Alpod

iTrader: (2)

I have an 07 Silverado LTZ Crew cab. I ******* love it. It's my daily and has plenty of room, is comfortable, and has plenty of power (5.3L). I really like the newer body style of the 07+ over the older and the interior is where you really see the difference. The previous generation interior, while not terrible, definitely shows its age.

I only have 2x4 but its all I need in Florida. The 5.3 pulls a miata like nothing and my boat with ease.

xturner

I just bought an 01 Silverado 2500HD 5.3 extended cab 6.5-ft bed, LS trim(whatever that means) back in August. 137K miles. It took me a solid year to find one for less than $10K, and I just got lucky. Cloth interior, surprisingly comfy seats and ride. It pisses on dirt roads that blur the mirrors in my wifes Accord.

Don't know about Ohio, but in New England you end up with commercial trucks for 15+ grand that are clean but around 200k + miles, or older DD's with less miles and bad corrosion issues. I disqualified anything with signs of plow hardware - don't want to worry about tranny/transfer case abuse issues. That eliminated almost half the trucks I saw.

I'm agnostic about brands, but heard about issues with plugs in the pre-07 Ford Tritons, and front suspension frailty in similar year Dodges. I split my month between Maine and my office in CT, and I saw a lot of crusty lower-mile stuff in Maine, and a bunch of expensive commercial stuff in CT - brand didn't matter. Kid who works for me is a true-believer truck guy, and he helped. He drives a pretty trick barely-street-legal off-roading Frontier, but warned me off used Nissan Titans - mid-size grade components in a full-size package. Might not matter if you aren't a serious off-roader or do serious towing.

Like most guys, I never considered a new car stealership. One Sat morning, I talked about looking while playing golf, turned out I was playing with the owner of the local Dodge dealership. He had taken my truck as a trade over 6 weeks before. I was the first one to test-drive it. It came with new brakes, good tires, no leaks, and a current state safety inspection sticker. A shaky-looking rear bumper, but otherwise solid with no body rust. I felt like I was rolling the dice, but it's been good.

BTW - I'm averaging 13-14 mpg in regular driving. Screw the earth, indeed.

Efini~FC3S

iTrader: (4)

Avoid the Nissan like the plague.

Davezorz

iTrader: (2)

its not the fuel that gets you, its the 14 quart CJ-4 oil changes and other maintenance.

Monk

iTrader: (3)

Buy this or surrender man-card:
2000 f350 4x4 lariat dually

M.Adamovits

Sounds more like you're looking for an SUV with a box.

What about Dodge's MegaCab?

M.Adamovits

Double post fail.

fooger03

iTrader: (2)

The megacab didn't appeal to me. The dodge crews also seemed to be cramped. I have been looking at the Tundra double-cab as a distinct possibility. Earlier I had dismissed the double cab as being too small, thinking I would need the crew max, but after seeing the dimensions on them, the crew max seems like too much cab and not enough bed. The double cab with 6.5' bed might suffice quite nicely, but I will have to sit in it to see if 34.5" of leg room is sufficient. It sounds tight, but the reviews suggest that it feels much deeper than that. The crew max is something like 44".

The more I look, the more that 2007 seems like the golden year. The new Silverado and the New Tundra were released in 2007, and it looks like the F150 spark plug problems were solved in 2007.

fooger03

iTrader: (2)

So here we are, 9 months later, and while my "buy a truck savings account" grew at a painfully slow pace, some unexpected events rapidly shifted my purchasing timeframe and purchasing power. About 2 weeks ago, I made a 350 mile roundtrip with my wife to pick up this:


It's a 2015 Tundra 1794 edition 4x4, certified used with 36k miles on the clock.

It's got all the luxo-features on it. My favorite is definitely the back-up camera. Never had one on a vehicle before. I'm still trying to get my truck-fu back after having not owned one for the last 11 years, but I never remember parking lots being nearly this easy.

The back seat area is large enough to fit a small Jarawan tribe, and so far I've beaten down every minivan which has raced against me.

Major downsides were:
Previous owner put UHP Summer tires on the truck. (What the f*ck?) Fixed for $1k
Previous owner didn't option anything on the truck beyond the 1794 trim level. (No bedliner - fixed for $600, no running boards - not yet fixed)
Also, Toyota didn't see it necessary to include any "work-based" storage in the truck for dirty tie-downs/towing accessories - which is odd for a truck with such a massive cabin. I intend to solve the problem with a bakflip tonneau cover in the near future.

Just before pulling the trigger, I started flip-flopping back and forth between the 1794 Tundra and the F-150 Limited. Really liked the ecoboost engine, but the truck was just too much show and this tundra hit the market for the right price at the right time.