Lt CHEG
Platinum Member
After buying the backhoe attachment for my tractor my uncle brought the whole trailer, tractor and backhoe by the scales at a local gravel bank. Let's just say that although I'm sure my 5.3L Silverado 1500 would have pulled the load, there's no way that I was willing to overload the truck and rear axle by about 3,000 pounds.
So I started looking at used 3/4 ton crew cabs from both Ford and GM. Originally I had test driven new 1 ton SRW Fords and found them okay, but the ride was still a little harsh for my liking, so I decided to give the 3/4 tons a try. Honestly the 3/4 ton Chevy and GMC trucks seem to provide the closest ride quality to my current half ton, but the Ford 3/4 ton is actually VERY close. So I've been looking for approximately 2006 to 2007 vintage used diesels for the last week and a half or so. (Thanks by the way to Diamondpilot for some offline assistance with my search).
Fast forward to last night. I got an electronic birthday card from my Chevy dealer yesterday so I figured that I'd give them a call and see if they had anything that might work for me. Long story short, they had a sweet 2007 Old body style non DPF Silverado diesel in stock with roughly 60,000 miles so I decided to take it for a test drive. I liked the truck and so did the wife, but the numbers weren't working exactly where I wanted them so I decided to wait.
Right next door to my Chevy dealer is a Ford dealer. On a whim I sent an email to their internet sales dept. about a couple of used F250's and also a new one, just for grins. It turns out that I used to work with the internet sales manager's son as a police officer with a local PD so I really got the VIP treatment. I decided to test drive a brand new 2010 F250 diesel Supercab XLT. I liked it very much and found driving it to be the most like driving my current truck. We worked the numbers (priced under invoice and X Plan for the matter) and the rebates on top of that. My cost and payments for a new F250 were going to be about the same as the used Chevy. So now it looks like I very well may end up driving a new 2010 F250 Power Stroke. The truck is on hold for me until Thursday and I have to decide if I can live without the crew cab. If so there is no question I'll be switching to the Ford. I rarely carry a passenger besides my wife and if so it's usually only one, so they can sprawl out across the whole back seat and have pretty good comfort. Usually my back seat gets filled with myself and one other person's snowmobile gear and two people ride up front if I've got a passenger as most of my miles come from towing my snowmobile rig to the good snow.
I just figured I'd share my experience with everyone and if I buy the truck I'll be sure to post pictures. The truck is an XLT with the Chromed nerf bars already installed, snow plow prep package, 9,800 pound GVWR, auxiliary heat unit for fast heat in the winter, cab marker lights and a bed liner. The only thing it doesn't have that I'll miss is the power seat and fog lights. I figure I'll just add the fog lights myself, and the lack of a power seat may actually be a blessing because it's easier to get it to exactly the right spot when someone else drives the truck and moves my seat. So what does everyone think?
So I started looking at used 3/4 ton crew cabs from both Ford and GM. Originally I had test driven new 1 ton SRW Fords and found them okay, but the ride was still a little harsh for my liking, so I decided to give the 3/4 tons a try. Honestly the 3/4 ton Chevy and GMC trucks seem to provide the closest ride quality to my current half ton, but the Ford 3/4 ton is actually VERY close. So I've been looking for approximately 2006 to 2007 vintage used diesels for the last week and a half or so. (Thanks by the way to Diamondpilot for some offline assistance with my search).
Fast forward to last night. I got an electronic birthday card from my Chevy dealer yesterday so I figured that I'd give them a call and see if they had anything that might work for me. Long story short, they had a sweet 2007 Old body style non DPF Silverado diesel in stock with roughly 60,000 miles so I decided to take it for a test drive. I liked the truck and so did the wife, but the numbers weren't working exactly where I wanted them so I decided to wait.
Right next door to my Chevy dealer is a Ford dealer. On a whim I sent an email to their internet sales dept. about a couple of used F250's and also a new one, just for grins. It turns out that I used to work with the internet sales manager's son as a police officer with a local PD so I really got the VIP treatment. I decided to test drive a brand new 2010 F250 diesel Supercab XLT. I liked it very much and found driving it to be the most like driving my current truck. We worked the numbers (priced under invoice and X Plan for the matter) and the rebates on top of that. My cost and payments for a new F250 were going to be about the same as the used Chevy. So now it looks like I very well may end up driving a new 2010 F250 Power Stroke. The truck is on hold for me until Thursday and I have to decide if I can live without the crew cab. If so there is no question I'll be switching to the Ford. I rarely carry a passenger besides my wife and if so it's usually only one, so they can sprawl out across the whole back seat and have pretty good comfort. Usually my back seat gets filled with myself and one other person's snowmobile gear and two people ride up front if I've got a passenger as most of my miles come from towing my snowmobile rig to the good snow.
I just figured I'd share my experience with everyone and if I buy the truck I'll be sure to post pictures. The truck is an XLT with the Chromed nerf bars already installed, snow plow prep package, 9,800 pound GVWR, auxiliary heat unit for fast heat in the winter, cab marker lights and a bed liner. The only thing it doesn't have that I'll miss is the power seat and fog lights. I figure I'll just add the fog lights myself, and the lack of a power seat may actually be a blessing because it's easier to get it to exactly the right spot when someone else drives the truck and moves my seat. So what does everyone think?