Opinions on trucks

[Builder]

Tom,

I thought you said in your car-hauling business, you preferred GM trucks?

BTW: My "toy" is doing fine hauling 12K ( Compact utility & loader or mini-ex) off the back bumper- no troubles at all.

 

[L-ENTERPRISES]

Tom,

I thought you said in your car-hauling business, you preferred GM trucks?

BTW: My "toy" is doing fine hauling 12K ( Compact utility & loader or mini-ex) off the back bumper- no troubles at all.

Poop , I got busted ... Yes we did Duke . We got out of the Car business about 24 months ago and are concentrating on our core businesses of Concrete & Logging . Fortunately we have been able to stay busy in this market .

On edit , how goes everything ? I have'nt been on the diesel garage for ever ....

 

[Builder]

I'm doing well. One of the few Builders making money in my area. I feel lucky.

 

[canoetrpr]

Here is a pick how we use them in the summer , its so much easier in the winter when everything is frozen .... Buy American fellas ....

What really amazed me how impressed I was with the other vehicles that Ford has on the market. I really really like the Fusion and I'm glad it is getting the reviews it is. Same goes for the Edge. It's not just Ford either. There are several GMC vehicles that have caught my attention over the past couple of years.

While 8 to 10 years ago it was clear to me that the quality and designs of the Hondas and Toyotas were so much better than American, I don't think that I hold that much of that view any more. In the last decade it seems like the big 3 have caught up, at the very least in the design front to my eyes.

I do think and hope that they have a future because I do like several of the vehicles I see from them. I'll bet I'm not the only die-hard import buyer who is noticing this and walking back into a Ford dealership after a decade or two of owning Toyotas and Hondas.

 

[Builder]

What really amazed me how impressed I was with the other vehicles that Ford has on the market. I really really like the Fusion and I'm glad it is getting the reviews it is. Same goes for the Edge. It's not just Ford either. There are several GMC vehicles that have caught my attention over the past couple of years.

While 8 to 10 years ago it was clear to me that the quality and designs of the Hondas and Toyotas were so much better than American, I don't think that I hold that much of that view any more. In the last decade it seems like the big 3 have caught up, at the very least in the design front to my eyes.

I do think and hope that they have a future because I do like several of the vehicles I see from them. I'll bet I'm not the only die-hard import buyer who is noticing this and walking back into a Ford dealership after a decade or two of owning Toyotas and Hondas.

Taking that one step further, I do not believe that current domestic full size trucks can be beat. I would not chose a Nissan or Toyota over a Ford or GM full size truck unless I was an occassional user/homeowner/weekend user. GM's warranty is unsurpassed. The F-150 is still the best seller. GM won a never previously acheived car AND truck of the year last year by one of the big testing authorities on vehicles.

Ford & GM have some excellent mid-size cars to offer and plenty of small cars that get as good or better mileage than the hybrids offered by the Japanese at lower cost and maintenance costs.

I think the Japanese trucks/cars are living off their past advantages in C/R writeups and previous better quality standards. These perceptions die hard. It takes a long time to shake past reputations-good or bad.

 

[JoelD]

Whoa...this thread is all over the map on trucks. As a few others have suggested, I vote for the Ford Ranger w/2.3 4 banger. Can't beat the price, MPG, and it can accomplish many truck needs. Read some reviews on them...they will go forever and at your speeds, you may get 25+mpg. Not so with any other truck. Flip side is passenger space, towing, old design, lacks some creature comforts that other trucks have, etc. It's a buyer's market for trucks of all sizes. I've had Dodge Rams, Chevy Silverados, Ford Super-Dutys and an F-150...they're all good in their own right. Good luck!

Probably way to late, I've not read through the entire post.

I own a 2002 ford ranger 2.3 4cyl. XLT 5 spd. She's got AC, radio with CD (probably one of the best sounding radios I've heard in a car, including a couple of BOSE systems) and that's about it. Manual windows, no power seats, just basic XLT package, included bedliner and cap. I bought her about 3-1/2 years ago or so with 36000 miles for $5K, yup, $5K off of E-bay. She had been towed behind a motor home most of her life.

This truck is one of the best vehicles i've ever owned. I commute to work in her everday, 39 miles each way. I average between 27 and 29 miles per gallon every single take, with AC runing year round, defroster in winter and AC in summer.

She has a timing chain, therefore no timing belt maintenance. I've got 127K on her now, I've replaced brake pads (shoes next weekend), upper control arms and lower ball joints. Tires, and blinker relay. Most recently the axle harmonic balancer came off, I dropped the axle to remove and she runs no differently (the part is some kind of a gear vibration dampener).

This is the best commutter vehicle I could own, great on gas, great on the highway and easy to park. I use for dump runs every weekend. I have an old 3/4 ton for hauling heavy loads and plowing the driveway.

My next "car" will be another ford Ranger, went looking last week and drove a new ranger (window shopping). Base model, with 4 cyl., 5 speed auto, AC is around $14K, I don't know how you can beat it, can't get a commuter car for that kind of money.

I can't say enough about the quality of this little truck.

Joel

 

[Bama67]

I own a 2005 Ford supercrew 4x4 King Ranch w 3.73 gears that is by far and away the finest vehicle I have ever owned. It gets the same hwy mpg that my old Frontier got at 18 hwy. I even pulled a 7,000 lb load from atlanta on the interstate and got 15mpg. I have always liked chevy and before this had a 97 Z-71, and this Ford is twice the truck that it was. It it so much more sturdy and solid (thanks to the boxed frame) and rides like a cadillac. I can only imagine how great the new ones are with the 6 speed. I am now a blue oval man.

 

[laen64]

Where are you Bama. Are you in the Alabama Roll Call?

I'm a dodge Ram Hemi Fan myself but do believe you have a GREAT truck so I'm not knocking. Holler if U HEMI!

 

[Builder]

I own a 2005 Ford supercrew 4x4 King Ranch w 3.73 gears that is by far and away the finest vehicle I have ever owned. It gets the same hwy mpg that my old Frontier got at 18 hwy. I even pulled a 7,000 lb load from atlanta on the interstate and got 15mpg. I have always liked chevy and before this had a 97 Z-71, and this Ford is twice the truck that it was. It it so much more sturdy and solid (thanks to the boxed frame) and rides like a cadillac. I can only imagine how great the new ones are with the 6 speed. I am now a blue oval man.

Just like you but with different brands, I'm a previous Ford owner (matter of fact-I owned a dozen Ford F-250 & F-350's) and now drive a GMC-3500.

My '07 GM is twice the truck my '99 F-350 ever was.

I think the point is that ALL truck brands got better. It's not just one brand, but an industry-wide improvement in all brands.

 

[Bama67]

Where are you Bama. Are you in the Alabama Roll Call?

I'm a dodge Ram Hemi Fan myself but do believe you have a GREAT truck so I'm not knocking. Holler if U HEMI!

I hear ya bro. I am over here in Enterprise.

And Builder, I agree, the domestics have taken HUGE leaps and bounds in quality and performance in the last few years. If they had done this earlier we might not be in the situation we are in now.