Thanks guys - some intereting points... This will get used hard - it's definitely not in the "Chelsea tractor" class. Servicing costs will be about the same for either Mitsubishi, Toyota, Ford - they are pretty much all done by the same garage... VW is a definite no-no... No support at all locally. From my experience (three decades) : military equipment = expensive and crap, terrorist equipment = cheap and reliable... Our diesel costs about 25p/ltr, so consumption isn't such a big deal.
Although an entirely different type of vehicle, I had a 97 Toyota Celica, the spares backup at the local main dealer was excellent - I was surprised that the fuel filler neck (a common Celica failure) was as cheap to buy new as breakers wanted used. The parts guy at the dealer said "if Toyota made it, we can get parts for it" I'd be looking to Toyota if I were in your position as I'd have confidence in the ability to get parts should they be necessary
Update - due to availability locally, and the wishes of those holding the purse strings, it looks like we will be getting a 2016 Ford Ranger. Thanks for all the advice / comments... I will let you know how we get one once the new toy arrives, but however you look at it, it has to be better than a ten year old Land Rover 110...
A mate uses these for his industrial roofing and building company. His first did 96k in under 3 years and was reliable, although he did have an issue with an emissions light towards the end but I think that reflects more on our rubbish Ford dealer than the vehicle. On his second now and loves it. His have a very hard life towing all manner of stuff including roofing sheets etc, Also used it to tow a 34ft fifth wheel for leisure. He bought it as apparently it's got the largest towing capacity of any of the UK available pick ups, which will give you some idea of the hard life it gets. We once used it to tow the Mustang on a heavy 2 axle car trailer and it didn't even notice! He recommended them to another friend who lived in Spain and the only downside was that apparently they get really uneconomical towing fully laden box trailers across Europe at motorway speeds... Neither did much off road though so can't speak about that.
"Ford build a good truck. You should have asked the accountant for a Ford Raptor" - They may well have agreed, if we had asked, but it's a question of what is available here - not a very long list !
