Truck prices...

[ORhutner]

Check out Dennis Dillon in Idaho. Great advertised, no haggle pricing and fixed paperwork costs. You know exactly what price you are paying upfront to get out of the dealership. The upside to diesels is they depreciate slower then their gas counter parts. So if you are frequently changing out vehicles it is better long term financially.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

Diesels make zero sense for me. I tow my side by side and little camper maybe a dozen times a year or more, but we're talking 2k or less pounds. My old hemi Ram had plenty of power, but the coil spring rear suspension just was too weak.

Diesels cost way more to maintain, are a $9,300 option on a new Ram truck, and are insanely expensive to repair, for very, very little savings in terms of fuel costs. My dad's Duramax blew a head gasket at 100k miles and it was a $10k repair bill to fix.

He and I both towed campers to moose camp a couple of years ago. He got 13mpg and I got 12mpg. My Ram 1500 averaged 18mpg on my daily commute, with a 400hp hemi and 34" tires.

Since you work for GM, surely you are aware of the "Chevy Shake" that is plaguing many of the new trucks?

no i havent heard of the chevy shake or seen one come in.

if diesel aint your thing, the 3/4ton gas chevy, fords and dodges are prety good trucks too

chevy 6.0L gasser is an excellent engine IMO

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

unless youre talking about the 8 speed torque converter shudder...

GM NEVER should have rushed into that 8 speed. hydramatic couldnt build an 8 speed in time so GM put in an Aisin transmission. i would definately get a 6 speed or wait for a 10 speed.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

i just read a GM service bulletin on it. wow. yeah we havent had a single concern involving that condition... i'll have to watch out for it

 

[PNWguy]

I've seen so many horrible issues with the big three that I'd much rather buy a Toyota if they built a 3/4-ton.

The Nissan Titan is pretty close, but Nissan has been problematic lately. Even Toyota is slipping lately.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Doing some dreaming of when I can upgrade my daily driver. Currently have a 2005 GMC Yukon in great shape with only 95k miles on it. Works great for everyday and towing my little pop-up camper or utility trailer with my Honda Pioneer in it. It's also great for hauling around my best friend; a 100lb great dane/lab mix is getting old and can't jump very high. In fact, he's the reason I traded in my 2014 Ram 1500 quadcab. It was too tall for him to get into anymore and I needed a useable back seat for my grandkids.

So, I can't upgrade back to a pickup until he passes, which is probably in a year or so.

Currently, I can't haul both my camper and my side by side into the woods. My experience with the Ram 1500 was that if I had my UTV in the bed and towing the camper all loaded down with gear, it was close to the safe limits and sketchy for going very far, so I decided I needed a 3/4-ton long bed. That way, I can haul the Honda in the bed and tow a camper. And I'm planning on borrowing my folk's 24' RV for camping in the future.

But I was doing some research online into the latest pickups and priced out a pretty bare bones 2018 Ram 2500 4x4 crewcab long bed Tradesman with the 6.4l Hemi, power everything, auto tranny, and some little upgrades like limited slip, bigger alternator, etc.

Price was $39k. Went to a couple of dealer websites and they are discounted to $35k. Selling my Yukon and putting cash down along with low interest due to my decent credit, payment is around $400 a month. Not bad for a brand new 3/4-ton 4x4 crew cab.

Went to the Ford site and built the same truck. Close to the same price at $41k.

Went to a couple of area Ford dealer websites and no discounts whatsoever. In fact, all of the F250's were optioned out at $45k+ with the cheapest being $42k after a "discount".

But, my employer has a deal with the local Ford dealer to give employees fleet pricing, so no idea how much that would save. I can't buy a truck now, anyways.

I checked prices for the Ram 1/2-tons and they were actually more expensive for a similarly equipped pickup. I guess more folks want half tons.

I know truck prices are generally insane. My dad has a 2005 Chevy 1-ton dually 4x4 Duramax diesel truck with leather and all the options. Sticker price 13 years ago was $69k!

I was actually pleasantly surprised that I could get a brand new 3/4-ron 4x4 crewcab with power windows, AC, cruise, automatic, and some other goodies for $35k.

Heck, I was looking at Toyota 4Runners and the cheapest you could find one was $35k.

Dennis Dillion over here in Caldwell is supposed to have the best prices on dodge in the entire country. People fly in all the time. There a little slimmy. But buy and leave.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

That price on the Ram 2500 sounds great to me. Can't believe the cost of your dad's truck way back then, but again it is a Duramax diesel.
It is shocking what people are asking for used Toyota's! I was in the market for a replacement vehicle recently and I was looking at Tacoma's and 4 Runners among other things. Insane amount for used. Like 2/3 of what my dad paid for his 2010 Tacoma quad cab TRD!!

That's why I buy Toyota. Killer resale

 

[kmk1012]

unless youre talking about the 8 speed torque converter shudder...

GM NEVER should have rushed into that 8 speed. hydramatic couldnt build an 8 speed in time so GM put in an Aisin transmission. i would definately get a 6 speed or wait for a 10 speed.

My six speed shifted so early that it was lugging, causing a shudder. The AFM was also a cause of another shudder. My friend who is a GM tech reccomended the Edge programmer and WOW, what a difference. The tranny shifts where it should and mileage went up w/AFM off. My commute is almost all highway too. If you have issues coming in with the same issues this is a good fix.