent OR they've bought a rig from a European/American upon arrival ...usually in Chile. There are plenty of those types of rigs available to me - but they're not workable for me - as I'd have to officially import them and that isn't feasible/economical ...at least in the case of Paraguay.

So they're all travelling with kit bought in N.America/Europe. Over here (at least in Brazil and Argentina), there are demountable fabricators but they usually build to order.

[zildjian]

Is this of interest?;
https://www.leboncoin.fr/ad/caravaning/3006439109

[borderfox]

Thanks for bringing that rig to my attention. Unfortunately that won't work in my case. There's a market that exists - which usually gets run out of Chile as its where most travelers start off from - where one foreigner sells on a rig (that may be registered in Chile OR it may have been brought down from N.America or brought in from Europe) on to another arriving foreigner - who both plan to spend X number of months travelling S.America.

That works for those folks. My situation is different in that I'm resident in Paraguay. If I try to import a Chilean rig or a European/N.American rig, I would end up paying thousands in import duties and fees...to the point where it doesn't make any economic sense.

So what I need to do is...

1. Find a buyer for my current car in Paraguay (or trade it in although trade in deals here are terrible).
2. Buy a new 4x4 in Paraguay and register it in Paraguay.
3. Buy a demountable. I have very few options in Paraguay - so I'll probably do so in Argentina or Brazil. If I drive it in to Paraguay on top of my Paraguayan registered 4x4, apparently nobody cares.

[zildjian]

Hmm, bit complicated other than shopping in Brazil or Argentina,
you'll have to excuse my geography, I think I could confidently identify Peru, but would struggle with anything smaller than Brazil

Look forward to Donald just renaming south America as 'American plaza'
to make geography simpler for everybody.

Hows your research going, This discussion may be familiar to you but is relatively recent; Overland Portal

[zildjian]

Actually looking at a Brazilian used site Here




First search 'Campista Da Pickup' shows a Duaron, and we've seen those on sale in Germany before

[borderfox]

Thanks for that info. In the preliminary research that I've done (and I'm not fully on this yet as I'm back in Europe visiting family - returning to Paraguay next month when I'll really get into it) - I've made contact with someone over there that was a Duaron owner and recommended Duaron to me - so I'll definitely be checking that option out.

By the way, out of curiosity what do you think of the asking price of that particular used Duaron that you linked to? Converted to USD its $15,780 or EUR$13,650. It's a hypothetical exercise of course as European pricing and Brazilian pricing are likely to be entirely different.

Additionally, do you have any opinion on the durability of various types of camper? I've been told that composite/fibreglass is the way to go - and to stay away from aluminium and those with a large wood input as they're heavier and less durable. Is there a typical lifespan for a demountable camper?

What sort of depreciation rates can someone expect when buying a new demountable in subsequent years?