Which Truck?

I'm ready to send my 2002 Suburban off to another owner. I like the bigness and truckiness of it. I use it as a family hauler (two kids, 3 and 5 with no more on the way) and as a truck, hauling all sorts of supplies and stuff as a landlord (water heaters, lawn care stuff, appliances, etc.). I do some minor towing, most often a 4x8 HF utility trailer (which can haul a yard of dirt, though it's beyond its happy place doing so) and occasionally an 18' boat.

Max budget $30k, happiness will result from spending less money. With the Suburban, we've used the third row seats a few times, but more often than that I've put messy stuff in the back. So, I think a pickup will make sense. I do have some concerns about not having interior locked storage. Any truck will get a topper if it doesn't already have one. If I need to haul something that won't fit in the bed it can go in the trailer.

I haven't driven anything yet, but the F150's with EcoBoost seem awesome--good mileage and nice ride. I kinda like the idea of a Ridgeline for reliable reputation and trunk in the bed. Frontier's seem like a good value and new could be had for my price range, but the interior is boring, may be a deal breaker. Tacomas are reviewed as having a horizontal leg seating position, and I'm 6'4" so wondering if that's not going to be comfortable. Tundra's seem great, but F150's seem like a better value with the EcoBoost mileage and Ford seems to have things right with the generation that started getting the EcoBoost. F150 interior is more attractive than the GM/Chevy options, and Dodge, um, I don't like for no particular reason.

So, stuff I want to go drive:

2012 Ridgeline. Loaded. Honduh reliable. $28k. 43k miles. 15/21 mpg. Has a topper.

2014 F150, loaded (cooled seats!) and swanky. $29,5k. 72k miles. 18/23 mpg. Need to buy a topper for this one.

What else should I know or consider?

If I were in your shoes, I would find the nicest silverado you can find in your budget. They are just dead reliable technology and will run for a long time. The added bonus long term is if your 5.3 goes out you can replace it for $1K or less. With the Ecoboost, that will barely cover the turbos.

I'm not a chevy guy usually but I do think the silverado is the better truck for long term ownership.

I have a 2010 silverado Ive owned since new. 103K miles and ive replaced a battery/alternator outside of regular maintenance. Btw, did I mention the alternator replacement was a 10 minute job! Tons of room in the engine bay. Gas mileage is good for a truck of its size.

Main drawback is the dashes crack for no reason whatsoever. Do a google search and see if that is something you can live with. my solution is a dash pad until a recall is issued... and it will be.

Weird, I have a 2007 Silverado (GMT900, not the old one) and haven't even heard of cracking dashes. What years is that a thing on?
I've done zero maintence on mine other than upper ball joints (which require new arms) and one new belt. I just replaced the stock front pads/rotors at 135k and then drive it 5k miles around the country with no problems whatsoever.
Having said that, the new Fords are nicer, and booooost, so I'd be headed that direction if I were buying new.

the Silverado is the least sexy option, but as mentioned it's the best option for long term cost of ownership. Bonus is if it gets wrecked you have an awesome V8 swap for a Miata, Frisbee, Volvo 240 or other platform.

I'd also consider an Avalanche. Still GM truck but with a bit more devotion to the people part of the equation.

You keep saying ecoboost and mileage.

I think you are confused. The "mileage" is nothing more than advertising. A gm truck will get as good of mileage. And the ecoboost are thirsty as soon as you start hauling anything at all.

They have power. If you want all the powers, get an ecoboost. If you want mpg, get a 6 speed 5.3 gm and a tune.

so I just finished a 800 mile drive to and from the NC coast from Greenville sc.

my ecoboost loaded up to the rails and hauling two bikes behind it average 21 mpg going down, 20.4 coming back. The 20.4 was due to me riding at +10 mph and some heavy ass traffic in columbia due to retards...

that's not shabby at ALL. Crew cab, loaded up interior etc...

I paid 32k OTD NEW for mine. (XLT with leather, HID's, tow package...) and thats before downpayment or trade in. (rebates were great a month ago.)

My 2010 silverado was a beast, 5.3 v8 cloth interior crew cab. but it could only get 19 mpg if I hit reset coasting down the onramp and did not have an uphill. my lifetime average mpg was around 13 mpg, hwy 17ish. 11 mpg towing a 2012 mustang behind it going 80...

i recently used my truck to haul a dump trailer with 3 cuyds of dirt in it and averaged 15 mpg... granted I never exceeded 35 mph and had some oh E36 M3 points.

Riding the ferry back to Southport from Wilmington. Notice the dash.

Dump trailer!

play time.

A recent trip through rural SC

In reply to Mad_Ratel:

My BIL has reported similar experiences with a nearly identical truck.

If the OP only wanted to spend half the budget and have resale value, the last of the Sport Trac with the v8 would be a decent choice. I trailered with about 4-4.5k lbs with one for awhile and it did fine. Averaged a pathetic 16mpg for its tenure though.

HiTempguy wrote: ..... If you want mpg, get a 6 speed 5.3 gm and a tune.

Can you tell me more about this? What kind of actual mileage, what other mods?

OHSCrifle wrote:

HiTempguy wrote: ..... If you want mpg, get a 6 speed 5.3 gm and a tune.

Can you tell me more about this? What kind of actual mileage, what other mods?

See my above post. i never got above 19 and I got that nineteen by resettign ON the highway and praying for no uphills... (in my 5.3 6 spd GM...)

My Ecoboost-equipped truck is capable of 20+ mpg, but you have to be hypermiling to do it, in my experience. I still think it's a great motor, though. Lots of power, and it's torque numbers put the GM 5.3 to shame.

Of course, you can always get the 5.0 in an F-150, too, if you're that paranoid about the turbo mill.

OHSCrifle wrote:

HiTempguy wrote: ..... If you want mpg, get a 6 speed 5.3 gm and a tune.

Can you tell me more about this? What kind of actual mileage, what other mods?

Mad_ratel, if you are using the onboard and not hand calculating your trips, your data is not very helpful. The onboards are good for instantaneous data, but any per tank averages are typically off by at least a mpg. Beyond that, I never said the ecoboosts COULDN'T get good mpg, I just said that they typically don't, especially if you abuse the throttle.

As for the 5.3L/6 speed, no mods required except for a tune. The stock 6 speed has awful programming from the factory. Combined with the torque management strangling the 5.3 where it needs power the most (bottom end), it just sucks overall. The tunes are expensive though, as the TCM is seperate from the ECM. So you either have to get it tuned in person, or spend $600 on a autocal.

I've posted elsewhere, but with nothing more than a tune, its been easy to knock out 21usmpg with a 2004 crew cab 4x4 1500 gm. The 6 speed trucks can do better.

At the end of the day though, my main concern is towing mpg. And I've never seen an ecoboost get good towing mpg. I recently knocked down 16usmpg towing 6k lbs on flat ground at 65mph with the 2004. It was a good day

Now i will concede that my data is not as accurate as hand calc'ed but I've never experienced more than 1/2 mpg difference when comparing. My posts were about best case scenario vs best case scenario... I agree that I'm not hand calcing both vehicles but the 2010 silverado just could never get close to what I'm getting over hundreds of miles in my ecoboost.

plus turbo spool is an addicting sound...

Not sure on 65 mph due to having the truck overloaded when i did the dump trailer... (3k trailer plus close to 6k in dirt...) but she never sneezed pulling or slowing. it was more of a "truck has less than 5k miles and if I scratch it wife will be pissed" feeling.

No hypermiling but I dont floor the truck. Lifetime average in 5k miles or so was 18.3 mpg (DIC number.) that's including hauling a lot of ass when I first got it having fun, as well as an entire tank of hauling dirt... (Lifetime average was closer to 19 mpg before that.)

keep in mind that your 2004 has a front more like a vette than the current brick's of new trucks... park a new gm next to it and there is probably a FOOT of more front bumper vertically... (may be exaggerating.)

and if he wants to buy a new truck then tune it, the ecoboost can have closer to 400 rwhp and 500 ftlbs of torque at 2k rpm via tune...

Please keep in mind that rear axle option has a HUGE affect on your mileage. My ecoboost has the smallest rear gear ford sells. I bought the truck on firesale when the 2015's came out and did not get much choice. I'd love to have gotten a higher gear (and thus lost some mpgs').

HiTempguy wrote: You keep saying ecoboost and mileage. I think you are confused. The "mileage" is nothing more than advertising. A gm truck will get as good of mileage. And the ecoboost are thirsty as soon as you start hauling anything at all. They have power. If you want all the powers, get an ecoboost. If you want mpg, get a 6 speed 5.3 gm and a tune.

This. But if you decide to, change the oil OFTEN. Every EB engine sample I get is running stupid rich and the oil is half gas. They went rich to be safe, but holy hell.... that oil is like water after 5k.

Mad_Ratel wrote: Please keep in mind that rear axle option has a HUGE affect on your mileage. My ecoboost has the smallest rear gear ford sells. I bought the truck on firesale when the 2015's came out and did not get much choice. I'd love to have gotten a higher gear (and thus lost some mpgs').

That same thing applies to the Silverado as well. 24mpg out of ours and I've been flat out called a liar.

F-150 with the Coyote V8. Reliable, cheaper than the EB, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg to run.

Mad_Ratel wrote: I paid 32k OTD NEW for mine. (XLT with leather, HID's, tow package...) and thats before downpayment or trade in. (rebates were great a month ago.)

If I could score that deal, I'd do it. I priced a similar truck out and I'm getting $46k for a 2015.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

No love for the Ridgeline, huh?

Here is my experience with a Ridgeline.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/im-thinking-it-needs-a-tune-up/64359/page1/

PeterAK wrote:

Mad_Ratel wrote: I paid 32k OTD NEW for mine. (XLT with leather, HID's, tow package...) and thats before downpayment or trade in. (rebates were great a month ago.)

If I could score that deal, I'd do it. I priced a similar truck out and I'm getting $46k for a 2015. Thanks for the feedback everyone. No love for the Ridgeline, huh?

the new trucks are 3-4k more than the old model was baseline. also as part of the firesale of 2014's I got nearly 10k in rebates/dealer pricing. Sticker on my truck was 42.6k...

A guy at work replaced a Ridgeline with a GMC.

Far more capable truck and better mileage with a 5.3 than the V6.

As I understand Fuelly.com will show you that EB is no better on gas than the 5.0.

Get a 5.3 Chevrolet or GMC.

I also would recommend the GM twins, but also recommend taking a look at the Avalanche as well.

Alrighty then. I'll look at some GM trucks. And Mad_Ratel, nice score on your truck.