New/late-model pickup question(s)

My FIL bought a '16 F150 a couple months ago, it's a 4-door/short bed, and is rather nicely equipped. SWMBO and I stopped by to check it out, and she was rather impressed with it - despite her general hatred of larger vehicles(including our present '14 T&C). However she's made several comments recently suggesting that we should replace the T&C with a full-size pickup.

I did a quick browse of the big-3, plus the Colorado and Ridgeline today, which left me with a bit of sticker-shock. However, we'd possibly lease it, since the mileage would be minimal, so total-price might not be an issue vs. residual value. I have no real bias for/against any manufacturer, but is there a general consensus on "Chevy/Dodge/Ford is good except for..."? For example, I remember Fords of about a decade(?) ago had frequent transmission failures, and I remember reading a discussion here about problems with Chevy cylinder deactivation - that's the kind of stuff I need to learn about.

FWIW it would eventually be used to tow the Vette to events, but otherwise would likely only get in-town use.

Colorado diesel?

How much does the Vette weigh on the trailer? Having test driven an older Ridgeline, spent a significant amount of time in my Uncles new Cowboy Cadillac (High Country Silverado), and owned a 3/4 Chevy, and a 1st Gen Tundra, if it is mostly getting in-town use as a family hauler I'd be looking almost exclusively at the Ridgeline, Tundra, and Colorado. But frankly the Tundra has gotten too big for my liking.

EDIT: If I didn't live in the Chicago suburbs, the size wouldn't be such an issue for me. And the Tundra and both Chevy's were two of the most comfortable vehicles I've ever owned/driven--I'd prefer road trips in those over anything else I've owned other than the SAAB 9-5. Better than the Crown Vic, better than the Acura, better than the Kia we rented...

The Ram 1500 uses coils in the rear instead of leaf springs, and is supposed to be a more comfortable ride than the traditional trucks but I have no personal experience.

Dodge trucks sticker for about the same as chevy and ford, but dodge incentivizes and dealers will move down a lot. You can probably get out the door in a dodge for about 2/3rds of a ford (who basically will not haggle).

Dunno much about Chevy and the non-mericans. And the above may only be my area, as it is based on feedback from quite a few friends who have just shopped new pickups.

STM317 wrote: The Ram 1500 uses coils in the rear instead of leaf springs, and is supposed to be a more comfortable ride than the traditional trucks but I have no personal experience.

It does. Just drove my Dad's 2013 Ram 1500 to Florida and back, pulling a uhaul trailer down (no trailer on return trip), ride is excellent. If I got a Ram, I would get one with the EcoDiesel. Better mpgs than the Hemi.

My '17 Tacoma TRD Off-Road quad cab 4x4 with a 6 speed manual says it can pull 6400lbs and cost right at $34k nicely equipped. It's a really nice truck at a good price point if you can pass over the quirky auto trans.

I'm (hopefully) about to be pulling a 23' 4200lb (dry) boat around with it on a tandem galvanized trailer which should end up being around 5900lbs with a full load of fuel and "stuff". I expect no issues whatsoever with the boat after having pulled a bigass steel and wood utility trailer like you would deliver a backhoe on, with no working brakes, loaded to the bejesus with solid oak flooring. The new Taco exceeds the poise of my old 2000 Tundra for that sort of asshattery.

For how often I tow anything these days I'm fine with taking it easy and not setting the cruise at 80 for the trade offs of small, reasonable and comfortable over raw badass truckiness - which is why I sold the Chevy diesel.

Robbie wrote: Dodge trucks sticker for about the same as chevy and ford, but dodge incentivizes and dealers will move down a lot. You can probably get out the door in a dodge for about 2/3rds of a ford (who basically will not haggle).

I see ads for $10,000 off MSRP on F-150s all the time around here.

No matter what you get, members of the other two tribes will tell you how wrong you were. It's quite endearing.

i can't get into any of the new trucks personally. They're too bulky, too thirsty and not what we currently have (which is perfect for us). Plus they're going the "bundle E36 M3 I don't want" together with the "E36 M3 I do want" plus the ridiculous pricing (Our current truck would be $37k, 2006 sticker was $26k) makes it an easy choice for us.

Have you looked at the new Titan or Titan XD? They seem to be getting great reviews, 100k bumper to bumper warranty and quite a bit of truck for the money, available Cummins diesel. I've see $10k in incentives around me pretty regularly. I haven'r driven one, but have looked at them. I had a 1st generation Titan and it was the best truck I've ever owned, 90k trouble free miles, didn't even need brakes.

Sorry, but these prices freek me out....yes I know it's a 26 year old PU, but my '91 chevy extcab 1/2t 350 5spdmantrans stickered for $18k and change and I drove it off the lot for $15.5K. And I still have it.

759NRNG wrote: Sorry, but these prices freek me out....yes I know it's a 26 year old PU, but my '91 chevy extcab 1/2t 350 5spdmantrans stickered for $18k and change and I drove it off the lot for $15.5K. And I still have it.

$18k 26 yeas ago is about $32k now. Doesn't seem like there is too much increase in the price...

If you're going to lease, who gives a E36 M3 about problems? It'll be under warranty. Find the best deal and enjoy it.

Good point about Nissan and Toyota, I'd kinda forgotten about them. I've always been leery of Nissan for non-specific reasons, but have zero experience with their trucks. I'll look into both of them.

I don't have a trailer yet, but the Vette is 3200lbs, so I need a ~5k tow rating minimum.

I also agree about the pricing of trucks, and new vehicles in general. It doesn't seem like that long ago it was a challenge to find a new car under $10k, and it won't be long before it's difficult to find one under $20k. Finding a truck with the features we want might be a challenge too. For example, a dual-zone HVAC system is pretty much mandatory, but apparently isn't available on the Colorado. Phone integration is also pretty much required, but on several brands you have to step up at least two models from base to get it. Memory driver's seat(and/or pedals/steering wheel) would be nice too, but that's not very common from what I saw.

I've certainly been considering used trucks - or even better, cargo vans - and may go that route instead. But since SWMBO mentioned her approval in considering a new pickup it seemed worthwhile to investigate that option.

Used one's that are a year or two old don't seem to be that much cheaper than a new one. I think depreciation is a lot slower in trucks. Look at how much a 10 year old 50k car is worth vs a 10 year old 50k truck.

In reply to yupididit:

That seems to be very true.

In reply to Huckleberry:

My 16 Tacoma 2WD extended cab w/V6 & 6-speed AT is rated at 6600lbs towing capacity. Does the quad-cab and/or 4WD lower towing capacity? Not that 200lbs is significant though. Granted, the jump seats aren't really very useful, really uncomfortable but didn't buy it for that. Mainly just me and maybe SWMBO anyway, just wanted the extra room of an extended cab and full bed length. I think some of the short bed lengths of crewcabs are a joke, unusable for anything worth carrying that an SUV can't carry. At least 6ft bed that will carry 8ft with the tailgate down for me. Not that I do that very often though. Been averaging around 23 mpg, a lot better than the RX8 it replaced.

yupididit wrote: Used one's that are a year or two old don't seem to be that much cheaper than a new one. I think depreciation is a lot slower in trucks. Look at how much a 10 year old 50k car is worth vs a 10 year old 50k truck.

I looked at several 1-3 year old rams with 20-40k miles. They were selling them for the same price i drove my new '16 off the lot for (at 12k off sticker). Just looking at kbb they say my truck is worth a whopping $900 less than i paid after 1.5 years and 27k miles

Where does one find the deep discounts on these new trucks? A coworker recently picked up a 2017 Silverado 1/2 ton Z71 for 25% off sticker - he waited two years to find the deal he wanted and then got a local dealer to match it.

In my head since Toyota and Nissan sell fewer trucks, I thought they might be more willing to deal? The Dodges seem a bit long in the tooth and ready for a redesign, but good value.

In reply to Nitroracer:

I waited 6 months for my truck after deciding what I wanted. There are 2 local dealers that do the "we discount atuff so much we don't haggle" pricing, and I went with the first one that got a crew cab 3500 blue short bed diesel. The other did lots of duallies, and regularly have them under 40k with 54k stickers. We bought the charger from them and were pleased. The guys I got my truck from, I wouldn't go back to because we had hungry annoyed kids and i liked the truck and price and had pre approval and we were still there for 7 hours.

7 hours doing what?

I have little to add but this past fortnight I walked by a purty black/lifted lawyers Colorado all styled out in inner suburbia then walked by a glossy red base Colorado whose roofline maybe would have met the hood of the former. I know which I one stared at hardest.

Patrick wrote:

yupididit wrote: Used one's that are a year or two old don't seem to be that much cheaper than a new one. I think depreciation is a lot slower in trucks. Look at how much a 10 year old 50k car is worth vs a 10 year old 50k truck.

I looked at several 1-3 year old rams with 20-40k miles. They were selling them for the same price i drove my new '16 off the lot for (at 12k off sticker). Just looking at kbb they say my truck is worth a whopping $900 less than i paid after 1.5 years and 27k miles

My dad paid somewhere around $35k for his '14 Tundra 3 years and ~35k miles ago. While he had it at the dealer a few months ago for an oil change he asked what they would give him on trade in, just out of curiosity since I'd recently bet him it would be worth over $30k still. They offered $32k, so he traded it on another new Tundra since the old truck soon needed $1k worth of tires anyways. Hard to beat that for depreciation.

yupididit wrote: 7 hours doing what?

getting annoyed mostly. it was pretty simple, i was there with credit letter in hand ready to drive away, trade in was cleaned out with balance and payoff info in hand, i wanted the truck and just wanted the gooseneck hitch and wiring included in the deal. i don't know what took so long. it was a pain in the D. it was a small dealer with only one finance person and that's where i think their downfall lies. they had a guy with crap credit who they were trying to get approved most of the day, when they should have said sorry we can't work with you and let him walk.

Damn that sucks. Only time i bought from a dealer was over email while I was in Afghanistan. All my wife had to do was go pick it up and the salesman taught her the features and done.