Top Gear is perhaps the most popular TV show for gearheads, and fans of the show have probably seen Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond try to destroy a Toyota Hilux. The Hilux is a Toyota truck that’s unfortunately not available in the U.S., but still, it’s as tough and reliable as any other Toyota. Here’s a look at all the ways that Top Gear tried to kill the Toyota Hilux.

Legendary reliability

Toyota may not make the most fun cars to drive, but Toyota certainly makes some of the safest and some of the most reliable cars on the market. Toyota’s cars have a lot of safety features, and due to how they’re designed, they’re just simply reliable. In fact, they’re so reliable, many Toyota owners don’t bother doing routine maintenance on their car, even though they should, simply because Toyotas don’t often suffer any issues. 

The numbers back this up too as Toyota’s trucks need the least repairs out of all other truck brands. They aren’t invincible trucks, and they definitely need routine maintenance like every other car, but if you forget to do any maintenance, then your Toyota probably won’t break down. Top Gear wanted to see just how accurate Toyota’s reputation for building reliable vehicles really was, and that’s why the Top Gear trio decided to put the Hilux through a series of trials.

‘Top Gear’ tries to kill a Toyota Hilux — the easy tests

During the Hilux’s trials, the Top Gear trio put the Hilux through increasingly tougher tests. These first trials would’ve flunked out many other cars, but not the Hilux. First, Clarkson drove the Hilux down a couple of flights of stairs, and the Hilux’s suspension wasn’t damaged at all. Then, he partially collided the truck into a brick wall, and then he did the same thing with a tree. The Hilux came out scarred but fine in both scenarios.

Then, he put the Hilux on the shore of a beach and allowed the salty ocean waters to attack it. The ocean tide eventually swallowed the Hilux up whole, and this forced the Top Gear team to send divers into the ocean to find the truck. This intense water damage may kill many cars but not the Hilux, and it survived with some bruises. Otherwise, it was fully functional.

‘Top Gear’ tries to kill a Toyota Hilux — the hard tests

Next, the Top Gear trio went full-throttle on the Hilux in Part 3, which you can find on YouTube. They dropped the Hilux from a decent height, and it survived fine. Then, they drove the Hilux through a wooden shed, and again, the Hilux came out fine. Then, they dropped an RV onto the Hilux, and again, the Hilux came out running like it was new. Then they once again went full-throttle and drove the Hilux into what was left of the RV, and the Hilux won once again. Next, they got a wrecking ball to smash the Hilux, but the Hilux survived.

Since none of that killed the Hilux, Clarkson then just set the truck on fire. This would be the end of most cars, but, once again, the Hilux survived and was still running. In the final and the most difficult test, Top Gear put the Hilux on top of a building that was going to be demolished with explosives. The building wasn’t a small one, either, as Top Gear said that the Hilux was 214-feet in the air.

The demolition crew set off the explosives and the building collapsed. Buried under the rubble, the Hilux once again, survived and was still running. The Top Gear trio was so impressed by this that they have put that Hilux on display as a testament to how tough and reliable Toyotas are.