Fistful of dollars. . . . . . .

[charlie_the_tuna]

well, its almost time. got around $15,000. to spend on a truck and here's what i've learned so far.
not much.
seems like the chevys hold their value better, followed by ford and finally dodge.
looking at the 1500 crew cab shortbed. not thrilled with the avalanche but it's still in the running.
if YOU had $15,000. and were getting ready to buy a fullsized 4 door pickup, what would you do? and why?
looking for reliability and mileage wouldnt be too bad either.
where will i find the best value?
HELP?!?!?!?!

[reelapeelin]

If it was me, I'd find a good $25,000 F150 Crew Cab w/a 5.4 litre, use the 15 grand you got toward the purchase which will result in a quite small monthly payment...I had a good experience at Car Max w/my F 150... :sand:

[phatdaddy]

how many miles a year do you put on vehicles and how long do you keep them?
i drive dodges because you can get them cheap and drive them till they drop, but i use them for work trucks. if it is a family vehicle, i went with chevy 02 or later. more money, but better ride & much better gas mileage. i have always heard the best bang for the buck is a 5 year old vehicle every three years.

[willy]

CT that is what I had, to spend and bought new with it, not sure if that is what you are considering or 15 g's as a limit.
For me it depends mostly on what you are doing with it. Three major decisions are - 4x4 or not - towing, and how much - and number of people and miles you will be driving.
For me the F150 was the best all around.
If I was not towing I might of thought different. If I was looking for something to carry mostly two people with a lot of miles probably a Toyota Tacoma, any year.
Weigh the bang for the buck for your uses.

[Blue_Runner]

If I was looking for something to carry mostly two people with a lot of miles probably a Toyota Tacoma, any year.
Weigh the bang for the buck for your uses.
Damn there you go again thinking just like me! My good friend is looking for a truck and I told him the other day I'd love to have a tacoma but just can't because of the boat.

Love those trucks.

[charlie_the_tuna]

phat, i plan to drive this one until i, or it falls down dead in the street. whichever comes first.
willy, i will be towing but the main purpose will be a second family vehicle. loading the bed with bikes or firewood or camping gear or whatever. i also like the tacoma but i hope to tow something in the 24 foot range at some point in the not too distant future. as for mileage we dont drive more than a low to average amount, other than a few road trips here and there. it will mostly sit and wait for me at some of the local train stations. 4x4 might be the way to go as i figure it will give me a little bit more insurance at the local (and not so local) boat ramp. also, any more winters like this one, it certainly couldnt hurt.
reel, when i bought my wife her minivan i took the same approach. $15,000. max, and then ended up buying her a brand new $30,000. sienna. this time i plan on sticking with the $15,000. (or so) max. i guess i could go a couple grand more or less but going much higher is not an option this time.
and blue, again, i do love the tacoma, and toyota in general but i figure a V20 would be the limit of towing capacity for it. i'm hoping to go a bit larger for my next one.

[Blue_Runner]

and blue, again, i do love the tacoma, and toyota in general but i figure a V20 would be the limit of towing capacity for it. i'm hoping to go a bit larger for my next one.
Yeah I would not recommend a tacoma for towing a V except for short distances on flat terrain. I tow long distances on hilly terrain so definitely not for me!

[THEFERMANATOR]

I personally would go with a 1500 CHEVY with the 5.3L in it. The quad cab has plenty of room in it for actual adults and is a solid tow rig made in the USA. The late model FORD with a 5.4L is also a good contender. GM has the edge for comfort and milage in my opinion, but that's just me. The DODGE is also a decent truck, but they are not known to last for the long haul very well due to there interiors being reliant heavily on plastics. The biggest thing is to find the one that is comfortable to you though.

[reelapeelin]

reel, when i bought my wife her minivan i took the same approach. $15,000. max, and then ended up buying her a brand new $30,000. sienna. this time i plan on sticking with the $15,000. (or so) max. i guess i could go a couple grand more or less but going much higher is not an option this time.
and blue, again, i do love the tacoma, and toyota in general but i figure a V20 would be the limit of towing capacity for it. i'm hoping to go a bit larger for my next one.


Chuck, there's plenty of 4-door trucks out there in that range that'll do the job...Willy's right about the 4-wheel drive...do your ramps require it?...if not, you can get more truck and better mileage by far goin 2-wheel drive...mine is 2WD...whatever you come down on, be sure it's got the factory tow package

[spareparts]

from what I found out from dealing with my Ford van, all the Ford triton series motors can be real expensive to work on labor and parts. Look up directions on repairing a cylinder head on a Ford pick up and the first thing they tell you is to pull the cab off the frame to get to the engine. Ever tried putting plugs in one? The chevy LS engines aren't cheap but they are easier to work on and have a good aftermarket following. I've allways been a chevy guy, but the newer GMC's look better. I'm not real thrilled with eth way GM handled the banckruptsy adn my hats off to Ford for not taking stimulos money. But I would still buy the GM truck just because I like it better.

[charlie_the_tuna]

what do you guys think about the gm 6.0? ferm? spare? anybody?

[phatdaddy]

great motor, naturally a little thirstier than the the smaller 5.3. but with a load not working as hard. is that what is in the Avalanche your looking at? i know that is not as thirsty as the dodge 5.9. considering your limited useage, it would not be much of a factor. the gear ratio would be a factor also..

[charlie_the_tuna]

phat, the avalanches i looked at all have the 5.3 but alot of the 1500's have the 6.0.

[THEFERMANATOR]

The 6.0L is a good engine, and a very strong engine for it's size. I haven't seen many 1500's with the 6.0L as that was normally for the VORTEC MAX option. I know the newer 07+ 1500's had it as an option though, and I believe it was backed by the new 6 speed auto in the 07+.

[nipper]

I remember we all said heck no when you first brought up the avalanches, but the newer ones look nice without all that plastic cladding on them.

[phatdaddy]

strange, down here 80% of the 1500's have 5.3 and 80% of the 2500's have the 6.0 anyway if it is more of a weekend warrior and not a daily driver, the 6.0 will not let you down.(just because it'll go that fast, you don't have to drive it that fast)

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

Had a 2005 2500HD with 6.0 crew cab and long bed and pulled a very heavy 26'er like was not there. I had 4.10 gears. I sold it for a suburban, big mistake. I do like the suburban, but the pick up had much better acceleration and ride.

[macojoe]

I have a 2002 Chevy 1500 with a 4.8 V8, I bought it 5 years ago with 60,000 miles on it, I now have 170,000 and the thing still runs great!

I get 14 MPG evry were I go never seems to change
Be sides tires, oil changes, breaks all I have had to do is a fuel pump and the evap system had a bad vent sencor thing, total of $800 Thats not bad for 110,000 miles!

I have a 30 foot Camper and now the 23 Sea Ox it tows just find! the rear springs were a bit light duty for the camper so I went to th bone yard and got a set out of a 2500 for $100 and spent a afternoon swaping them out, Now i have no issues at all.

I feel very comfy in this truck, but it is not a quite cab, say like the Fords. But is ok. The breaks are a bit light for this truck but as others have said before add some sloted and drilled rotors and that will take care of it. But if not towing then should not be a issue.

Over all I have nothing but good things to say about this truck and I drive them hard, just ask CB and BS!! LOL

I am also starting the look for a new truck soon and another GM will be sure to find a place in my yard!

Also I have a friend that has a GMC 1500 6 cyl 2 wheel drive and gets 20 mpg, so if 4x4 is not needed a 2 wheel drive will give you better gas.

My brother has a 2001 GMC 2500 with the 6.o and the thing is a beast! Can pull a house off the fondation, but he is like 12 or 13 mpg, he bought his new in 2001 and just past 200,000 miles with no big problems.

Ok there is my 2 cents

Good Luck

[Stinky_Hooker]

I maintain 3 6.0's where I work. All have been very good vehicles. As stated they are thirsty but very strong and very dependable in my experience.

[charlie_the_tuna]

i would like to resurrect this post to ask another question. if i go for the ford or the chevy and i pick up something with like 60 to 85 k on it, can i realistically expect to get like 200 to 250 k out of these things? my last pickup was a 1957 ford slabside with the 300/6 and 3 on the tree. it was falling apart when we junked it with over half a million on it.

[charlie_the_tuna]

and do i need 4x4 to pull a 24 up a ramp? it seems the rwd is about 3 to 5 k less.

[bradford]

i would like to resurrect this post to ask another question. if i go for the ford or the chevy and i pick up something with like 60 to 85 k on it, can i realistically expect to get like 200 to 250 k out of these things? my last pickup was a 1957 ford slabside with the 300/6 and 3 on the tree. it was falling apart when we junked it with over half a million on it.

My 94 Gmc Sierra has 221,000. My dad's had 300,000, he had a chevy van that went 450,000 when he traded it and never had the valve covers off, A friend of mine has a 02 Gmc 2500 and does all sorts of heavy hauling working in the concrete industry and has 236,000. GM will last forever if maintained correctly. Basic repairs such as waterpumps, fuel pumps, alternator, etc. I would expect to rebuild or replace a tranny at 150-200,000 though.

[inaforty]

We have a 2001 2500HD reg cab with the 6.0 w/4.11 rear. We bought it used with 21k and it now has 33k.
It has been a good truck. I'm glad to hear that others are having good luck with the motor as we rarely use it as a daily driver. Made the mistake of letting the truck sit in the barn to much and had to turn the rotors turned and replace the rear calipers. A good friend (ex V 20 owner) and master tech for GM scolled the hell out of me for not driving the truck. Told me I was doing more harm then good letting it sit. :nut:

The truck is thirsty but it pulls our Rosborough pretty darn well. We towed the Rosborough up into the mountains of upstate NY going to Lake Champlain last summer. That is when I thought having a diesel would be nice.

[phatdaddy]

ctt, on the 4wd question, i've trailered boats from 19 to 23 for 30 years and just recently had 4wd on a tahoe. i love it. a lot depends on the ramp angle and surface. i load the boat on the trailer and my wife(in 4 low) eases it up the ramp. probably not a neccesity, but very nice to have.

[Hammerhead]

I've had good luck with Ford products. My E-150 conversion van v-6 w/towing package has 150K miles, runs great and pulls the V-20 w/o issue and serves as a work truck most of the time.

[nipper]

Wife and I have a 1998 Chevrolet Suburban K1500 4wd which we bought in 01 or 02 with 65k miles. Still running very strong at 168k

[spareparts]

our 99 Burb has 190,000 on it anda still going strong, down here in Orlando today, checked milage with 6 people, back full of luggage, even had teh carrier in the hitch with a cooler and box of food on it. Ran 70 or better on the way down, made 18.4 mpg with the 5.7 2wd

[reelapeelin]

Before the F-150, I had a Silverado 1500 w/a 350...motor went to sh!t and had to replace at 150,000...the F-150 w/a 5.4 litre has 240,000, uses some oil (about a qt between changes), but otherwise runs great...I'd run it back down to Franco's inna heartbeat...

My bet is the next post will be a guy who can swap Ford for Chevy w/the same story...it's a crap-shoot either way...you might wanna buy a 3 yr warranty for whatever you get...

As far as 2WD, I've pulled several 24'ers out w/my 2WD...but it's been on good ramps and not overly steep or slick...so that's gonna depend on what kinda ramps you have to deal with on a regular basis...you'll definately save $$ on initial purchase and fuel costs w/2WD...

I honestly don't believe anybody can predict a Ford or a Chevy is gonna last longer than the other...:beer:

[macojoe]

I have a 2002 1500 I bought it in 2005 with 60k for miles, now has 175,000 and runs like a dream! My brother has a 2500 with 215000 and his also is going strong.
So yes 200 should be easy!

2x vs 4x I say if you can get a posie in it you would be fine other wised stay with 4x4 its a dream on the ramp!

Chevy vs Ford there is always going to be some for each, me its Chevy.

[spareparts]

Reel, you nailed it that one, that 03 E150 with the 4.6 is the worst vehicle for the miles it had on it I've ever owned. That being said, I'm picking up the replacemnt for it Wednesday, its a 99 E350 with a 7.3 diesel, its got 300,000, I figure the rings have just about seated in this motor