Help me find the pickup truck of our dreams...

March 17, 2006 2:18 PM

Please suggest a make and model for our next vehicle, based on the following criteria:

We are looking to buy a slightly-used pickup truck in the next few months, to replace my sweetie's current vehicle, which is dying the death of a thousand cuts.

Said pickup truck must meet the following standards:

-- must have an 8 foot bed
-- must have a larger cab than normal -- specifically, needs a rear seat (bench seat is fine) that will accomodate an infant/child car seat.
-- 4WD is nice, but not strictly necessary. If truck has 4WD, it needs to be 'on demand' and not the thing where you need to get out and adjust the hubs.
-- Must get decent gas mileage (I understand these things are relative).
-- We would prefer a US brand (Chevy, Ford, etc) over an import

A few other notes: We live in Maine. We don't plan to plow with it. It will be often be driven 100 - 500 miles fully loaded with heavy gear and sometimes furniture. We currently use an Astro van, but we need to preserve our current cargo capacity while adding space for the baby seat. Cost is big factor -- but also we're having a lot of trouble even locating any trucks with 8' beds to look at/test drive. They seem to be few and far between in the used market. (I presume this is because people drive them into the ground.)

I've been doing a lot of reading (consumer reports, etc), but I'm interested in more personal anecdotal experiences.

In particular, I'm looking for specific recommendations as to make and model of trucks.

posted by anastasiav to shopping (19 comments total)

Although this won't answer your question directly, it is important to remember that many "imported" cars are now assembled in the United States. Honda and Toyota are among the foreign manufacturers that have domestic plants, and they both produce pickup trucks.

That said, should you decide to purchase from Dodge, Ford, or General Motors, you should definitely be looking at the more current body styles, as a number of their respective predecessors had serious safety issues. The new Dodge Ram chassis, for example, represents a tremendous improvement in safety, an achievement supposedly made in collaboration with engineers at sister company Mercedes-Benz.
posted by scoria at 2:33 PM on March 17, 2006

Dodge Ram 1500.
posted by The Jesse Helms at 2:44 PM on March 17, 2006

Your looking for a ClubCab or QuadCab Dodge with a full size bed (or the Ford/Chevy equivelents). Dodges have a slightly longer box inside than the other two. Kind of rare because a long box, club cab pick up is a big truck which is fairly difficult to park in parking lots.

For the best mileage go with a desiel, the Cummins in Dodge is only available in 3/4 and 1 tons though and they really hold there value.
posted by Mitheral at 2:52 PM on March 17, 2006

I used to have an 4x4 F350 Ford...it was a huge honking beast that never met a gas station it wanted to pass...not to mention the $150 tires it seemed to eat up. I too, live in Maine and thought I needed such a vehicle for " hauling shit". Then I discovered that a nice trailer would suffice for the 5-10 % of the time I needed anything more than a moped to do what I REALLY needed to do...just some food for thought.
posted by lobstah at 3:07 PM on March 17, 2006

Although this won't answer your question directly, it is important to remember that many "imported" cars are now assembled in the United States. Honda and Toyota are among the foreign manufacturers that have domestic plants, and they both produce pickup trucks.

There was a related questions that I asked earlier that showed that buying a used car from a foreign make still hurt the US car market.

I can't give you any specific truck recommendations, but don't be swayed into buying foreign.
posted by unixrat at 3:13 PM on March 17, 2006

I'm with The Jesse and Mitheral: Dodge + cummins diesel. Have you considered looking into commercial/fleet sales?
posted by snsranch at 3:46 PM on March 17, 2006

Okay, I *know* you said that you prefer a US model, but seriously, please, reconsider and look at a Toyota Tacoma PreRunner, or a Tundra if you need something bigger.

They are, in a word, indestructible. Change the oil and give it tires and you can get 300K miles out of them easily.

The hemi-powered Dodge Rams are a good bet. The MDS system (truck cruises on 4 cylinders instead of 8, fires them up when it needs them) gets you much better mileage.

And, barring that, the V6s that Chevy puts out (I think they're the C-series trucks) get decent gas mileage.
posted by TeamBilly at 3:50 PM on March 17, 2006

Make sure that you test out the back seat by putting the child seat WITH THE CHILD back there. Friends omitted that last bit and purchased a truck that did not meet their need the way they thought it would. (extended cab f-150 BTW)
posted by davey_darling at 3:58 PM on March 17, 2006

You could keep the astro (if its not the one that's breaking down) or get another, and pull a small cargo trailer. It'll be much easier to park when you're not hauling stuff. I like the old GM 6.2 and 6.5 diesel engines, it doesn't have as much horsepower as the new GM diesels (duramax) or the ford or dodge, but with an overdrive trans, 4x4 in my '82 suburban, we get over 20 mpg (often 23). Locking hubs will save mileage and tire wear, I know you said you don't want them, but you also said 4x4 wasn't necessary, so think of manual hubs as emergency 4x4, only engaged if you get stuck.
posted by 445supermag at 4:02 PM on March 17, 2006

That's right, if it's a new baby, it'll have to ride in a rear facing car seat for a while, they take up much more room front to back, you may need a 4 door instead of an extended cab or 3 door.
posted by 445supermag at 4:05 PM on March 17, 2006

Yes, buy an American brand, like DaimlerChrysler or Ford (that owns Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, etc.).
posted by kcm at 4:07 PM on March 17, 2006

anastasiav, my family owned both a pickup and van, and I was genuinely surprised by how much more could be packed into a "van load" than into a "truck load" for moving. The walls of the van turn out to be a real advantage when your load builds up and up. Of course if the shit you're hauling is actual shit, then yeah, a pickup is probably the way to go. Otherwise, consider carefully before deciding that a truck will haul as much as a van.

"There was a related questions that I asked earlier that showed that buying a used car from a foreign make still hurt the US car market."

No, it didn't. It showed that some people hold that opinion, which does not make it a fact.
posted by NortonDC at 4:49 PM on March 17, 2006

The US truck industry will not be helped by one person buying a truck, but YOU might be helped a lot by buying the right truck (unless it's more of a social thing, which is fair enough).

The Toyotas go for ever and IMO work out cheaper than the domestics in the long run because they simply never give up.

I currently have a 4Runner that has 200k on the clock and basically drives like new.

Toyota service, here in Canuckistan anyway, is indescribably good.
posted by unSane at 5:13 PM on March 17, 2006

Thanks for the notes, keep them coming...

... one thing I should have added: we're looking at US Made basically because my partner's father can repair just about anything on most any Ford/Dodge/Chevy etc brand vehicle that he's run across, but doesn't like to work on imports - says they're put together in a different way and he just isn't comfortable working on them. Also, my partner is convinced that the parts are cheaper. (*shrug* - I know nothing about the moving parts of cars and trucks.)

So its more of a convenience thing,not political or economic (except in the sense that it saves us money on repairs). I myself drive a small import.

Its the Astro that's currently on its deathbed, and we do pull a trailer behind it from time to time ... however, when you're driving long highway distances "hauling shit" (furniture, mostly) the trailer is a significant to progress. Plus I'm not comfortable driving the big van with the big trailer behind.

Please keep the thoughts and suggestions coming.
posted by anastasiav at 7:21 PM on March 17, 2006

We're looking for pretty much the same thing and have settled on a Ford F250 SuperCrew with a PowerStroke diesel. The SuperCrew for the room, the F250 rather than the 150 for the carrying capacity (and the diesel availability) and the Ford brand because we're just picky that way (my father owns basically the same truck but in the extended cab, rather than crew cab, has always had a Ford truck since I was a kid, and says this one is by far the best of the bunch).

Toyota and Nissan make some nice trucks, sure, but nothing in the heavy duty diesel class like the big Fords and Dodges. The only caveat is that up there in the cold northeast your diesel truck will REQUIRE a block heater in the winter, so if you haven't got an electrical outlet near the truck parking space, plan to wire one in.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:34 PM on March 17, 2006

This isn't strictly an answer to your question, as such, but I wonder if one of the longer models of Dodge Sprinter vans wouldn't suit your needs better than a truck. I've heard they get decent gas mileage and, being a van, they offer the exceptional cargo space that NortonDC refers to wrt walls. They seem to be fairly configurable, though a newish used one with a back seat and an otherwise-uncluttered cargo space could be tricky to find and I don't think 4x4 is available.
Alternatively, you might be well-served by a crew cab pickup with a regular-size box and a good trailer as sort of a compromise between a few of the perpspectives upthread. An enclosed trailer could give you a good facsimile of 'van walls', while the shorter bed might at least make it possible to park when you don't need the trailer without sacrificing baby space or too much cargo space.
Finally (and this is strictly anecdotal, but) I don't know anyone who has a Dodge (especially with the Cummins motor) who doesn't love their truck. Can't say the same for Ford or Chevy (though in fairness, I do only know one vaguely dissatisfied Ford owner; GM doesn't fare quite so well among my acquaintances).
posted by willpie at 8:01 PM on March 17, 2006

Also, the big diesels (both Dodge and Ford) do hold their value very well.
posted by willpie at 8:02 PM on March 17, 2006

I have used many, many trucks for hauling horse trailers, hauling boats and general work stuff- so high abuse, high mileage, low maintenance situations. I would buy a Ford. Specifically a 150 King Cab if you don't need towing capacity and a 250 if you do. I would think long and hard about 4WD. 4WD on a used truck can be a big $$ pit and if you use it a lot you are looking at replacing U-joints nearly yearly on the older trucks. Having said that- you live in Maine. Have you ever driven a long 2WD truck on snow and ice in traffic? It's terrifying. The Fords also get stuck in anything more than about an inch of snow or mud. If you live on a dirt road- you need 4WD. In the city? Not so much.

Diesel vs gas is your call. IME diesel Fords run forever but the gas trucks aren't too shabby either and are available with a lot more options. If you get diesel you will most likely need a block heater in the winter, unless you have a garage. Proximity to a gas station that sells diesel is a biggie too. Don't expect the turbo to last more than 1/5 the lifetime of the engine.

Other things to consider are the hauling package I mentioned- it's includes upgraded trannie, brakes, shocks etc and the one gas tank vs two. Having only a single smaller gas tank will cause much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the long run.

In terms of finding a truck your best bet may be to look for a pool vehicle that is 3-5 years old and has maintenance records. They are almost always long bed/ king cab: think logging companies, state vehicles, commercial long-term rental outfits etc. Also check out local horse publication, people are always selling trucks through those.
posted by fshgrl at 8:06 PM on March 17, 2006

A quick note: In my experience it is very difficult to find a truck that can accomodate an infant seat. In fact, many sedans just barely fit it in (when rear-facing). Make sure you test fit, as the other poster mentioned.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 8:15 PM on March 17, 2006