2005 1/2 Ton Pickups - Chevy, Dodge, or Ford ?

[G35stilez]

Vehicle Pic - Page 5

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Vehicle PURCHASED. More info on Page 4
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Hi Everyone,

Recieved a call from my father today letting me know he sold my mom's work van. It was a 1995 Chevy Astro Van AWD and was pretty loaded. He bartered it for some contracting work to be done. But anyways, the thing has seen its share of heavier loads and miles (115,xxx) as my mom uses it primarily for her creative gardening design and maintenance business. It hauls around all of her tools, wheel barrows, and most of the time a reasonable amount of manuer, fertilizers, plants, etc. - In short, a true work horse. The vehicle has receieved about $1000-1500 in maintenance and other repairs per year which is more than my dad would like to shell out. So, earlier this year they discussed a pickup truck as a solid solution, so here it goes...

The 3 choices he presented me with are the 2005 Ford F-150, 2005 Dodge Ram 1500, and 2005 Chevy Silverado 1500. The truck must be extended cab and come with the longest bed available, V8 engine, 4wd, power everything, etc. He doesn't need leather, navigation, or anything too fancy and would like to keep the price in the sub-$30,000 range. If he can't find one on the lots, he will most likely order it as we will probably have it for a long time.

Now, as of now, my vote goes for the F-150, my uncle's vote goes for the Chevy, and mom's goes to the Dodge. My dad is not necessarily the deciding vote, but he'd like to hear from some owners of these machines or anyone who knows about them if possible.

From an Autopian standpoint, it will most likely be an easier color to keep clean since it will be dirty a lot no matter what. I was thinking a white, champagne, or charcoal...Kind of those in between colors that don't show "too" much dirt from a little bit of a distance.

I'd appreciate any knowledge or views you have on any of these 3 vehicles.


Thanks in advance!



For your viewing pleasure:

[holland_patrick]

Ok flame suit on..


I think this is the way to go



with good gas milage and a nice sized trailer to use when trally heavy stuff is need it would be great for your mom It's lower has a 5 foot bed with the extender 8 foot with the pass though
and can do big jobs when needed


here is a landscaping guy..

""30 2x1 units of sod, with three bags of mulch and two 1 gal. aztec grass pots.
One other time I had a six foot by four foot rubermaid shed. It had to hang over the tail gate some, but I got it home. Thats when I figured out to use the cargo net with extra bungee cords to make it somewhat usefull.""

http://images.ofoto.com/photos1021/6...2606_0_ALB.jpg
link is there if img doesn't work



really at least 10 grand less and Much better milage..

your have to think about it


Patrick

[JDookie]

My dad has an 04' F150 SuperCrew Lariat 4x4 and we love it. It's so smooth it feels more like a car until you go offroad, then you realize how tough of a truck it really is. This thing is so tight it's scary. I highly recommend it. the only downfall is the lack of lowend torque but the fact that this thing comes setup with a nice stall, it revs up and gets you out of the sluggish areas real quick. I am thinking about giving my dad a DiabloSport Predator for Christmas which is supposed to bump it up 15-20 RWHP. Anyway, its a very nice truck he won't be disappointed.

[tailwind]

Get the Ford. Best truck out right now (my father's going to trade his '01 1500 for a F250 later next year.)

Don't bother with a Subaru.

[hirosh]

my vote goes for the f-150 in torrador red. with the 3-valve 4.6L V-8. or the dodge with a hemi.

i had a 04 f-150 as a rental one time, torreador red (beautiful medium-ish red with metallics), a SOHC 4.6L V-8 (good enough to get the truck moving), the ride was quite nice almost car like, 17-inch wheels, extended car with half-door. i washed it once and all i can it was frickin' HUGE!!!! i would post pictures but they're on my home computer. if you want to see some, let me know and i can post them later.

[JDookie]

The 4.6 is a 24valve engine too? I thought it was only the 5.4, you see that, learn something new every day!

[360RamGuy01]

I have owned 2 Dodge's a 1997 SS/T and my current 2001 Sport, if I were to buy another truck I would go with either Toyota or Nissan.

[hirosh]

Originally posted by JDookie
The 4.6 is a 24valve engine too? I thought it was only the 5.4, you see that, learn something new every day!

oh wait, maybe it is only the 5.4 ...it's the 05 mustang that gets the 3V 4.6L. doh! sorry my bad.

[holland_patrick]

gee tailwind I thought you would be more open to things..

[cwcad]

out of all your options the best work truck would probably be the ford. the chevy will give you the best ride and the dodge should be the cheapest. i lean towards the chevy because i ride more than i work. if you bought a regular cab you can save 5 to ten thousand dollars. the chevy work truck can be purchased here in texas for around twenty thousand dollars if you buy off the internet

[MongooseGA]

Originally posted by holland_patrick
gee tailwind I thought you would be more open to things..

Well, he did say truck, and not SUV.

I personally love the look of the Chevy, but more so in the GMC trim.

Does this mean the Maserati is on hold?

[VictoryRed]

Go to JD Power, select "I know what I want" enter the Ford ext. cab light duty, the dodge 4 door, the chevy ext. cab 1500, slide the bars all the way over to "very important" (don't just click on the end) and the chevy came out on top then the dodge, then ford. Then go here http://fordglobe.org/sites.html I tested all 3 back in sept. the ford seats feel like a wetsuite. when you think of the dodge think transmission. Don't get mad everybody has different tastes, respect that. Do your home work. Fords are made in mexco too.