Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, or?

[BurnHard]

In terms of price and gas efficiency, if I were to make good use of a truck even just 10% of the time I own it, it would even out with the alternative of buying a gas efficient car and renting a truck when needed. Or even worse, the alternative of buying both a daily commuter vehicle and a truck. I used to be extremely anti-truck, but I just don't think the downsides are as pronounced anymore.

Road trips, camping, summer and winter outdoor activities, light towing, occasional fridge hauling, and light off-roading seem to be very good reasons to own a truck. You might spend an extra $1000/year in gas, while gaining huge versatility. LIGHT truck is the key word here: I agree that unless you're towing big loads or hauling construction materials daily you don't need a Ram 3500 or Ford 350.

Now a very solid AWD, gas efficient wagon could bring me back around, even though it would still not give you the ability to both sleep in the back & have cargo/packs/tools like a truck would.

[uglymoney]

Nice rant, but kind of a stupid place to put it considering the initial post was about a vehicle specifically to do the two things you say your beloved Prius can't do...

Great point but I'm not the one that brought the Prius into this thread. I read all the car and truck threads because I am a motorhead and I maintain rebuttal rights here.

[AdironRider]

Your rebuttal was pointless though, no points awarded.

[uglymoney]

I'm sorry you didn't like it

[Dickeymotto]

In terms of price and gas efficiency, if I were to make good use of a truck even just 10% of the time I own it, it would even out with the alternative of buying a gas efficient car and renting a truck when needed. Or even worse, the alternative of buying both a daily commuter vehicle and a truck. I used to be extremely anti-truck, but I just don't think the downsides are as pronounced anymore.

Road trips, camping, summer and winter outdoor activities, light towing, occasional fridge hauling, and light off-roading seem to be very good reasons to own a truck. You might spend an extra $1000/year in gas, while gaining huge versatility. LIGHT truck is the key word here: I agree that unless you're towing big loads or hauling construction materials daily you don't need a Ram 3500 or Ford 350.

Now a very solid AWD, gas efficient wagon could bring me back around, even though it would still not give you the ability to both sleep in the back & have cargo/packs/tools like a truck would.

So the 2015 F150 not doing it for you? The 2.7L V6 is supposed to have similar payload and towing capacity as the Ecodiesel, but with gasoline and it's not a Dodge. I have a friend with the 3.5 EcoBoost who used to have a Tundra and says it absolutely blows it away in both performance and reliability. No official fuel economy released yet, but most folks on the interweb are guessing it will get about 28 highway. Seems like the clear winner for what you need.

EDIT: Sorry, I was thinking you were the guy posting in this thread that is anti-Dodge.

[iceman]

You can't like cars and be willing to drive a Prius. You can like machines, engines, technology, engineering, efficiency…there's a lot of interestign stuff about Priuses (Prii?), no doubt. But you can't like cars. They are the anti-car. Have fun in your transportation pod, I'm going for a drive.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

You can't like cars and be willing to drive a Prius. You can like machines, engines, technology, engineering, efficiency…there's a lot of interestign stuff about Priuses (Prii?), no doubt. But you can't like cars. They are the anti-car. Have fun in your transportation pod, I'm going for a drive.

Yup. That's my step father. He's an engineer who loves all manner of gadgets. After a series of German cars, he bought a Prius (in Italy no less, where there is cheap diesel and diesel engines galore) and loves it. He kind of likes cars, but he loves gadgets. A Prius is soulless and sensible. Practical and disconnected. A superb car for those who crave nothing more than transportation.

[El Chupacabra]

The Prius is the worst-driving car-shaped-object that I have ever driven. It's a science project on wheels, not a car. It gets great mileage, appears to be quite reliable, is reasonably roomy inside, and decently priced.

The VW diesel Jetta is comparable in space, mileage, and price, but it drives like a real car. Long-term reliability is a question mark, as with all VAG product, IMHO.

[Hugh Conway]

meh, you can't drive a car made in the past 5 years and claim you like cars. they are computer lead boxes on wheels.

[adrenalated]

I think there's a rule somewhere that in every automobile thread on every website, there has to be at least one Prius owner that talks about how awesome their car is, no matter how relevant to the conversation.

Except on Jalopnik, where you replace "Prius" with "Miata."

FWIW the car I'm currently most impressed by, from a mileage standpoint, is the Ford Fiesta with the optional 1.0L turbo engine. It gets 45mpg highway, which is damn close to the Prius C (46mpg) and standard Prius (48mpg) without batteries or a soul-sucking CVT, and is considerably cheaper than any new Prius.

But this is a thread about trucks.

[Sirshredalot]

You can't like cars and be willing to drive a Prius. You can like machines, engines, technology, engineering, efficiency…there's a lot of interestign stuff about Priuses (Prii?), no doubt. But you can't like cars. They are the anti-car. Have fun in your transportation pod, I'm going for a drive.

To be fair, you can say the same about a pickup truck. But practicality has to count for something. Gotta have something easy on gas for commuting and something good for hauling toys on the weekends.

In a few years, my household will likely be f150/leaf or diesel ram/tesla 3. No scca-mobile. It doesn't mean I won't miss shifting gears or taking corners fast. But hauling sled/bikes and saving 400 bucks a month on gas take precedence.

[uglymoney]

But this is a thread about trucks.

Yes it is and apparently it is all the fashion and okay to post negative and false info about the Prius in a truck thread but as soon as someone jumps in on the circle jerk with a contrarion viewpoint you all jump up and down and cry like spoiled children.

[uglymoney]

You can't like cars and be willing to drive a Prius. You can like machines, engines, technology, engineering, efficiency…there's a lot of interestign stuff about Priuses (Prii?), no doubt. But you can't like cars. They are the anti-car. Have fun in your transportation pod, I'm going for a drive.

Thanks for that. To be clear this is a thread about trucks but your comments are welcome here while we all rub one out together. I am not allowed to reply to this message within this thread so I've sent the response to Rontele.

[BurnHard]

Thread is about vehicles.... enjoying the back and forth.

I'd definitely consider the F-150, the 2015 specs look solid, even though it looks ugly compared to both the Tacoma and the Ram 1500. Given expected price of the 2015 F150 vs. the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, the Dodge wins unless Ford has substantial maintenance advantages.

Another option I'm considering is buying a Tacoma and keeping it only 2 years, after which there should be a diesel light truck option, and selling Tacomas in Boulder/Denver is like selling hotcakes.

[Shredhead]

How bad would a 2wd pickup be in the snow, if you put snows on it?


I have a 4runner in Aspen and seldom us 4wd. Plus, I had a Mustang Mach 1 the first five years here and still always got where I was going.

[Sirshredalot]

How bad would a 2wd pickup be in the snow, if you put snows on it?


I have a 4runner in Aspen and seldom us 4wd. Plus, I had a Mustang Mach 1 the first five years here and still always got where I was going.

You could do it. But a 2wd pickup is about as bad as anything on low friction roads. It'd be like driving a less well balanced higher clearance version of the mustang. A lot of people throw sand bags in the bed to get some weight over the rear wheels.

[Swine]

Thread is about vehicles.... enjoying the back and forth.

I'd definitely consider the F-150, the 2015 specs look solid, even though it looks ugly compared to both the Tacoma and the Ram 1500. Given expected price of the 2015 F150 vs. the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, the Dodge wins unless Ford has substantial maintenance advantages.

Another option I'm considering is buying a Tacoma and keeping it only 2 years, after which there should be a diesel light truck option, and selling Tacomas in Boulder/Denver is like selling hotcakes.

I'm not sold on the reliability of the Ecoboost engine. Turboing out a small gas engine to achieve those numbers creates problems. They have "solved the problem" it seems in that generation, but I still call into question the longevity of those engines, and the turbos in particular. Hopefully their solution has continued into the new 2015 engines.

[DJSapp]

I'm not sold on the reliability of the Ecoboost engine. Turboing out a small gas engine to achieve those numbers creates problems. They have "solved the problem" it seems in that generation, but I still call into question the longevity of those engines, and the turbos in particular. Hopefully their solution has continued into the new 2015 engines.

55,600 miles on my 2011 3.5L ecoboost as of this morning. No problems whatsoever, though I do need to get some tires soon.


And did you actually read the article? The turbo was pulling in water in exceptionally wet conditions, and putting a cover shroud on it solved the problem. This isn't any kind of catastrophic event, and could very well happen to any turbocharged motor regardless of size.

[Hugh Conway]

How bad would a 2wd pickup be in the snow, if you put some weight in the back

not horrible, you just need to pull your head out of your ass. which is something people on this board don't like to do.

[Swine]

55,600 miles on my 2011 3.5L ecoboost as of this morning. No problems whatsoever, though I do need to get some tires soon.


And did you actually read the article? The turbo was pulling in water in exceptionally wet conditions, and putting a cover shroud on it solved the problem. This isn't any kind of catastrophic event, and could very well happen to any turbocharged motor regardless of size.

Yes, I did read the article. And it could happen to other turboed engines, sure - but there are other complaints from other iterations of that engine. All in all, outside of the 6.3 Powerstroke (which was designed by International), Ford engines haven't lived up to Chevy for long-term reliability since I've been driving.

55,000 miles, that's laughably low to make predictions about longevity. My buddy has over 300k miles on his 2000 Chevy 1500, original engine and transmission; I have 150K on my 2005 5.4 Triton F150 (I nearly had a catastrophic engine issue, and just barely avoided it, another vote against Ford engines). Regardless, get me those kinds of numbers without major issues and blown turbos and then I'll be more convinced.

[DJSapp]

55,000 miles, that's laughably low to make predictions about longevity. My buddy has over 300k miles on his 2000 Chevy 1500, original engine and transmission; I have 150K on my 2005 5.4 Triton F150 (I nearly had a catastrophic engine issue, and just barely avoided it, another vote against Ford engines). Regardless, get me those kinds of numbers without major issues and blown turbos and then I'll be more convinced.

Agreed that 55k is low, but how many other first year 3.5L eco's are out there with more miles on them? I'm putting around 22k miles on per year (I bought at the end of 2011), I'll try harder.

As for the long term reliability of Ford vs. Chevy, I've never bought any of the hype either way. They're both good. Once you clear 200k, what you have actually done to the engine and how you've taken care of it matter a whole lot more than the badge on the front. And yes, I know a bit about this, my company currently have 400+ ford trucks in our fleet, and a couple chevy's. Change the oil, don't overload or overheat and you'll get anything to 200k these days without issue. Specifically for the 5.4 Triton F150, I personally took 3 of them from 150k to 200k. One had problems with the ignition coils ($800 repair), two were fine. We typically sell the trucks after that simply for company image, not that they're dried up.

[Swine]

As for the long term reliability of Ford vs. Chevy, I've never bought any of the hype either way. They're both good. Once you clear 200k, what you have actually done to the engine and how you've taken care of it matter a whole lot more than the badge on the front.

That pretty much sums it up.

I had a near valve failure at 68k on the Triton, fouled up, blew out my catalytic converter. Dealership told me to run as much Lucas through it as I can, and that they had lots of issues with valves on cylinder 8. Luckily it worked out, but I treat the fuel quite often now and use premium mostly.

I hope that Ecoboost goes forever for you, seriously!

[Conundrum]

Yes, I did read the article. And it could happen to other turboed engines, sure - but there are other complaints from other iterations of that engine. All in all, outside of the 6.3 Powerstroke (which was designed by International), Ford engines haven't lived up to Chevy for long-term reliability since I've been driving.
.

Your opinion seems very credible. I would never by a Ford again based on it. It's a 7.3L Powerstroke by IH by the way.

[Swine]

Oh goddammit, yeah, I fucked up the liter in my haste. I actually owned a 7.3 as well at one point, I think my opinion is fairly valid, but l don't really give a fuck if you do.

I never said don't buy a Ford, I own a Ford. I'm unconvinced the Ecoboost has the bugs worked out.

[Tips^Up]

I'm considering a truck. Tacoma size seems best but the bigger trucks get better mileage?

I have never owned a diesel. Does it make sense for short, in-town trips, or does it need lots of highway miles?