Forums making it hard to buy a truck.

[Nashcat]

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to buy myself a late model used pickup. But after reading all the truck forums, I’ve decided there’s none worth buying.

The truck I want is a White Ford F150. 5.0 V8, crew cab, 4 x 4, under 125k miles. Probably the last truck I’ll ever buy. I have my reasons for the options. White, because I hate getting in a hot, dark truck in summer. 5.0 V8, because I’ve had 4 Ford V6’s, all with bad head gaskets. 4 x4 because of the steep hills where I live. Stranded 5 days during last month’s snow/ice. Miles are not that important, since I don’t go far.

Not buying anything with a turbo! I’ll probably keep the truck 10 years, if I live that long, and don’t want to replace a turbo.

Now for the fun part after reading forums.
Ford frames, supposedly, need to be rustproofed on the inside to prevent rot. Several local lots have trucks from Ontario that made their way to TN through the Northern (salted) states, so rust may have started. The aluminum bodies don’t rust, just everything else.

Next, the 10 speed transmission has a weak component that Ford knows about and has lengthened the warranty. BUT….the part is backordered for 8 months. It‘s a frame that the electronic leads go through that control the shifting. Default mode is 1st gear, so if it happens to fail on the interstate, it locks the wheels. $1100 fix if past 10 years OR 150k miles. That is if you can find the part. Sorta like Honda’s ECM. Do a search for Ford lead frame.

So now I’m thinking Chevy. Maybe? Seems to be failure of electronic solenoids for 4-wheel drive. According to GM forums, it’s an inexpensive part in the front differential, but is very labor intensive to the tune of $1000 to $1800 labor, depending on truck model. I’m not pulling front axels at my age.

Toyota and Nissan make a good truck, but prices are almost double, compared to comparable Ford or GM. It’s a personal thing, but I don’t like the looks of a Ram truck.

A new F150, V8, 4X4, crew cab, without any added options is $58k. I cant see the value for my use. I guess I could leave it to my SIL.

Your thoughts?

John

 

[Uncle Phil]

Look at older trucks when they were less 'electronically' inclined?

 

[ToddC]

Wow, it is a shame that the new cars/trucks are so expensive and have so many issues.

I am a life long Toyota fan. They are more expensive, but ........
Current ride is a 2011 Tacoma 4x4.......white, 6 speed manual. In 125k and 13 years (exactly 13 years today) the only repair has been both front wheel hubs for failing wheel bearing on one side, did both just 'cause. Oh ya, did both front brakes pads and rotors at the same time, they had about 20 percent left to go, but I had it all apart so just did them as well.

We put 345k on a 1991 4runner before this truck. On the original clutch still when sold.
Hope you find what you need. Maybe a nice 1979 F150. Now that was a truck.
T

 

[Mellow]

My '19 Ranger is awesome. I've had a Nissan Frontier and a Toyota Tacoma... Hated the Toyota, was like driving a lifted Corolla, could never get comfortable and the engine was anemic at best. The Frontier wasn't bad at all and since it was towards the end of that model's run before they recently changed it, most of the issues had been resolved.

The Ranger is a turbo 4 cycl and has the 10 sp transmission. It's been flawless and it's a quick truck. 21 mpg in the city easy and around 24 mpg on the highway if kept in the 65 mph range.

Forums are nice as you can see issues and solutions that people have come up with and things to look out for but it's also 'the squeaky wheel' syndrome where you see a lot of posts about problems and you don't see those not having the problems... just look here, you'd think the ECU was a huge issue that is affecting 90% of ST1300s but it's actually a small percentage.

 

[DavidR8]

I've had all GM trucks. Currently driving a 2011 2wd GMC Canyon. It's a fine truck for what it is. A bit gutless but gets decent mileage. My fave was my 98 Chev K1500 with trailering package. 5.0L.

 

[ChucksKLRST]

My thoughts: Don't read the forums so much. I made the same mistake when I bought my 2017 Jeep Wrangler a few months ago. Started reading the forums and thought I had made a Hugh mistake. Remember people will only complain on forums about issues they are having. Nobody ever complements the good workings of their vehicles on the forums are on reviews. If one paid allot of attention to the forums nobody would buy any thing. Goes for motorcycles, cars, dishwashers, refrigerators etc. you name it. With that said forums are good for information but make your own decisions based on the individual vehicle / item that you are looking / shopping for. Also ask / research the maint history if possible. Case in point. My jeep had a carfax with it which gave me enough info to do local research on the maint of the jeep. (Went to all the dealers listed with the vin# and ask for the maint done. No where was it written on the carfax, but I was able to find out the Manual transmission was rebuilt at 8800 miles and ultimately replace for a new factory trans a year and a half ago. Sometimes all those issues have been address by the previous owners. Buy what strikes your fancy and enjoy it. PS I am on my second Chevy Colorado (2021) with no issues at all. Great little truck and it meets my needs just fine.

 

[ChucksKLRST]

Wow, it is a shame that the new cars/trucks are so expensive and have so many issues.


Maybe a nice 1979 F150. Now that was a truck.
T

All the newer vehicles are just a computer on wheels. Too many sensor feedback loops. Depends on Software to run. Everything depends on a computer to operate. Nothing basic and simple anymore.

I had a 1980 F100 6 cylinder, three on the tree. No air, no cruise, non of the todays safety stuff. My driving safety depended on me and my seatbelt. Simple and very dependable. Nothing to break. Sometimes I wish I still had it.

 

[SupraSabre]

Since 1987, our main vehicles have been Toyotas. Vans, SUVs & Trucks.

The trucks I've had:
1987 (4cyl, 4spd)
1993 (V6, 4spd)
2004 (V6 Auto)
and now the 2016 (V6, 6spd auto)

As far as problems, I've had none with any of them. The first three I sold due to our finance issues.

The 2016, is a Limited (old man's truck I bought it with around 14K in 2019. It now has on around 81.6K and the only problem I've had was hitting a wild Mustang (horse type, not car)

I'm very pleased with it. Yes, Toyotas are more money.

At the same time, one of my sons had owned 3 or 4 Nissans and except for the last one, they all had to have their engines replaced! He traded in the last one for a Dodge Ram.

 

[Willsmotorcycle]

I have a 2019 XLT that ticks all your boxes except it's a 250... it's for sale, I put about 1k miles on it in the last year. has 60k.

 

[RobbieAG]

I just bought a new Ford Maverick 2.0 Ecoboost, AWD, 4k tow, co-pilot 360. It gets around 30 mpg on the highway, 25 around town. I didn't want a real truck. This drives more like a car, fits in my garage, does everything I want it to do (and more), and it's very quick (250 hp, 277 ft-lbs). It does have a turbo but I'm not that concerned about it. Diesel trucks go millions of miles with turbos and this one is not that expensive to replace if it ever goes (part is around $600). I bought it as a retirement vehicle to tow a small travel trailer to tour around the country (national parks etc.) and do projects around the house. There's great aftermarket and DIY support for it too. It was under 30k out the door including taxes etc. I had to order and wait for it - took around 5 months.

 

[bdalameda]

I have both a 2019 and 2021 Chevy Silverado 4X4 pickups. One has the 2.7 Turbo 4cyl and the other has the 5.3 V8.
The 2021 is a company vehicle that I have had now for almost 4 years. So far it has been flawless and has the power of a V8 and great fuel economy. I average about 21 mpg back and forth to work and on the freeway on trips 24-26 mpg which is pretty amazing for a full size crew cab truck. It is smooth quiet and comfortable.
The 2019 4X4 truck with the V8, I have had about a year - I bought it from the company I work for as we purchase about 20-30 vehicles a year and this particular truck had about 50K miles on it and the company almost gave it to me. I only need it to pull my small camp trailer a couple of times a year. It is very economical for a V8 and on the highway and on a long vacation last year, have seen 24-25 mpg and around town and local errands about 18-20 mpg. It is equipped with the DFM cylinder de-activation system for better fuel economy. It can run on as few as 2 cylinders on the highway.

I've never been a Chevy guy but both trucks have been solid and reliable. I looked at the GM truck forums and there are lots of complaints about the lifter issues and transmission problems etc. but out of all the Chevy trucks in our company service fleet we have not had many problems at all. We have a lot of Chevy trucks probably about 25 right now and turn them over every 2-3 years with most having well over 100k miles on them. Our service techs are not easy on these trucks and all carry heavy loads and pull equipment trailers regularly.

My previous personal truck was a 2001 Dodge Cummins 5.7 diesel truck. I owned this one for about 15 years and sold it with 575K miles on it. The only thing besides regular maintenance I ever did to it was put on one fuel pump.

 

[red one]

My cousin and a friend of mine has a 2000 F150 and 2003 F150 both have been flawless. New cars and trucks too much money. Maybe look for one of those vintage.

 

[the Ferret]

I had a 2003 Chev Z 71 Silverado..it was a pos and I sold it at a huge loss 3 years later.

Bought a new 2010 Honda Ridgeline (I know not a real truck) and finally just gave it to my daughter to drive after 14 years, as her Honda Pilot had seen better days Ridgeline had been a great vehicle and hauled everything I wanted to haul in it which was deer and mulch for the most part, but some furniture too. My only complaint was gas mileage @ 16-19 mpg. My brother had a 99 Dodge and the only thing left over on it from the original truck was the gas cap I think. Doors, body panels, motor and entire drive train, suspension, all needed replacement. He ended up buying a 2019 Honda Ridgeline after dumping the Dodge. My son and his fil both drive Toyota Trucks and love em.

 

[st11ray]

I just bought a 2023 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road V6 back in August. I've got 4k miles on it now and really like it. I got the '23 because the '24's are turbo 4cyl and a lot more electronics. I think I got a pretty good deal at $40k OTD.

 

[Al st1100]

+1 Honda Ridgeline +1 Toyota Tacoma

 

[Al st1100]

You can still get low mileage trucks 3-4 yrs old and then buy an extended warranty. I would not buy a GM, just my opinion. Take a Tacoma or a Ridgeline for a test ride . Both of them are bullet proof and comfortable. Used ones are comparable to F150s. Used car market is much higher than is should be, who knows if it gets any better.

 

[SMSW]

A doc resident and I were discussing how to make a decision about surgery. He said not to rely on anecdotal evidence. That means individual experiences are no good for determining what your experience might be. Statistical surveys - Consumer Reports type stuff or the type of info you see on Amazon with percentages of each starred rating. Except Amazon's surveys cannot be believed - I'm talking about the percentages as being a statistical presentation of information. Unfortunately there are problems with both of these ratings (CR and Amazon) and there are no (or very very few) unbiased studies of cars.

The only way for you to make sense of the transmission problem, rusting problem, or any other problem is to know how many vehicles suffer from each of these problems and how many pickups were made. If there was one broken transmission for every 10,000 trucks, you can then decide if that is too much of a risk or not for you.

Best you can do is buy a reliable brand (like Toyota), or get the one you want (Ford) and hope for the best.

 

[flyfisher]

And you can ask yyour trusted mechanic or the service department at the dealership which vehicles have the least and most problems....they're the ones that actually see the every day issues....ff

 

[Chris09]

Out here on the wet coast I'm surprised at what some of my friends have paid for used trucks of every make, seems they're expensive.

 

[W0QNX]

The truck I want is a White Ford F150. 5.0 V8, crew cab, 4 x 4, under 125k miles.
John

I read 87% of all white Ford trucks with the 5.0 V8 crew cab and 4x4 125K miles are still out on the road today. The other 13% have already been towed to the auto repair shop.