What Truck Do You Recommend
 

Hey All:

I thought this would be a good group to ask since a good number of you likely have a truck.

Sadly, I have to start to work on replacing my 16 year old Chevy Truck. :(

My requirements are 4WD and towing capacity. I don't use my truck every day so those that guzzle gas a bit more than others are not out of the question. I can go new or used. Keep in mind used means a higher finance rate. Currently my first two choices would be a Chevy Silverado or a Nissan Titan. I've had great luck with both in the past.

Since I'm talking a high dollar item :$:, gulp, any thoughts/tricks about purchasing a 4WD truck for as little money as possible are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

current truck is a ford f250, 5.4L v-8 gas burner. heavy duty towing package, four door. great truck. that said, i'll never buy another ford-their 'customer service' hung up on my husband once-long story.

at any rate, i've always liked a chevy. our other two vehicles are both bowties.
good luck.

My son works for Ford in SC, Finance Mgr..He recently traded his for 3yo truck for new computerized Taurus, he said listed at 41K. It's like a running computer, big screen on the dash and he just gives it commands...smoothest ride ever..I yelled out 'turn on the wipers', he said, dummy it tells you what to do...lol...looks like this only Silver.

http://www.ford.com/cars/taurus/?fmc...cars-billboard

I bought a 2008 GMC Sierra new 4 years ago and I wouldn't recommend it.

Nothing wrong with it aesthetically, and have never had a serious problem other than typical issues - just a bunch of bullsh.it you don't expect to have to put up with when buying a new truck -

*The tires that came with it lasted all of 22k miles - and from what I've read I was lucky - most were replaced at 15K.

*The battery needed to be replaced after a year (covered under warranty)

*Front brakes were toast at 37K and had to be replaced ( 1 month out of warranty and GMC said no dice, you're done)

*Both headlights burned out prior to 40K on the truck.

Just odd stuff that you'd expect to last longer with a new truck, but they cheaped out and put low end, disposable crap onboard instead.

I had to visit the dealership on 3 occasions under warranty due to design flaws that were never repaired, only band-aided:

**The grease in the rear end yoke needs to be repacked every two years
**The steering column binds up and squeals and you have to spray lithium grease in the turnbuckle that goes through the firewall every 6 months.

All they ever did was reapply grease - they either don't admit or don't have a fix and now obviously out of warranty - yet there are plenty of forums with thousands of owners experiencing the same thing.

But it runs fine, and rides better than any truck I've ever owned (I've been driving pickups exclusively since '81 and have had 'em all at one point or another) so I'll keep it and put up with the unexpected maintenance schedule

All that said, I'd probably take a long look at the Tundra. But the new F150's are sweet too.

The Taurus has come a long way! In college I had a 1986 Taurus. Car would be running fine. Park, grocery shop or something. Come back out to start the car. Nothing. Walk 5 or 6 miles home. Return to start the car a day or 2 later (this 1 or 2 day "rest period" was enacted after being told numerous times that "nothing was wrong") -- car would start and away we would go!

Finally some tow operator showed me how to use a screwdriver to bridge one part under the hood to another and the car started every time.

i'm not a car person. i used to drive a taurus at a former job, hated it. i drive a cobalt now, don't like it! lol
i love driving our truck. i don't like being low to the ground in a car, and it's a stick shift. but the mileage sucks, which is why we don't use it much. it's a 2004 and only has about 90k miles on. still looks great too. but ford is on our 'list' (places we don't do business) so i guess it's the last of its kind for us.

I have a tacoma, double cab, long bed w/ a tow package. It's my second tacoma and I love it. Hard to find used though.

Not sure where you live but if in snow country wait till spring to buy a 4wheel drive. Right now convertibles and sports cars are selling cheap.

I wouldn't buy a GM product out of principal. But don't want to get political. ;)

Ford makes a decent truck. I have a 2003 F-150. 134 thousand miles on it. Still drives like it always did. Ford service departments are a different matter. Might as well have a gun and a mask. They are going to try to rip you off, if they possibly can.

we had a freestyle. throttle body went bad. it was notorious for just making your car almost come to a stand-still. happened to tony one night going to work, car just lost all power/acceleration, dropped from 60 mph to about 20 just like that. just think if he'd have had someone right on his bumper. he went online, and found a bunch of others with the same issue. we wondered about a recall. he called ford, to ask how to order a new throttle body. they said 'well, you have to take it to service dept to make sure of what the problem was'. he said i know what the problem is, and mentioned the sites with the tons of comments from others with the exact same issue. said why do i need to pay over $100 diagnostic fee (ford has made it to where non-ford service techs computers can't 'talk' to the newer cars) if i already know the diagnosis? the reply? 'sir, if you aren't going to take it to a service dept, we can't take this call seriously' click'. unbelievable!
traded the car in on a chevy equinox.

Toyota

Had to go to Little Rock one day. Truck starts making a little noise or at least I thought I could hear a little noise. Took it to a Ford dealer over there. They said brakes were going out and needed new 2 new tires on the front. Said it was "dangerous" to drive. Wanted $750 for the 2 new tires alone. I thought it was all BS, but was a little afraid to drive it. Took it to a mechanic I knew. He said absolutely nothing wrong with the brakes. Tires were worn, but not critically so. I think I put another 10k miles on them and then replaced all four for about $800.

that sounds right. par for the course. when we bought the truck we have now, it came with the door keypad. it didn't work with the combination that they gave us. made an appt to get it fixed. drove it up there, and the guy just kept typing in the same combo. hello. we did that already, many times. so now he has to 'order the part'. i was furious. ' i thought that was already ordered, to be put in today-which is why i drove an hour and a half round trip to get it installed.' oh, no. oops. previous truck....when you hit a pothole, the right side would bounce way more than it should, like the tie rod end was bad or something.
so i took it to the dealer where we bought it. sat there and waited a while...they said 'we looked it all over, nothing wrong'. yeah, cause women don't know when something's wrong. :rolleyes: i told them i didn't appreciate them not taking it seriously.
a few weeks later, my husband was driving and i was with him. hit a hole, it bounced him all the way into the other lane. i didn't say a word, just gave him that 'i told you so look'. so he took it to them. 'oh, yeah. we just got a notice on that'. he let them know i didn't appreciate how everything happened. they apologized profusely and fixed it all. very frustrating.


he's always been a ford man. til they hung up on him. no more fords, which is good, cause i was always a chevy gal.



we had a recall on the freestyle for something else. took it to the local ford place, got a loaner. they called the next day. you'll have to take it where you bought it (an hour away) cause the part's on backorder, we can't be out a loaner six weeks. i said i was glad i didn't buy it in another state! so, brought their loaner back (with the gas we'd put in), drove to el do, got a loaner...car was ready next day. the local had lied about the part being on 'back order'.
also, local guy-took a work truck to them for engine work. they said it needed an all new motor, etc. about 10k in work. took it to a mechanic, said didn't need a motor, 1500. local guy's a ripoff artist.

What Truck Do You Recommend
 

I'm driving a 2004 Ford Ranger; like it a lot. Would recommend a Ford, definitely.

My son works for Ford so i push them...Jus sayin.:)
I had a 97 Ford- Mercury Marquis LS for 12 years, loved it..till my grandson totaled it.:mad:...Had two caddy's before that and liked the Marquis over them.:tro:

This thread reminds me of how grateful I am not to own an automobile. Not because I don't like driving; I do, but holy cow, do they suck up a lot of money, and for most of the country you don't have a choice; you can't even get to the grocery store without one.

My last car was a 1976 Caprice Classic. My dad was so concerned about any of us kids getting into a wreck that he would only let us drive boats. That thing was the length of a station wagon without actually being a station wagon. Too bad I was such a nerd in HS; it had an enormous back seat that didn't get nearly enough use. ;)

By far, the best out of all of the behemoths we had was my granddad's old Buick. What a nice car. I was p*ssed when my brother totaled it.

Never owned a truck, but my uncle has a 92 Ford that is still kicking.

where do you live that you can get by without a car?

i just started driving to work on monday morning and then leaving it at the train station until friday night a few months ago. it cuts my commuting from 260 miles/week down to 82 but that's still a long way from zero.

I moved out of Boston in '98 thinking it would save me so much money... While rent is certainly cheaper, factoring in car payments, insurance, gas, repairs etc. it makes it a virtual wash.

TOYOTA FOR SURE...VERY FEW PROBELMS.......EVER.:tro:

I had two caddy's before I had my truck and have to say I like my truck better. There was something perpetually wrong with the 2 caddys I had and they were expensive as hell to fix. One thing about a caddy though, not the worse thing to be in an accident with. I got broadsided coming home from work one day in the last caddy I owned. Was traveling westbound in one lane and ended up in the other lane headed the other way. Impact was so hard, it broke the rear axle, but I didn't have a scratch.

I live in Manhattan. And my parents (three hours away) are less than 5 miles from an Amtrak station so it's very easy to take the train to them. Anything not near a train station, we rent a car. Which, admittedly, costs a f*cking fortune to do in Manhattan- $150 a day and up, and that's before insurance and gas. But we don't need to do that more than once or twice a year.

There's lots I can bitch about re: living in NYC, but the public transit is really very good. A long subway ride becomes an opportunity to catch up on reading.

Aqueduct is easy to get to, but Belmont can be a pain when the Belmont Special isn't running. Doable, but it's a train to a very crowded bus.

Lots of FORD bashing.
My 2003 Continental runs like its brand new. Inside of it could pass for 2012.

Love my F350's have an 08 that I use for work and another 11 for everything else. I like another poster I would not buy a GM on principle and have had them in the past and they don't hold up when used for work purposes.

So true. One of the smartest things I ever read about budgeting was not to separate taxes from rent from food, but to look at everything as "money in vs money out" because it gives you a much clearer picture of how much your life actually costs to maintain in different areas of the country.

The 2012 Ford F-150 Lariat has been fabulous.

Had a 2002 Ford Sport Trac before this one. That vehicle was a thing of beauty also, but not recommended for hauling.

Other Fords in the past.
1993 Ford Explorer XLT 4x4 was a POS. Kept finding metal shavings in the transmission filter. No answer for it. Transmission needed replacing constantly.

1989 Ford Escort - another POS that couldn't last long. Constant issues with alternator.

1981 Ford Granada - best car of them all. Ran beautifully with hardly an issue.

1976 Ford Granada - lasted a long time with few issues.

That's my experience with Fords.

Thanks everyone for the great feedback. This has been helpful.

After many GM products, a couple of Mercedes and a Lincoln Towncar, I bought a 2010 Ford F-150 Harley Davidson Model Ford 2 years ago. It has all of the "bells and whistles" including a mechanical running board that extends out when you open the door. It is the most comfortable ride that I have ever owned. Plenty of room front and back. Have had many compliments on it's appearance. It may not be the vehicle that you would drive to your daughter's wedding, but for most other uses, it is perfect. Drove it from NC to Saratoga last August, stopping only for gas and coffee, it was a dream.

Hey off, my granddaughter is a PI lawyer in Winston-Salem, if anyone ever bangs your ride :eek:, hope not, but let me know and i'll put you in touch.:$:
btw, NC is a no no on most betting sites, you use offshore?

I have a 2003 Ford F150 Supercrew 5.4L V8. Pulls 2 horses and a smaller bumper pull trailer just fine. Has 215k miles on it. Original trany and engine, no major issues. I would buy another one, however I would NEVER buy a new truck. You can get such a better deal on 1-3 year old trucks than if you buy them new

Wiphan: Thanks for the insight. Do you have any recommendations regarding the best source for purchasing used? Also, what type of mileage is reasonable for a used truck?

Thanks

If I was to buy another used Ford truck I would look first at the dealers of other brands. Ford trucks at Ford dealers are more expensive than they would be at a GM dealer for instance. In our area we have a good used dealer that specializes in trucks. http://www.lenzauto.com/
I try and find a 2-3 year old truck bought off lease and try to determine if they used it at all for pulling something heavy. A dead giveaway would be does the truck have trailer brakes, etc. Look at the hitch receiver does it look like it has been used, etc. There are a lot of 1/2 ton truck owners that have never pulled anything. I like buying these because they may have less wear and tear. I bought my 03 in 2005 with just over 20k on it. I have also heard of a lot of people going to TX to buy bigger used trucks because they cost less there because there are just more of them. Internet is great for research on prices, etc. Best of luck.

Mileage all depends on what you want to spend. 1/2 ton or bigger trucks if taken care of can run for a long time. Diesel trucks can run even longer. I would not be scared of higher mileage, but again it all depends on what you think the truck is used for. If you have a horse trainer or someone who just uses the truck to pull stuff then 30k might be a lot of wear and tear. If you have someone who never pulls anything 100k might be just fine. It all depends on how the truck was used. That is tough sometimes to determine and people and dealers will lie

this is why i don't buy used. you don't know what you're getting.

I agree but in 5 mins I found this example

2013 Ford F150 Lariat Supercrew for $54,000

a used 2012 with 5k miles on it for $42,000

Is 5,000 miles worth $12k to you? To me I can do a lot with $12,000 extra. Same exact truck just one year older.

i wouldn't buy either! lol too much money for both of them...

That 1993 Ford Explorer was bought used at 18,000 miles. Maybe I should had said that before. Thought I was getting a good deal, even already had trailer hitch set up for it. But like I said this thing had constant transmission issues, and the constant findings of metal shavings in the transmission filter could never get resolved.

My 2002 Ford Sport Trac sits in a Kia lot looking to be sold for $9700. It needs work on, but I doubt anything has been done. Like I said it ran great, but its nothing more than just a regular vehicle. The work that it needs. New brakes, air conditioning fix, replace driver side bucket seat, replace steering wheel. Running boards also some rust. Surprise it hasn't gone to the auction, but their is no way Kia is going to sale it.

EDIT:
The 2012 Ford F-150 Lariat has been fabulous.

Had a 2002 Ford Sport Trac before this one. That vehicle was a thing of beauty also, but not recommended for hauling.

Other Fords in the past
1993 Ford Explorer XLT 4x4 was a POS [EDIT: Bought Used at 18,000 miles]. Kept finding metal shavings in the transmission filter. No answer for it. Transmission needed replacing constantly.

1989 Ford Escort [EDIT: Bought used at 9,000 miles] - another POS that couldn't last long. Constant issues with alternator.

1981 Ford Granada - best car of them all. Ran beautifully with hardly an issue.

1976 Ford Granada - lasted a long time with few issues.

That's my experience with Fords.[/quote]

I have driven Fords my entire life. I currently drive a 2008 F250 with the 6.4 Diesel. I tow a trailer every day for work and on the weekends, tow a 32 foot horse trailer with living quarters. In the 4 years I've had it, it tows like a dream. My only problem with it is that it doesn't get very good gas mileage.

In all honesty, my next truck will probably be a Dodge. Their diesel engine is way more powerful and at the same time, more fuel efficient. While I get around 10 MPG towing, my friend who tows a horse trailer much larger than mine gets around 15. And, his has much fewer miles(in a diesel, the engine isn't even broken in until about 50,000 miles!!!).

If you have any further questions, PM me. I deal with this a lot, so I may be of some help.

i don't know that i'll ever buy a diesel. they cost more on the front end, you get less when you trade it in, and diesel costs more. our gas burner hauls without missing a beat, and gets 16 mph when doing so. i love that truck! :D we made sure when we had it built to get the heavy duty transmission, etc as we planned to eventually buy a 5th wheel camper.
it hauled a pallet plus of shingles, while pulling another load of shingles on a trailer-and that stuff is heavy. no problems at all.