My truck is getting some age on it and I'm trying to figure out what to get. I'd like something not outrageously priced, gets decent gas mileage, has some towing power, and decent leg room in a crew cab.

The Titans and Tundras I looked at can all pull a house off the foundation but get crazy low gas mileage. Ford and Chevys around here are insanely priced. I've looked at smaller trucks like the Nissan Frontier but their gas mileage isn't much better than the full size trucks. I only pull a utility trailer with a smaller zero turn mower 3-4 times a week, maybe 5 miles round trip so I don't need a lot of towing capability. I have seen a few good deals on used Tacomas but everyone I've talked to said the back seats are tiny.

Any thoughts? I've considered looking at SUVs instead due to the price.

what is your current truck? Almost anything will tow that load so really we are talking mileage versus leg room and price. If you don't need a bed then really any small SUV will be a win in both categories. Except possibly price. I have found that the difference between brands for the same type of vehicle is pretty small, but OK. So what's the price target? new or used?

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
what is your current truck? Almost anything will tow that load so really we are talking mileage versus leg room and price. If you don't need a bed then really any small SUV will be a win in both categories. Except possibly price. I have found that the difference between brands for the same type of vehicle is pretty small, but OK. So what's the price target? new or used?

Current truck is a 2001 F150 crew cab. Looking for used, $20,000 max budget but would like to stay near $17-18K

Chevy Colorado. I'm hearing they're dealing more on these than Toyota is on Tacos.

Honda Ridgeline is about 2k more but gets about 1 mpg better

EDIT: saw that you're looking used. In that case the Nissan Frontier. I had a '13 4wd SV when I lived in Canada and liked it so much that I bought a '16 2wd SL when I moved to Texas.

I never buy first model year so I'd rule out:

2016 Tacoma

2015 Colorado or Canyon

2017 Ridgeline

My double cab Tacoma has plenty of room in the back seat and tows 6000 lbs. Mine is now 11 years old has over 177,000 miles on it and drives as good as the day I drove it off the lot.

quote:

Originally posted by BB61:
My double cab Tacoma has plenty of room in the back seat and tows 6000 lbs. Mine is now 11 years old has over 177,000 miles on it and drives as good as the day I drove it off the lot.

What kind of gas mileage do you get?

Mileage and towing? Cummins diesel.

I bought an 08 Ridgeline new and sounds like I use mine similar to you. I tow an 18' bass boat and a zero turn mower on a 12' trailer. Piece of cake. Mileage is 12-15 while towing and 15-21 in my normal old man driving style. Troublefree and easy to live with. Rear seat area was ahead of its time. Very spacious and comfortable. Great in Louisville winters, too.

First time I've ever kept a vehicle 10 years but there is nothing that a new one could do that would suit me any better. And I'm cheap, my 08 has been paid for for a while and I like that.

Eco boost F150

Research the Ram Ecodiesels. 1/2 ton diesel came out in 2014. 9,200lb towing capacity.


Rick

The trend is to go to small displacement engines for efficiency and forced induction to replace the power. In the F150, for example that can mean a 2.7L turbo. So, complexity increases with the addition of the turbo, which will likely adversely affect long term durability, and increased repair costs. Someone will be along to tell me I'm wrong, and the new turbos are reliable, but I've just seen way too many turbos fail to believe otherwise. Reliability and low incidence of repair means you have more money to pay for gas.

My last Tundra, a 4.0L V6 4x2, never got more than 19.75 mpg on the highway at 75+ MPH, but it cost less than $400 in repairs over the first 300K miles.

quote:

Originally posted by jigray3:
My last Tundra, a 4.0L V6 4x2, never got more than 19.75 mpg on the highway at 75+ MPH, but it cost less than $400 in repairs over the first 300K miles.

What year was that Tundra?

I was in your position a couple years ago. After searching and researching and found nothing but over priced worn out trucks.

I ended up getting a pretty well stripped F-150. 1% financing, a warrantee, and 20 mpg vs. 17 mpg. I desperately wanted a used model, I just couldn't see the savings, big picture. Check insurance rates too, as that was a fairly significant savings.

I'm wondering if a SUV, based on the same platform as the truck version, might be a more economical buy.

Ram 1500

What’s good?

My hemi gets 21-22 highway

1500 Diesel gets better

2018 Chevy Silverado Double cab 4X4. 4.3 V6
5800 Miles on the clock.
20 MPG around town. On average.
Earlier this month I took a 1400 mile round trip. Best MPG was 27.5 Average was 24.
For a full size pickup, I think that's pretty good.
But I don't tow with it.

My 2015 F-150 SuperCrew seats 5 comfortably and a 6th if I put the center console up on the front seat.

2.7L EcoBoost engine has averaged 20mpg over 50K+ miles. Only problem I have had is my wife hitting things or other cars hitting it

When I was shopping no such thing as discounts on a Toyota trucks and I was able to go full-size for about $3000 more than the similar equipped Frontier or Tacoma.

Sticker was $43K, but after discounts/rebates ended up paying $36K and change.

I imagine used market right now would be in the $25-$27K range.

Ford 2.7 Ecoboost if you can find one. Depending on your towing needs, they are available with different rear gearing, but you would probably be ok with any version.

MPG for a friend of mine who has one is in the low 20s for a full 4 door with 5.5 bed.

Are you looking at 2 WD? Huge price difference between 4WD and 2WD and most folks don't need 4WD.

quote:

Originally posted by cooger:

quote:

Originally posted by BB61:
My double cab Tacoma has plenty of room in the back seat and tows 6000 lbs. Mine is now 11 years old has over 177,000 miles on it and drives as good as the day I drove it off the lot.

What kind of gas mileage do you get?

Honest question, why do you care about gas mileage so much? It's only one very minor factor in deciding which truck to buy. You should be looking at total cost of ownership if you are worried about gas costs that much.

It only takes 1 or 2 repairs for a less reliable vehicle that gets 2 MPG better to suddenly have a much higher cost of ownership than something that has mediocre gas mileage but renowned reliability.

For example if you drive 12k miles a year and gas is $2.50 a gallon, your yearly gas bill will be $1,875 @ 16 MPG and $1,667 @ 18 mpg, a difference of $208. That's basically the cost of one very minor repair.

Also keep in mind some of the trucks that claim 1-2 MPG better gas mileage than the competition require premium gas, so total gas bill will actually be higher.

For your described needs I'd buy a used Tacoma double cab and never look back.