Killing a Toyota Part 1 | Top Gear | BBC
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN uses it as the go-to evidence for Toyota pickup durability, and as a benchmark in discussions of truck toughness.
What it is
Top Gear episode in which Jeremy Clarkson and team try to destroy a Toyota Hilux pickup through water, fire, and a demolished building. It is the first part of the 'Killing a Toyota' series.
Recommended by 3 HN commenters across 3 different months, 2011 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Recommends Griever · 2011-06 · on “DIY Weapons of the Libyan Rebels”
Top Gear had an excellent several-part episode which illustrated just how ridiculously well built these things are. [this video]
Recommends jakejarvis · 2019-06 · on “The Toyota Way”
The entire decades-long overseas diversion saga surrounding American Toyota pickups has always fascinated me. Top Gear did an episode [0] trying to destroy a Toyota Hilux (similar to the Land Cruiser) and literally couldn't, which explains why it's so popular with terrorists. It's a worthwhile watch if you want to see truck survive after being drowned in water, fire, and the rubble of a demolished skyscraper. Say what you want about Toyotas, but that's quite the engineering feat in my opinion! [0] [this video]
Recommends helsinkiandrew · 2022-04 · on “Never hose out a Honda Element”
Playlist of attempts: [this video] Part 3 with the 23-storey drop from a collapsing tower block is worth a watch
Cites nekojima · 2012-11 · on “Mystery at Port Newark: Why Did 17 Plug-In Cars Burn?”
The rather famous 'Top Gear tries to kill a Toyota Hilux'. [this video] The part when the Hilux goes in the English Channel (which is salt water).
Cites michaelt · 2016-09 · on “I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa”
Top Gear is not by any means a reliable source of motoring journalism, but they do have a series of videos [1] which make a 1988 Toyota Hilux look very durable. At least if you have a mechanic with a "basic set of tools" on hand. [1] [this video]
Cites patrickk · 2017-01 · on “Volkswagen overtakes Toyota as the world's biggest carmaker”
> 20 years ago you could pick up a world-class Supra or a proper Land Cruiser or a Tacoma or a Camry or Corolla that could practically be the last commuter car you ever need. All of them stubbornly reliable. many of the cars Toyota had on the lot in 1997 still sell for close to their retail price! The mid-90s to early 2000s were a golden era for Japanese cars. I dream of importing a Nissan Silvia S15[1] with the legendary SR20 engine. It's quite feasible, especially if you live in a left hand drive country (warning: it's complicated getting some of these cars into the US[2]). The Skylines of that era (e.g. the blue and silver one from the Fast and the Furious 2) still sell for insane money (
Cites e12e · 2018-11 · on “Quietly, Japan has established itself as a power in the aerospace industry”
Hm. Always thought Toyota made pretty durable pickups : "Killing a Toyota Part 1 | Top Gear | BBC" : [this video]
Cites boznz · 2019-11 · on “Tesla truck: $10.5B in pre-orders with $0 in ad spend”
Put any other name on this other than Tesla and it would have been laughed off stage (try the thought experiment). The Tesla name on it makes all the difference as you do look at it through different eyes, the eyes that says fuck the current norm and the horse it rode in on. I will never buy one, but its no uglier than any other big old truck, anyone who can see beauty in a truck, any truck, has too much testosterone for their own good IMHO. Maybe TopGear can re-do the destruction test they went through with the Toyota HiLux to see how it really holds up to the competition. ( [this video] )