Help buying my first pickup truck if you please?

[Larry_Van_Horn]

Folks,
I am going to buy my first pickup truck. I am sure most of you went through this process at some point and I would love to benefit from your experience.

I have narrowed it down to the quad cab / short bed Ford F250/F350 Lariat or the Dodge RAM 2500/3500 Laramie.

I will pull my tractor on the 7000 pound trailer occasionally - once every couple of months. I will use the bed for hauling rocks, gravel, brush etc more routinely.

Some of my thoughts so far:
Gas v. Diesel
Diesel:
PROS: better gas mileage, better low end torque, longer engine life
CONS: $5,500 more at the outset, reduced bed payload capacity by about 700 pounds. Maintenance costs (oil changes etc) are higher.

Thoughts on FORD:
It seems like the F350 with single rear tires is the winner for just $500 more over the F250. I liked the visibility and felt the seats were more comfortable than in the RAM. In the RAM I would have to stay with the 2500 since I do not want Duallys. The 5.4L Triton seemed like it had sufficient pickup for daily driving. I have a difficult time justifying the diesel given that I won't be doing a ton of towing and I sacrifice quite a bit of payload capacity.

Right now I am leaning toward a Ford F350 quad cab with 6.5' bed Lariat package 5.4L V8 Triton 3.73 gear ratio. Price from my Ford dealer is $29,633. any options I pick are priced at dealer invoice.

Now if I am missing anything in my thinking or folks have suggestions I would appreciate benefitting from your wisdom.
/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Thanks,
Larry

 

[BB_TX]

I can't speak for the heavier trucks, but I have been very happy with Ford reliability. I had an '87 Bronco that I put 208,000+ on before I lost a timing chain. Only replaced 1 water pump and 1 power steering pump before that. Timing chain repair cost me about $500. The others I did myself.
Now I have a '97 F150 Lariat with 140,000+. Have not had a problem with it. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[BIGUN]

Larry,

I recently purchased a 2003 F-250 Crew Cab with 6.0L PSD.
I would go to these sights and read the experiences owners have had with these trucks. I wish I had known this information before I dropped the 30 grand.

The Diesel Stop

Ford Trucks

You might keep in mind that the posters there are probably weighted towards those who have had problems with their trucks, but on the other hand I have personally experienced three of the problems you can read about there in the first 2 months of ownership:

1. The transmission delayed shift from reverse to drive several times. (Defective solenoids inside the transmission?)
2. Have the wet bell housing (rear seal oil leak?), no drips on the drive.
3. Warped air filter housing. (Supposedly doesn’t leak dirt into engine unless severe)

The 2004 models are supposed to have many of the 2003 model problems corrected, but not all. Be sure the engine is a 2004, not a 2003 engine in a 2004 chassis.

This said, so far I love my truck. If you like lots of horsepower and torque in your truck don’t drive the PSD or you will want one. It happened to me. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif You also get good to great fuel mileage (I get 18.5 mpg on the interstate at 75mph) and runs on, cheaper than regular gas, fuel too. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

The downside, everything you said, expensive oil filters, $12+, 15 quarts of oil, $40+ fuel filters that need changing much more often than on a gasser, $40+ air filter. From what I understand everything on these engines is very expensive to repair, /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif but then you have the 100K engine warranty. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[jpr62902]

I've got a 2000 F150 with the 5.4 Triton V-8. 72,000 miles later, the only troubles I've had with it are a broken hood latch and a bad injector. The Triton is a pretty darn good engine. Plenty of torque for towing and horsies for pep. I get pretty good mileage too -- about 17 mpg highway in the summer

 

[Gatorboy]

I guess you aren't considering the Chevy/GMC trucks? I find it strange you would consider Dodge without considering Chevy.

 

[BIGUN]

Hey Larry,

Not even the baddest F-350 on the dealer's lot can stand up to this. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[GerardC]

What I do is approach someone (usually in a parking lot) that has the vehicle I'm interested in buying. They will give me their first hand experience of the vehicle and sometimes even go as far as to where they bought it, what they paid, and maybe even a business card or two. People that are approached like this, I found to be the most honest and helpful. Give it a try.

 

[GerardC]

Maybe not, but Henros Kubota could!!!! LOL /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Larry_Van_Horn]

Bigun,
Thanks so much for those sites. I will do some reading tonight. I did drive a Harley edition they had around to see the diesel and it is nice (and sounds like a truck). I can buy a whole lot of gas.
Larry

 

[Larry_Van_Horn]

Gatorboy,
I needed to limit my research and consideration a bit, and to me, the appearance of the dodge and ford worked. Maybe I should revisit this decision. I also have a local Ford dealer who is pretty good in that you pay invoice - 950 less whatever other incentives are in play at the time.
Larry