Need a new vehicle

ShaneB

ShaneB

New member
So my lease is up on my van in the end of April and I want to get away from using a van for my mobile business and get a trailer. Meaning I need a capable vehicle for towing. Not a huge amount of weight but enough to not be comfortable with a vehicle with a towing capacity of 2000 or so lbs.

im looking at vehicles in the $10-$15k range, and when it comes to trucks that means over 100k miles. Crew cab is a must because I have 3 kids I’ll sometimes need to have the space for. Right now I’m looking at the Chevy avalanche somewhere in the 09-12 year range. Looking for anyone who may have experience with trucks once they start surpassing that 100k mile threshold. if it were you, what make/model are you looking at and what are you avoiding (based off personal experience if any).
 
I live in a neighborhood with several of my neighbor/friends having new trucks that kind of cover the upper model trucks from the big three, I’ve been in all premium class models from Chevy, Dodge and Ford recently. They’re all nice trucks and each owner is convinced they’ve got the best product. In my opinion, I believe it tough to buy a bad truck say within the past 3 model years from the Big 3. This said, I’ve never driven a vehicle for a full 100K miles so I can’t necessarily tell you how they stack up in the last half of their lives.

All of the manufactures are making good products. I’d tell you to go drive the big 3 American trucks and make Ford your last stop (Blue Oval guy here). I qualify this statement with regular maintenance is a must with any of them. If the maintenance is taken care of religiously any of these could go 200K without significant problems. Chevy’s LS engines are easily up to the task and so is Ford’s 5.0 Coyote. I’ve read recently that Dodge engineers there Hemi’s to go a minimum of 150K so I’d expect them to be right there also. One of the guys in the neighborhood has a Tundra and uses it hard, I don’t think he’s had a bit of problem with it. One of their supercharged TRD’s would be a lot of fun.

Toyota and Ford’s resale value tends to stay high but that also means if you’re buying used it will cost a bit more than other manufacturers equivelant. I drove a Nissan Titan as a rental about 2 years ago, it was my least favorite of any I’d been in recently but they guys that own them love them. There are zealots for any of these truck brands, do your homework and read everything you can. Ask yourself what you’re going to do with it, is towing important, is fuel economy your goal? Read long enough you get a good idea where you fit.
 
Shane B:
Good luck finding a quality truck in the $10-$15K range. Even a 5-7 year-old truck with a lot of (highway) miles on it may still be outside of your budget, depending on the make and how it is decked out.
You may find that used Dodge Rams trucks are about $3-5K LESS than their truck competitors. There is a reason and that is market resale; IE, who will buy these vehicles on the secondary (used) market. Look at their reliability on any vehicle-rating website. The proverbial "you get what you pay for" is very true in the truck market. If there is a dark horse in the truck market, it is the Nissan Titan. I see VERY few of these on used vehicle lots, and for good reason; there were very few sold, when compared to Chevy or Ford or Toyota.

Would you be open to a larger SUV? Or do you have more detailing equipment for you mobile service that you will be acquiring, like water tank(s) or larger power washer, electric generator, professional carpet extractor that will necessitate a trailer to haul and hence, a truck to pull it. Since next your vehicle needs to be a dual-purpose, IE 5-member family hauler and mobile detailing business, an SUV may be better suited for your needs, especially if you consider that SUVs can do some towing. Not sure, budget-wise how they will stack up to trucks.

Laugh as you might, I would also consult with business/tax accountant as to how you may be able to deduct the purchase and expenses of that vehicle for your business (assuming your detailing business is a legitimate registered LLC or enterprise, filing quarterly business tax reports and not a side business for cash). New business tax laws may work in your favor.
 
GearHead_1 said:
I live in a neighborhood with several of my neighbor/friends having new trucks that kind of cover the upper model trucks from the big three, I’ve been in all premium class models from Chevy, Dodge and Ford recently. They’re all nice trucks and each owner is convinced they’ve got the best product. In my opinion, I believe it tough to buy a bad truck say within the past 3 model years from the Big 3. This said, I’ve never driven a vehicle for a full 100K miles so I can’t necessarily tell you how they stack up in the last half of their lives.

All of the manufactures are making good products. I’d tell you to go drive the big 3 American trucks and make Ford your last stop (Blue Oval guy here). I qualify this statement with regular maintenance is a must with any of them. If the maintenance is taken care of religiously any of these could go 200K without significant problems. Chevy’s LS engines are easily up to the task and so is Ford’s 5.0 Coyote. I’ve read recently that Dodge engineers there Hemi’s to go a minimum of 150K so I’d expect them to be right there also. One of the guys in the neighborhood has a Tundra and uses it hard, I don’t think he’s had a bit of problem with it. One of their supercharged TRD’s would be a lot of fun.

Toyota and Ford’s resale value tends to stay high but that also means if you’re buying used it will cost a bit more than other manufacturers equivelant. I drove a Nissan Titan as a rental about 2 years ago, it was my least favorite of any I’d been in recently but they guys that own them love them. There are zealots for any of these truck brands, do your homework and read everything you can. Ask yourself what you’re going to do with it, is towing important, is fuel economy your goal? Read long enough you get a good idea where you fit.
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That`s quite helpful. I know regular maintenance goes a long way. Part of me posting this here is my research into the market and what can be expected for reliability when looking at over 100k miles. I guess more than anything im hunting for red flags with any particular make/model. Thanks for the input

Lonnie said:
Shane B:
Good luck finding a quality truck in the $10-$15K range. Even a 5-7 year-old truck with a lot of (highway) miles on it may still be outside of your budget, depending on the make and how it is decked out.
You may find that used Dodge Rams trucks are about $3-5K LESS than their truck competitors. There is a reason and that is market resale; IE, who will buy these vehicles on the secondary (used) market. Look at their reliability on any vehicle-rating website. The proverbial "you get what you pay for" is very true in the truck market. If there is a dark horse in the truck market, it is the Nissan Titan. I see VERY few of these on used vehicle lots, and for good reason; there were very few sold, when compared to Chevy or Ford or Toyota.

Would you be open to a larger SUV? Or do you have more detailing equipment for you mobile service that you will be acquiring, like water tank(s) or larger power washer, electric generator, professional carpet extractor that will necessitate a trailer to haul and hence, a truck to pull it. Since next your vehicle needs to be a dual-purpose, IE 5-member family hauler and mobile detailing business, an SUV may be better suited for your needs, especially if you consider that SUVs can do some towing. Not sure, budget-wise how they will stack up to trucks.

Laugh as you might, I would also consult with business/tax accountant as to how you may be able to deduct the purchase and expenses of that vehicle for your business (assuming your detailing business is a legitimate registered LLC or enterprise, filing quarterly business tax reports and not a side business for cash). New business tax laws may work in your favor.
Click to expand...

Im looking more into the 8-10 yr old range for a truck, which many do fit the budget but they are all over 100k miles, some well over 200k.

Ive looked into a ton of options. Yes an SUV may fit the bill better however I find them to be at a similar price point if not a little more than a truck. Towing capacities vary greatly too when it comes to SUVs. Some models ranging from a measly 2000lbs to 7500+ in others. Ive looked into 08-10 Tahoes and they fit the bill pretty good, and something like a suburban or excursion is just out on account of the fuel economy.

I think the idea that has me most leaning toward a truck specifically would be the desire to carry a 80-100gal water tank in the bed at some point. That`s something that I would simply prefer to just not keep in a trailer.

The whole purpose that this really boils down to is to be able to easily separate my business from my family. Right now I fill up an entire 2016 town and country with my business. In order to get my kids into the van it requires a good 20-30 minutes just to unload. I would much rather prefer to simply be able to unhitch a trailer and be on my way.

I definitely will be making sure that the vehicle expenses are added to my taxes. I do have a legitimate LLC formed however since Im a single member LLC with no employees it makes it fairly simple come tax time (I only need to report my earnings along with filing my personal taxes each year)
 
I’m partial to Ford myself, but the Tundra or Titan route would be a solid avenue to explore.

As as others have pointed out, with the budget you have you might have to start looking at even older trucks (based on what you wrote above, a full size truck is about the only thing). If you find a well maintained Ford F-150 with the Triton 5.4, give it some serious thought. I had a 2002 XLT Lariat 4x4 super crew with the 5.4l and 180,000 miles that I would still have today if I hadn’t needed something more gas economy (I went to an Elantra, so me, right? Haha). It was my dads truck, and he actually bought it back even having a late model Denali HD Duramax as his DD.

Why explain all this? It was well maintained and I know for a fact I could have gotten another 75k out of it no sweat. These trucks can be unicorns (ie, not rode hard and put away wet) but they exist.
 
nickclark08 said:
I’m partial to Ford myself, but the Tundra or Titan route would be a solid avenue to explore.

As as others have pointed out, with the budget you have you might have to start looking at even older trucks (based on what you wrote above, a full size truck is about the only thing). If you find a well maintained Ford F-150 with the Triton 5.4, give it some serious thought. I had a 2002 XLT Lariat 4x4 super crew with the 5.4l and 180,000 miles that I would still have today if I hadn’t needed something more gas economy (I went to an Elantra, so me, right? Haha). It was my dads truck, and he actually bought it back even having a late model Denali HD Duramax as his DD.

Why explain all this? It was well maintained and I know for a fact I could have gotten another 75k out of it no sweat. These trucks can be unicorns (ie, not rode hard and put away wet) but they exist.
Click to expand...

Gotta be careful with those 04-08ish 5.4`s. Ford in their infinite wisdom changed the motor design and it didn`t work out so well. Cam phasers, timing chain, and spark plugs breaking off in the cylinder head are the major ones. Now, with that many miles on it by now the spark plugs would likely been changed out, but less than stellar maintenance you hear alot of these motors of the era clanking and clattering away from failed cam phasers.

The Silverado of the same vintage with the 5.3 didn`t go without failures as well. Their AFM system was primitive at the time at best. The valve springs would drop and cause some nasty misfires. This would also wear the cam and send metal shavings through the motor. Fact my coworker just went through the same thing, luckily he was looking at new trucks at the time.

Dodge, while the 5.7 Hemi seems to weather well, the 4.7 is known to drop valve seats, especially if you get into an overheat situation.

The Tunda is a nice truck, but in your price range you`re looking at some serious high miles.

Lastly, on the Titan I`ve honestly never heard too many complaints after the launch year. The 5.6, while thirsty, seems well built. I had its baby brother, the Frontier. That didn`t end so well honestly.
 
Nizmo - well said - replaced the spark plugs on mine, and I believe I or my dad had changed the timing chain already. everything looked good when I had them pull the heads and check the top end.
 
Noting that I have no business posting on any "mobile setup vehicle" thread ..... :o ...

I`m astounded that lasting 150K is something that can`t be taken for granted with a new vehicle! I mean...gee... I`d heard Northstars don`t last all that long, but I figured those were all built for [a different demographic than mine], but a *hemi*...gee.
 
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