Author Topic: Help me pick a truck (Read 3942 times)

sven · « **on:** July 24, 2005, 10:17:13 AM »

I need a truck for some utilitarian tasks around the house, including hauling firewood. I do not need to haul a boat and would also like if I could replace my sedan with this truck - so if this could be an everyday driver that would be a plus. Because I have a 35 mile commute to work, gas milage matters to me.

I've been reading up on the Nissan Titan - though I don't like the looks of the front grille, it has been winning tons of awards and is also pretty cheap.

Chime in with your thoughts - open to any suggestions, from new to moderately used.

Thanks!

-s

atek3 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 24, 2005, 10:49:35 AM »

I'd recommend a toyota landcruiser:

atek3

mtnbkr · « **Reply #2 on:** July 24, 2005, 12:01:47 PM »

later model Toyota Tacoma 4door with the 2.7l four cylinder.

It's not a powerhouse, but it'll do what you asked for.

Dunno about the Tacoma, but in the 4Runner, the 2.7L gets about 20mpg around town and 25mpg on the highway. I'd expect the Tacoma to do better give it's lighter weight. FWIW, I test drove a 4Runner with the 2.7l and found it reasonably peppy with a 5spd.

Chris

BobCat · « **Reply #3 on:** July 24, 2005, 04:02:22 PM »

Thirty five miles each way? You might want to think about a diesel. My commute is 49 miles, all country roads (no stop-and-go); I have a '95 Dodge 3/4 ton with just over 300k miles on it that still gets 20-21 mpg like when it was new. It will haul anything I put in it - had a full pallet (2,000 pound) of range cubes in it once. All it needs are oil changes, filters, and tires. Oh - belts and hoses, and a water pump, and some front brake pads.

If you do a lot of short trips, or stop-and-go, ignore this.

Regards,
Andrew

Gun Runner · « **Reply #4 on:** July 24, 2005, 08:27:15 PM »

How about a Ford F-150 with a 4.2L V6?

That should be enough power to get you moving while getting decent fuel economy.

I don't know why anyone would buy a diesel right now, unless fuel prices are different in other areas of the USA. Around here buying a diesel is a losing proposition even though I'm a big diesel fan.

Fjolnirsson · « **Reply #5 on:** July 24, 2005, 08:48:46 PM »

If the current crop of Nissans are remotely similar to the old(and from what I hear, they are), get the nissan. My '87 nissan shortbed has 220,000 miles on it, and runs like a champ. I'm the third owner, and got all the records with the sale. No troubles, except it didn't like CA gas. Once I got to Oregon, no worries. Only routine maintenace so far, except a new starter at 210,000 miles.
I'd love one of the new crew cab frontiers, or a titan, but every time I look at one, I think about that car payment with full insurance. If I ever need a "new" truck, I think it'll be used.

Ukraine Train · « **Reply #6 on:** July 24, 2005, 09:01:05 PM »

How about a newer 4cyl 5 speed S10? They get close to 30mpg on the highway, they're cheap to buy and cheap to maintain. Not a whole lot of power but we used my friend's to pull my engineless Camaro (~3500lbs with tow dolly) through the Appalachians and it made it ok.

Mulliga · « **Reply #7 on:** July 25, 2005, 02:30:00 AM »

I drive a Toyota Tacoma (my friends call it the "Taco") and the gas mileage is not fantastic by any stretch. It's a decent truck (hasn't given me any problems), but I'm sure there are better choices if your priority is mileage.

cfabe · « **Reply #8 on:** July 25, 2005, 03:32:31 AM »

If you don't need 4wd, a 2wd 4-cyl s-10 is a decent truck. 29-30mpg on the freeway, and you can find a used one for a song these days. Probably not as reliable as the rice burners, but cheaper to repair, usually. I have a 2000 s-10 with about 95k on it that's had minimal problems so far. But I also have a 1997 nissan sentra with 193k on it, which has had even fewer problems, so perhaps the reccomendations for toyota or nissan trucks are well founded.

mfree · « **Reply #9 on:** July 25, 2005, 04:28:00 AM »

*nod* 2003 GMC sonoma here, 2wd 4cyl 5 speed. 24-27mpg on my route, comfortable, hauls loads well enough, and can generally get out of it's own way.

Newt · « **Reply #10 on:** July 25, 2005, 07:44:29 AM »

Quote from: Fjolnirsson

If the current crop of Nissans are remotely similar to the old(and from what I hear, they are), get the nissan. My '87 nissan shortbed has 220,000 miles on it, and runs like a champ. I'm the third owner, and got all the records with the sale. No troubles, except it didn't like CA gas. Once I got to Oregon, no worries. Only routine maintenace so far, except a new starter at 210,000 miles.
I'd love one of the new crew cab frontiers, or a titan, but every time I look at one, I think about that car payment with full insurance. If I ever need a "new" truck, I think it'll be used.

+1

The next one I buy will be a Nissan. They're tough as a boot, and from everything I can tell, a whole lot more "peppy" than a GM, Ford, or Yota. Yeah, I'd be all over the Nissans if I could get one right now; especially with gas prices the way they are.

mfree · « **Reply #11 on:** July 26, 2005, 04:28:53 AM »

Now, you do realize that by extension Nissan is a French company, right? They're majority owned my Renault if I'm not mistaken.

And yes, I'm just poking fun, I could care less where my car is made as long as it's decent

RadioFreeSeaLab · « **Reply #12 on:** July 26, 2005, 06:21:01 AM »

Quote from: Gun Runner

How about a Ford F-150 with a 4.2L V6?

That should be enough power to get you moving while getting decent fuel economy.

Thats what I've got, with a 5spd manual. Gets decent gas mileage, maybe 17-22.
I've put 37,000 miles on it this year, and haven't had any problems. Oh, and it's a 2002.

vernal45 · « **Reply #13 on:** July 26, 2005, 06:44:33 PM »

I have a 05 Nissan Titan, its 4 months old. Tough as nails, and has the balls to run like a bat out of hell. Good warranty, not that I expect to use. Rides like my wifes Jeep Grand Cherokee, smooth. I have owned chevy, ford and dodge. The Nissan is a stout truck, on par or better than the F150 in regards to tough.

cfabe · « **Reply #14 on:** July 27, 2005, 03:31:39 AM »

Quote from: vernal45

The Nissan is a stout truck, on par or better than the F150 in regards to tough.

Can I ask what you're basing this on? I'm not being a dick, but genuinely curious. Have you done any "hard work" with the new nissan yet? Towing/hauling, offroading, pulling a semi out of a ditch, etc?

jefnvk · « **Reply #15 on:** July 27, 2005, 06:35:03 AM »

My friends 4 cylinder, 5 speed Ranger gets over 30 on the highway, and has enough power to pull a smaller boat. Same with another friends 2.4L 5 spd S10, but not quite 30 mpg. And either will haul firewood like a champ.

My uncle had an older Nissan truck that the brakes went out on. Took quite a while to find some replacements.

As for the bigger trucks, I'm gonna have to go with cfabe on this one. I dunno if I would go with a Honda/Nissan/Toyota big truck yet. They are still way new to the market, and the Big Three got many years of experience on them in building big trucks.

vernal45 · « **Reply #16 on:** July 27, 2005, 07:09:21 AM »

cfabe,

Does running heavy oil field equipment over nonw paved roads, towing other trucks out of jams, and not having a problem, then yes, I have experience to base it on. The reason I said its on par or better than the F150 is because a co worker of mine has one, does the same work, and my Titan hanging strong.

cfabe · « **Reply #17 on:** July 27, 2005, 08:25:53 AM »

Vernal, I'd count that as pretty tough use. I'd be interested to see how your titan holds up compared to your co-workers ford. I'm not saying the nissan is a bad truck, but as a newcomer to the market, and coming from a background of first making small trucks and adding big ones (versus the opposite with domesitcs) I'm leery of their durability under extended heavy use. Same with toyota's fullsize. Honda's ridgeline thing is just a joke, not a truck at all, it's not even comporable to the nissan and yota.

Has anyone here had a chance to see the "Truth About Trucks" advertising video ford created? Obviously it's slanted one way, but in the video the show comporable parts in all the maker's fullsize trucks, and there are significant differences in some key parts (frame, suspension, driveline, etc) that are obvious even to non-engineers.

http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/f150/truth has some clips of the video.

crt360 · « **Reply #18 on:** July 27, 2005, 02:36:26 PM »

A good friend of mine has a 2005 Titan that we took on a distant fishing trip awhile back. I was very impressed with it. It felt very solid and handled better than any other truck I've driven. It was easy to forget about the bass boat we were towing. The newer Fords may be fine, but based on my family's experience with Ford products, I'd go with the Nissan or Toyota.

DigMe · « **Reply #19 on:** July 27, 2005, 05:11:35 PM »

My 2000 Xterra is built on the Frontier platform and it has treated me very well too (i think it has the same V6 engine). Just now coming up on 100,000 miles but no major problems and no engine problems at all. Had a minor AC problem and had master cylinder replaced in the clutch, which I'm admittedly pretty hard on. That's it. I like those Frontiers for small trucks.

brad cook

Guest · « **Reply #20 on:** July 27, 2005, 07:17:36 PM »

Get a mid 90's f-150 with a 300 CID inline 6. its a 300,000 mi. motor, has tons of torque, and still gets good gas economy. you can haul or pull most anything with that setup. also, to get the most out of that motor, you need to get it with the 5 speed manual trans, the automatic sucks.

sven · « **Reply #21 on:** July 27, 2005, 10:51:39 PM »

Quote from: cfabe

Has anyone here had a chance to see the "Truth About Trucks" advertising video ford created? Obviously it's slanted one way, but in the video the show comporable parts in all the maker's fullsize trucks, and there are significant differences in some key parts (frame, suspension, driveline, etc) that are obvious even to non-engineers.

http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/f150/truth has some clips of the video.

Wow, that was convincing. Any owners of other brands check this out? Curious for your take on it from the other side.

Art Eatman · « **Reply #22 on:** July 28, 2005, 05:48:57 PM »

I'm still quite happy with my old Toyota 4-banger. Even with 4WD, I get around 24 mpg on the highway with the radials on it. That old forklift motor is pretty near bulletproof. Even though it's an '85, I have no trouble getting parts at AutoZone.

Art

BobR · « **Reply #23 on:** July 29, 2005, 03:24:09 AM »

What a time to find this thread. My wife and I just spent the afternoon crawling all over the ford lot in Great Falls. She and I decided that we are going to go with a F250 SD with the super cab. Top it off with a V10, 4x4, and the off road package, and I think this thing will be unstoppable.

bob

mfree · « **Reply #24 on:** July 29, 2005, 04:56:20 AM »

Let's everyone not forget now that "Fuel mileage matters to me" part in the original request. F250's are nice trucks, doubtless, but there's no need for one to run 35 miles deadhead solo daily.

I like my S10. Some won't. that's life, but it suits my needs, which are almost identical, flawlessly. Rangers are also close, perhaps a bit better now that the pesky I-beam suspension is gone (great strength but lousy road manners and chews tires to bits).

If I were buying a brand-new truck, I'd wait until the Jeep offering rolls around where they offer a small truck with a turbodiesel. Perhaps the new extended-bed wranglers with diesel would work. I really wish truck manufacturers would offer a small to midsized truck with a TD or even a standard diesel... it would have been my primary concern. And it's been done before, most manufacturers *did* offer small, albeit underpowered diesels in the 80's. Ford's offering got 32mpg, without a turbo! I almost even picked up one of the romanian land cruiser knockoffs simply because they had the IH 2.8 TD V6 in them... 28mpg in a fair sized offroad capable SUV.

Sad state of affairs, really, for anyone who values mileage.

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Author Topic: Help me pick a truck (Read 3942 times)

Guest