What's the best truck for $15k, to last the next 20 years

curtis73 wrote:

Fobroader wrote:

calteg wrote: 12v cummins (94-98.5 rams) $10,000 will get you a really nice one Spend the remaining money on a goerend trans. It'll outlast your grand kids

This, a 12V Cummins will last forever and haul whatever you need.

And get 24 mpg. My only problem with this recommendation is; that if he hates an 09 Nissan, he'll probably hate the Dodge. I have owned three and detested them. Sure, the Cummins is great, but the buzzy, rattly, plastic interior and cheap upholstery infuriated me. Reaching halfway across the cab to change the channel on the radio or adjust the A/C.... Grrr. Hated it. Add to that a horrific choppy ride, numb steering with a pathetic turn radius, and overboosted brakes and it made for a chore to drive. Workhorse, yes. Get in it and take a long trip with a trailer? Not if you paid me. 2nd Gen Duramaxes are fantastic. Allisons last forever. Ergonomics are awesome in the chevy trucks too. Quality of materials is only slightly better than Dodge though. I have an 08 Duramax dually with only 20k on it and I'm tired of the buzzes and rattles, and the seat is already showing some wear. But talk about nice ride and quiet interior... I could drive to China in that thing and emerge refreshed and happy. Are the newer Ford 6.7Ls getting into that price range yet? Hands down, I think it is the finest diesel of all of them. 6R140 trans is proving to be super reliable.

While all of this is true:

1) You won't find a duramax\allison combo with 70k for anything CLOSE to $15,000

2) interior quality wasn't on the list of criteria

You MIGHT be able to find a really clean 7.3L Ford in that price range, but the interior and ergonomics will be on par with an old Dodge

In reply to Giant Purple Snorklewacker:

He said 3k miles a year and I get 9.5mpg towing a 31 ft airstream. I think that for his needs it would be fine without the diesel tax and costly maintenance. You aren't including the cost of entry.

Also, he already said that he will not be DDing it. I wouldn't recommend this truck (or damn near any truck) as a DD.

aussiesmg wrote: 3k a year will take a lot longer than 4 years to eat the difference

Thanks Aussie! That was my point. Plus a fuel pump for my suburban is less than $200 bucks. Can't say that about the D max

calteg wrote: It'll outlast your grand kids

The motor will, but the front suspension won't.

neon4891 wrote: Best 1/2 ton GM you can find for $15k.

This

curtis73 wrote: And get 24 mpg.

No, it won't.

curtis73 wrote: The LS-based chevy trucks are more of a 200k engine.

Really? Considering you can't find one with less miles than that and all the dodge's and ford's are broken.

In conclusion, you want a GM 1/2 ton. For $15k, you are into 6 speed territory, which is what you want (2009 and newer). A maintained GM 1/2 ton (fluids and basic maintenance) will have no problem going 400,000 miles. There is a reason all of the used truck lots in Alberta (truck capital of THE WORLD) have kajillions of Fords and Dodges but no GM's; because nobody wants those piece of crap Dodges and Fords.

I've been looking for one, and at almost every single lot, somebody has bought a GM while I've been there. Listings go up on Kijiji/Craiglist and disappear instantly. The only thing lacking is their interiors, which means they are fine, just truck like, rather than the newer Fords/Dodges.

Seriously, get the GM. You won't be disappointed. Towing 7000lbs threw the mountains is a breeze with a tune on the 5.3L and it'll knock down killer mpg doing it. Which is one of the biggest reasons to get a GM, the mpg. Fords and Dodges get horrendous mpg, while the GM is livable.

Any Chevy 2000+ 1500 or 2500, 4.8, 5.3, and 6.0. great engines, cab corners and rockers like to rot and the front end is weak but it is easy to rebuild, parts are dirt cheep, and they will take abuse forever. if going for a 2500 I recommend the 2500 regular duty not 2500HD. the regular 2500 gets the 6.0l gas, 4l80E trans, and 3.73 with posi. maybe look into a 1500HD. it is a quad cab, 6 ft bed with the 6.0l and 4l80e... i like chevy trucks hahah

singleslammer wrote:

aussiesmg wrote: 3k a year will take a lot longer than 4 years to eat the difference

Thanks Aussie! That was my point. Plus a fuel pump for my suburban is less than $200 bucks. Can't say that about the D max

I missed the 3k part.

In any case, I put about 30k a year on my 2500HD, 10k of it towing. There really isn't "extra" maintenance above the cost of oil (10qts) and a $60 fuel filter every 2nd oil change. It's fine as a DD. Comfortable, great AC, good ride and it's a 6.5 bed non-dually so the maneuverability ain't bad either. I paid 21k for it 5yrs ago with 74k on it and it's loaded with every conceivable option so I expect that an '04.5 with less options and the same mileage 5yrs later ought to be close to "just over $15k".

If I was only driving 3k/yr total and towing an open deck trailer once in a blue moon I'd seriously consider any cheap V8 Chevy/Ford/Nissan/Toyota pick-up made since the advent of fuel injection with a hitch and a back seat as fair game.

Fair warning - Toyota parts are expensive and they are not as hardy as their reputation. I had a Tundra before the 2500. It cost more to keep than a Duramax diesel. Wheel bearings, timing belt, brake calipers, sway bar endlinks, a radiator... you would think the stuff was made out of titanium. And that list was all before 100k miles too.

I put 750,000 miles on a 2WD 12v Cummins, and 500,000 on a 24v. They were both running fine when I left the company, each headed to a million I'm sure.

3K a year? Rent a truck! Sure, it's nice to have a truck around when you need it, but not for such a small amount of use. That is a ton of sunk capital, 15K for something that's going to just sit unused for almost 20 years? Invest that 15K and I'll bet you can more than pay for your rental with the gains for 20 years and still end up WAY ahead.

You're not going to finance this are you?

I recently went from a 12V cummins to a 7.3 powerstroke. The PSD is way more refined in every way over the Dodge, but with that came added complexity, cost to repair, etc.

I gotta say, I have a 5 x 8 trailer that'll hold 2000 pounds that makes a mighty useful substitute for a pickup truck bed. And my 45 year old Volvo can pull it. The only reason I have a PSD is that I also tow 8,000+ lb trailers, sometimes need to haul more than a ton in the bed, and have the occasional need for something to literally pull stumps around the house. An 8,000 pound, 4 wheel drive truck is good for a lot of things.

Interior quality isn't really important. As long as its clean, the driver's seat is decently comfortable, and it has AC. The Frontier is about as plasticy as you can get.

I've come to see a trucks as tools. I like tools. Can't see not having one. It also serves as backup transportation for me, in bad weather or if I'm mid-work on my daily driver (e36 m3 sedan). And no not financing, selling the Frontier, don't want to spend any more all in, than I can get for it.

Appreciate all the input so far. Think I'm leaning towards a GM.

Some of you guys are clearly in a different league than me.

$15K?? I would NEVER put that into a weekend errand-runner. Heck, I'd never put that into a daily driver!

3K miles?? Annually? That's just silly. I average that every other week.

You are gonna spend more money on dead batteries, flat spotted tires, and bad fuel than you will on gas.

You need to rent.

U-Haul and Home Depot both rent for $19.95 per day.

You could rent a truck every single Saturday for 12 years for $15K, and have zero maintenance. Play your cards right, and it might be a tax deduction.

I've put a half a million miles on my F-250 diesel, and couldn't do without it. But you need to rent.

And if you have to buy, buy a GM. No diesels. Look for a 6 cyl.

Do you need to spend $15K? How about $5K, and replace it every 5 years? A $5K truck 5 years later is probably worth about $4K. Total cost over 20 years- $4K. A $15K truck 20 years later is probably worth about $3K. Total cost- $12K, plus 8 sets of tires to replace the flat-spotted ones at a cost of $800 per set.

I don't get it.

Diesel trucks do seem to hold their value. Bought my Cummins for 4500, drove it for 8 years and 80,000 miles, sold it for 4500. I paid 9k for my PSD, and while it's required some repairs, it only had 150k on it when I bought it, and I'm planning on another 150k before I even think about selling it. 300k mile 7.3 trucks are still selling for 10k.

HiTempguy wrote: Really? Considering you can't find one with less miles than that and all the dodge's and ford's are broken. In conclusion, you want a GM 1/2 ton.

I hate GM and I agree with you. If you want an anvil, the word is Silverado.

Knurled wrote:

HiTempguy wrote: Really? Considering you can't find one with less miles than that and all the dodge's and ford's are broken. In conclusion, you want a GM 1/2 ton.

I hate GM and I agree with you. If you want an anvil, the word is Silverado.

Cannot agree more with this. But if it was my money still I would find the best Gas F250 regular cab in a 4x4 in white and drive it until it dies.

Gee for $15K you are really close to buying a stripped out version new truck.

like this guy..
http://www.harrisford.com/seattle-new-specials-cars/detail/2014-Ford-F-150-2WD/1054/1FTMF1CM6EFA70630/~/VehicleType_Pickup%20Truck~Make_~Model_~Year_~Price1_~EPAHighway_/1

They are offering it for $19K.

I certainly don't need to spend $15k. Mainly was just thinking that's under what I could get for my Frontier. When I bought the Frontier it was replacing my daily driver (that's why I bought a mid-size crew cab truck).

Renting trucks sucks. In order to do so, its a minimum of two hours of my time wasted on the intial renting and return of the vehicle. Plus rental places are typically open only during business hours, so if you work a 9-5-ish job.

On top of that, most rentals will be on weekends, when everybody else is renting, and presumably you'll want to use it until later in the evening or all weekend so boom, two day rental.

It adds up quick. Its the reason I bought a trailer instead of continuing to rent uhauls carhaulers.

The problem with basing this judgement on miles driven is that miles driven does not factor in the cost of a rental at all. Rentals are charged on a per use basis. So a more appropriate comparison is how many times a year do you use your truck?

Also, he wants to keep it forever, so I understand buying as new/low mile as possible. To me, a $15k truck is worth a LOT, especially if I keep it for a decade. I'll most certainly have gotten $10k worth of value out of it over that time period. And the best part, I won't have to worry about some douchebag having previously wrecked it in ways I don't know of, or some form of abuse of prior ownership coming back to haunt me at 200k miles. That is a lot of peace of mind. Its why I decided to stick with my rust bucket GMT400. Sure, its a rusty piece of junk, but with some TLC, there is nothing wrong with it and I've known the truck since new. It runs and drives better than most $5k pickups out there.

Buy my '04 Silverado for $5k and use the other $10k for a brand new trailer and new front end parts every couple of years.

Seriously though, find the nicest 3/4 ton 00-07 Silverado in TX and fly down and buy it. Start out with no rust, pay Line-x to do the bed and a 6" strip along the bottom of the cab and around the wheel wells. Rebuild the front suspension and get it aligned well. You'll probably still be under budget.

Totally off the cuff, but I've had 2 Gen 1 SVT Lightnings. Great trucks, can haul, somewhat collectible and are a good performance truck for what they are.

Just something that you can enjoy while you aren't hauling something else.

i bought my 2005 avalanche with more miles than you want but absolutely spotless for 13,500 out the door. it pulls whatever, is comfortable as can be, and should last me a very long time. i'm budgeting to replace the 5.3 when it hits 250k unless it keeps going beyond that. from the high mile 5.3 i took apart a few weeks ago that still looked brand new inside, i have no reason to believe it will not go at least that far.

patgizz wrote: i bought my 2005 avalanche with more miles than you want but absolutely spotless for 13,500 out the door. it pulls whatever, is comfortable as can be, and should last me a very long time. i'm budgeting to replace the 5.3 when it hits 250k unless it keeps going beyond that. from the high mile 5.3 i took apart a few weeks ago that still looked brand new inside, i have no reason to believe it will not go at least that far.

When it starts losing oil pressure at idle, pull the oil pan and replace the pickup O-ring.

The only 4.8/5.3/6.0 deaths I've seen were from people ignoring the low oil pressure caused by a 50 cent O-ring in a fairly easy place to get to, since GM made it pretty easy to pull the pan in-chassis. I had one customer that went an extra 150k after the O-ring died at 300k, then he decided he needed a larger truck.

KyAllroad wrote: I had a '04 F-150 FX-4 and should have kept it. As a 1/2 ton truck it was very very good (excepting the bad mileage: 9 in town and 12-13 highway). I have no reason to think it would not have lasted forever but I didn't use it as a truck and needed a big SUV at the time. My supervisor thinks very long term about his truck and bought a '03 GMC 2500 with the 6.0 gas engine. It's on course to last forever and tows his race car rig every weekend. Mileage isn't nearly as bad as I would have suspected either.

Really, only 9 in town and 12-13 highway? I get 15 towing 3000 lbs, and 18 normal highway driving. I have no clue what I get in the city because I hardly ever do an entire tank city driving.

I used to have a Ram 1500 and it got 15 highway (13 towing). It was a 2002 and my 2003 F150 FX4 is a much better truck in many ways. I think they're all good in there own ways and it would be hard to find a bad big 3 truck.

My 2008 Tundra (I bought it new) has been the most reliable vehicle I have every owned--and I have thousands of miles on it towing or hauling at 8000 lbs GVW. YMMV... .

Boy... we lost a lot of objectivity here, didn't we?

That happens when you talk about 'murican trucks.

My final thoughts:

Dodge: Junk interior, junk truck, fair gas engines, great diesel, good transmissions that are very expensive to fix.

Chevy: Good ergonomics with cheap interior materials, good gas engines, great diesel, allison transmission is great.

Ford: Good ergonomics with excellent interior materials, great gas engines, great diesel (excluding 6.0L), and better than average transmissions.

This is after 20 years of owning multiple examples of all three, being in charge of (and daily driving) a fleet of 106 trucks from all three manufacturers (and being in charge of compiling their repair costs).

Fuel mileage aside, diesel ALWAYS put way more money back in your pockets than gas. Sure, diesels cost 60% more to buy and 20% more to maintain, but they also bring 300% more at resale when they have 300k on them. The only gas trucks that came close were 97-02 F150s with the 4.6L. They don't rust as much, the 4.6L with the two coils (instead of coil-on-plug) were so reliable they are boring. They're also a bit wimpy, but that means the 4R70W lasts forever.

My solution (which has a ton of data and research behind it... which means nothing when it comes to the emotional choice of an American truck) is this:

A) a pristine 99-ish F150 with the 4.6L. You can tow 7k with it easily, you just won't top the mountain at 70 mph. It will run forever and you'll only pay $5000 for it. Seriously. My buddy has one in Los Angeles with over 500k. I've had two; one with 180k and one with 230k... both were as reliable as taxes.

B) a nice 04-05 LB7 Duramax with the injectors already replaced. Many diesel guys avoid the LB7 because of its injector issues, but there was an extended warranty campaign during which many were replaced. Buy one with 150k that has new injectors for cheap, and drive it for another 150k. Then sell it for what you paid for it.

C) How about a really low-mileage 7.3L powerstroke? Super reliable. Not only do you get the same HP as a 4.6L, you have double the torque and almost double the MPG. I have had a few of those as daily drivers. I loved them.

D) Darn near any of the GMs will suit you. I think the Fords are a better choice, but if you're only doing 3k a year, GMs will suit. The things that disappoint me about the GMs are the low quality choices of upholstery (leather or cloth), the tendency for interior pieces to rattle and buzz, and the tendency for little nitpicky electrical issues to crop up. For instance, the onboard brake controller on dad's 08 Dmax dually is toast at 20k. The radio on our 04 Dmax always plays the 4th CD in the radio when you turn on the key; regardless of whether or not you selected it. You might be listening to the local classic rock station, turn the key off, fill up with fuel, and then David Allen Coe starts blasting when you get back in. Mom's 09 Cadillac likes to unexplainably begin to crush you against the steering wheel like Christine.

As a former GM tech, I get so disappointed when I see their small-gauge wiring, the cheap Korean relays that are barely adequate, cheap switches, etc.

My eyes were truly opened when I started managing general repair shops. Once you tear into the guts of a vehicle, all brand loyalty goes out the window. After 13 years of running 17 shops, and several years of fleet maintenance data to back it up, I feel pretty confident in what I would buy.

Check out a Titan while you are at it. It's a very good all around truck, especially in that price range. They drive much better then a truck should, and I'd argue that they have the best power train of the trucks in your price range. The Nissan is also filled with lots of nice touches absent in the other trucks. The downside is that the interior quality is a bit disappointing, especially since it is so well laid out. I've have my '04 since new and it has been a great truck. I think in '07 or '08 they added some longer bed options for the crew and king cabs.