2018 Trucks

[Greatscott]

So, lets open up a big 'ol can of worms here....

I have a '14 XTerra now (~70K miles), and thinking about trading it in on a new half ton truck, but, what to get? I have been reading all of the reviews I can on 2018 half tons, and I think I am leaning heavy towards a F150. Seems like most of the reviews I read compare features and performance to the F150, saying something like "its handling is almost as good as the 2018 F-150".

With that, I am looking for the best truck I can get, so not necessary sold on the Ford if there is something else better out there. Living in North 'ho, I need 4WD, I want a crew cab (or what Ford calls the "Super Crew"), 6.5' bed, well equipped, and a good amount of towing...

So, without getting into the "tastes great, less filling debate", what do you recommend and why?

 

[BUBBA069]

If you go diesel keep in mind that all new diesels have DEF tanks now for the exhaust after treatment stuff. Its roughly $5/gal, and use roughly 1gal of DEF per 40ish gal of fuel.

 

[allanon1965]

I would not trade my 2016 Ram 1500 4x4 crew cab for any ford or gm...the performance and fuel economy on mine is great.. 5.7 hemi, 8spd trans.. avg combined mpg I get is 19.4. I can easily hit 28mpg on highway trips where I am not towing our camper, and usually its around 16.5 on extended in town driving. Towing is another issue..it tows my 6400lb camper just fine, plenty of power and performance but mpg does suffer..it drops to 9.5, but I dont care about the mpg much when towing. I know it will suffer and calculate my fuel money accordingly.

All things considered, the only drawback I can see to my ram right now is the bed being 5'7'' instead of 6'5''. I am fine with that as I have a 10x12 flatbed trailer if I need to haul anything large. I was an ASE certified master auto tech for many many years, retired from wrenching after 30+ years and I absolutely hated ford's motors from the last 20 years...I made a ton of money on the tritons that liked to spit out spark plugs..but they had other issues with other motors as well. GM had multitudes of injector issues and valve train issues. Ram also had their issues but they were not as bad around here as the Ford and GM trucks. This may be different in other parts of the country..

got 24k on my ram right now and plan to keep this one.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

As a Chevy fan I have to say the 2017 F-150 is one of the best looking trucks. But after seeing things like this I couldn't bring myself to buy one.

These photos are from the Traxxas forum. This is an F150 after a 30MPH crash. The frame broke! He said the total repair bill was $30K

Photo of truck. Too large for the forum to embed so here's the link to it: https://i.imgur.com/q3RpOOX.jpg

The frame

 

[WHITE-TRASH]

That looks like the upper inner fender structure by the passenger hood hinge. Me thinks "frame broke" guy is a bit confused.



I've looked at a whole bunch of new trucks and I just can't convince myself they're worth half of what they sell for. I'm in the market for a 4 door pickup but I'm looking at pre 2004 Toyota tacomas. :lol:

 

[CM9000]

go buy a 70-90 dodge with a slant six and a stick. don't buy any new shit. im a ford guy. and getting older im regretting it.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

That looks like the upper inner fender structure by the passenger hood hinge. Me thinks "frame broke" guy is a bit confused.



I've looked at a whole bunch of new trucks and I just can't convince myself they're worth half of what they sell for. I'm in the market for a 4 door pickup but I'm looking at pre 2004 Toyota tacomas. :lol:

See that's what had me confused. Frames aren't usually body colored.

Yeah I won't buy a new truck either. No way a new truck is worth the insane money they are asking.

 

[skinnyj]

Your car payment should never be more than your mortgage payment. Which is why I would never touch a new truck even if I had the means.

 

[allanon1965]

Your car payment should never be more than your mortgage payment. Which is why I would never touch a new truck even if I had the means.

I agree, my truck payment is half of what my mortgage payment is... I just try not to think about it too much...

 

[drzoo2]

If you go diesel keep in mind that all new diesels have DEF tanks now for the exhaust after treatment stuff. Its roughly $5/gal, and use roughly 1gal of DEF per 40ish gal of fuel.

I just put 6 gallons in at a touch over $20. The local truck stop is your friend. The 5gallon fuzzy dice store refills are a rip-off

Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk

 

[Greatscott]

Thanks for the responses.

Nope, not looking at a diesel. Up here they are pretty much a N. Idaho fashion statement, and really are not used to tow anything. The first time I heard of DEF I thought they were pulling my leg, like muffler bearings...

I understand cars and engines well enough, but I am just not a car-guy, so buying used (especially old used) isn't what I consider a viable option.

 

[OSRC]

I've got an 06 Xterra and it's still doing great. Why are you looking to trade in your '14 out of curiousity?

I considered a new truck a while ago, then I built and priced them and almost had a heart failure. Even a basic Ford with 4 wheel drive is almost $40,000.

On a side note, I just read that Ford is having trouble meeting production capacity for their $90,000 and up Expeditions. Truck prices are way out of hand! But people are buying them so what do I know

Anyway, I recently drove my sister-in-law's spanking new Subaru, and it literally drove me nuts. The constant beeping on the lane change warning is incredibly annoying. I'm definitely in the older vehicle camp just for pricing and simplicity.

I ran into a friend of mine last weekend who is GM of a Dodge dealership. They have a ton of late model General Motors vehicles on their used car lot. He claims that people come in and trade them in on Dodges because they're junk. Very few Ford's though. Take it for what you will.

Just some random thoughts.

 

[travis c.]

Toyota Tacoma 4X4......................end of conversation."thumbsup"

 

[Greatscott]

I've got an 06 Xterra and it's still doing great. Why are you looking to trade in your '14 out of curiousity?

I considered a new truck a while ago, then I built and priced them and almost had a heart failure. Even a basic Ford with 4 wheel drive is almost $40,000.

On a side note, I just read that Ford is having trouble meeting production capacity for their $90,000 and up Expeditions. Truck prices are way out of hand! But people are buying them so what do I know

Anyway, I recently drove my sister-in-law's spanking new Subaru, and it literally drove me nuts. The constant beeping on the lane change warning is incredibly annoying. I'm definitely in the older vehicle camp just for pricing and simplicity.

I ran into a friend of mine last weekend who is GM of a Dodge dealership. They have a ton of late model General Motors vehicles on their used car lot. He claims that people come in and trade them in on Dodges because they're junk. Very few Ford's though. Take it for what you will.

Just some random thoughts.

I really like the Xterra, and has been a great vehicle, but I am looking at getting an RV, so I want something to tow around 8K. Plus, I just miss having a truck, the Xterra is a bit of a pain for larger stuff, having to drag the trailer to town. Also, later model XTerras have a very high trade-in value right now.

Toyota Tacoma 4X4......................end of conversation."thumbsup"

Those are nice trucks, but they max out at ~ 7k for towing, and I don't really care for the looks of the Tundra.

 

[OSRC]

I really like the Xterra, and has been a great vehicle, but I am looking at getting an RV, so I want something to tow around 8K. Plus, I just miss having a truck, the Xterra is a bit of a pain for larger stuff, having to drag the trailer to town. Also, later model XTerras have a very high trade-in value right now.

Makes perfect sense. I've towed quite a few trailers and the V6 pulls great. It's a good motor. The brakes are a little sketchy though - I don't know if they upsized the brakes between 2006 and 2014, but mine are way undersized and get replaced every 2 years or so. Thankfully I've got a 6 speed manual which really helps. Agreed it is small inside too. Packing up the family for camping trips and what not is very tight.

If looking into Fords, skip the V8 and go with the boosted 6. I'm told it pulls like a bear.

 

[travis c.]

Those are nice trucks, but they max out at ~ 7k for towing, and I don't really care for the looks of the Tundra.

A neighbor of my parents has an '18 Tundra, he pulls a 26' 5th wheel and blows by all the diesels that are pulling a similar weight. I didn't like the front end of it at first but it grows on ya.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I ran into a friend of mine last weekend who is GM of a Dodge dealership. They have a ton of late model General Motors vehicles on their used car lot. He claims that people come in and trade them in on Dodges because they're junk. Very few Ford's though. Take it for what you will.

That's tough to believe since Dodge/Ram continually lags behind both Ford and GM in reliability. If there's one brand of truck I'd never buy it would be a Dodge both because of what I've read and because of all the Dodge failures I've seen in my family. No thanks.

If looking into Fords, skip the V8 and go with the boosted 6. I'm told it pulls like a bear.

The EcoBoost is a beast. I have a couple of family members with them. Impressive motors.

But as far as reliability goes I would put my bet on the V8 being longer lasting with less issues. We all know the inherent issues caused by turbo engines. That might just be my fear of "new" technology though.

A neighbor of my parents has an '18 Tundra, he pulls a 26' 5th wheel and blows by all the diesels that are pulling a similar weight. I didn't like the front end of it at first but it grows on ya.

Come on now. It's not nice to tell tall tales...

 

[hpiguy]

Having owned multiple turbo cars when I was younger, I was about to post that same thing. And the ego boosts have had their fair share of issues as well. I'd stick with a NA V8 if it were me.

 

[Shoei1]

Not sure how far away you are from them but I have heard this dealer ship has the best deals on trucks. My old boss said they paid for his plane ticket just for buying a truck from them.

Dave Smith Motors | Dodge Ram Trucks Chrysler Jeep Chevrolet Buick GMC

I have been looking at trucks for awhile now to for towing my new trailer because my tundra just doesnt have the tow capacity if I want to get a UTV. With all the research I have done the best deal seems to be a Ram 3500 diesel. Im sure the 3500 V8 will tow just as well but why not spend a little more and get a heck of a lot more towing capacity with the diesel.

 

[skinnyj]

Having owned multiple turbo cars when I was younger, I was about to post that same thing. And the ego boosts have had their fair share of issues as well. I'd stick with a NA V8 if it were me.

When my wife and I were looking at mid-size crossovers, we looked at the Escape. We didn't dig the "turbo-lag" in the eco-boost. In fairness, the Santa Fe turbo we drove did the same thing.