I’m in the process of looking for a used truck. Probably be in the 2018-2022 range. Not worried about brand just a good dependable vehicle. Anyone have any advice. Only towing I do is a 18′ competitor. Thanks for the help.
Tacoma has a reputation of reliability. Fuel efficiency isn’t a good as one may think for a mid size truck, but they’ll tow your competitor fine. Resale value is higher if clean.
Everyone that I know that owns ford trucks has them for looks. Honestly can’t think of anyone I know that uses them for a work truck.
My opinion is GMC is easier of the trucks to work on. I’ve owned all 2500hd Duramax. Front wheel bearings and front suspension oem parts aren’t that great. I’ve swapped out to aftermarket upgrades when oem wore out. Over half million miles on each.
I have a 3500 dodge with 6.7 Cummins. Good runner with plenty of torque. Cab sucks and the straight front axel makes for a carnival ride. Won’t buy another unless it’s cheap enough to justify.
I haven’t owned a truck with a gas engine since 1995. Can’t help ya with gassers
If dependability is your #1 priority I would look no further than toyota. One with the 5.7L to be exact. That would be a tundra or sequoia.
I have a 2021 tundra and tow my competitor 175 just fine. Also tow my buddies 18ft ice castle with no issues. Gas mileage sucks – get around 12 this time of year and around 15-17 for the summer months. Tundra owners have a saying – rather pay at the pump than at the shop.
I’ve owned fiats, GMC, Ford and Nissan. Most reliable truck I ever owned was a Nissan D21. If the framed hadn’t cracked I’d probably still have it. Most luxurious ride was a yukon XL. Had lots of suspension issues in the short time I owned it and the original owner replaced motor at 90k. If I had to buy a new truck today I think I would go with a fiat. I lover the hemi motor in my Durango. (Toyota no longer offers a naturally aspirated engine)
The first thing I’d do is throw out anyone’s opinion who speaks in absolutes saying one manufacturer is gospel and everything else is inferior. In today’s world the light duty truck companies all make nice stuff, with smaller differences than ever before.
I’d get in them and drive them. Have a budget in mind and compare apples to apples as far as trim level and features go across brands. I’d probably go with the best value I could find with the best maintenance records in today’s market, and worry less about what is stamped on the front.
My next truck will be either a Ford, Chevy, GMC, Ram, or Toyota in no particular order.
I own a 16 ram 1500 that I bought new. Just hit 100k, no problems at all besides a manifold gasket under Warranty. I don’t drive it much because I have a daily work truck but it spends most of its life towing a boat lot of trips to northern MN with a load on. I would buy another 5.7 hemi in a heart beat, the Toyota is great as well I would always recommend a look at the Toyotas. But owning my ram has never been a bad thing
I am in agreement… The best trucks I have owned have all has 5.7 motors… currently own one of the toyota variety. Would buy a new GM on a heartbeat if I could order a new 1997 Z71 with a 5.7. I loved that truck too, The Dodge with 5.7 is a good truck too, unfortunately I was sold a 4.7 when I had a dodge and now cannot convience myself to buy another Ram, but, I have not ruled them out for certain next time.
The first thing I’d do is throw out anyone’s opinion who speaks in absolutes saying one manufacturer is gospel and everything else is inferior. In today’s world the light duty truck companies all make nice stuff, with smaller differences than ever before.
I’d get in them and drive them. Have a budget in mind and compare apples to apples as far as trim level and features go across brands. I’d probably go with the best value I could find with the best maintenance records in today’s market, and worry less about what is stamped on the front.
My next truck will be either a Ford, Chevy, GMC, Ram, or Toyota in no particular order.
amen. Most trucks these days are very good. I’m a gm person and have had awesome luck. My wife’s 2012 Denali not so much but we’ve been covered by warranty. I’d say be very vigilant and look at the frame and body of any vehicle to make sure there isn’t excess rust in that vintage. Then drive it and see what you think.
Honestly all the manufacturers make good trucks these days but they all have issues and if you search the web you will find plenty of horror stories with all of them. Personally I think a lot of the issues come from poor maintenance but things do happen and break or wear out. I just got a new to me truck which is a 2016 f-150 lariat with the 3.5 ecoboost and it is night and day difference from my 99 GMC 2500 that I have had for 15yrs and still have. We looked at Ford, GM, and dodge and we liked the Ford best for our use and what we could get for our budget, not saying it was any better than the others just what we liked better. Figure out what features you want in your next truck and then test drive a few that meet those needs and see which one you like best.
I’d suggest you scour the used vehicle websites like cargurus.com, etc. I found a 2019 Ram 1500 Classic SLT Crew Cab 4WD a few weeks ago from a Ford dealer in the Twin Cities. My understanding is that the SLT is made specifically as a fleet truck. You won’t see new ones on Ram dealer lots. The carfax showed that it was originally a rental in Kentucky for the first 10,000 miles then sold to a private party in Minnesota that put another 32,000 on it. I don’t know if it was a daily rental or rented to a company for the entire 10,000 miles. I got it for $29,470 plus they gave me $2,000 for my 2007 Honda Pilot that had 175,000 miles that was clean but needed some work (power steer hose and pump, timing belt, tires). It’s got the 5.7L Hemi, 6’4″ box, some nice comfort features, a factory spray bed liner and a tonneau cover.
I’ve never had a truck before and honestly was looking for another Honda Pilot but they seem to be so small now, even though they are rated to tow 5,000 with the AWD which is adequate to tow my boat. When I decided the Pilot was too small, I was looking for a 1500 Silverado LT which is rated for 19 city/23 highway MPG which was about what I was getting with the Pilot or even a little better. But then I saw the Ram which was a better deal than I was finding in Silverados. But the Ram is only rated for like 15 city/21 highway.
Having never driven a pickup truck, my initial impression is that it’s too big for a daily back-and-forth to work, around town daily driver. Honestly, I’d rather drive my Honda CRV AWD on the recent snowy roads but my daughter drives that. Gas mileage on the Ram is not good. Maybe getting 14 mpg city if you believe the trip mpg gauge. I haven’t had any considerable highway trips yet. It is nice towing the boat and it came in handy to drive off road to pick up a couple of deer.
Time will tell if it’s dependable and if I got a good deal.
By far the most reliable option is the Toyota whether were talking Tundra or Tacoma is up to you and what you need or want for size and capability. I work in the industry and can talk in absolutes on this. All the other brands have there issues but all are nice trucks to own and drive. Agree that a lot of the problems that people have are due to lack of taking care of it and following the new oil change intervals the dealer sets. You are going to pay a little more for a Toyota but will be happy you did. For the record I ended up buying a slightly used Ram recently because of the deal I ended up getting was way to good to pass on. It has been nice so far but has had some repair needs that at the low miles it has it should not have. Do have to say the power the Hemi produces is nice.
Watch out for transmission issues in the 2014-2018 Chevy/GMC half tons
Until the other manufacturers start making aluminum body’s I think Ford will have the nod to me . Nothing kills resale like rust I think .
Yeah just found that out. 2018 with 35k miles.
I’m on my second newer generation Ram 1500 and really like them. Even convinced my Dad to get one and switch from always owning F150s. He has had nothing but positive reviews so far too. The 5.7 with the towing package has been great for hauling around the fish house. Much better than the ecoboost I had before.
I also really like the interiors on the Rams. The backseat is much bigger than my F150 had.
Agree with the previous comments that all manufacturers make a solid truck these days, and they all have a few lemons. Between my Dad and I we have had 4 Ram’s with the 5.7l Hemi and have had no issues at all, over about 300k miles collectively, although we both traded in our older trucks before they reached very high mileage. I think my 2011 with 160k was the highest mileage. I haven’t looked recently but when I upgraded in 2018 Ram’s were about 10k less than comparable GM/Fords, which made an easier decision for me. If you have kids make sure the backseat is big enough for a carseat, and a 6’4″ box is a requirement for me for a number of reasons (Hauling fishing rods being one of them). The combo of those two really limited the options out there when I was shopping too.
Until the other manufacturers start making aluminum body’s I think Ford will have the nod to me . Nothing kills resale like rust I think .
Aluminum corrodes just as easily as steel does. I see tons of expeditions where the rear hatch is eaten completely through. Plus the aluminum body panels are a bitch for body shops to work on so insurance is typically higher.
1997 C1500 Silverado, no engine or trans issues, sold at 175k for $2500
2010 Silverado 1500, no engine or trans issues, sold at 254k for $5500
2016 Silverado 1500, no engine or trans issues, no rust either yet, currently at 130k
I plan to run this one until something does happen (unlikely in my experience so far), or an insurance job comes along. The used market makes me sick. I have gripes with my particular truck, namely the double cab sucks with car seats, but we have a Tahoe for kid hauling. I’ve driven all of them, would consider a ram if they weren’t $10k more expensive for used ones, would not consider a ford since every one of their gassers I’ve ever been behind the wheel of sounds like a rattley POS. Tickytockytickytocky all damn day, even on a brand new coyote V8 I test drove that had 10 miles on the clock. I do like their huge gas tank option and I wish GM would or the aftermarket would offer such a tank for my truck.
Bucky hits my hot button.
I have had Ford, GMC, Honda, Chevy, Toyota…
they all hit the same mark. Regular maintenance, and take care of them and they have all taken care of me.
I choose the best value for the money I have, do my due diligence and shop around and go from there.
I will never buy another brand new vehicle.
BTW, the thing that makes me start looking is rust. Hate having rust on my vehicles.
Speaking of absolutes… I also am in the industry. Last I checked, all the manufacturer dealerships have parts and service depts in the back. 
Call prospective brands service depts and see how long to get in with an appointment for a Transmission or Engine issue… that will tell you how reliable they are. Have fun shopping ! 
If you can, wait 6 months. You’ll save thousands. Big shakeups happening in the last couple days in the used car market. Prices should be coming down.
Call prospective brands service depts and see how long to get in with an appointment for a Transmission or Engine issue… that will tell you how reliable they are. Have fun shopping !
To a point yes, but with the supply chain issues many of these things are backordered for months, many dealers dont carry large inventories of engines or transmissions. It took 4 months for my wife’s engine to come in. They could have worked on it right away, but since none could be had it had to wait.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>big_g wrote:</div>
Call prospective brands service depts and see how long to get in with an appointment for a Transmission or Engine issue… that will tell you how reliable they are. Have fun shopping !To a point yes, but with the supply chain issues many of these things are backordered for months, many dealers dont carry large inventories of engines or transmissions. It took 4 months for my wife’s engine to come in. They could have worked on it right away, but since none could be had it had to wait.
Initial appt is for Diagnosis. Without parts, we can diag all day ! Yes, all manufacturers have parts issues.. we use the same suppliers for alot of them.
If you can, wait 6 months. You’ll save thousands. Big shakeups happening in the last couple days in the used car market. Prices should be coming down.
What are the shakeups you are talking about? Genuinely curious. We looked for about a month before we bought and in that time interest rates went up 3 times. I too believe prices need to come down as the used vehicle market is insane.
What are the shakeups you are talking about? Genuinely curious. We looked for about a month before we bought and in that time interest rates went up 3 times. I too believe prices need to come down as the used vehicle market is insane.
Search Carvana and check out the news on them in last couple days. Could be foreshadowing used car futures.
Bigger picture. Used car wholesale prices have been steadily decreasing week over week. down 18% since July. Expected to continue into next year.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Stanley wrote:</div>
What are the shakeups you are talking about? Genuinely curious. We looked for about a month before we bought and in that time interest rates went up 3 times. I too believe prices need to come down as the used vehicle market is insane.Search Carvana and check out the news on them in last couple days. Could be foreshadowing used car futures.
Bigger picture. Used car wholesale prices have been steadily decreasing week over week. down 18% since July. Expected to continue into next year.
If you’re buying cash with not much of a trade-in, I’d be waiting it out a bit.
If you are trading in something with significant value/equity (over $10k or so), or are financing a majority of your purchase….I’d be looking now.
I’ve got a 2013 F150 with exactly 100k miles as my DD that I’ve started to debate getting rid of. No issues and 100% paid off with no body rust, but I know that inevitably is coming. We’ve got other old vehicles to bomb around in if I dumped it now and waited until Summer or even next Fall to buy another daily driver. My problem is I will not buy a pickup with the dinky 5.5′ box ever again, and because of that my options are significantly limited
My problem is I will not buy a pickup with the dinky 5.5′ box ever again, and because of that my options are significantly limited
I walked out of the dealer ship about 3 weeks ago because the sales person didn’t understand that I would not even entertain the idea of having that small of a box. One of his remarks was “how muck do you even use the box?” Why would I want a truck if I was not going to use the box? I responded with “you are right….. I should be looking for a 8’ box.” The look on his face.
I miss having an 8’ box.
I walked out of the dealer ship about 3 weeks ago because the sales person didn’t understand that I would not even entertain the idea of having that small of a box. One of his remarks was “how muck do you even use the box?” Why would I want a truck if I was not going to use the box? I responded with “you are right….. I should be looking for a 8’ box.” The look on his face.
Those tinker toy boxes are useless. I would never buy a truck with that box. I can fit my otter lodge in the back and shut the end gate with the 6.5 foot box. Deal breaker for me too.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>
My problem is I will not buy a pickup with the dinky 5.5′ box ever again, and because of that my options are significantly limitedI have owned 8 ft boxes for all my life. My ram now is 5ft7. Took along time to get used to but I don’t know much I can’t haul. I’ve made it work always. 3 dirt bikes at a time, can am outlander 800, grizzly 700, otter resort. That said My next truck will be a 2500 4 door 8 ft box again. Luckily my back seat it big enough to fit alot in when I do have hay or what ever in my box
“I got an 8 foot bed that never has to be made.” 
2021 Tundra with the 5.7 and don’t look back.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
