New vs. used chevy pick up?

Well if I had the money for a new or newer truck and the needs you mentioned I would buy an old(50's-70's) truck! You could find an old truck fairly cheap and have it compleatly rebuilt for less then the$$$$$$$$ of a new/er one. Then you know what you have, parts if they do go out are cheaper, old trucks are made to work and frankly they are more fun to drive! If you are wanting to spend less in gas and do all the work.....get a diesel!! Most farmers around here have to get 1 tons now to do what 1/2 tons did 20 years ago. I have a 91 f150 2wd auto that just lost the tranny and it was expensive to fix. I wish I had an older vehicle that was made to hold up. PLUS you would be recycling and that is always good.

good luck
Cody

P.S. Taxes would also be less!!!!!!!

 

Cody makes some good points about the benefits of an older truck however, one thing I know for sure is I would NEVER buy a new vehicle. I plotted out depreciation curves for a ford and a chevy sedan, just to see if there was any difference. There wasn't. They both dropped like rocks for the first five years, then almost levelled out in the sixth year. That tells me the time to buy is 5 yrs old or older. You're not paying for nothing then.

As to the rest of the stuff you mention---crew vs extended cab for example, I'd consider how often I'd have passengers and how far would I be driving with them. If it was often for long rides, I'd go with the crew cab. If not it would probably be easier to find extended cabs.

You can do alot of fixing on an older truck for $2000-3000 to get it into top shape where as it would just be a down payment on a new one where you get to make payments for the next 5 years.

 

Well the newer GM diesels have a GREAT automatic transmission.

Also the Duramax diesels are supposed to be pretty good so far-better than the 6.2 diesels that GM was using.

Of course this sort of truck cost plenty of $$$ if bought new or even a few years old.Diesels are in the 2500/3500's only but that is what you would need for the work you have envisioned.

Why are you stuck on GM's?

 

Are you financing or paying cash? Are you planning to keep and repair the vehicle until it just drops dead, or are you going to sell it before that point?

With all of the zero-interest deals done a while back, and the fact that there are still a lot of people out of work, there should be plenty of used vehicles to choose from. If you choose to buy from a private seller, ask to see all maintenance records (personally, I would not buy from someone who did their own oil changes, but then I'm not an auto whiz, you may be able to discern through discussions that they know what they're doing), and make sure that any extended warranties are transferable to you.

Always think, a vehicle is a liability, not an asset, and pay accordingly. If can at all avoid it, never finance a liability.

 

Get the Auto truck shoppers from Eau Claire or the Twin Citys. I recall there being adds for both old grain trucks and construction lease returns from when I lived up In the cheese state. They also have alot of adds for other equipment as well. I belive its the Country Today paper also had those adds. But a word of advice on the lease returns if I may........Ive seen first hand how those trucks are driven...ouch!!! They are worked hard and drove foolish in my my experiance. They dont take the time to properly break them in and half the time they arnt even mantained! This is why they are considerably cheaper. It may be covered under a warrenty for awhile but it wont be down the road.

From a former Cheddar head
Cody

 

You wanted opinions.....here's mine.

Forget the Chevy.....go with a used Dodge that is 5 - 7 years old. Dodge trucks depreciate faster than any truck.....making for a great buy.

A friend recently told his Chevy dealership to be on the lookout for an inexpensive trade in. A few months later the dealership called. He picked up a 96 3/4 ton, 360 engine, 4x4 single cab Dodge truck with 72,000 miles on it for a paltry $6500. He has had the truck for 6 months, and the only repair has been replacement of the ball joints.

In case you think I'm partial to Dodge trucks.......I'm not. I currently own a Toyota Tundra that I'm very happy with. If I were in the market for a 3/4 ton, it would most likely be a Dodge.

I'm not beholden to any make or brand. I happen to feel the huge depreciation of Dodge products make purchase of a used Dodge an excellent value.

 

1)Don't buy an old truck like a 70's something unless you want to spend lots of $$$$ and time working on it.
2)To perform the Multi-Tasking role as you described it I would buy a newer Diesel . The 99-2002 ford, 7.3 powerstrokes are a good value .
3)DONOT buy a 2003 ford. 6.0 diesel because they have had LOTS of issues with injectors, oil leaks , etc. The 2004 's made prior to sept. 29th, 2003 still had 6.0, 2003 engines.
4) The 5.9 Cummins is the Best engine made for longivity and fuel milage, bar none. They sound like a washing machine. Some of the earlier dodge, 5.9 diesels around (92 thu maybe 95) or so had a 5 speed manual tranny called a Gertrag(German transmission) that just would NOT hold up(to the cummins engine) and is extremely expensive to fix. Best not purchase one of those.
5)The chevy trucks with the newer Isuzu Diesel are supposed to be a very good product. Some have reported problems with the Aluminum heads.
6) I have read that Dodge is introducing a new (and very quiet) and very powerful 5.9 diesel that is going to have a Mercedes 5 speed, heavy duty automatic transmission. It should be available in June of 04, this year. .........fordy

 

Since you are hung up on auto transmissions expect to live with the associated problems that come with them when they are applied to heavy duty use. A good standard shift transimission and someone that knows the left foot pedal is not a foot rest will get 100s of thousands of miles of reliable service.
For dependable heavy duty work get an industrial rated vehicle instead of a daily conveyance one. You may be better off to buy 2 vehicles. A runabout for the economy and convenience and a used 2 ton straight truck for the heavy duty use. A short wheelbase 2 ton truck would carry or pull whatever your needs are and without straining its mechanical ability. You can buy such a truck coming out of a fleet for less than a pickup of the same year model. These heavy duty vehicles are able to deliver service for years even with twiced the mileage of a light duty truck. Having two vehicles will let you match your "fleet" to the needs without having to pay for the portion you are using. The runabout will give the mileage and convenience when running to the store and for light tasks and since it is not being abused pulling more than its design intended extended service without the repair bills. The heavy truck will perform the tasks it is designed for and you will only be paying for the high fuel consumption when you are actually using it for the hard work. If you qualify for farm use I doubt that the insurance and tags would cost excessively and the fees are deductible.

 

Replacing ball joints at 72 k should thee you all you need to know about a Dodge.
Wisconsin would be a big GM area so values may be lower because of the volume of vehicles. Chevys are made in Flint MI , Canada and somewhere else in the US. Dodge in Mexico and Detroit for the smaller ones, Ford in MI and several other plants. On a side note if you order GM you can follow it down the line in Flint I did mine a few years back. Myself GM, had them all and 200k+ on all the GM's with no major repairs.


mikell

 

Cashcrop,
Agmanto beat me to it. For the kind of jobs you are talking about a used 2 ton truck would be the way to go. They are built for that kind of work. Also it could have any of several kinds of bodies. A dump truck would allow for carrying and easy unloading large loose loads. A flatbed could let you carry heavy stuff on pallets. or you might even consider some kind of boomtruck (I like the ones used to install telephone poles) with an auger. How bout a bucket truck with a chip box? From what I understand the Allison automatic in the big trucks isnt too hard to live with. The crew cabs are available also.
If this is going to be a farm only or limited use vehicle then get a real old one from the mid 70's to the early 80's. Its not uncommon to find dump trucks or flatbeds for $2500 with less than 100,000 miles on them. They aint pretty but they sure will do the job.
Kirk

 

In the last few years...I have had 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton Heavy Duty and a dually. All GMC or Chevy's. All four doors and all 4WD.

I got rid of the half ton because it simply wasn't up the jobs I wanted it to do. Half tons are city people trucks.

I liked the 3/4 ton heavy duty. Make sure it's a heavy duty for the type of pulling you are talking about. I used that truck to pull a 24 foot stock trailer full of cattle, several tons of hay, etc. I pulled in snow, rain, dry, whatever. It did the job. That was "my" truck. I just traded it in for a car, since we had two big trucks and gas was getting outrageous. I got a Celica (I like to go fast) and toyota truck on the trade. I use my little toyota for farm chores, but when I need to do something farm-worthy....I get the dually.

The dually does all that the 3/4 ton heavy duty would do, but easier. It can pull more weight and it pulls the same loads that the other one did, but faster and smoother. It's comparable with the other and if there's a huge price difference....don't bother going up to the dually. You probably won't need it.

As far as new vs. used....I never, ever buy new vehicles. Waste of money. That dually probably sold new for over $40,000. We got it with 15,000 miles on it for $28k. Still had manufacturer's warranty, just as good as new, only cheaper! Low mile trucks are easy to find...at least around here.

I had no problems with any of these trucks mechanically and I got good value in trade on them. They do hold their value.

Jena

 

Cashcrop,

You are asking a lot from a pickup truck and I don’t think you will find a single vehicle that will do everything you want your truck to do. The Chevy crew cab 3500 8 ft bed with the duramax and the Allison might be the only one (at $45k+).
Agmantoo has the right idea. You need two vehicles, a used medium-duty truck and a car.
For the truck consider a cabover Mitsubishi fuso or an Ivecco. These are great little trucks. We run both cabover Iveccos and Ford Superduty 350 diesels at work and the Iveccos will outlast the Superdutys 2 to 1 and the people I work with beat the snot out of them. More contractors are switching to the cabovers as they are priced very competitively with the superdutys and are a real bargain used, as no homeowners want them. I currently run a F350 diesel but my next truck will be a cabover.
If you need to stick to domestic pickups, I can tell you from experience that they all have problems. Ford is no better or worse than Chevy or Dodge. It is best to avoid brand loyalty and practice dealer loyalty. You need to find a dealer in your area that you trust and that you can work with cuz no matter what you purchase it will need repair.
With light duty trucks the automatic transmissions are a nice feature but if you intend to use the truck primarily for towing you need to be prepared to have it rebuilt at 80K and every 40K after that. Just half to accept it as the cost of convenience for towing with an automatic. Best you can do to avoid the rebuild is to change the AFT+filter frequently (like every 10K or 15K if towing) and add a transmission cooler if the truck does not already have one.
Used vs. new is a matter of taste. With the current low finance rates and dealers who are willing sell at or near dealer cost, new is the way to go. You can purchase exactly the truck you want, with the options you need, you know the maintenance history and it comes with a warrantee. Used, you usually get none of these advantages and the trucks are often priced only a few thousand below dealer cost. Good Luck with your purchase.