crazylegs wrote:My third truck was a 2002 GMC sonoma. It was pretty, and had about half the mileage, but it was no where near the quality of the two older trucks, (Both of which I had sold, I'm still kicking myself.) Man, those trucks were great. Short of napalm, you couldn't kill them for nothing.
Amen. I'd trade the truck I have now ('97 Dodge [strike]POS[/strike] Ram 1500) for my first vehicle. The thing ran like a top. Manual trans, plastic free, oil bath air cleaner, 6 thimble sized pistons of fury, Argh ARgh ARGH!
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Wrenchbender: I've got one just like it rusting in my back yard, except it has the full steel hardtop with roll-up windows (one even works). It has the rare Dana 44 rear axle with offset pumpkin AND 30 spline, one piece axle shafts. I also have the parts to convert the model 18 transfer case to twin sticks. And, of course, the Buick 225 V-6. Make you a deal.
Edit to add: By the way, that is red paint showing through where the fugly green has flaked off. It's entirely possible that I have your old Jeep; let me know when you want to make the trade.
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"People come and go in our lives, especially the online ones. Some leave a fond memory, and some a bad taste." -Aesop
Work requires that I either get a company truck, or they pay me per month plus mileage, given the truck is 2 or less years old and under 50k miles when I get it. So, in September '08 I purchased a hold-over '07 F-150 King Ranch with every option minus navigation for $35k OTD. I wasn't exactly thrilled about going $35k into debt over another vehicle (already have too many vehicles), but I have been continually impressed with this vehicle. The crew cab is awesome (obviously so is the cowhide interior), and the 6.5' bed can fit about anything I need at the moment, and it can haul anything I have on my 18' dual-axle trailer.
It would be nice if it was a diesel, but damn... I can't imagine a 3/4 ton driving near as nice.
New or Used. Meh. I have done both and am pretty happy both ways. as soon as I finish paying for the new one we got last year I have decided my only criteria is whatever I can pay cash for. Fuck financing. I'm done with it.
Justice Sotomayor, States may have grown accustomed to violating the rights of American citizens, but that does not bootstrap those violations into something that is constitutional. — Alan Gura
Yeah, it wasn't the best performing truck out of all the other '07s that I looked at, but it was $10k cheaper than the Chevy equivalent, and was better than the last generation of Dodge trucks. I didn't even consider the Nissan or Toyota, as I try to avoid foreign cars whenever possible. Well, foreign cars that arent' British that is... lol.
Blah... I'm so soured on American trucks I doubt I can ever be converted back. I currently have 2 F350s and a GMC 3500 for my business. I've had Dodges and Chevys, too. They all run great until ~100K. Then, everything falls apart. Transmissions blow up to the tune of $3000. All sorts of little niggling things like glow plug relays, high pressure fuel pumps (IIRC, around $2000 on the Dodges) and electrical gremlins will annoy the heck out of an otherwise sane person (not me).
Then again, I do beat the hell out of them. Constantly towing 10,000# trailers, beds loaded with concrete block, etc. Maybe I should be happy with 100K miles. I was going to give Toyota a shot this year (their Tundra x-cab long bed w. big V-8 can tow 10K). But, business is down, so I'll keep on keepin on with the American trucks.
Oh yeah, my Fords are both diesel Lariats with no factory block heater. Why build a diesel truck with ALL the options available at that time except a block heater??? Yeah, this ain't Alaska. But it regularly gets down into the teens and single digits in the winter. Diesels don't like that!!
If I were looking for another luxury car, I don't think I'd ever buy another new one unless I hit the lottery. My current car cost $85K new. I bought it two years old with a factory 100K Cert. Preowned warranty for about 1/2 the new cost. Then again, if the economy keeps going downward, my next car will be a 5 year old Hyundai.
while i have to respect your analysis, you forgot to factor in the shitty car factor...
after a long ford ownership, and the vast array of electrical problems in my current car, i wont ever buy a new ford again... i would perhaps consider a pre 1990 ford truck, but not a new one...
like wise, after driving two different Toyotas for almost a decade combined with minimal problems, i would have zero qualms about getting another Toyota...
most of the people i know with domestically manufactured cars have constant quality problems that i dont hear about nearly as much on foreign cars.
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
Keep the hell away from Ford Diesels. Ever since the New powerstrokes hit the market to replace the 7.3 Navistar, they've been nothing but nightmares.
Chryslers big problems with it's trucks is A)they're auto trans kinda suck, B)they seem to suffer from front end problems and C)MB basically squeezed all the money they could out of the company, then sold the corpse to Cerebus. Thankfully, Cerebus is trying to get them back on track.
GM makes probably the best truck overall of the big 3, but because of union problems, build quality is somewhat eratic, and they're having money problems leads to other headaches. They do get the best mileage of any gasoline fullsize
Chris, keep in mind that while the Cummins powered Dodge does get better mileage than a Gas fullsize, Diesel is WAY, WAY more expensive - in NJ, it's 50-60 cents more a gallon. At one point, it was almost a dollar more.
HTRN
Last edited by HTRN on Thu Jul 29, 2010 7:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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HTRN wrote:
Chris, keep in mind that while the Cummins powered Dodge does get better mileage than a Suburban(not by much though - 1-2MPG), Diesel is WAY, WAY more expensive - in NJ, it's 50-60 cents more a gallon. At one point, it was almost a dollar more.
Down here, Diesel runs anywhere from about the same to about $0.10 more than premium gas. Even at peak it was only about $0.40 more.
And though there is no official rating, Car and Driver tested the diesel Ram 2500 crew cab 4x4, and came up with 20 city, 25 hwy; which is about 3mpg better.
More importantly though, the diesel gives you an extra 400lbs of payload, 3000lbs of towing (both over the same truck with the hemi), and if you so choose, a six speed manual transmission (which gives an extra MPG or so as well).
And of course compatibility with generators, tractors etc... in the event of emergency; and ridiculous reliability and service life etc...
I'm still not sure it's worth the hassle and the extra cost; but with the incentives dodge is offering, it's certainly worth thinking about. For Chevy and Ford, I don't really think it is. It's just too expensive.
Chris,
We use the Cummins 5.9 in a lot of offshore operations, particuliarly cranes. It's a great engine. Take care of it, and you'll probably get 300k out of it before an engine rebuild.
And since it's diesel, you can make your own fuel for it. Homemade biodiesel, made from used veg oil, pure lye, and 100% methanol. I've done it, and it's not hard at all.
Just something to think about....
"Life is a bitch. Shit happens. Adapt, improvise, and overcome. Acknowledge it, and move on."
