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Best Truck for The Money


Grunt81

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Yep, I see your Chevy/Ford/Dodge in a service bay as I drive by.

 

Just as I see Toyota owners going into the bank once a month to make a payment on that loan that was quadruple what I paid cash for my GMC ;)

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Wow, this is about as vitriolic as a debate between Glock and 1911 owners.   :D

 

For what it's worth, in the past 20 years I have owned Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans, GMs, Mopars and Fords.  The ones that gave me the most trouble were GMs.  I didn't keep the Honda long enough to find out, but I had an Acura lose its damn computer mind on me and shut down everything in the middle of me trying to pass a slow moving vehicle on a two-lane road.  That was fun.

 

The Nissans were both mechanically reliable for as long as I owned them (under 3 years each) but the interior materials quality was just mediocre at best.  The Titan had the suckiest brakes of any truck I've ever owned and the Armada's suspension felt like we were driving a 1970's Cadillac.  It cornered like a whale on quaaludes.

 

The Toyotas, Mopars and Fords have given me the least trouble of anything I've ever owned.  These were/are all great vehicles...

 

  • Two 2010 FJ Cruisers (his and hers... don't ask)
  • 2006 Chrysler 300C SRT8
  • 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited
  • 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8
  • 1994 Ford Mustang GT
  • 1998 Ford Mustang GT
  • 2003 Ford Mustang Mach 1
  • 2011 Ford SVT Raptor

 

We still have the Grand Cherokee and the Raptor.  Our carbon footprint is a size 14.  As in 14MPG.  If I were going to buy another vehicle right now, I would be considering two options and both of them are Toyota.  The TRD Pro 4Runner and the TRD Pro Tundra.   I dig both of them.

 

But all of this to say that I'm pretty much a car whore and don't really pay too much attention to country of origin any more.  I won't buy another GM product if I am able to avoid it though, and from what I've seen from friends experiences over the past 20 years, Honda is Japanese for  "a death by a thousand paper cuts".  Major things never seem to go wrong with them, but the older they get they really nickel and dime you to death.

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Dave, where do you get that nonsense from? Tundra's and Taco's are made in Texas. Camry's are made in Kentucky. They're as much American as anything "domestic". Ford, dodge and Chevy outsource parts for their junk as much as anyone.

Yeah my Frontier was built in TN. One of the reasons I bought it.

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Wow, this is about as vitriolic as a debate between Glock and 1911 owners.   :D

 

 

 

 

I swear to god I was just thinking "Wonder who'll be the first to start THAT crap."   :rofl:  :rofl:  :rofl:

 

 

I do wonder, why'd you get rid of the FJ?  I won't be parted with mine.  THere may be a better/tougher 4x4 SUV out there.....but not by much.  Hino built these things like tanks!

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When imports first started to come to the states in masse, they were cheap. The big three killed them selves because of unions and now we have craply American vehicles.

The bad thing for foreign vehicle owners is the price of parts. Just compare a rotor for a Chevy and Toyota at the parts place.

It's a sad state of affairs, fer sure. Personally I wouldn't buy a foreign truck for hauling, if you don't haul, have at it.
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We still have the Grand Cherokee and the Raptor.  Our carbon footprint is a size 14.  As in 14MPG.  If I were going to buy another vehicle right now, I would be considering two options and both of them are Toyota.  The TRD Pro 4Runner and the TRD Pro Tundra.   I dig both of them.
 

 


And I thought a eco beast was in your future :)

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I swear to god I was just thinking "Wonder who'll be the first to start THAT crap."   :rofl:  :rofl:  :rofl:

 

 

I do wonder, why'd you get rid of the FJ?  I won't be parted with mine.  THere may be a better/tougher 4x4 SUV out there.....but not by much.  Hino built these things like tanks!

 

Having two of them was kind of dumb but we both really dug my Trail Teams so when the wife's vehicle started giving her fits she drove it straight to the Toyota dealership and drove away with a 2010 Army Green.

 

The thing that sunk it for both of us was the suicide doors.  Somehow my kids couldn't figure out how to get in and out of the FJs in parking lots without pinning them and us inside a trap formed by two cars and two doors, or beating the crap out of other cars next to us.

 

I traded mine off first for the Raptor, but the wife eventually parted with hers for the Armada, wanting a larger SUV for our family.  I really do miss my Trail Teams though.  I wish I had kept it and we'd just traded her FJ off for the Raptor.

 

 

 

And I thought a eco beast was in your future :)

 

I am really, really going to have to wait and see how that plays out the first year.  I'm glad I didn't do a first year Raptor and end up with the 5.4L engine.  I do wish we'd gotten the 2012 with the revised center stack in the dash but I love everything else about my 2011.

 

The new truck is going to have to just blow me away to make me want to switch immediately.  My turbo Diesel F250 taught me the valuable lesson that forced induction is only awesome when it's working right.  No boost = no power.  The Eco Beast is going to have to prove that it's reliable and the new truck is going to have to look better in person than it does in photos.

 

It's just not near as muscular in appearance as the current generation Raptor, at least in pics.   :meh:

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You just can't go wrong with a Tacoma. My father has driven them for years and driven them hard. His 1995, 2.7 liter had 500k miles. I have owned two, and I only got rid of my last one because I wanted a new Wrangler. Yes, Tacomas cost a lot, but they are worth it, and you will not lose money it. I traded my 2013 in after 18 months/20k miles and lost all of $2500.

 

 Tacoma all the way. I have the 2003 Tacoma 4WD with the 2.7 liter and love it. I have 104,000 miles and love it. All I do it change the oil , the transmission fluid , and grease the joints. I gave up on American vehicles in 1996. America builds vehicles to sell but Japan builds them to last.  This is from my experience. During the last big snow we had here in Tennessee in March , my wife and me took my Tacoma riding around in the deep snow . In 2 days we travelled over 350 miles just riding around in the snow and never got stuck.

Edited by tercel89
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a 90 model to 00 model mazda b and/or ford ranger is a good truck.  starting in 1994 the ford ranger and mazda b series truck were the same.  a friend got a mazda in 2000 and under the everything said ford.  it was one tough well made truck.  ran and drove great. never gave him any problems.  

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When imports first started to come to the states in masse, they were cheap. The big three killed them selves because of unions and now we have craply American vehicles.

The bad thing for foreign vehicle owners is the price of parts. Just compare a rotor for a Chevy and Toyota at the parts place.

It's a sad state of affairs, fer sure. Personally I wouldn't buy a foreign truck for hauling, if you don't haul, have at it.

i bought front and rear brakes and front rotors for my frontier all for $140 shipped


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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It's just not near as muscular in appearance as the current generation Raptor, at least in pics.   :meh:

 

I totally dig the grill and head lights, kind of like the hood its vented in the center instead of the sides and can't figure out why in the hell they want to put a V6 in it..

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a 90 model to 00 model mazda b and/or ford ranger is a good truck.  starting in 1994 the ford ranger and mazda b series truck were the same.  a friend got a mazda in 2000 and under the everything said ford.  it was one tough well made truck.  ran and drove great. never gave him any problems.  

 

Beware electrical problems on 93-96 models.  I had a 95 Ranger that was a decent truck overall, but kept eating relays and GEM modules.  Years later, I read a Consumer Reports review on 93-96 Rangers that gave them a bad rating on electronics.  I was like "yep!"

 

Also had a 2002 with a "made in Cologne, Germany" sticker on the engine block.  So much for American made.

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Between me, my dad, my stepmom, and my grandma, we probably have about 2 million miles on Toyotas: Tundra, Tacoma, Camry, Rav4, and Cressida. You simply cannot beat them for quality. Period. End of story. They are consistently ranked at the top of Consumer Reports and JD Powers lists for quality. Our current Toyotas are my Tundra, dad's Tacoma, and stepmom's Rav4. Not sure of their mileage, but my '08 Tundra has 103,000 miles on it and still feels new.

Do yourself a favor and spend the extra dough on a Toyota. You won't regret it, unless you simply enjoy talking to your mechanic.
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I'll affirm this - i have a 1992 2wd toyota with 48k miles and have only had to change the oil, tires and spark plugs once. Frankly plastic stiff is starting to just finally break down at this point but thats easy to deal with. Great truck - just a little small bed sometimes

 

2,000 miles per year? You put little old ladies in Pasadena to shame.

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Yes, check out J.D. Power...
http://autos.jdpower.com/research/Truck.htm
Chevy and Ford own the truck market.


One thing (I believe) Consumer Reports showed was that vehicles with the lowest quality ratings have the highest customer loyalty. This was true for both cars and motorcycles. So they might own the market, but they don't make the best.

For the record, I also own a Yamaha motorcycle. Care to guess where Yamaha ranks as far as quality for motorcycles? ;)
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I would take a Toyota any day but I recently a 2004 Silverado single cab LWB 4WD. Nice looking truck with a few dings and scratches but the interior was in awesome condition and it runs really good. It has little rattles and squeaks here and there but it's a heck of a truck for the money. It's all a gamble in that price range to me but I've honeslty had good luck with Ford , Chevy and Toyota. Never owned a Ram/Dodge.

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