Daily Driver

[Tractor Seabee]

I have work in or around construction all my life. Never encountered a company that did not provide a company vehicle to their superintendents and project managers, sometimes down to foremen and general foremen to drive as their own. That is not even a union contract requirement just an expected perk of the positions. I have been a project manager and never asked for one, it just came along. One company I worked for decided to cut that perk and wanted to pay mileage for our own truck we were expected to then furnish. Guess how long that lasted. I staffed up a new project once and the company wanted me to get compact cars for the superintendents/gen foremen It was not an in the dirt project. First day they came on the job they asked "where is my 4X4 pickup. They were all existing company men on a re-hire after an end of project lay-off. Another one of those "guess how long it lasted". Progressive companies like the advertising on their vehicles, helps prevent bad driving by employees, and gives instant recognition on who is coming into the job.

Back to the question; I still like the idea of a pickup like a F150 with a lockable tool box. Economical transportation, functional, and can haul most anything you would be faced with. I think a diesel in your case is an expensive overkill both operational and maintenance when it is mostly coming out of your pocket. Re-look at the tax ramifications with your accountant. If you are on night/weekend recall to your projects, that may negate the mileage to and from work situation. The new tax code, I have heard, states over 100m/day commuting is deductible on schedule A as a condition of work.

Ron

 

[pmsmechanic]

To it looks like you could save money by driving two different vehicles. One that gets good mileage for commuting and one for work. Just leave the work vehicle at work.

 

[4570Man]

I sold my half ton pickup and until I come across a deal I can’t not buy I’ll probably never have another one. My Suburban is way more useful. Having way more room and 3 doors for access doesn’t even compare to a silly toolbox in the bed that you need a ladder to reach. Since you already have an suv you probably understand how nice the dry storage is.

 

[4570Man]

My wife and I are still considering going out to AZ and finding a good body 93 Suburban K2500 with a bazillion miles, nursing it back here to Indiana, and as you said, swapping in a modern LS engine, re-do the suspension and breaks, then driving it for 10-15 more years. I figure I can pick one up for $3-4K, junkyard engine and tranny for $1K, $1K in tires/rims, anyhow, well under $10K.

We've had our 93 K1500 for 11 years. I paid $6K for it and only have $1K into it. I could sell it for $1K easy. So back to $6K for 11 years. That's about $45 a month for transportation for the past 11 years.

Why not just buy a 2000s or newer one? Sure it’ll cost more but you’re looking at several grand of work. I had a 1990s half ton suburban with no motor and no rust that I sold for $600. Here you go. Who wouldn’t want a gas guzzling pass anything but a gas station 8.1 suburban?

 

[Garandman]

If you build something custom and it breaks, it will be a challenge to find someone to work on it.

Not personally a CR-V fan as their AWD system is marginal.

What is the weight of the equipment you need to carry?

Does another Crossover work, or do you need a pickup?

There are more than 25 Crossovers on the market and fitting boosters to the rear struts will improve load hauling.

Air Springs | Air Suspension Kits | Air Lift Company

 

[dodge man]

I am a land surveyor and have been doing it for 34 years. Now that you specified your needs I can recommend just getting a half ton pick up. I have worked out of everything, pick ups, vans, mini vans, Bronco II, Suburban, station wagons and cars. We carry close to 1000 pounds of gear.

We use toppers with side doors and have a “custom” plywood box to hold our gear. The box holds our tripods and gets stuff off the bed floor so you can reach it from the sides. I say custom box because it’s about 30 years old and beat to crap but it is heavy.

If you are not worried about a lot of options get a base 4x4 truck with a V6. We have a couple of Rams with the V6. They are quad cabs with the smaller back seat. The back seat is mostly just used for our personal cloths and stuff. The best I can say is they are not as under powered as you would think. On the highway they can get an honest 20 mpg on a regular basis. We probably average 14 mpg but we do a lot of idling and in town driving. They have rubber floor mats and are fairly easy to keep clean. Ford also makes a base model truck that is good.

I have worked with a lot of different construction companies. And it is about 50-50 on if you drive a company truck or your personal truck.

 

[terryknight]

the F150 with the 2.7 ecoboost is rated at 19/24 (4wd) 20/26 (2wd). and a 3.0 diesel option that should do even better, with more upfront cost and maintenance

my father has an 05 suburban, it is comfortable, it can tow, it gets an honest 20+ MPG on the highway. it was fairly cheap to by used. while the drivetrain is reliable i have issues with GMs and all the electronic features that don't always work as well as the rust issues of the rockers and brake lines. new version may not have these issues

I have an 04 grand cherokee it will do 25 MPG on the highway it is comfortable will tow, but not much and sucks down the fuel doing so. it was cheap to by and cheap to run.

my wife has a 16 subaru forester it is comfortable, but only in the driver's seat. maybe if the passenger seat was power i could get it lower and be comfortable. it "can" tow. i haven't check the MPGs but my wife says upper 20s back roads and a little in town low 30s highway.

i like the ridgeline idea. yes it's ugly, but it should be reliable, comfortable, and be able to tow 5000lbs. you can get a cap for the bed, it user friendly. yes it's ugly. then sell the 2500

 

[groundcover]

I’m with Tractor Seabee- company owned F150 , I’ll write you a note to headquarters if you like !

 

[3930dave]

As has been knocked around.... lots of trade-offs, doing this in one vehicle.

Comparing 2010 models, the Ridgeline gives up 4mpg to the CRV. (Graph centre point, Fuelly). So, you could add something like a Thule topper to the CRV to gain long-item space, and probably still be ahead on gas. Old CRVs had pretty tiny interiors, newer ones are a bit larger.

Tall vans are nice to work out of, IMO. A tall turbo-diesel 4x4 van would do everything pretty well, but that's not a cheque I'd want to cut, w/o a full business write-off.

My neighbour is an HVAC contractor. One of his latest trucks is a Sprinter diesel bought just off-lease. If you can get your head around using a 2wd, it's not a bad solution..... his does fine now that he upgraded the tires to BFG All Terrains.

Lot's of cost scenarios crashz...... if you have overnite parking there, you could even commute in an econobox, and park an old p/u truck at work.....

Rgds, D.

 

[crashz]

When I joined this company it was a condition of hire. They would have given me an Escape, but were having all kinds of issues (mechanical and driver related) so they offered a little more pay in lieu of the company vehicle. I turned in a 2014 extended cab 4x4 F150 at my last company. That truck was really great. It would be contender, but the newer trucks are wicked expensive.

4570 is right, lockable dry space is handy.

Thanks for the heads up on the tax updates. That would be a big help.

Its funny, I have a work colleague that is convinced that a Prius is the vehicle for me. He states that the interior space is better that my current CRV, is more comfortable and I'll nearly double my mileage.

I was thinking that if I was to build, I should start now. If I buy, I should start squirreling some cash away. I think that was question # one, and the answer is to buy new or late model. Got some time to sit in seats and try things out. Not only that, but I have plenty of project trucks already...

BTW- I just realized that I started a similar thread, same title, 6 years ago. Funny how things circle back.

 

[MossRoad]

Why not just buy a 2000s or newer one? Sure it値l cost more but youæ±*e looking at several grand of work. I had a 1990s half ton suburban with no motor and no rust that I sold for $600. Here you go. Who wouldn稚 want a gas guzzling pass anything but a gas station 8.1 suburban? View attachment 594260

Because I like the 1993 body style over the next generation.

 

[fried1765]

First - I'd like to think that us TBN'er are a lot alike. Honest, hard workers with a habit of doing and building things on their own. We are also a little obsessed with trucks, equipment and the like. So I'd like some honest opinions about my replacement commuter ideas. I'm torn and not sure which direction I'm going to go yet:

Last year I changed jobs and began commuting some distance and also turned in my company truck. I bought an older Honda CRV with 130K miles and its been great. Very reliable and overall nearly the perfect commuter and work vehicle. But I'm averaging about 50K miles a year, some of it paid and most not paid. I travel all over the northeast for project work and have driven as far out as Indiana this year. This puts it at nearly 300K miles two years from now. That is probably a good replacement goal.

Only a few drawbacks to the CRV:
- Comfort. I'm a big guy and it need at least 2 more inches of leg room.
- I'd like to carry some tools and a few more things in it without the droopy back end and cluttered feel.

So I have been contemplating replacements. One I like is the new GMC Canyon with a Duramax diesel. Looks sweet, has the needed tech (I need hands free calling, have upgrade the CRV with that), has plenty of passenger space and I can haul some tools and light equipment when needed (struggle with that now). But $45K is a lot. The hauling and towing capability are two items that would be notable benefits and the diesel offers those benefits without a loss in efficiency. Price tag, reliability and repair costs are all major drawbacks.

The Ridgeline is a very ugly second choice. Has most of the benefits of the Duramax without the high repair costs. Reliability is likely rock solid too. Price for the low end is reasonable, but fuel efficiency is not really great. Towing is not really there and it is just hideous to look at. And even though its cheap for a new 4 door truck, $30K is still not cheap.

I have been car payment free for long enough that a $500/month payment (for example) is shocking and absurd. According to statistics, its not for most Americans, nor is being behind 3 payments. No thanks.

So I have been obsessed with older square body trucks all of my life and lately have contemplating a Blazer/Jimmy build. And have been thinking about this as daily driver. What would you guys think about a LS swapped Blazer, modern drive train, old school looks and easy repair-ability? I started thinking about a diesel swap and also think with a 4.8 or 5.3L engine, 4L60E and reasonable gears, it would do fairly well on fuel (20ish). The 6.2L diesels can be found in blazers (rare), but were never great on fuel in comparison to the low power and abysmal reliability. This would be a stock-like resto-mod, not a jacked up off roader.

I would love to justify the Blazer build, but common sense says that its unlikely to get power, reliability and efficiency out of a former rust bucket built in my garage. All under the cost of a new rig.

Would love to hear some opinions and feel free to throw out suggestions.
Leo

"abysmal reliability"?
I had a GMC Jimmy diesel 6.2L.
It was a 1986. Bought it in 1990. Sold it in 2015 with 180,000 miles
Paid $8000 used, sold it for $8200 on E-bay (buyer had it shipped out of the USA).
Only money spent was for routine maintenance.
It had been painted twice, and was in excellent condition.

 

[fried1765]

Our 2009 ford explorer daily driver and our weekend drivers.Bought the explorer used 11/24/19 with 82,000 miles original old fart owners for $7,500 bucks.Not great gas mileage V-6 engine around 19 mpg hwy. and 16 city.Easy to get in and out of.

How did you do that?
"Bought the explorer used 11/24/19".... ????

 

[MossRoad]

How did you do that?
"Bought the explorer used 11/24/19".... ????

rolled back the odometer....

 

[3930dave]

How did you do that?
"Bought the explorer used 11/24/19".... ????

Obviously, he has a working Flux Capacitor !

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Because I like the 1993 body style over the next generation.

Me too.

And.... the later gen has the ABS block in a retarded location (won't mean anything to non-rust-belt wrench-spinners....).

Rgds, D.

 

[Tractorable]

With the amount of high mileage you’re driving I’d go with a naturally aspirated Honda or Toyota for their exceptional reliability. Slight edge to Toyota because they have Aisin transmissions which are more reliable than Honda transmissions.

The Ridgeline has a lot of interior room due to its unibody construction so it’s comfortable for larger guys and it has a lot of dry lockable storage. The Toyota Avalon is a very spacious, comfortable, reliable, and powerful car that gets 30mpg highway for the V6 and in the 40’s if you choose the hybrid.

 

[dalola]

When the new aluminum body F150 came out in 2015, my employer gave me a supercrew Lariat 4x4 for the weekend to put some miles on it. It had the new 2.7L Ecoboost engine. At first, I thought it was some kind of joke, a small V6 in a big 4x4 pickup. Holy Cr@p did that truck ever blow my mind. I was literally dumbfounded at the level of performance coming out of that tiny V6. And when not pumping 20psi of boost, 23-24 mpg was a reality. Wow. I went out and bought my own the following week. Currently on my second aluminum body F150 2.7EB, and still think it's the best all-around half ton out there. It's really the swiss army knife of vehicles, IMO. Does everything, and does it well. I'll be driving one of these until something better comes along...

 

[farm boy00]

Another option, find a good condition single cab long box with topper 2.3l maunal 2wd ranger?

Get 20+ mpg, and have a decent looking truck with a decent bed and could tow a small utility trailer. Extrememly reliable. Also are decent all weather vehicles if you have good tires and a little weight in back

Problems would be that the Cabs are not very big and the 2.3l are gutless motors but extremely reliable.


I also owned a 1997 f150 2wd ext cab short box v6 maunal. Got good gas mileage and did decent when I had it in a wet sandy jobsite. Had lots of cab space and still looked decent as a work truck.

Here would be a cool idea for storage if you had a little time to fabricate

 

[MossRoad]

When the new aluminum body F150 came out in 2015, my employer gave me a supercrew Lariat 4x4 for the weekend to put some miles on it. It had the new 2.7L Ecoboost engine. At first, I thought it was some kind of joke, a small V6 in a big 4x4 pickup. Holy Cr@p did that truck ever blow my mind. I was literally dumbfounded at the level of performance coming out of that tiny V6. And when not pumping 20psi of boost, 23-24 mpg was a reality. Wow. I went out and bought my own the following week. Currently on my second aluminum body F150 2.7EB, and still think it's the best all-around half ton out there. It's really the swiss army knife of vehicles, IMO. Does everything, and does it well. I'll be driving one of these until something better comes along...

I have to ask, why are you on your 2nd one in 4 years?