OT: Truck Question

[Hal Peeler]

I am starting to look for a new, used truck, most likely a Tundra, and would like to get one a year or two old. My question is this; will the value of the 02's and 03's drop as soon as the 04's come out or will they kind of stay the same for a while? Also, any Tundra owners feel free to offer your thoughts on this truck. I've owned a chevy for years and my wife has an 02 suburban so we don't think we need to put another big chevy in the garage. Thanks in advance.
Hal

[Jim Becker]

Hal, I've had my Tundra (4dr Limited version) for just over three years now and I am incredibly pleased with it. I've had no maintenance issues other than a bad oxygen sensor at about 29,000 miles a few months ago, and that was taken care of under warrenty quite cheerfully. There are only three things I wish I had on the machine, which include heated seats, heated mirrors and auto-climate control...it happens that these are the only things missing, relatively speaking, from what I had on my 300M previous to the truck.

Fuel economy is good; about 15 rattin' and about 19 on steady highway cruising with the K&N air filter and the roll-top tonneau cover on the vehicle. Winter performance is good, too. 4wd is a little "sticky" in tight turns when parking, etc, but that's to be expected...this isn't an all-wheel-drive vehicle like a Subaru that has a more free-wheeling drive train.

Again, I've been very pleased with this truck and plan on keeping it for a good long time, especially since I don't do a lot of mileage for work anymore...airports and train stations have replaced driving a lot of miles in the past three years. This will be the first vehicle I've ever intended to keep longer than three or four years in my life. The only thing that might change that is if they bring out a hybrid version like my wife has with her Prius! :D

[Mark Hulette]

Hal- I was in the car business for 10 years and can say that you are probably doing the easiest thing to save between $4000-$6000 right off the bat... buy a vehicle with a few miles on it and you save big time. An '03's book value will probably drop more percentage-wise than an '02. If the model has been updated dramatically (like the new F150) there will be a larger drop. All that being said, Toyota's generally hold their value very well so depending on the individual vehicle this may or may not be the case.

If buying from a dealer, it is true that you can get better deals at the end of the month. Just go in equipped with knowledge about the avg value of the vehicle you're interested in.

If you haven't already, check out cars.com and autotrader.com. I've found my last two vehicles through them and it is a cinch to use.

Good luck!

[Tyler Howell]

Hal,
By far the best vehicle I've ever owned. :D Little over three years now.
Very comfy plenty of get and gone. Been cross country towing a trailor zipping in and out of Chicaco and NYC Traffic.
Rides better with a load.
Only trouble is with the seat belts twisting on the buckle.
I don't like the Suicide doors on any truck so the next will be a crew cab.
They say don't love a car because it will never love you back.
I've fallen hard for this one.
Enjoy
Tyler

[Rob Russell]

Hal,
I don't like the Suicide doors on any truck so the next will be a crew cab.


Tyler,

I'm waiting for Ford to come out with incentives on the 2004 F-150. They will, it's just a matter of time. Why the 2004? Wifey thinks it's got a "prettier" nose than the 2003. The GM and Dodge offerings were rejected by the aesthetics committee.

We've landed on the Supercab 6 1/2' bed model because of the extra "inside" cargo capacity (even though I really wanted an 8' bed). Translation - "you expect me to put my [fancy brand] leather duffel bag in the back of your truck?". The supercab has the suicide doors.

What's your beef with that style door for the back 1/2 seat?

Rob

[Tyler Howell]

Loading people dogs or stuff when you are parked in a lot. You always have to play the which door first and don't scratch my truck in a lot.
I've notice a little frame flex with the Tundra, Dodge, and Isuzu.
Give me four[U] real doors!

[Jim Becker]

Loading people dogs or stuff when you are parked in a lot. You always have to play the which door first and don't scratch my truck in a lot.
I've notice a little frame flex with the Tundra, Dodge, and Isuzu.
Give me four[U] real doors!

Yes, the back door can be cumbersome in parking lot situations. The good news is that most of these trucks either have or will have avialable true four door models...including the Tundra this fall. (2004 model)

[Jerry Crawford]

I've been looking here http://www.autotrader.com/ for a couple of days for a Powerstroke Ford 250 and have been very happy with the finds. I'm willing to travel though and I can afford to keep searching till I find that deal. For a few hundred bucks I can fluy to somewhere like Phoenix or Tulsa and drive a nice truck back to Maine.

[Jason Roehl]

Hal, I've had my Tundra (4dr Limited version) for just over three years now and I am incredibly pleased with it. I've had no maintenance issues other than a bad oxygen sensor at about 29,000 miles a few months ago, and that was taken care of under warrenty quite cheerfully. There are only three things I wish I had on the machine, which include heated seats, heated mirrors and auto-climate control...it happens that these are the only things missing, relatively speaking, from what I had on my 300M previous to the truck.

Fuel economy is good; about 15 rattin' and about 19 on steady highway cruising with the K&N air filter and the roll-top tonneau cover on the vehicle. Winter performance is good, too. 4wd is a little "sticky" in tight turns when parking, etc, but that's to be expected...this isn't an all-wheel-drive vehicle like a Subaru that has a more free-wheeling drive train.

Again, I've been very pleased with this truck and plan on keeping it for a good long time, especially since I don't do a lot of mileage for work anymore...airports and train stations have replaced driving a lot of miles in the past three years. This will be the first vehicle I've ever intended to keep longer than three or four years in my life. The only thing that might change that is if they bring out a hybrid version like my wife has with her Prius! :D


Glad to see you support Indiana factory workers, Jim.

[Martin Shupe]

Hey Jason,

Toyota is building a new Tundra factory near San Antonio, no doubt because of the number of trucks sold in Texas.

I'd like a Tundra crew cab, too, but will have drive my 91 Ranger at least a couple more years. It only has 160K miles on it.

I have considered an F-150, but the crash tests on the Tundra were way better. Perhaps they have fixed that in the 2004 150 redesign.

I like my Ranger, except for the side mirrors...I am opposed to electric windows. If I go underwater, I want to be able to roll the window down so I can escape. The Ford side mirrors (manual also) lack a simple set screw that I had on my previous truck. Because of a missing 50 cent screw, I have to spend $150 for a pair of mirrors (that shouldn't cost half that) about every 3-4 years. Everytime I do it, I cuss the Ford accountant that made the decision to leave out the set screw.

FWIW, Click and Clack did a study of the way to get the best value out of a car purchase. They determined that of all the possible options, it was best to buy new and keep the car for 9 years. Not sure how they came up with that, but that has been my attitude, except I usually keep mine 10 years.

I guess if I had not been investing in cherry, I could have bought a new one by now. ;)

[Jerry Crawford]

I am starting to look for a new, used truck, most likely a Tundra, and would like to get one a year or two old. My question is this; will the value of the 02's and 03's drop as soon as the 04's come out or will they kind of stay the same for a while? Also, any Tundra owners feel free to offer your thoughts on this truck. I've owned a chevy for years and my wife has an 02 suburban so we don't think we need to put another big chevy in the garage. Thanks in advance.
Hal


After a nation wide truck hunt of my own this last week I put my money in the hand of a young man locally for his '03 F-350 PSD with only 14,000 miles. It is a steal at 31K - almost 6K under Kelly blue book value. However, I did look as far away as Idaho for my vehicle. I live in Maine and I calculated that for less than $500 I could fly some place like Phoenix or Lubbuck and drive the thing back. As it worked out I found my truck about 45 minutes away from me.

If your willing to travel this might be an option. It's also worth knowing as a barganing chip if you locate your truck in some guy's driveway if you know you can get the same truck in Moline Ill for less.

[Keith Outten]

Hal,

I have a Toyota Tundra 02 model (built in California), love it! This truck is my forth Toyota in over 20 years and they have all been great vehicles. When Toyota stops building trucks I'll just have to buy one of their cars :)

Oh What A Feelin!

[Dan Smith]

Jerry,

Good luck with that 6.0 PSD. Hopefully, you did not get one of the bad ones. Are Ford waranties transferable? Have you read up on all the issues with the new motors? From what I understand, they are reflashing them to bring the injectors back to a single plus to fix a lot of the power loss problems people were having. But, what it is doing is making the truck significantly louder (louder than the old 7.3) and reducing fuel economy significantly. My understanding is that Ford is doing the reflash on any truck brought into a dealership whether it is there for power problems or not. Also I have heard other stories of oil leaks and dealers not being able to fix, etc.

Good luck,

all of my information comes from this website when I was researching a truck purchase:

http://forums.thedieselstop.com/ubbthreads/


-dan

[Jerry Crawford]

Jerry,

Good luck with that 6.0 PSD. Hopefully, you did not get one of the bad ones. Are Ford waranties transferable? Have you read up on all the issues with the new motors? From what I understand, they are reflashing them to bring the injectors back to a single plus to fix a lot of the power loss problems people were having.
Good luck,

all of my information comes from this website when I was researching a truck purchase:

http://forums.thedieselstop.com/ubbthreads/


-dan

I heard the same troubling comments about that 6.0 engine, Dan. I avioded looking at trucks with that engine and this one has the 7.3. My brother is quite an automotive fellow tuned in (no pun intended) to what is happening in the Ford field. He was my mentor during this search and say's this is the same truck he owns and is jealous I found it at this price. I beat what he paid for his 2001 F-350 Super cab (4 doors) out in Arizona last year.

I'll go take a look at that site and try to learn someting about my new truck. I'm going over saturday to the fellow who has it and take "lessons on the care and feeding" of my new vehicle.

The reason I'm so pleased (and gloating) is this is the best "deal" I've come across since I found my 1960's Delta/Rockwell band saw sitting for sale in the corner of a woodworking shop outside of Boulder CO a few years ago. I offered the guy $200 and loaded it on my trailer. Hell of a deal :D

[Dan Smith]

Jerry,

Good on the 7.3, I did not know that they had 7.3s in the 03 Fords. The 7.3 is a tried and true good diesel motor.

Welcome to the world of oil burners....

-dan

[Jerry Crawford]

Jerry,

Good on the 7.3, I did not know that they had 7.3s in the 03 Fords. The 7.3 is a tried and true good diesel motor.

Welcome to the world of oil burners....

-dan

thanks - almost looking forward to the time when, almost out of fuel, I stop at Micky-D's and buy a couple of gallons of used cooking oil and put it in the truck. I understand they smell like a huge french fry going down the road :)