buying a new truck

RandyL

RandyL

New member
I am looking to get some advice from people here.
I am looking at getting myself a new pickup. For the most part it will be for personal use. But I want to be able to be able to put a pressure washer and a tank in the back if needed for a large job or pull a trailer with them.
I want 4wd, short box, extended or crew cab(likely crew unless I get a tundra then double would work)

Since I had another rain day yesterday(still raining today too so that is 3 in a row now grrrrrr)
I went out and did some test driving. I drove a ram, f series, silverado, and a tundra.

I think my favorites in order right now would be:
tundra
f series
silverado
ram
in that order at the moment

I drove some diesels, some half tons and 3/4 tons, got to see all the bells and whistles.

Just thought I would get everyones opinions on what they think. I have a GM card so I have some credits built up towards a new car but I am not sure I want to use them after looking at the trucks yesterday. Those silverados have so many options to pick from it is kinda confusing to me.
Toyota makes it easy with lesser options and alot more standard.
 
I just bought a Mega-cab Ram 1-ton last November, I got the big diesel. (There are two diesels out there) I can't stress enough what a great rig it is for bridging that personal/company rig gap. Plenty of room for tools or groceries, and pulls like a million mules. Also comes standard with a Jake brake, really handy when grossed over twenty grand! It does have a 1-ton ride though, few women enjoy that.

You won't be disappointed with the F trucks either, they are everywhere for a reason. I have no opinion on the Chevy, as I have zero experience with this generation truck. I imagine they are good rigs, since I'm seeing more and more out there.

The Tundra is supposed to be a cool truck, but I've heard from a couple of owners that there are some serious problems in the design. My bro-in-law, says the Tundra discussion boards are full of complaints.

I think right now the Nissans and toyotas are half-ton only, but I may be wrong. I know the half-ton Nissan has a great motor. Ant has one and loves it, but I'm unsure whether it is his work truck. You need a 3/4 at least if you plan to tank or trail any large amounts of water. (Jeff has killed a couple of 1/2 tons that he really liked)

I'm a proponent of buying good solid tools that are overbuilt, and enjoy the peace of mind that brings. Much better than hoping the rig can handle the work.

Hope that helps, and good luck! FWIW I think all the pickups being made these days are the best the automakers have ever done.
 
StainlessDeal said:
The Tundra is supposed to be a cool truck, but I've heard from a couple of owners that there are some serious problems in the design. My bro-in-law, says the Tundra discussion boards are full of complaints.
Click to expand...

I was reading toyota message boards all night last night pretty much and the main complaint I saw was that the EPA made Toyota switch to a water based paint(and that all manufactures soon will too) and it scratches easy. I also saw some issue with their chrome platting but it seems they are just replacing the bumpers on those trucks.

Is there some other problem that I am missing?

I don't think the towing capacity is a issue with it since it is rated to tow 10,800 lbs so I could easily pull our trailer unit with a 525 gallon tank with it. Please note we still have a chevy 3500 for towing/carrying the really heavy stuff.
 
Whichever brand you decide to purchase, get the truck with the towing package already installed.

Locally there have been a few trucks with those aftermarket towing bracket things that have folded up under the truck causing the back wheels to lift some so you lose your back wheel brakes and this has caused some accidents.

There was one where the trailer was rear-ended and it caused one of those bracket things to fold up under the truck and lifted the back end up. Could not move the truck until a tow truck got there to pull it all apart with the winch and some wrecking bars.

I got the tow package on my 05 Cummins Ram and I really like it a lot.

It is a 3/4 ton truck and It really has a great ride. I have driven it all over Texas and to Texarkana and New Orleans and the ride was not bad at all, even with the bumpy IH10 that runs through Louisiana, it was not that bad.
 
Support this country and buy American. Or if that is not your frame of mind then just buy the most popular best built trucks in the word which happen to be Fords which are...YUP AMERICAN,

I just bought another Ford Diesel Pickup truck for what your not seeing here which is $9600. $875 to get it delivered and then sales tax here. So the whole total is about $11300. Not bad for a truck that will be my personal use and also one I can beat the hey out of it without feeling to guilty.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...=260226924490&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:PIC&ih=016
 
Randy, I'll get a hold of my bro-in-law tomorrow and have him remind me of the problem. He's a pretty serious car guy, but maybe I got something wrong in the mix. It seemed to stick in my mind because I was surprised to hear anything bad about a Toyota truck.

I didn't realize you had a 1-ton, now I feel a little silly.

I was just saying to a friend the other day that I have a 88 Chevy 1-ton that pulls like a mule, and that I don't feel bad beating up. I should get rid of it, but it has taken plenty of abuse for twenty (!) years, and has bailed mye out more times than I care to admit.

The thing is as ugly as home-made soap but just keeps on a-goin.:cool:
 
Clean County PW said:
Support this country and buy American. Or if that is not your frame of mind then just buy the most popular best built trucks in the word which happen to be Fords which are...YUP AMERICAN,

I just bought another Ford Diesel Pickup truck for what your not seeing here which is $9600. $875 to get it delivered and then sales tax here. So the whole total is about $11300. Not bad for a truck that will be my personal use and also one I can beat the hey out of it without feeling to guilty.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...=260226924490&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:PIC&ih=016
Click to expand...

That was the plan seeing as all the Toyota trucks are made in the USA. Last I heard the fords were built in Mexico.........

Also another thing I noticed about fords recently, is they make them so you can't service your truck yourself. Open the hood of a ford and you can't even see a spark plug. I was told in order to change the spark plugs on a ford you actually have to drop the engine out of the truck to get to them. When compared to the Chevy and Toyota where they make everything easily accessible.

And I completely understand what people say about the diesel trucks about how long they last and how they are reliable and can go on forever and what not.
But for a personal vehicle I really don't think I will want it that long. I imagine around the 100k 10ish year area I would like something new and different.
 
I traded for an 07 toyota tundra last April. It had the small V-8 with auto trans. Traded it for a F350 in Nov. It got less than 10 MPG pulling my pressure washing trailer or my lanscape trailer. Both trailers are 12 x 7. It would also lose power going up hills were the 350 just keeps pulling and gets around 12.5 Mpg. Good luck with your choice.F350 is diesel.
 
I agree with John T...except he's wrong :) Buy one of the two trucks that are 100% American made Titan, or Tundra. Ford engines are made in MEXICO..plus, I won't even go on my tangent about them supporting the gay agenda :mad:

Get the Titan of trucks

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If you want diesel, then go with Ford. My father in law's 08 Cheby has been in the shop 3 times already and Dodge needs another truck to put around their badass engine. Fit and finish on Dodge sucks.
 
I agree about the paint on my 05 Dodge, it is not the best or thickest paint out there.

The engine and trans are really great.

I pulled my trailer over the scales to get a weight on it, it is 3750 pounds without any water in the tank or bleach in it. Full, it is around 6800 pounds.

Pulling the trailer I get anywhere from 14-18 mpg on the highway and no trailer going out of town I get 20-23mpg.

The mileage is great, just wish the price of Diesel was lower.

There are aftermarket kits to put in a Cummins into a Ford or Chevy truck, you can see them in the back of the Diesel truck magazines.

When the body rusts off the frame, I will probably swap the engine and trans into another truck as they will still be strong. hahaha
 
American Made - Not any more!

RandyL, as HotShot said .. American Made trucks are no longer Made In USA!
They are made in Canada, Mexico and ????who knows where??????
I encourage you to FIRST get Pre Approved for your loan. Find the lowest rate on the net, apply for the highest amount. This rate is usually good for 30 days. This way when you go to a dealer you already have been PRE APPROVED for the lowest rate and he will then BEAT IT. Dealers have a BUY RATE they get their Money for to make loans. Anything above that is profit. GMC dealer offered me 9% over the phone, I told the Finance guy no way. He offered 7%. I said no way. I told him I got my Harley for 5.9%. I settled for 5.8%. And NO I didn't buy the Extended Warranties (they too are negotiable). His reply was "Oh, you got me!" The average person keeps a vehicle 2-2 1/2 years.
And I trade vehicles to often...my last count was over 50.

Best day to buy...last day of the month. Buy at dealer invoice cost plus rebates. Make them show it to you.

Good Luck and don't forget to smile:D
 
Yeah I have been doing alot of research about this. And all my research points to dealing with internet quotes. Apparently if you get online quotes from the dealer you are working with a internet salesman who does not make commission. Which makes it alot easier to get the price you want.

If this was going to be more of a work truck I would go for something bigger. But I think the tundra can handle the days when we need extra machines. Or if I need to pull our 10000 lbs skid loader it can get the job done.

Though right now it looks like I might be putting off the new purchase a few months. My dad wants to get my mom a new company car lol. So before I get a new truck I am getting a hand me down for a little while. Though it is still a nice hand me down 04 Buick rainer.
 
HotShot_Anthony said:
I agree with John T...except he's wrong :) Buy one of the two trucks that are 100% American made Titan, or Tundra. Ford engines are made in MEXICO..plus, I won't even go on my tangent about them supporting the gay agenda :mad:
Click to expand...

Yup thats true that alot of supposed American made items is really outsourced. If it wasn't for the great sales of Ford trucks Ford itself would probably be bankrupt. Our Society itself is heading towards Bankruptcy unless they change so many things. Don't even know where to start with that.

The price of Diesel is insane here. Just saw a gastation here selling Diesel fuel for $4.79 a gallon. Diesel engines in my experiences had at least 25% better MPG. Now with Diesel fuel being 25% more then gas its a push and that is just not right. Diesel fuel should be cheaper then gas fuel:mad:
 
Nate is looking into getting a new truck too. Mostly because Nate is going to be building a larger trailer this summer. Anyway we have looked @ everything and are now just plain confused. I can say it is between a Ford F250 Diesel or a Chevy if we go the diesel route. If we don't , he would add the Titan in as an option......
 
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