New Truck Choices

I LOVE my truck. 2008 Dodge Power Wagon. G56 6-speed manual trans. 4.56's in the pumpkins, 6.29:1 first gear, 2.72:1 lo range. Downside is mpg. I have got as much as 10 in the summer. 8 in the winter. As low as 2 climbing long steep hills with my camper (10,500lbs....the max load for my truck) & maintaining 55 mph with it. (3rd gear @ 5500 rpms). Can barely pass a gas station. But, it does EVERYTHING i need it to do. A 5L Cummins Turbo Diesel would be great, but Fiat scrapped that deal. Nissan is supposed to use it in the Titan at some point. They are also floating the idea of a 2L diesel in the Frontier.

NOTE: 2003-current Dodge 2500's, 3500's & Power Wagons: You WILL have to rebuild the front ends. Every couple years with stock parts, or once with the best there is parts. I did mine at 18,500 miles. $4850.00. I/we did most of the labor. It sucks for sure but that is the reality of it.

ALL BRANDS have their issues, even Toyota. Anyone says different & they are just kidding themselves. I work with over 300 people. I have been listening to my co-workers truck story woes for 26+ years.

You may want to wait for one of the new small/er diesels if you want the best mpg. Buying towards the end of the year will help for maximum discounts. Good luck.
 
I have the last 360ci and I'm lucky to get 12mpg,oh well she's bought for a truck and what a GREAT truck she is.
 
I've got 2 crew cab Silverado Diesels and I love them. Roughly 17 in the city, 24 on our last road trip. More upfront cost, but 500k miles is no problem and they have a better resale. There is a little more maintenance, but I upgraded a few things so that I can now change a fuel filter for $25 and in 5 minutes. There are also 2 batteries so figure double when they go as mine just did.
It's an amazing package though. Endless power. I paid about $1300 for my power train upgrades total. It makes 500rwhp and 950rwtq.
If you go with a 2007 or older you can avoid all the emissions stuff. I don't live in an emissions testing area so I took mine off. I also hear amazing things about Fords Ecoboost V6
 
Shann said:
If I can get a 5 seconds old F150 for 8K off sign me up! Around here used trucks are like gold, and priced accordingly.
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Yup. Tough to find a good deal on a truck in VT. i found this thread because i too am looking for one. i am trying to decide between a V6 F150 and a tacoma. i won't be towing anything major but i do want the full bed, so the crew cab is out. i have heard the tacoma is "great" on mpg, but the specs say the F150 is pretty close. i'd be interested to hear how close those numbers are to reality.

i have a friend who swears the Tacoma with just the "V6" on the back-right gets the best gas mileage. dunno.

since you are in a ranger now, i am curious why you did not list the tacoma as an option. is it size-related? or something else? i have a friend who went from a Ranger to a Tacoma, and she says she prefers the ranger. but, everyone else i know who drives a tacoma loves them

anyway...just curious. thanks and good luck.
 
TPVT said:
Yup. Tough to find a good deal on a truck in VT. i found this thread because i too am looking for one. i am trying to decide between a V6 F150 and a tacoma. i won't be towing anything major but i do want the full bed, so the crew cab is out. i have heard the tacoma is "great" on mpg, but the specs say the F150 is pretty close. i'd be interested to hear how close those numbers are to reality.

i have a friend who swears the Tacoma with just the "V6" on the back-right gets the best gas mileage. dunno.

since you are in a ranger now, i am curious why you did not list the tacoma as an option. is it size-related? or something else? i have a friend who went from a Ranger to a Tacoma, and she says she prefers the ranger. but, everyone else i know who drives a tacoma loves them

anyway...just curious. thanks and good luck.
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No real reason I left the foreign trucks off the list. I just see in the papers that they all seem more expensive than the Chevy's and Ford's. In fact, the only reason I ended up with the Ranger over the Tacoma in the first place was that the Tacoma was over $6,000 more than I paid for my Ranger, which was on sale because it was a model year left over.
 
Shann said:
No real reason I left the foreign trucks off the list. I just see in the papers that they all seem more expensive than the Chevy's and Ford's. In fact, the only reason I ended up with the Ranger over the Tacoma in the first place was that the Tacoma was over $6,000 more than I paid for my Ranger, which was on sale because it was a model year left over.
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yup. makes sense to me. and agreed. i am looking at trucks in about the 2011 year with about 20K miles. and, the F150 is still less by 3-5 grand typically.

the manual tacomas are in about the same price range, but i prefer automatic.
 
TPVT said:
yup. makes sense to me. and agreed. i am looking at trucks in about the 2011 year with about 20K miles. and, the F150 is still less by 3-5 grand typically.

the manual tacomas are in about the same price range, but i prefer automatic.
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Its weird how vehicles vary in price by region. I recently traded into a 2012 Tundra and there was no way I could find a similarly optioned Ford or Chevy for what I got the Tundra for.

To the op, you might check into a double cab tundra with the 4.6 v8. Thats what I had before my newer one and was getting 18-19mpg hwy running 70-78mph. Around town I was around 13. The double cabs have 4 regular doors anda 6.5' or 8' box.
 
So far this year 700,000 pick up trucks have been sold here. Somethings wrong with me I never like to follow the latest fad ! Mine though is just a basic pickup - standard cab, 6.5' bed , 4x4, put on a tonneau cover , on my F-150 .Wish they still made manual .
 
Can't go wrong with a Tundra. u can get either the 4.6L or 5.7L. Best truck out there and also American made unlike popular belief.
 
I drive a 2012 Ford Raptor super cab...15 mpg..got every bell and whistle inside that a luxury car does, but my luxury car has had all four wheels in the air and when it landed our heads did not even move in the cab, the fox shocks are insane. Love that truck!
 
I actually did not even pay that! Got a great deal on it new, but close. However it was less expensive than some of these limited trucks out there that are more like a minivan than a truck. Honestly I feel lucky to have it.
 
I bought my F150 last Memorial weekend- heck of a deal. I drove 4 Ford trucks and liked the pep of the V6 (non Eco Boost). Plus the V6 was a lot cheaper. To get the 6 1/2' bed I had to buy an STX package with the smaller rear doors. She added a camper shell.
I love my wife's truck.

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I've been very happy with my Toyotas, but I've always wanted a Ram with the Cummins. I love the power and the gas mileage.
 
I've got a Tacoma and really like it. It's been a great truck.

 
lefteye219 said:
Can't go wrong with a Tundra. u can get either the 4.6L or 5.7L. Best truck out there and also American made unlike popular belief.
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+1 on Toyota.

Too many problems with the new Fords; two work trucks, 08 and 09 standard F-150, engine stalling, leaking factory windshield, window motors, disconnected rear seat release, one year wait on steering gear recall, etc.

With this latest recall with GM, they replaced the name of the CEO, but didnt' replace the business model. All this for a loss of $6 BILLION.
 
ditto on the Ram. I've got a 99 Ram with 165K on it. Most reliable vehicle I've ever owned, not a lick of problems with it,
 
Used to work in the service department for a ford dealship. The fords with the 5.4 sucked, all of them. The new 5.0 in the trucks are amazing.
Better city mpg than the eco boost, though the eco boost has better highway.

I drive a gmc Sierra. The gen 4 motors in the 08 and newer are good for 22mpg or higher highway. I believe the 2014 motors are newer verison and better mpg.

I have a reg cab. But want a ext cab. With the 5 months of winter we just had made me realize the importance of in cab storage when un available to put stuff in the bed.

The newer f-150 with the 5.0 I would get a crewcab. It has so much rear leg room. I'm 6'1". No issues in the back. The chevy 08 -13 can be tight with large front passengers. Haven't been in a 2014 yet.
 
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