Truck - what do you drive, and why?

rookhawk said:

We intend to buy a land cruiser in the coming few years if we can find a clean one with no frame rust and low miles. A 2018 model would be amazing.

The biggest thing holding us back is the insane collector premium on the Land Cruiser versus the better equipped but far less collected Lexus equivalent. It's dumbfounding to me that the vehicle with less features sells for a lot more, but there is just something about a classic Toyota for the hardcore off road enthusiast.

Click to expand...

mdwest said:

Im in the market for a new(ish?) truck...

To be honest, I have zero knowledge of what is "good" or not so good these days..

I typically buy something 1-2 years old (let someone else take the depreciation) and then drive it until the wheels fall off of it...

I bought my last truck in 2013.. Someone else had bought it new in late 2012 (its a 2013 model) and then turned around and traded it in 4 months later with 6000 miles on it.. Its now at the "wheels fall off of it" stage (215K fairly hard use miles and starting to fall apart)..

My priorities are must be full size, must have 4WD, must be able to tow a reasonable load long distances (I own an 18' center console boat that gets towed up to 300 miles at a time.. a 10' trailer and mid sized UTV that gets towed all over the place, regularly.. a "typical" trip is about 150 miles each direction.. but it will also get pulled from N TX to N ID later this year).. and the truck must be durable (again, my intent is to drive it a minimum of 8, up to 12 years.. until its falling apart.. only then would I buy another truck)..

Fancy options are cool and all.. but honestly arent a huge motivator.. pretty much any base level package on a 2022-2024 truck is going to have tons of stuff that my 2013 doesnt have (I have a CD player in my current truck lol..).. So neat stuff like oversized screens, sunroofs, etc arent really a big deal to me.. thats just something else to pay for that sooner or later will break, that I likely wont use much in the first place..

As long as it will last a long time, stand up to a pretty regular beating, can get me onto and off of our snow covered property in Colorado and our gumbo mud covered deer lease in E TX, can haul up to about 4000lbs without struggling to pull said load over the rocky mountains, etc... the biggest purchase motivator will be price (I really hate the idea of spending $60K - $80K on a freaking pick up truck... but it appears thats about where the market is right now)..

Currently Im looking at the Toyota Tundra, Dodge Ram 1500, and Ford F150.. My current truck is a Chevy Silverado.. and I have to admit.. while it has taken a beating and kept on running, I have pretty much hated the truck since the day I drove it off the lot.. I just dont like the handling, and its really struggled when pulling loads..

I test drove a tundra last night.. will probably go test drive a dodge tonight..

Does anyone have any insight or preferences I should know about? Any particular truck out there I should consider that isnt on "the list"?

Im not a car/truck guy.. I just put a key in the ignition and go.. this really isnt an area of expertise for me in any way..

Click to expand...

rookhawk said:

I may have shared this vehicle many pages ago, but I have more to reflect upon its overall ownership.

Our family has a 2016 1500 Ram Laramie Longhorn 4x4 with the ecodiesel 6 cyl engine.

Lessons learned if I had to do it all over again:

1.) This was the top of the line, max feature half ton that year. They were absurdly cheap at the time. I qualified for every possible rebate and negotiated pretty hard. It was a $62k MSRP vehicle and I was out the door for $41k. Had I known how much truck price inflation was going to occur, I would have bought another one to mothball for ten years.

2.) It has a HUGE 13 quart oil pan. The reason for this is the emissions are absolutely toxic to the health of the proven moto venturi engine from Europe that was not designed for DEF, DPF, and EGR emissions. Stellantis' idea was "the solution to the pollution is dilution". So as the motor is eating itself, its diluted into 13 quarts of oil to give the life any longevity at all.

3.) If I had to do it all over again, I would have voided my warranty the very first day I bought it and did a full delete. With a full delete that early in the life of the engine, it would live on forever. Unfortunately, it was deleted at 90k miles so it probably won't go more than 200k miles. We test our oil every other change to monitor for bearing wear and overall engine health. So far, so good.

4.) Beyond the emissions, the only other terrible thing about the vehicle is that it had air suspension since it was the top of the line model. I had the compressor replaced under warranty twice. It failed again along with leaks in the lines, about $10,000 for repair. I deleted the air suspension for $2800 because I never want anything to do with that terrible tech again. Had I known this previously, I would have bought one model level down, the Laramie which has lower quality leather seats and no leather/burl wood on the doors, but is otherwise identical minus the awful air suspension prone to failure.

This era of Ram pickup was and is quite good, I wouldn't hesitate to buy and delete a 2500 or 3500 with the cummins diesel if it has low miles on it as that is an even better engine. The body style of this era has aged well and most people cannot tell that the vehicle is a 2016 rather than a 2026 if its freshly washed.

The ecodiesels have taken quite a hit on depreciation, if you could find a low mile one and delete it, you'd probably be able to get a used one for around $20k, that is a LOT of truck for the money IF you can delete it before the engine emissions destroys the engine. (replacement engines are $20k, so if it fails, you throw the truck away)

Click to expand...

steve white said:

Can we achieve dilution on smaller sump/oil pans by more frequent oil change? 13 quarts--that's a real sea change.
BTW, I drive a 2007 Tundra with the 4.7L

Click to expand...

steve white said:

Can we achieve dilution on smaller sump/oil pans by more frequent oil change? 13 quarts--that's a real sea change.
BTW, I drive a 2007 Tundra with the 4.7L

Click to expand...