Truck Shopping

Well the 4runner is dieing. Headgasket is leaking and it blows the coolant out the overflow tank....

I don't want under powered. I don't tow more than 5k really.

Leaning Towards Tundra, Toyota reliable, but old school (still a 6sp) and pretty damn big (compared to 4runner). But 5.7 V8, and Toyota is offering 0% interest for 60mo..

Should I look at Colorado ZR2? I am worried about reliability and the interior sucks. But factory lockers and nice shocks.

Ranger? I am worried about the 2.3.... But its been in Europe for awhile. Does the 10 speed make up for a little less power?

Suggestions? Thoughts? Id like to drive it 10+ years.

I like Tundras because they tried to shoe-horn ¾ ton truck capabilities into a ½ ton body/price.

I'd at least test drive the Colorado. I hear as many good things about it as I hear bad things about the new Ranger.

If you're buying new, I would seriously consider the Tundra.  A little higher buy-in, but resale stays high, and they are pretty bulletproof.

I wouldn't worry about Colorado reliability.  Millions of them have been on the road for a decade and they have held up nicely.

The new, redesigned ranger (haven't driven one yet) is consistently ranked the absolute last by every truck magazine out there.  Take that for what you will, but the new ranger lost to the multiple-year old design Colorado.  I like old-school rangers, and I like Ford, but from what I hear they are just not even close to the other offerings.

In reply to Cactus :

They are just super old school. A hit in Mpg for a bit more reliable I guess. 

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

True, much better resale with Toyota. But I'll keep it for a long time also. 

I have a friend who runs fleet, won't ever buy another Colorado. Scares me... 

I take it fixing the 4Runner is just 100% off the table?

What other vehicles do you have in your fleet?

If you're buying new, I'd go ahead and test out all of the truck offerings. The temptation to be brand loyal might be strong, but the domestics sell lots of trucks for valid reasons (beyond fleet sales).

Currently at Ram you can get a new Classic or the new body.  Makes me wonder if they're discounting the heck out of the Classics.  

The current Nissan Titan has never been a big selling even before C-19.  Does the even slower now mean deals? 

If recently used, Hertz has lots of 4 doors of both models above. 

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Forum Patrón) :

275k miles. Everything is worn out. Wife wants to keep it for a beater we can leave at trail heads.... No idea where to park it though 

Have wife's cx5, rv and the travelall that's not done. 

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

Titan is hideous....

Looked at the rams, but they were spendy

I chose this 

Active aero won me over.  That and the rebates.

It's a very nice place to be.  

In reply to Nick Comstock :

Looks good! How is the real world mileage? 

One of the local autorcrossers bought a diesel Colorado for a tow vehicle. GM ended up buying it back due to electrical issues that couldn't be sorted.

He said he liked it when it ran, but the last time they gave it back to him after weeks of trying to fix it, he didn't make it out of his neighborhood before it died. He said that actually was lucky, he was able to walk home, get his co-driver's truck, and still make it to the event on time.

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

I have heard of lots of electrical issues.... But who knows. 

java230 said:

In reply to Nick Comstock :

Looks good! How is the real world mileage? 

Only have 1600 miles on it so far so not a lot of data yet but the computer is telling me I'm averaging 18.5. I expect that will go up slightly when the police return to the roads and I have to keep it under 90.

I will say I didn't shop around. Had the car in to fix an issue and test drove it to kill some time. The ride quality and quietness of the interior absolutely blew me away. If you like a truck to ride like a truck this isn't for you.  The ride is super smooth and below highway speeds it's eerily quiet.

Just drove a ranger. Very Meh. 

Rolling at 30,mat it, you can almost get to 3 counting before it drops gears enough to get moving. It's good once it's moving tho. 

Vis over the hood is much better than Tundra. 

Shop Ford, GM, Dodge, and Toyota 1/2tons. They're all really good depending on package and they all have good deals on 2019's. Can't really go wrong anymore. 

Ford is offering 0% for 84 months.... 

I just priced out a Colorado... you can get them up close to $50k. That's... ridiculous.

Nick ... is that Ram the newer style, or the classic?  Either way, I like it.

Brett_Murphy (Forum Patrón) said:

I just priced out a Colorado... you can get them up close to $50k. That's... ridiculous.

They had a really sharp orange 4x4 version with the diesel at The Chicago Auto Show this past February and I liked it but thought $46,000 was a bit much.   

What about a Nissan Frontier? Rated to tow between 6100 and 6300lbs. It's a pretty simple truck that is a good size. No Toyota tax either.

If you keep it for 10+ years, people will still think it's brand new 

einy (Forum Supporter) said:

Nick ... is that Ram the newer style, or the classic?  Either way, I like it.

It's the new 5th gen. 

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Forum Patrón) :

Yup, not cheap! 

I'm 99% Tundra 

Not exactly the info that you're looking for, but here's my experience. I've owned several "high mileage" Toyota's and there is a reason for the steep buy-in, they last twice as long as most others. I currently have a 2005 Tundra Limited 4-door with 272k miles and it has never once had a mechanical break-down. Runs like a Swiss/Japanese watch. Not the greatest gas mileage, but when you do an annual accounting, especially over many years, the costs of ownership are lower than the other Big 3.

I also have a 2013 Ram 1500 4-door Big Horn 4x4 with a 5.7 Hemi. It gets better gas mileage, has a comfortable interior, tows better and the ride quality is unlike Ford or GM. It doesn't feel like a truck, the unique coil spring rear suspension is much nicer than traditional leaf springs. 
 

I've considered selling both trucks and getting a new Dodge. My father in-law has a new Ford F-150 with the Eco-Boost and I have driven it. It's nice, but I prefer a V-8 over the turbo motor in his.

If I were spending $$$ on a new truck, it would be a Dodge.