I need some direction. We've seemed to run into a situation that I hope I never get used to. I spend so much time at our local Ford dealership that they're thinking of making me a salesman. The only problem is, the only Ford vehicle that seems to avoid their repair shop except for regular maintenance is the Transit Connect. ( And it's made in Turkey )

What I would like to know is what those of you that have driven a number of different vehicles feel is the most cost efficient. ( I know 10 mpg and being in the repair shop several times a year ain't it )

I will probably buy another Transit Connect in 2014 but we will need to replace all of our vehicles eventually. You guys are pretty good a giving out the straight scoop and I will take all your recommendations under advisement. If waiting until the verdict is in on some of the new vehicles that are coming out next year, so be it.

I just bought a ford f150 super cab. 2 wheel drive, 5.0 v-8 with a 6 1/2 ft bed. I just turned 3000 miles, so have not had it a long time. More bells and whisles than I need. Topper with side doors came off my 2006 f150. So far, the millage is in the 16 to 17 mpg. A lot better than my old F150. As to repairs, I will have to wait and see. So far so good. 36,000 miles or 3 years bumper to bumper wartenty.

Paul,

I know your guys are likely needing pickups so the vans are out, but can say 3 years now in to owning our sprinter and other than basic oil changes and tire maintenance, no additional costs. 20mpg on the highway and tons of space!

Outside of that I can say as a govt. worker I had an f-150, 250 superduty, chevy long box and a toyota tundra that was picked up used.

Out of those I'd take the toyota! In fact first vehicle we bought after leaving the govt. was a toyota tundra when we moved to Oregon. Loved that truck and still miss it, though I like the mileage in the sprinter! We have 75K on the sprinter and I just stuck a new set of tires on it, otherwise cheap so far (knock hard on wood).

If you can use a van, might want to look at those new dodge utility vans they are selling that look like sprinters...

That sounds like a good start, Justin. It's the vans that are causing the problem. The F150 may not be very handy but like Bethell says, we get 16 mpg and just ordinary maintenance.

Will not buy another GMC. At 75000 miles we have several thousand in it to keep it up 100% This is not used off road. It is not
abused in any way. Looks great and rides very nice. Just cost to much out of pocket to keep it up. Been talking to several folks
that drive Dodge trucks and Dodge vans. All good reports.

I can't help out with your particular line of work but I drive a lot of different trucks at work. The Dodge 2500s that we have seem to hold up VERY well for us. Most of our miles are offroad miles, some really rough! We have just over 60,000 miles on a couple of them and have done nothing other than change oil and tires. Downside is that we are getting about 10 mpg out of them.

The worst trucks that we have are Chevy/GMCs. They are in the shop as much as they are out. One we had at my last job had the ball joints go out a combined 7 times in under 60,000 miles, twice before the warranty was up. It had 4 wheel drive issues and was a general piece of junk. It was a 1500 Silverado.

I was a Ford guy all my life. I went right down the line 1978 f100 up to 1999 f350. That f350 got me so infuriated with the 5.4 motor (junk!) I needed a change, so my friends talked me into buying a Chevy 1500 z71. This truck is so light duty that I might as well be driving a caddy through the woods. The rocker panels and cab corners rotted and the transfer case needed work. So now I just bought A new Tacoma and so far I love it! It really handles well off road, the gas mileage is ok (about 19mpg). So hopefully this is the one!

And for all you guys that are stuck on buying "American made" this Tacoma was manufactured in Texas and my Chevy was manufactured by General Motors of...............................................Mexico!

FWIW, I've got a 2012 Ram 4x4 with the Eco engine. I get around 22-23 mpg hwy, it's got the V8, and fits my wife and children in it.

My GMC 1500 22 mpg in the city

Paul,

Hate to say it but as far as NEW trucks go, Toyota may be building the best truck for the money right now. And, considering where parts are made and vehicles are assembled, Toyota is just as much American made as Ford or Chevy.

I still like the old steel. My current ride is a 1978 GMC Sierra Grande. Only 11 miles to the gallon but when it needs repair, I get out MUCH cheaper than any of the newer trucks. With 100 bucks I could replace ALL the brakes front and back. Another 100 bucks and I can replace all the tie rods ends and ball joints under the front end. 45 bucks for a new starter, another 40 for an alternator, I replaced a master cylinder and two front calipers for less than 100 bucks. A hundred dollars worth of bearings would change every bearing on the axels, front and back.

If I had to spend 1000 dollars a year in repairs(and last year I spent no where near half of that) it would still be cheaper than truck payments. Okay... Only 11 miles to the gallon. Well, I spend less in gas than the usual 600 dollar a month truck payment. Besides... They are building and selling new trucks that get no better mileage than that.

The biggest thing that rips me is that now days you've got to upgrade to a 3/4 ton or a full ton truck to do the same job we use to do with half ton trucks all the time. These trucks sell for well over 30 thousand dollars! I can't see why ANYBODY would spend that kind of money on an old truck that's just gonna get beat up and scratched from daily working.

AND, my four-wheel-drive still works.

22mpg out of a full size loaded pickup. I have to throw out the BS flag on that one.

Not sure about that particular truck, but my 1 ton Dodge 4X4 was getting 21 and the Ford 3/4 ton 4X4 is getting 19.
But, they are both diesels.

Also depends on how you drive it! My old man was proud of his mileage back before it became the thing it is now, of course
he accelerated so slowly that we used to joke that by the time he made it to work 30 miles away he was finally reaching full
cruising speed!



Our sprinter van which is a dually 3500 model, green diesel easily gets 20+ until you start running beyond 70 mph then it
starts to dip.

I'm starting to feel your pain Paul. I just dumped 3k into my '06 F 150s. My '07 isn't much better. They seem to get tired around 100k miles. They both seem to break down just about the time I start feeling good about how much money I am making any particular week. I'm looking to buy another by the end of the month. I wanted to keep all of our trucks the same manufacturer but I might have to switch.

Are you guys partitioning off the transit/vans or just wearing nose plugs? I'm not sure how many miles I'd last with armadillo business on the floor in the back.

My dads 2012 gets averages 22mpg on his ram with the 4.7.

As you can probably tell, I embrace mechanics like Salys embraces technology. I have never owned a diesel but I seem to remember that the diesel engine had a hard time starting in cold weather. Is that still the case? It sounds like nearly all of you that get twenty plus mpg in the larger vehicles have diesel engines. Is this something for me to think about?

I have a 2005 Dodge 2500 Quad cab 4x2 with the 24 valve Cummins diesel with 168,000+ miles on it and I average 22-24 mpg. I do drive it easy and run the speed limit, now it will drop to 19-20 over 70mph. Other than normal maintenance...oil change, etc. it has been a very "frugal" truck...

Both the ford and the dodge have plug heaters/grid heaters.
When it starts to get cold you just plug them in at night.
14 degrees this morning. Ford has not been started in two weeks. It cranked right up and I had warn air out of the defroster in about a minute.
The other thing to think about is that when a normal gas engine is hitting 150,000 miles its time to start looking at major repairs or replacement. When a diesel hits that range its just starting to get broken in.
The ford mentioned above is sitting around 260,000 right now.

Hey, thanks mtncat. My son-in-law is pretty knowledgeable about vehicles. The first job he got after graduating college was driving an auto transport. He questions if I'm going to be happy with a diesel in the stop and go driving that we do in the city. He says that the best mileage is on longer trips of which we have zero. What's your opinion, guys?