# Looking for a USED truck... domestic or import?



## chardog (Sep 3, 2004)

I want something full size like the tundra, silverado, f150, or ram.

I see that the domestics are SO MUCH cheaper than the toyota, but would I be taking a big risk? Do you really get what you pay for?

I have a toyota minivan with 250K miles on it, and drives like new. Would it be worth it to pay a few thousand more for a toyota? I cant afford a new truck. Otherwise, what domestic truck would be ideal?


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## tzzzz216 (Dec 25, 2005)

*Chevrolet*

Good Question,I had a brand new 1990 Chevrolet:Silverado :thumbup: ,drove it for 11+ years and had 155,000 miles on it before i sold it and it was still running strong 4.3 v-6 the only reason i sold it was because i got tired of the stick shift, the key to any truck or car is maintance,maintance i.e oil changes every 3,000 miles without fail.Now i own 2003 Chevrolet van automatic with all the toys on it, same engine as the 1990 that I use for the business,I paid only $11,000 from a private seller, retail was about $14,000 on it and i bought an extended warrenty for it bumper to bumper 5 years 60,000 miles .I looked at the new ones but why pay $25,000 for a new van with $450-$500 payments on it with the same warrenty plus you'll pay more for your auto insurance on it and lose 20% on it when you drive it out the door ,I guess its just what one prefers. Good luck!!:thumbup: 

Try to send these jobs overseas!!


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## drunkrussian (Nov 9, 2005)

I personally don't like the tundra, the bed just doesn't seem 100% "full size". My friend has one, and he likes it, but he doesn't build. It's powerfull as in fast, but there are better engines if you tow or haul large loads. It's kinda a yuppie truck imo. My mechanic believes in the ford triton engines. Very durable. I love ford personally, my '89 van has about 200,000 miles, and has never had any engine work. 

Me personally, i'm a diesel guy. More power than you'll ever need, less stuff that can break, and it will last forever. Maintance is key as said above.


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## JPV123 (Sep 14, 2005)

I have a 98 Ram with 155K still running strong. I plan on selling it because I bought a van. Otherwise I would keep it since it rides like new.


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

I'm sticking with Ford and Chevy based vehicles. You can get your stuff repaired and back on the road the same day, versus possibly waiting a day or two for a less popular part for an import. To me, it's all about keeping the vehicles in use.


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2006)

...


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## Peladu (Jan 8, 2006)

F250 with PSD (Power Stroke Diesel).
:thumbup:


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## PipeGuy (Oct 8, 2004)

mdshunk said:


> I'm sticking with Ford and Chevy based vehicles. You can get your stuff repaired and back on the road the same day...To me, it's all about keeping the vehicles in use.


One of our F-250's (6.0 diesel) took a dump on Tuesday night, went in the shop Wednesday morning, back on the road Wednesday night. I'm with MD on ease of keep'n 'em rolling.


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## Humble Abode (Mar 19, 2005)

I'd get the Tundra. It's one of the better built trucks on the market. It doesn't have the towing capacity of the ford though.

Tundra with V-8 and towing package =7100 pounds
Ford f-150 Lariet with V-8 and towing package = around 8500 pounds
not sure about the chevy and dodge


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

Grumpy, is that you?


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## Peladu (Jan 8, 2006)

Nope this aint Grumpy.

But it may be a pic of a grandson????


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## drunkrussian (Nov 9, 2005)

cdac, I wouldn't say never waiting for filling up. Every now and then you get those idiots who pick the pump w/ the diesel when every other pump is availble:thumbdown . I try to fill up only at the truck stops, but sometimes it doesn't happen. 

Humble Abode, why do you say its one of the better built trucks? Not trying to start a war here, but most people in this country seem to still buy into the imports are better. Fact of the matter, you'll hear about recalls from the domestic brands as front page news, but recalls from imports... thats almost taboo. If you maintain your truck it will last. 

Buy a domestic. You'll save money. Go a step futher, buy a 7.3L ford powerstroke. 94-97 if you don't care about looks, 99-03 if you want the new look. These are the 5.0 mustangs, or Corvettes of trucks, if you buy from someone who knows there stuff you'll be in good hands.


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## Humble Abode (Mar 19, 2005)

drunkrussian said:


> Humble Abode, why do you say its one of the better built trucks? Not trying to start a war here, but most people in this country seem to still buy into the imports are better. Fact of the matter, you'll hear about recalls from the domestic brands as front page news, but recalls from imports... thats almost taboo. If you maintain your truck it will last.


IMO Toyota's are they best vehicles on the road, and they are some of the best looking.


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## old27 (Feb 13, 2005)

*Quick question...*

Do Ford Transmissions crap themselves in other parts of the country as often as they do here in New England?...lol


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## Humble Abode (Mar 19, 2005)

old27 said:


> Do Ford Transmissions crap themselves in other parts of the country as often as they do here in New England?...lol


My dad has gone through three in his 350... I just figured he didn't know how to drive stick.


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## go dart (Dec 6, 2005)

i don't know where your at but i'd sell a 02 f150 fx crewcab w/ 5.4, b liner cd the works ,red, 69000 mi 11500.00


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## chardog (Sep 3, 2004)

Looks like I may get a 98 f150 off my cousin. I'd get a toyota, but I'm getting too good of a deal to pass it up.

I'm gonna agree with humble adobe. I've driven both tundra and 150, and would get the tundra, but I'm paying about half of which I would pay for the tundra. Imports are STILL a whole lot better than domestic in terms of quality(check out edmunds or consumer reports and you will see), but domestics have some BIG trucks that imports dont have.

Another good thing about imports is that it will last about as long as a domestic diesel, or longer. My dad's old corolla hit 400K miles... almost unheard of, even by today's standards. He was horrible with maintenance, but the car wouldnt die. Same with my family van... IT WONT DIE. been 7000+ miles with no oil change, and no oil burning, on a 250K orig engine and tranny.


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## ron schenker (Dec 11, 2005)

I've been driving Chevy trucks for years but now I'm starting to lean towards ford. Seems like everyone is happy with them, don't know about the diesels though, noisy and smelly.


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## IHI (Dec 25, 2004)

The newer diesels are'nt nearly as noisey and smelly of those of ole, and they're worth every penny for a work truck. Sad when my almost 11,000lb brick (cubie) with no overdrive gets better mpg towing a trailer full of material than my F-150 does empty...and the fact they last alot longer as well.

I grew up chevy, switched to ford years ago and will never go back for a work truck needed to make money, ford still makes a truck-truck, instead of chebies fancy el camenio's LOL!!

Toyota has a new heavy duty truck on the way, last I heard they were finishing up the V-10 for it 500hp/500tq for numbers that were leaked out by friend that works in the service dept for toyota, Toyota has been doing alot of research on how to take over the heavy truck market in the USA and if they get those HD trucks to last and perform as well as their cars...the big 3 will have to really step up their game to compete since smart money will go to a truck that you can get the most life from, just hope they get a good designer for the exterior, I have'nt seen any import truck that ever had any personality like the super duties and rams do...chebbies are just as ugly IMO as the imports


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## ron schenker (Dec 11, 2005)

IHI, will you ever switch to Fords at the drag strip? Maybe a light weight '65 mustang with a 427 S.O.H.C. shoehorned under the hood.


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## IHI (Dec 25, 2004)

LOL, ford cost too much to build anything with power I can goto the 7-11 and buy everything I need to rebuild a sbc anywhere in the country!:laughing: Honestly I have no idea about ford components other than they cost more than a cheebbie to build/fix when going hp for hp and cost for cost.

I've always loved the mid 90's LX platform and would love to drop my motor into that body with a glide and let'er eat...go alot faster since they dont weigh squat, plus they look nice IMO. We have freinds from MN that had a nice show quality 66 they raced in street class, last year they stripped and gutted and tubbed turning it into a track only car which made all of us sick-here's the kicker, they had an 85 stang in the garage complete rolling chasis needing a motor/trans that was already set up for bracket racing and they sold that to cut up the 66 :furious: 

what it started out as-then result is in second picture on trailer









Seriously though, if I buy/build another car it will be a rail. No personality at all to them, but for bracket racing it's "the right tool for the job" and it's hard to beat the consistency of an engine on a stick

Here's a shot of our group a few years back:


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## kenvest (Sep 27, 2005)

I checked your profile and it isn't saying much about what you do or how you plan to use a truck....

if working the truck means being a super or a GC and you won't be doing much towing, hauling or dirty work, i'd step up to the plate and buy the toyota because it drives better, rides better and isn't as noisy as the domestic trucks. fit and finish is still better than anything we can muster and if your aren't beating a truck to death, you may as well take advantage of it.

if working the truck means hauling supplies and employees, i'd go with a 3 year old domestic fleet truck with 50 to 100k miles on it. trucks at this level of use are disposable and you can get smokin deals on late model fleet trucks with a few mile on them. the imports haven't established a domestic production capacity sufficient to keep the power/phone/utility companies happy as of yet so they're still using the domestics in large large numbers. They're easy to fix, cheap to keep and who cares in 4 years if its trashed from one end to the other....its a tool just like any in your belt and if your going to use it hard, why burn the bucks for the toyota.

if working the truck means heavy towing, you only have domestic choices. if you're hard core and don't mind an older truck, a 12 valve cummings will be hard to beat for simplicity and brute strength. unfortunately, you have to buy the dodge ram to get it. the cummins is the only true truck engine in the light duty truck line and i know i'll draw alot of fire for that one but i've invested alot of time investigating these creatures and i speak the truth. the others don't suck in stock trim and if you leave them alone and don't do stupid s*** with them, you'll be fine with any of the big 3. but if you're towing heavy loads long distances, there's only one motor to have.......

just my 2 cents.....


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## drunkrussian (Nov 9, 2005)

Kenvest, 

no fire from me. I did look at the 12 valve cummins, but no one around here can work on them. They are great engines, but can't be pluged into a computer, so you need a real diesel mechanic to fix them. As for being a real truck engine, yes it is a scaled down version of one of there big rig engines, but a good engine is a good engine so I personally don't look at that arguement anymore.


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## kenvest (Sep 27, 2005)

These days any of the latest offerings from the big 3 are going to be comparible....expensive and capable...

but on a BUDGET...the 94-98 12 valve cummins is the best towing value simply because it has the mechanical injection pump instead of the newer electronics. with some minor intake, exhaust and govenor mods, the 12 valve will pull with and possibly better than any of the new rigs. a good 12 valve truck equipped the way you need it to be can be had for 12 to 15 which makes it a strong value.

the pump in that particular truck is robust enough to support 500hp and over 800ft/lbs of torque. its known to be extremely reliable and cheap to rebuild when the time comes. the only real challenge with these trucks is keeping a tranny in them but with a little research, you can find very durable upgrades.

not to mention they haul a**....


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