Researching a Full-size truck purchase. Help me figure out which to get.

[Borderland]

This.

Pacific Northwest logging roads are solid but they can be steep and narrow, and the shoulders get soft and slick when it's been pouring rain for weeks on end like it does during elk season. 4WD can help you stay out of trouble, which could mean not tumbling end-over-end down a 600' deep canyon.

I've also used 4WD to get a Jeep Wrangler up a slimy boat ramp in August when I was recovering a skiff that weighed less than 1,000 pounds for boat, motor, trailer, and our gear. The back wheels spun in 2WD but it crawled right up the ramp in 4WD.

You just have to remember that 4WD better at keeping you out of trouble than it is in getting you out of trouble.

Back to the original topic, avoid diesel. You become collateral damage every time the government decides to fuck the trucking industry.


Okie John

I noticed that diesel fuel is about 0.20 cheaper than regular now that the oil industry is on hard times. I don't think the tax changed, just the oil glut and demand for diesel fuel globally. All good for diesel owners now but like you say that could all change in a heart beat. I remember paying almost $5/gal in CA about 10 years ago.

[DamonL]

The ecoboost option is interesting but for some reason I’m wary of towing for any length of time with a turbo gas motor. Or towing a heavy load for any length of time with a gas motor. Maybe it’s just lack of experience. I’m not too trusting of gas motors under heavy load for extended periods of time. All my experience is with high performance engines at high rpms.

The Ford F150 has a 5.0L V8 motor in addition to the Eco Boost engines. Its still gas but it doesnt have a turbo on it. Otherwise, you will be looking at GM and others for a non-turbo option.

[Borderland]

It never snows where I live now, and I drive ranch roads and pastures in a PreRunner. One place I like to fish here gets flooded, and there are holes I absolutely have to avoid, but you could bury the average 4WD in one of them without trying too hard. I grew up in the Midwest, and at that time most pickups were 2WD with an 8' bed. In winter you threw some weight in the bed behind the cab and motored on. I had snow tires on one, and all seasons on another. Before 4WD became ubiquitous, we managed to drive in all kinds of weather.

4WD isn't a bad thing, it's just that I've known a lot of people who paid for it but never used it.

AWD will be the wave of the future with electric vehicles, even pickups like the Rivian R1T. Body on frame 4wd is a goner. That's why I purchased one. Retro to the core.

[RevolverRob]

I'm always more curious to hear from people who say they don't have a need for 4WD. Does it never snow where you live? Do you never leave pavement?

I mean, he lives in Florida...so if he drives off the road, he needs an airboat not 4wd.

I have 4wd, I've used it once in the last year...because I was lazy and didn't want to dig the truck out of the drifted up snow around it. So, instead stuck it in 4Lo and backed over the drift and smashed it down. It was a high enough drift that 4Hi couldn't push me over it.

Still, I could have just used a shovel and dug it out. It wasn't like I needed 4wd. It was just quite convenient to have it.

Otherwise, I mean...does Chicago pothole season count as 'leaving the pavement'? Because to call streets around here 'pavement' during pothole season is generous.
___

Anyways, returning to the OP question - I'd buy a Tundra and only a Tundra today. I have no need for a FS pickup, but the maintenance issues and longevity of the Big 3 leave me wanting. If you want fancy tech, you'll have to get a Big 3, if you want a truck that will drive forever, buy the Tundra.

Don't buy a full size pickup expecting to get good mileage from it, period. At 60 miles a day, you're going to be burning 4+ gallons of gas. Just budget appropriately for it. Unless you're planning to cruise 65 in the right lane during your 60-miles a day. But someone who owns an S4 and is building a Nova SS is probably a bit like me...lead-footed.

[Outlier]

Lots of good information here; I've been researching and looking myself that last few months. The 5.3 in the Silverado felt kinda anemic. Fuel economy isn't a large concern for me so I would probably spend up and go with the 6.2.

The new 2021 F-150 has piqued my interest but out of all the 1/2 ton truck manufacturers, Ford is the farthest dealer away from me. I have a GM, Nissan, RAM, and Toyota dealer 10 minutes from my house and have only had personal dealings with the Toyota place. Maybe a similar situation factors in to your choice.

[BN]

I'm not a truck guy, but I am a Toyota guy.

About 2 years ago I bought a used 2012 Tundra 4 door, not a crew cab, with 120,000 miles. We had a new driver coming along and we would need another vehicle. I drove it off and on until a couple of months ago I passed my Toyota Sienna on to the new driver and traded the Tundra off for a used Subaru Outback. I had very little use for the Truck and the Outback hit the sweet spot for my usage. I got almost the same amount of money for the trade in as what I paid for the truck. The Tundra gave me no problems at all. It was a nice driving vehicle. If I wanted a truck I would not consider anything but a Toyota. I've been driving Toyotas since 1977 and I've never had a bad one. I've never even had a mediocre one.

[farscott]

Lots of good information here; I've been researching and looking myself that last few months. The 5.3 in the Silverado felt kinda anemic. Fuel economy isn't a large concern for me so I would probably spend up and go with the 6.2.

The new 2021 F-150 has piqued my interest but out of all the 1/2 ton truck manufacturers, Ford is the farthest dealer away from me. I have a GM, Nissan, RAM, and Toyota dealer 10 minutes from my house and have only had personal dealings with the Toyota place. Maybe a similar situation factors in to your choice.

From too many vehicle launches to count, I suggest never purchasing the first year of a substantially redesigned vehicle, especially one with new powertrain components. There are still some lessons to be learned in both design and manufacturing. The sweet spot is the first six months of the second model year's production as the big issues are resolved and the cost cutting has not taken hold.

[Casual Friday]

I mean, he lives in Florida...so if he drives off the road, he needs an airboat not 4wd.

I have 4wd, I've used it once in the last year...because I was lazy and didn't want to dig the truck out of the drifted up snow around it. So, instead stuck it in 4Lo and backed over the drift and smashed it down. It was a high enough drift that 4Hi couldn't push me over it.

Still, I could have just used a shovel and dug it out. It wasn't like I needed 4wd. It was just quite convenient to have it.

Otherwise, I mean...does Chicago pothole season count as 'leaving the pavement'? Because to call streets around here 'pavement' during pothole season is generous.

I admit that I probably spend more time "offroad" than a lot of PF'ers. Like @okie john pointed out about PNW logging roads, there are places here that you just won't get to without it many months of the year and I'd prefer to not limit myself to visiting them during the Summer months.

[RevolverRob]

I admit that I probably spend more time "offroad" than a lot of PF'ers. Like @okie john pointed out about PNW logging roads, there are places here that you just won't get to without it many months of the year and I'd prefer to not limit myself to visiting them during the Summer months.

There are not a ton of places to really use 4wd around Chicago. The 'off road parks' are just little mudholes for people with mall crawlers to pretend to do some off-roading.

When time is a bit more free (next summer). I think we're going to put a roof-top tent on the FJ and cruise west and spend some time in the high (and low) desert. I much prefer sand to mud, anyways.

[mmc45414]

For about ten years, I swapped personal vehicles every year due to the management lease program.

My grandfather was an EE at Frigidaire and in the seventies he was doing a new Caddy every year. I think that program was based around a discount and deferred GMAC financing so he had to take ownership, but could use them for a year, sell them, rinse, repeat. I think a couple of times they may have even consulted on the color choice with people that had agreed to buy them in a year.

I also drove a minimum of three other vehicles per day, running everything from a specified new vehicle eval (M10) to maximum velocity runs on tracks.

I know it was work, and was not just joyriding, but was it fun? I used to have a sales job where we would rent cars for travel and used National where you pick from what is there. For me that was like a buffet, only got stuck with a turd a couple of times. As long as you were not being a dick you could ask "Is XYZ all that is available?" and they typically said "You can take the Camaro if you would like to" as if they could read my frickin mind

Since then, I keep vehicles for usually five to ten years, depending upon issues and the market.

I think we are pretty set into the finance for five (ETA: Oops, I meant six) and use for ten or more routine. The 2014 F-150 is paid off, the 2016 Focus ST has about a year, leaving the 2009 Element on deck, on a timeline that will leave the player to be named paid off about retirement time.