New Vehichle

[Sylvanfan]

Well my wife and I need to upgrade or get a different vehichle here. We have two dogs and need something a bit bigger than what we currently own. One dog is a 50lb Samoyed, and the other is a 6 month old SheppardXLab who's 50lbs already. We like to bring our dogs with us if we do road trips to visit our parents. Mine live in Kamloops, and hers live in Prince Rupert right now but are moving to Langley next year. We've argued and thought about it, and seem to have decided that we should get a full size truck with a crew cab.

Based on being able to haul more stuff on trips, wanting something I can drive to B.C. in the winter, and being a homeowner trucks are extremely handy. Now fuel is quite expensive these days so we need something with size, but would still like something efficient. So right now I'm leaning towards a full size truck with a Deisel engine. Of course these vehichles are quite pricey. The big three seem to be the best options out there for this type of vehichle, and right now Dodge looks like my first choice. But if anyone owns one I'd love to hear your reviews of any make.

Has anyone looked at the employee pricing discount and what is it? Is it enough that it would be worth looking at a new vehichle, or would I be better off trying to find a used one? By the looks of it a used Dodge Ram 2500 with less than 100,000k on it and 3 years old still looks to be 31-36k. If anyone's been in a similar situation or knows where to look for good used vehichles let me know.

Thanks

[Ironhorse]

With the diesel truck, you'll have to run a lot of kilometers to have the higher diesel engine price ($3-4 thousand?) offset the cost of using slightly cheaper diesel fuel... The fuel economy is greater with a diesel, but it's a numbers game. I've heard that travelling around 35-40K km per year is needed to have it save you money. I guess it partially depends on how often you plan on travelling to BC.

And unless you're towing or hauling a lot, a 2500 (3/4 ton) will be overkill and have a harsher ride.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally posted by Ironhorse@Aug 30 2005, 09:46 PM

And unless you're towing or hauling a lot, a 2500 (3/4 ton) will be overkill and have a harsher ride.

Yeah, I also have to factor in resale/maintainace costs etc....

If I want a Deisel you have to go to the 2500 since the 1500 only comes with gas engines.

Basically I'm likely only going to put 20-25,000 k's on the vehichle per year. Today in Sylvan Lake Deisel is 16 cents a litre cheaper than gasoline. Assuming the Deisel uses 10 litres per 100km, and a gas engine uses 13 per 100km. over a year the difference in cost based on today's prices would be around $1000 for 20,000k and around $1200 per 25,000. Of course maintainance/reliability/resale is something else I'll have to do a bit more research on. Still Dodge has used that Cummings engine for years now so I imagine it's track record is quite solid. I don't mind a more expensive vehichle if it is more efficient. I can only see gas going up in price in the future so efficiency is something I value.

[InTheSlot]

With a diesel engine you can get anywhere from 200,000-250,000 miles on it (not sure what that converts to KM)


Case in point, those things last forever

[CrzyCanuck]

My friend in edmonton works for a leasing company to the oil fields. He says that of thier 1000 truck fleet, Fords have the least problems over all, then Dogde, then GM. He bought a ford truck.

They tried to bring in Nissans and Toyotas because some guys asked for them, but the first few non-starts on cold days, and they have gone back to the big 3.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

I don't want to start a whole big Truck vs Truck vs Truck debate,
but you CrzyCanuck is right, you have to look at the truck overall.

Dodge does build great engines, but their transmissions and suspensions are not nearly as good. If you're gonna use it as a daily driver and not do much towing than it'll be fine, but if you actually want to use it as a truck, you'll likey have fewer problems with a Ford or a GM.

[Neeper]

try and find a used truck. I am sure there are plenty and I bet you can find a good deal. buying a new vehicle was the biggest mistake I ever made. The depreciation will make you cry.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

How about an AWD minivan, with a dog barrier in back?? Just throwing out some out of the box alternatives as "full size truck" and "efficient" are kind of oxymorons....

You may want to check with GE Fleet Leasing as I think they handle most of hte oil field. That said, I know our trucks come back pretty beat up after usage in the field.

[Ironhorse]

Originally posted by Bring_Back_Shantz@Sep 1 2005, 09:06 AM
Dodge does build great engines, but their transmissions and suspensions are not nearly as good. If you're gonna use it as a daily driver and not do much towing than it'll be fine, but if you actually want to use it as a truck, you'll likey have fewer problems with a Ford or a GM.

Agreed. And for the record, Dodge does not build their diesel engines in-house. They are built by Cummins and then crated to the Dodge factory.

[Ironhorse]

Originally posted by I-Hate-Hulse@Sep 1 2005, 09:19 AM
I know our trucks come back pretty beat up after usage in the field.

Oh yeah, you should see how the oilworkers treat "their" company trucks... :P

I heard a story a while back that one of the Oil & Gas Co's was trying out heavy duty spec Hummer H1s (like the military Humvee) for field vehicles. The thinking was they cost twice as much, but lasted 5 times as long with all the abuse that is handed out up north. Sounds like an interesting experiment.

[dancynator]

my friend just got a infiniti i30t sedan it is a pretty cool car

[Sylvanfan]

Originally posted by I-Hate-Hulse@Sep 1 2005, 03:19 PM
How about an AWD minivan, with a dog barrier in back?? Just throwing out some out of the box alternatives as "full size truck" and "efficient" are kind of oxymorons....

You may want to check with GE Fleet Leasing as I think they handle most of hte oil field. That said, I know our trucks come back pretty beat up after usage in the field.

Well as a home owner a truck is a very usefull thing to have. I'm looking to move by the end of the month, so the truck is good for moving, plus depending on if I get a newer house or an older one I'll need something for Landscaping, building a deck and fence, or hauling around stuff to do some reno's. I used to own an SUV and they're really not much use for that type of thing. Not to mention the humiliation people under 30 with no kids would have to put up with by owning a minivan!! But it definitely is thinking outside the box.

Father in law tells me he still thinks a gas engine would be the way to go, and that with the Dodge the Engine will outlast the chassis on the truck, so in that respect you may get your full money out of the diesel. Than theres the whole cold weather starting thing in this neck of the woods and the idle time needed for it in the winter.

I'm all but convinced that I need a truck, but the gas engines on them are terrible guzzlers. I really don't know what to do. If I'm going to get a gas engine I'll definitely look for used as the depreciation on the gas engine ones doesn't make it worth buying brand new. Like it's been mentioned several times if you buy something used you want to know the full history of the vehichle. I'm not so sure I want something out of the patch with 120,000 km's on it...If only Volkswagen had a Passat wagon quattro with a deisel, or Audi made an A4 with a deisel that would solve one of the vehichles and than I could just get a beater truck for the house. But unfortuanately the deisel wagon quattro doesn't exist as far as I know.