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Diesel truck info.

hickslawns said:
Yup. Easy financing. Want a Harley? Want a camper? Want a new vehicle? Have bad credit? We'll get you financed!

Auto makers are hurting. One of the largest purchasers of their vehicles is the rental car companies. Guess what? They are going bankrupt right now. The used car market counts on buying the used rental fleet. Used market seems pretty strong right now. Guess what? That means the new car market isn't moving squat. They are financing everyone and selling at close to cost. Rebates out the wazzoo. Just over cost for sales price. Wait until the influx of repo vehicles start hitting the used market. Wait until the corporate debt of the manufacturers comes due in the next couple years. Hang onto your cash fellas. Going to be some deals to buy.
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Something is obviously going on. The last vehicle I bought was my caddy in 2013 from a smaller dealership in PA. I sent him an email and said I will give you YYY price and we reached an agreement before I even drove over.

The dealerships I've dealt with this past week are your larger ford, Chevy affiliated dealerships. Some of their used vehicles are priced 1k over dealer invoice, then they try to tell me how awesome of a deal they got me by going down 1k. Lol.

I was looking at two vehicles, same make, model and options packages. Original msrp was within 300 bucks of eachother, current milage was only 2k diference. One was a 2015 the other a 16. They were priced identical and both priced high. One was an entire year older than the other.

Had one guy who had a vehicle since February and had put 2k miles on it loaning it out as a service vehicle. Wouldn't budge from the listing price. Said he listed it at market rate and he does a 500 mile search. Blah blah. I reminded him that was 3.5 months and 2,000 miles ago, but he's welcome to keep it for another 3.5 months and put another 2k on it if that's the price.

One thing I'm seeing that I haven't before on the reputable brand affiliated lots is auction cars. You can usually tell because they were previously titled in other states, repossessed, or have an accident on the carfax. Rarely would you ever see a newer vehicle like a 2015 or 2016 with an accident on record on a reputable dealers lot. They always let the buy here pay here lots buy those at auction. Not anymore.

I'll keep looking but I think I may stick to my old tried and true method. Late November car shopping. Nothing is moving, tax man's coming, not making monthly sales numbers, and kids need Christmas presents, makes for motivated dealerships.
 
Good move. Or keep checking craigslist or FB marketplace. There are always deals to be had. Sometimes you just have to search a little outside the box. Sometimes you end up in Gulfport, MS with ol' Coon hound Joe!
 
So what does everyone know about the 6.4 Ford Diesel? Ford pays the bills in my household so I will be buying Ford either way, just curious as to what the pros and cons you guys know about them. Seems like the 6.0 needs a $5-7K "bulletproof" job in order to be reliable, but I just don't see much out there about the 6.4's. I'm looking at an 08 F250 Crew Cab. Will be towing 6-8k camper depending on how I'm loaded. Mostly within an hour of home with a trip to Mohican or Hocking Hills mixed in once or twice a year. Anything to look out for? It is a 1-owner Texas truck with 110,000 miles. Looks clean as a pin in the pictures.
 
Any mod's? Stock 6.4 is plenty enough motor to be a good truck for that amount of weight. Stock 6.4 is as far as I would go if looking to buy one. Anything with a tune is pretty touchy on those.

6.4 is basically a 6.0 with thinner cylinder walls. Some good ones and some bad ones. If you're going to support the bill payer, look for a 6.7.
 
7.3 was great. 6.0 was a wreck. 6.4 is something to run away from. 6.7 was supposed to be pretty solid from what I've heard.

Firsthand knowledge of my buddies 6.4 verified I will never own one. It was close to being returned under lemon law. Even after the rebuild from Ford he has never gotten over 10mpg.
 
Update. The FILs red Chevy 3500 threw a driveshaft in the middle of a highway in Maryland. No ticking, vibrating, or whining just let go at 60 mph. Had to get a custom one built.
 
giles said:
Any mod's? Stock 6.4 is plenty enough motor to be a good truck for that amount of weight. Stock 6.4 is as far as I would go if looking to buy one. Anything with a tune is pretty touchy on those.

6.4 is basically a 6.0 with thinner cylinder walls. Some good ones and some bad ones. If you're going to support the bill payer, look for a 6.7.
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Stock. Did some reading this afternoon and seems like there are a lot of possible issues with the 6.4. May have to start looking into the 6.7. May be able to find a 2012-2014 with some miles on it in my price range.
 
hickslawns said:
7.3 was great. 6.0 was a wreck. 6.4 is something to run away from. 6.7 was supposed to be pretty solid from what I've heard.

Firsthand knowledge of my buddies 6.4 verified I will never own one. It was close to being returned under lemon law. Even after the rebuild from Ford he has never gotten over 10mpg.
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Yep I've read a ton of horror stories today about the 6.4. Those old 7.3's are still bringing a pretty penny!
 
"J" said:
Seems like sticking with a gasser would be better...
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Yeah I'm leaning this way as well. I drove my truck over to Mohican before a tranny seal let loose, then drove my brothers Duramax back. That was a mistake, the power and torque difference is unbelievable pulling the camper through the hills.
 
"J" said:
Why do you want a diesel when you're only hauling 6-8K?
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I didn't like having to have my foot on the floor for 6 miles straight and only running 50MPH. I got 7mpg hauling versus his 15mpg. I ran 3000+ RPM's most of the time and his nearly broke 1700. Just a ton more comfortable drive.
 
Jackalope said:
Update. The FILs red Chevy 3500 threw a driveshaft in the middle of a highway in Maryland. No ticking, vibrating, or whining just let go at 60 mph. Had to get a custom one built.
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Pppfffftt.....what year and how many miles? Here you made sound like it was a main part of the driveline, not a consumable/wear out item. Too much power from that dirtymax.:smiley_clap:

"J" said:
Why do you want a diesel when you're only hauling 6-8K?
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Drake, be careful. Before you know it, this crew will be having you import a Toyota diesel.

The thing with a 1/2 ton is not the towing capacity, it's cargo capacity and longevity. In addition, pulling a 7500lb+ flat bed or boat is different than a 28'+ in length, 10'+ tall camper. It's a giant wind sail and will walk a 1/2 ton all over the place.

Weights: Proper trailer setup is 10-13% tongue weight. We will go worst case scenario here so 800-1040bs of tongue weight. How much cargo capacity does a 1/2 ton have, max (remember you have to account for fuel, wife, kids, etc.)? Only 1000lbs, doesn't leave much room to haul anything in the bed. I am sure there are coolers, bikes, firewood, and an awesome water transfer setup to fit in there! You are in 3/4 ton range for a safe, enjoyable ride and a vehicle that lasts a few years. Buy a 1/2 ton and you'll be right back to looking to upgrade to a 3/4 ton in no time.

Gas/diesel: Gas vs. diesel is a personal preference but you did make the mistake of getting behind the wheel of a diesel and you have been bit. If you put enough miles on a 3/4 ton and haul/tow enough, it's a great improvement over any gasser out there (except for the old GM 8.1l in my mind).See my actual mileage log a few pages back. A 3/4 ton would have killed my pocket book. Please do not buy a 6.0 or 6.4. There is a real good reason there are so many for sale. I would target a 2013+ 6.7L if sticking with the Ford. It took all the OEMs a few years to work the bugs out of the emissions designs.
 
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5Cent said:
Pppfffftt.....what year and how many miles? Here you made sound like it was a main part of the driveline, not a consumable/wear out item. Too much power from that dirtymax.:smiley_clap:



Drake, be careful. Before you know it, this crew will be having you import a Toyota diesel.

.
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04 with 185k miles. They've been replaced 4 times with gmpartsdirect oem joints. 1 day of downtime on the road and 750 bucks to have a new shaft made plus labor for install and new moog joints. You would think a truck built for towing would have U joints that last longer than 45,000 miles but I guess not Lol. How about the water pump, glow plugs and injectors that have been replaced. Are those consumable for a diesel with less than 185k miles? In contrast the 7.3 Ford Excursion with around 320k miles has had half the problems the Chevy has had.

As for me If it were legal to import that Toyota Hilux 3.0 turbo diesel I saw in Bonaire that fucker would be on a ship tomorrow.
 
Half tons have come a LONG way in towing. As stated many times in this thread, the main problem is most don't hold any value.

Joe, did you ever look into those Titan's? I haven't, just wondering.
 
Glow plug is consumable just like a spark plug. Injector was design issue covered by 7yr/200K mileage special bulletin by GM, no out of pocket to owner and is transferable. LB7 was their first generation high pressure rail design from 01-04. Water pump I will give ya, but will say that anything mechanical will fail and if but when. That excursion seen the same use/abuse/towing as the 3500? I'd much rather replace those items than an engine head, tranny, rear end. Until Toyota has a truck capable of the same capacity, it's not apples to apples.

1/2 tons have come a long ways but it doesn't change weights. From experience with the new 2011 I stated earlier, I was within 100lbs of GRAWR (legal number by the way) on a 7600k dry camper but loaded to 9150lbs. Please do not listen to the truck or camper salesman, you will be in a tough situation in most cases. Plus, a higher capable truck allows for future RV upgrades if that is what Drake has in mind for the future.
 
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My take on a diesel for towing a camper a dozen times a year wouldn't be worth it... Stick too a gasser and have it setup right in the 3/4 ton variety.... Not pushing yota's this time lol....
 
Plenty of reasons to go back and forth on all these subjects, Adam. My 1 ton treats my bumper pull like a landscaping trailer. I am WAY over trucked. For my weekender warrior trips, I could get by with a half ton. I'm not dragging my camper thousands of mile a year traveling the US, I generally don't leave a 250 miles radius. I know it would be hard on a half ton, but so is daily driving a 1 ton. 2 totally different beast that should be seen as that. I'd love to be able to justify having a "tow rig" and DD. My 5.9 would also love it.
 
giles said:
Plenty of reasons to go back and forth on all these subjects, Adam. My 1 ton treats my bumper pull like a landscaping trailer. I am WAY over trucked. For my weekender warrior trips, I could get by with a half ton. I'm not dragging my camper thousands of mile a year traveling the US, I generally don't leave a 250 miles radius. I know it would be hard on a half ton, but so is daily driving a 1 ton. 2 totally different beast that should be seen as that. I'd love to be able to justify having a "tow rig" and DD. My 5.9 would also love it.
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Exactly, each scenario/lifestyle/person is different. No way to use such a wide paint brush as has been used here in a few responses about size of truck and fuel type is exactly what I am saying.
 
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