Truck rant. And don't know what to do.

[ddbackhoe]

Anyway, open to sage advice. And thanks for listening to the rant. I feel better already........but that might be the bourbon.

Tundra would be first choice (long term reliability record and pretty comfortable), Sierra second (comfort factor for daily driver, decent reliability record), Ram in third (not so good ride, better towing) Ford, well some of them look pretty We have all 4 in the family so I get to ride in all fairly often. Issues, they all have some. Bells and whistles stuff (12 inch display, etc) seem to add extra woes.

 

[dodge man]

I Googled “2022 Ford F-150 towing guide”. The particular page I selected included all Ford vehicles. There is a lot of crap and fluff but on about page 20 the real numbers show up. It shows the cab configuration, gear ratio and engines. They list the tow rating, which includes a full tank of fuel and a 150 pound driver.

Payload gets critical, you have to figure that. It shows up on the door jamb sticker, the sticker with yellow on it. It includes the exact options on that truck, full tank of gas, NO DRIVER. Start adding stuff to your truck, passengers, tools, other stuff and you start losing payload. I’d figure a tongue weight for an 8000 pound trailer at 1200 pounds to be safe. If you get a tongue weight scale and load properly you could get that tongue weight down to 800 pounds.

The data is there for all the truck makers, you just have to have the patience to sort through it.

 

[ranger danger]

I've had many trucks through the years. For me, it all boils down to this.
If you want a good truck for work, get a Dodge.
If you want a good truck for play, get a Chevy.
If you want a good truck you have to work ON, get a Ford.
This is only my opiniun from years of personal experience and LUCK!

 

[kenmac]

Had my 2004 Dodge 2500 Cummins since brand new. Love it. They have gotten so much better since. Don't hesitate to look at the new ones. The interiors are the best in the full size trucks. Reliability is excellent. My neighbor has a big Ford diesel. Things are going bad on it every other month. GM makes good stuff too. I used to be a Ford freak back in the day but now I step back and look at all of them.... except Ford LOL

your 2004 like my 2007 doesn't have all the emissions crap to screw up.
Pre 07.5 models were the best cummins engines

 

[N80]

I Googled “2022 Ford F-150 towing guide”. The particular page I selected included all Ford vehicles. There is a lot of crap and fluff but on about page 20 the real numbers show up. It shows the cab configuration, gear ratio and engines. They list the tow rating, which includes a full tank of fuel and a 150 pound driver.

Payload gets critical, you have to figure that. It shows up on the door jamb sticker, the sticker with yellow on it. It includes the exact options on that truck, full tank of gas, NO DRIVER. Start adding stuff to your truck, passengers, tools, other stuff and you start losing payload. I’d figure a tongue weight for an 8000 pound trailer at 1200 pounds to be safe. If you get a tongue weight scale and load properly you could get that tongue weight down to 800 pounds.

The data is there for all the truck makers, you just have to have the patience to sort through it.

The problem is that there are three levels of tow packages that change these ratings. It is very hard to tell what tow package a truck has if you don't have the dealer window sticker. I've been digging deep in the F150 forums and there is no clear consensus even among "experts". Plenty of tables and brochures presented but no real clarity. Even guys with new trucks find that they did not have what they thought they had. Anyway, even though I'm a Ford guy second after being a Nissan guy, I am writing Ford off, again, for this very reason. Even if, as you say, it can be determined with due diligence, it is ridiculous to me that that is necessary.

 

[N80]

your 2004 like my 2007 doesn't have all the emissions crap to screw up.
Pre 07.5 models were the best cummins engines

The Cummins are the reason my in-law, who is a farmer and Ford guy, switched from Ford to Dodge. Since then he has had injector failures on all three of his. Bosch injectors. Expensive failures. I think all three of these trucks are earlier than 2010 but I don't know precisely.

I am not interested in diesel at all. To me, in the US, diesel only makes sense if you tow all the time. Otherwise your just paying more for fuel + def. In Europe, where diesel is priced better it might be different.

 

[Blue Mule]

Background: I have been a Nissan guy since 1984. Brand loyal all the way. And I've had great cars and trucks along the way. Then, in 2003 it was clear that I needed a full sized 4 door 4wd pick up. Nissan did not make one at that time so I bought a new Ford F150 Super Crew. I was never real happy with it. Steers like a yacht. Bounces and wobbles like a '75 Cadillac Fleetwood. Braking is always questionable. Rear window leaked from the get go. AC went out, to the tune of $1000, with only about 50k miles on it. Fit and trim in the interior is a joke. I still have it. It is my farm truck. Beat to heck but still running and I love it for that.

I replaced it about 4 years ago with a 2015 Nissan Titan 4 door Pro-4x model that I bought used with low miles. It has been an absolute turd. I love how it tows and it has great torque. Steers well. Brakes okay. But, transmission had to be replaced because it would roll away in 'Park' and would frequently not allow the truck to start because it 'thought' it wasn't in 'Park'. Entire head unit/nav had to be replaced because the volume and several other switches quit working. Its got a cacophony of squeaks and rattles. I mean bad. The interior trim is garbage. The five speed tranny always up shifts waaay to soon and downshifts waaaay to late. "Tow Mode" does not help with that. The heater switch failed which I fixed myself. The rear diff is leaking. The ride is terrible on anything but smooth interstate. The trim on the driver side window doesn't fit and there is constant wind noise in my left ear. Now the blend doors for the heat and AC have gone bad and my wife and I just rode home from dinner in an expensive truck freezing because of no heat. Because of the nav/head unit being in the way the entire dash has to be removed to replace the little electric motor and lever that moves the blend doors. This has been a known issue with these trucks since 2005 and still is on a 2015.....kind of like leaky rear windows in Fords. The cost of repair? $1000.

So this was the last straw. I have to get rid of this thing....and I usually keep cars until they die or get killed. Am I bashing Nissan? Yes, I think so. But, I've been a loyal customer since 1984....I've owned 10 of them and still have an Infiniti coupe that I love. My track car is an old 350Z. So maybe I have the right? Did I just get a lemon? Maybe. Doesn't matter. I've lost my faith in them.

I know that asking what brand of pickup to buy is probably worse than bringing up politics or religion but at this point I don't even have any idea where to look. Maybe I need to subscribe to Consumer Reports but in years past they did a lousy job of evaluating trucks because they always compared them to cars.

I will buy used. I need 4 doors, 4wd, minimum towing capacity of 8000 pounds. Toyota has always had the quality reputation but also the price tag to go along with it. I'm interested in brand neutral advice. And I know someone is going to tell me they have a Titan that has 600,000 miles on it, gets 40 miles to the gallon and still has that new car smell. I guess that's unavoidable.

I will certainly look at Ford and I did when I was looking to replace my F150. Two things turned me off from the Ford 1) I'm not interested....at all...in the V6 Eco-Boost. 2) It was almost impossible without a VIN to tell the exact towing and gearing specs and trim levels on Fords at that time and even then it was questionable. So I gave up.

Anyway, open to sage advice. And thanks for listening to the rant. I feel better already........but that might be the bourbon.

I've had almost 30 vehicles over the last 25 years. I know, I know... I'm a truck *****.

I've had every brand. My experience with Nissan is that they build the cheapest junk on the market. I had a Frontier that I bought with 10,000 miles on it. Axle leaked, was repaired under warranty. Paint was as thin as a hair. It would scratch if you looked at it the wrong way. Drank fuel like it was a full size truck. It had issues early on and I got rid of it. My wife had a Maxima. It needed repair all the time. Always something wrong with that car. Final straw was the $1,600 A/C repair. So she got a brand new Altima. Again, paint was horribly thin, struts would wear out prematurely, battery was garbage and wouldn't last. Then we got a letter saying the CVT transmissions were prone to failing and cost $7,000 to replace so they were going to extend warranty to 120k or something. Gee thanks. I mean, Nissan just doesn't make a good vehicle.

There's a reason the prices are cheap on new Nissans.

 

[N80]

I've had many trucks through the years. For me, it all boils down to this.
If you want a good truck for work, get a Dodge.
If you want a good truck for play, get a Chevy.
If you want a good truck you have to work ON, get a Ford.
This is only my opiniun from years of personal experience and LUCK!

My life experience is the exact opposite, Dodge traditionally being the most unreliable, Chevy nearly as bad and Ford a big step up on the reliability scale. (Well, AMC Jeep the worst of all time. I had a 1976 Jeep Cherokee. It, in my opinion, represented the nadir of American automaking. The stories I can tell.)

As you mention, these are just long held impressions many of which are based on the experience of friends and family. I have nothing but anecdotes to support my prejudices. No hard data. And that is what makes it really hard to make a sound objective opinion.

In 1984 there was no doubt that a Toyota or Nissan (small) truck was superior to anything the Americans could make at the time. This was true for a good many years later with small SUVs. The Jeep Cherokee sold well at the time but could not hold a candle to a Pathfinder or Forerunner in the early 1990s. The Americans have upped their game since then of course and apparently Nissan has let things slip with their trucks and may be getting out of the large truck market all together.

And people can be hard to read too. I know people who love vehicles that have had tons of trouble and reliability issues and claim it is the best of its kind and recommend them to other people. I, on the other hand, have _very_ low tolerance for poor quality and engineering. If, as some have suggested, I should lower my expectations, I would suggest that it will not be long before we get back to the mid 70's in terms of inflation, bang for the buck and the quality of U.S. products.

 

[Hay Dude]

Dodge aint made a truck in 10-12 years

 

[N80]

I've had almost 30 vehicles over the last 25 years. I know, I know... I'm a truck *****.

I've had every brand. My experience with Nissan is that they build the cheapest junk on the market. I had a Frontier that I bought with 10,000 miles on it. Axle leaked, was repaired under warranty. Paint was as thin as a hair. It would scratch if you looked at it the wrong way. Drank fuel like it was a full size truck. It had issues early on and I got rid of it. My wife had a Maxima. It needed repair all the time. Always something wrong with that car. Final straw was the $1,600 A/C repair. So she got a brand new Altima. Again, paint was horribly thin, struts would wear out prematurely, battery was garbage and wouldn't last. Then we got a letter saying the CVT transmissions were prone to failing and cost $7,000 to replace so they were going to extend warranty to 120k or something. Gee thanks. I mean, Nissan just doesn't make a good vehicle.

There's a reason the prices are cheap on new Nissans.

Well, first off, the prices on new Nissans are not cheap across their model line. My daughter in law just bought one. I was flabbergasted at the price. I've had two Maximas. One had zero service issues in 175,000 miles and we drove it happily until it was totaled. The third one was literally driven and abused to death by my son after 200,000 miles. I had two early Pathfinders (1990s) and they were both among the best vehicles I have ever owned or driven. Tough as nails, excellent off road vehicles. First one was totaled with 180k miles on it. Sold the second for the Ford F150. My 2007 350Z is a track car. Nothing but high RPM abuse and maximum mechanical stress weekend after weekend. I've crashed it and had many "off road" excursions at the track and other than crash repairs nothing has broken that needed repair. Clutch was replaced after 80k miles which is an expected wear item replacement for a track car. My wife drives a 2009 Infiniti G37 coupe with manual transmission. It is not only the most gorgeous car of its time (Ferrari exempted) it has been dead reliable, is super comfortable even on long trips and handles as well and is about as fast as a comparable era BMW M3 (which I compared it to).

Having said all that, my experience with later model Nissans is limited to my 2015 truck which confirms your experience.

My son has a 2019 370Z and it has been excellent so far.

Again, all this goes to show how hard it is to sort out what's what and who's who. It all comes by anecdote.