help deciding between trucks guys...

Any topic not related to the various forum categories
Forum rules
Keep it civil and mind the rules! Absolutely no ranting!
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9398
Joined: 23 Jan 2012 07:44
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1837 times
Been thanked: 2281 times

Re: help deciding between trucks guys...

Post by Ranch Dog »

I've never understood why Toyota and Nissan never developed rural dealer networks as I think they would do well. No matter what these outfits think, farmers and ranchers here are not going to buy a truck in the nearest big city. First and foremost, they would never trust a city dealer.

I bought a Kia, my wife wanted it, so we had to go to the city to buy it. It is a great car but we would never buy one again unless the dealer was local. We have the big three here so that is what it will be.
Michael
Image
User avatar
GasGuzzler
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2745
Joined: 02 Nov 2015 19:54
Location: Cooke County, TX
Has thanked: 310 times
Been thanked: 451 times

Re: help deciding between trucks guys...

Post by GasGuzzler »

I see your point but I disagree as far as my community goes. There's a Kubota dealer that does OK but the JD dealer is huge for the size of town. If they won't buy a Japanese tractor I doubt they'll buy a truck.

This is farming/racehorse/oil field country around here. None of those three would consider a foreign truck for the most part.

I can't imagine what a Nissan "half ton" would look like after three months in the oil field.

I know the Japanese trucks can make big odometers but let's see one with 60K miles at 8 months of age despite being off road an average of 50 hours per week.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane.
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9398
Joined: 23 Jan 2012 07:44
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1837 times
Been thanked: 2281 times

Re: help deciding between trucks guys...

Post by Ranch Dog »

That's a good point. Look at what the oil field crews are driving. We have a huge amount of work trucks related to the Eagle Ford Shale on our roads. Offhand, I would guess the overwhelming majority of them are GMC but I will start paying better attention.

The JD vs. Kubota thing is a funny one as Kubota is probably the more popular tractor for ranch work and the JD better at big field work. Where Kubota started pulling ahead a decade ago is with the 100%, 0 down, 0 interest financing.
Michael
Image
User avatar
alphalimafoxtrot
Posts: 249
Joined: 15 Dec 2015 05:16
Location: Alexandria Virginia
Has thanked: 378 times
Been thanked: 59 times

Re: help deciding between trucks guys...

Post by alphalimafoxtrot »

Thanks GasGuzzler - and RD - for the Chevy reality check.

Keeping all the big 3 in the game now. The Chevys I can afford are 2007-2012 for the most part, about $19k and under is my goal for any of these trucks regardless of brand.

Looked over a coworker's 2016 Ford F150 crewcab and it has nice interior, adaptive cruise control, seems like he really likes it.
I am a regular joe, consisting of 78% coffee, 12% hot air, 9% organizational abilities, and 1% luck.
Archer
2000 Shots
2000 Shots
Posts: 3942
Joined: 04 Feb 2014 05:30
Location: SoCal Loco
Has thanked: 137 times
Been thanked: 610 times

Re: help deciding between trucks guys...

Post by Archer »

My boss was running an older F150 up until around October 2015 when the engine decided to throw a rod or something on his way home. I drove it a couple times a few years before the engine went and even with more than a decade and something like 150+K on it the ride was nice and the steering was tight. Barely noticeably different from new ones I test drove back then.

He replaced it with what I think was one of the last 2014 F150s available in the Limited trim package in the country. The dealership claimed that when he showed interest in it there was a guy across the country in Pennsylvania trying to get it shipped but since he'd done business with them before they'd hold it for him while he was on vacation and if he didn't want it they expected they'd not have a problem finding another buyer. He came back from vacation with his wife and picked it up. It's a 3.5 Ecoboost with everything on it they offered that year. Last year for steel before they went to aluminum but with the current body style and headlamps. He's still very happy with it except for the fact that the mileage he's getting isn't great although he claims not to track it and he'd replaced the tires once, probably a second time since I talked to him last month about it. He's got a bit of a heavy foot and it's a 4 wheel drive doing around 55+ miles both to and from work gaining about 1000 foot in elevation on the way in. I know he got nailed by the LEOs soon after he got it doing 80 and it's real easy to loose track of how fast you are running. I've driven it once or twice when he needed to collect the flatbed and it's nice.

I don't know about the full sized Nissan Titans. A buddy's wife just exchanged her Frontier for a Honda CRV. She liked the Nissan and I liked the fact it was probably the last of the basic trucks out there. As I understand it they hand no problems with the Frontier. It replaced a SUV on the same frame/drivetrain that crapped out the engine or transmission after several years to the point it wasn't worth fixing. My buddy said if it'd been up to him he'd have gone for the Tacoma but the Nissan was nearly 10 grand less and it was his wife's vehicle so it was her choice. He did mention that the rear view mirror was right in his vision line blocking his view of traffic coming in from the left if he wasn't careful.

I lean toward the American brands but with them being manufactured in Mexico and overseas and in some cases with the design being done offshore as well and with the pension overhead vs. the foreign manufacturers putting factories in the states I'm not certain there's that much of a difference as I'd like to think.

I'm also a little torqued with the lobbing GM has done to add complexity and cost into vehicles in an attempt to get some of their tech mandated as a competitive advantage. Typically all that's done has been to raise cost for everyone with sufficient delay for either the GM patents to run out or for the competition to develop alternative methods for the tech on their own. GM's probably not the only one but they've hit my radar harder than most of the others.

It seems like it's getting to the point that all the manufacturers are trying to add so much computer crap to new vehicles that I'm expecting Microsoft Blue Screen of Death to pop up on the console when you try to start them. That's one of the reasons why I haven't bought a replacement for my current car although it's 17 years old and going on a quarter million miles. If it wasn't for the fact some young twerp hit it a couple years back and it's never been quite the same plus repairs are starting to be required more often and that parts are starting to get somewhat harder to get I'd probably keep running it but it's just starting to wear down to the point that it's time for replacement.
User avatar
GasGuzzler
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2745
Joined: 02 Nov 2015 19:54
Location: Cooke County, TX
Has thanked: 310 times
Been thanked: 451 times

Re: help deciding between trucks guys...

Post by GasGuzzler »

It's the fed adding all the computer crap, the car makers are just deciding to take advantage of sales increases by adding user features with related tech.

Look at the fed's CAFE expectations in the years to come. Not gonna happen with a carburetor.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane.
GSB4243
Posts: 88
Joined: 23 Mar 2016 08:34
Location: Ohio
Has thanked: 59 times
Been thanked: 24 times

Re: help deciding between trucks guys...

Post by GSB4243 »

I was going to point out the same thing that Archer does, that deciding to purchase based on "Made in America" is a very slippery slope, but that normally starts wars on forums. Companies, including GM, Ford and Dodge, are all international. My Tundra was built in Texas and has among the most "American sourced" parts of any of the trucks (I think only Fords are more "American made"). The redesigned 2016 Nissan Titan was designed in California, engineered in Michigan, tested in Arizona and built in Mississippi and comes with the best warranty of any of the manufacturers (and I don't own one, so I am not biased). I think only the transmissions come from Japan, everything else is US sourced. Hence why I still maintain that ultimately it really is buyer preference in what is a global economy that is getting more global by the day.
User avatar
GasGuzzler
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2745
Joined: 02 Nov 2015 19:54
Location: Cooke County, TX
Has thanked: 310 times
Been thanked: 451 times

Re: help deciding between trucks guys...

Post by GasGuzzler »

For anyone that cares you can tell where any vehicle was assembled by the first digit of the VIN.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane.
Archer
2000 Shots
2000 Shots
Posts: 3942
Joined: 04 Feb 2014 05:30
Location: SoCal Loco
Has thanked: 137 times
Been thanked: 610 times

Re: help deciding between trucks guys...

Post by Archer »

GasGuzzler wrote:It's the fed adding all the computer crap, the car makers are just deciding to take advantage of sales increases by adding user features with related tech.

Look at the fed's CAFE expectations in the years to come. Not gonna happen with a carburetor.
Yes and no.

The Feds mandate it, but in some cases the manufacturer or patent holder lobbies for the Feds to create the mandate in an attempt to profit from their patent. The problem with that is the government usually can't mandate sole source. As a result even when such tech is adopted it is usually done in such a way that either it happens AFTER the patent runs out or there is a delay put in place to allow competitors to either develop their own version of the tech that does not infringe on the patent or negotiate license(s) once there's at least a couple sources available.

In other cases, consumers and/or advocates and/or opponents lobby for the Feds to install such a mandate.
OR some idiot politician becomes such an advocate or opponent.
In most cases it is a combination of supporters for the mandate out of several of the above categories.

From what I recall GM was an early developer and lobbed hard for the Feds to require certain 'black box' technology with the thought that if they couldn't bypass or overrule the prohibition on mandates for sole source they might still leverage their developments through license agreements and/or perhaps maintain an advantage having already developed it being able to concentrate on other aspects while their competition played catchup.

The backup camera mandate on the other hand is often credited to the woman who managed to back her SUV over her kid and spent several years thereafter telling the story of the little girl crying/dying in her arms to politicians and the press.

In many cases the supporting news articles and politicians press releases when such mandates are being pursued or even adopted are not accurate so the above cases may not be congruent with the facts. I know for example that certain of my buds have mentioned the cops downloading pre-crash records off certain higher end and European vehicles long before such devices were generally known to the public.

I'm TOTALLY with you on the CAFE standards and the idiocy promoted by the California Air Resource Board (CARB). With those clowns it is a religion that need not be bothered by the facts. The diesel emissions requirements adopted by CARB were based on a report by an individual who lied about his academic credentials and who used biased data (Maximum on record EVER cases which were MANY times current levels) and further manipulated the data beyond that bias (Flat out multiplied those maximum levels by a factor of 5 or more) and the head of CARB concealed the academic credential fraud from other members of the board leading up to using his report to adopt the new regulations and probably endorsed/commissioned the data manipulation/fraud in order to get those regulations passed. After it came to light how badly the board had been kept in the dark regarding the individual's credentials and how badly the report overstated not only current conditions but also trends the board chose to confirm the regulations passed based on those frauds. NOTHING in either the reports or regulations consider ANY real world physics or thermodynamics regarding what is theoretically possible much less the reality and limitations of state of the art engineering limitations which are always well beyond basic economic manufacture.
User avatar
alphalimafoxtrot
Posts: 249
Joined: 15 Dec 2015 05:16
Location: Alexandria Virginia
Has thanked: 378 times
Been thanked: 59 times

Re: help deciding between trucks guys...

Post by alphalimafoxtrot »

Hey Rossi Riflemen!

Adam here, the OP of this thread. Just got done with another year teaching 4th grade. My wife, also a teacher in elementary (she is a music teacher) and I both go in to work once more on Monday. That's the "wrap it up" day, I'm actually moving to a different room in the building thankfully on the same hallway. Going back to 3rd grade next year - yeah, buddy! I've taught every grade, K-6, except first.

So, now I'm able to get back to my own life once again. Also, I'm doing a "status update" on my truck quest.

Before the dogs realize I'm typing (this is something that triggers them to interact with me for some reason, usually ending up in play fighting) I'm about to sell my VW Golf TDI back to VW in a week and a half. My wife's Touareg TDI is going through the same process, I think her buyback is scheduled for late August.

So that's why we both are getting new/used vehicles - because of the Dieselgate scandal. Nice, huh? And we really like both cars. Anyway.....

My need for a truck - which must be a "true" crew-cab - is to set it up for traveling, with a pop-top camper in the bed and/or a utility trailer behind for toys, bins, the occasional generator/firewood whatever. We roll out with 2 dogs and like to offer them nice seating arrangements! Also nice to move friends and family around in those seats when unoccupied by dogs.

I've got lots of research time invested in a variety of truck camper manufacturers, here's just a sample so you see what we mean.

Truck camper brands: Pop-Up Truck Campers (here, pop-up refers to the height above the cab)
* Alaskan http://alaskancampers.com/
* Four Wheel Campers http://www.fourwh.com/
* http://www.fourwh.com/product/hawk-shor ... ular-size/
* Hallmark http://www.hallmarkrv.com/
* Northstar Pop-Up http://www.northstarcampers.com/
* Palomino Pop-Up http://www.palominorv.com/TruckCampers.aspx
* Phoenix Custom Campers http://phoenixpopup.com/

Far as trucks go - I've been to a number of dealers to inspect and test drive trucks. Going to be one of the big 3, GM/Ford/Dodge but I'm leaning towards a Sierra/Silverado 1500 4x4 with the 5.3 motor for a little better gas mileage. Going to steer clear of the Ecoboost twin turbo V6 Ford, not because it's bad, but because I want less stuff to possibly break over time. I'm keeping any choice NA just regular old FI.

OK now, like I predicted, two dogs are biting at me to play or kill them. I'll choose to play!!

Take care
Adam
I am a regular joe, consisting of 78% coffee, 12% hot air, 9% organizational abilities, and 1% luck.
Post Reply