It’s impossible to talk about modern cars without addressing the elephant in the parking lot: full-size crew-cab pickups. These behemoths have taken the place of family sedans for a lot of people, for better or worse, and they sell so well that they’re going to be part of the used car landscape for a very long time. So I guess I had better get used to writing about them.
Yesterday’s cars were the polar opposite of big pickup trucks when it comes to fuel economy. Hybrids are here to stay in the used car market as well, and I feel like my knowledge of them is lacking. I need to brush up on these things. I had no idea that the third-generation Prius was less reliable than the others. Even so, most of you trusted it more than the upstart Hyundai, and gave it an easy win.
I think that’s the way to go. You don’t buy a car like this because it’s cool, or fun to drive. You buy it to rack up as many miles as possible while stopping for fuel as few times as possible, and absolutely no vehicle on the planet does that better than a Toyota Prius. If I still had to commute, which thankfully I don’t, a good used Prius would be a solid choice.
Love them or hate them, trucks are an inescapable part of the landscape on US roads. And nearly all of them are full-size models with four doors and a shortish bed. Proponents like to say you can “do anything” with such a truck, but parking them is a pain in the ass, most garages are not built for them, and their fuel economy is mediocre at best. So why do so many people choose them over a sedan or a crossover? Honestly, I’m not sure. But let’s take a closer look at these two, and see if we can find the appeal.
2011 Ram 1500 Big Horn Edition – $6,999
Engine/drivetrain: 5.7-liter OHV V8, five-speed automatic, 4WD
Location: Portland, OR
Odometer reading: 146,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
If you look at this and think, “That’s a Dodge truck,” you’re not alone. Chrysler’s decision to split its pickup trucks off into a separate brand called Ram in 2010 was just plain silly. However silly the name is, the trucks are all business. Chrysler cracked the code on the pickup market in 1994 and has been refining that formula ever since. This generation of Ram pickup was so successful that it remained in production as the “Ram 1500 Classic” for five years after it was supposedly replaced by a new generation.
The most important question when it comes to any Ram pickup is, of course, “That thing got a Hemi?” In this case, yes, in fact, it does. The 5.7-liter Hemi V8 is not without its faults, but it does make a healthy amount of power and torque, and it sounds really good. Here, it’s backed by a five-speed automatic (a Chrysler design, not the Mercedes-designed transmission in the LX/LD sedans) and drives all four wheels. This truck runs and drives great, the seller says, though in the interest of full disclosure, it does have a salvage title from a previous accident. It’s probably worth getting it inspected to make sure everything’s in good shape.
There’s a little wear inside, but it’s not bad at all. It’s a pretty fancy truck, with leather seats, and it has an aftermarket stereo with Apple CarPlay and an annoyingly large touch screen. Well, it’s annoyingly large to me, anyway; some people like that sort of thing.
The outside looks good too; I can’t see any evidence of the damage at a glance, except that I think the trim piece between the grille and the front bumper is supposed to be body color. I guess you could paint it if it bothered you. The dent in the rear bumper, though, you’re required to leave. Every pickup truck should have a dent or two somewhere.
2013 Ford F-150 FX4 SuperCrew – $6,999
Engine/drivetrain: Twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter OHC V6, six-speed automatic, 4WD
Location: Portland, OR
Odometer reading: 173,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Here it is, the best-selling vehicle in the US since the end of the Pleistocene Era: the Ford F-series. Ford sells about 800,000 of these things a year on average, or one every 40 seconds or so. In the time it took you to read about the Ram truck above, Ford sold a dozen more trucks. It’s ridiculous. No wonder you see them everywhere. This is the twelfth generation of F-series trucks, which ran from 2009 to 2014. It’s now two generations old. Gone are the days when a manufacturer could keep the same truck in production for a decade or more – unless you’re talking about the Chevy Express, which may just stay in production forever.
Gone also are the days when a full-size truck needs to have a giant V8 in it. This F-150 is powered by Ford’s 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6. It’s twin-turbocharged and makes an astonishing 365 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. My sister-in-law has an F-150 with this engine in it. I’ve driven it a few times, and it definitely has no shortage of power. It drives a 4WD system through a six-speed automatic transmission. This truck has 173,000 miles on it, and the seller (the same seller as the Dodge, I’m pretty sure) says it runs great.
This one has a little wear inside as well, but hardly anything worth mentioning. These F-150s aren’t particularly luxurious inside; there’s a lot of hard plastic, and the seat fabric feels a bit institutional, but it all does what it’s supposed to do, and the seats are pretty comfortable.
It’s in good condition outside, but it’s a shame it’s white. White trucks are so common among contractor fleets that I don’t know why anyone would choose one as a “civilian” truck. It just disappears into the landscape. Or maybe that’s the idea; a white Ford F-150 is about the most nondescript vehicle there is these days. If, for whatever reason, you don’t want to be noticed, you could do a lot worse.
Actually, I think trucks like these are going to make a lot of sense as cheap beaters in the years to come. They’re sturdy, almost overbuilt in some cases, and they’re plentiful enough that finding parts is never going to be a problem. Sure, you’ll use more gas than you would with a smaller vehicle, but you’ll also have a lot of room and capability to play with. Just please, if you’re going to drive one, learn how to park it properly; that’s all I ask. Which one of these seems like a better deal to you?
salvage title vs not. Not a tough choice.
“Pick a pickup” – No
Gen 4 ram is one of my favorites but hemi tick and glass transmissions not great. That had to have a transmission most shops fix it to where it’s less of a problem. So ram.
The Ford looks nice, and is a better value too. An early EB might be a little concerning, but at that miles hopefully the issues have been addressed.
In my area I’d want a slightly newer one with the aluminum body, I have a fw coworkers with Ford of this vintage with bubbling rear fenders, but since this is from the PNW rust shouldn’t be an issue.
This could be a good base for a camping rig, it looks like it has the full 6.5″ bed, and the FX4 pkg includes a rear e-locker. Pick up a used bed cap off marketplace and cruise the country in this.
Dodge or Chevy always wins over Found On Road Dead/Fix Or Repair Daily. Plus it’s got that awesome big ol’ V8 HEMI! Plus 4X4! That’s a great deal for that…I’d buy it right now if I could…also, I’ve had a salvage title before and it was no problem at all
I’ve been behind more than one hemi Ram of that era that died on the road.
I know the Ford has its problems, but it also has a full size cab, so I’ll take the risk.
Looks like the Ford has the longer bed as well…. definite plus.
How are these priced the same? The Ram should be more like $2999
That Ram is likely already suffering from the Hemi Tick (or soon will); exhaust manifold/stud replacements are $$$$$$. It’ll also need the plugs replaced; not an easy task (ie, also $$) for the two rearmost pots. Ask me how I know.
I’ll take the turbo Ford, and enjoy being able to access most of the HP & Torque as I climb above 6500′ (the Ram’s output drops precipitously as it gains elevation)
lmao @ a salvage title Dodge, especially at the price. I also don’t want to be associated with Dodge/RAM owners unless we’re talking an SRT-10. And while I know the Bighorn badge refers to a breed of sheep, I always read it as a thinly-veiled euphemism for big penis. Maybe that’s my own hangup, maybe it speaks to how I view your stereotypical RAM owner.
Any generation of F150 is pretty over exposed, so I thought about the Ram. But just comparing the interior photos, the Ford looks 5-10 years newer, even with that ridiculous iPad on the Ram.
Non-salvage Ford for me today. I own 2020 F150 in contractor white that I bought used. The color made it much easier to pick up a secondhand bed cap that matched.
F-150 easy. I grew up in F250’s and F150’s and learned to drive in a ’72 F250. So Ford today all the way. Yeah, parking would be a pain in the city but up in the mountains, I could use that today. If it were closer and maybe not white, I’d go check it out.
Fun fact, if you look at the little cubby behind that hideous screen they’ve added, you’ll see that the Ram still even says Dodge. They were too lazy/cheap to change the mold when they changed the name so these trucks said Dodge on the dash for many years after they were not Dodges any more.
That RAM should be sold at a comparative discount to the F150, for the same price I have to go with the Ford. I haven’t driven the f150 version, but I test drove a number of 2014-15 expeditions and I really liked those. The v6 with a 6 speed seems to be a fairly robust combo.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I think this era Ford got the Aluminum body which is a plus in my book.
You’re wrong 🙂 The F-150 went aluminum in 2015.
Womp, womp…. Well, at least that changes nothing, but I would rather have the AL body f150. I must be a luddite because I couldn’t tell the difference between a 14th and 15th gen.
I was going for the Dodge because V8 = more grrr, but that creampuff can carry about as much as my li’l 1st gen Nissan Frontier. Meantime, the Ford is rated for an honest 3/4T + driver, and can also tow 3/4T more than the Dodge.
edit: to be clear, in this family, the big truck sits unless it’s towing/hauling.
While I’m hesitant on a 1st gen Ecoboost, that truck looks very clean and well kept. And I don’t need to identify as a Ram owner (the classic ram bodystyle is THE bro-truck around here).
Easily the Ford.
-Not a Salvage title.
-Looks very straight and well-kept, aside from the defect on the right rear bumper and front center of the front bumper, but they’re just bumpers and the damage appears cosmetic. The trim piece on top of the tailgate is easily replaced.
-Doesn’t have any obvious questionable mods still aside from the likely chrome grille addition/substitution (FX4s have black grilles IIRC, XLTs with the chrome package would have the grille shown installed along with chrome bumpers), nor obvious evidence of past mods that have been removed.
-SuperCrew FX4 would meet my use-case for a pickup. It’s even got the longer bed for the SuperCrew.
-Newer name-brand (Goodyear) tires is a good sign, and being A/Ts it might mean the owner/prior owner actually used it for its intended purpose.
-No worries about the infamous “Hemi tick”.
My sole concern from the listing is that it seems like the right rear corner (note the wheel to arch gap) seems to be higher than the other three, which look fairly even, while resting on a fairly level-looking parking lot. But for the price and condition it’s not alarming nor a deal-breaker.
If it weren’t white, were local, and I were in the market, I’d go take a look.
Truck….nope
That said, if I “needed” a truck it’d be an older Ford with an 8 foot bed.
Great. I can be just like my next door neighbors and drive a huge truck that never gets a speck of dirt on it and has a permanently covered bed as there’s never anything in it bigger than grocery bags. (OK, they’re nice people so I really try not to judge, but…..jeez.) Theirs is a Chevy so I’m picking the Ford.
Ford. I don’t need a truck anymore, but back when I did I owned a nearly identical 2011 F150 and really enjoyed it. The Ram is fine, but I never enjoyed the interior design of those years, so for a cheap truck I’d prefer something I know I won’t mind.
At a glance I’ll take the non-totaled Ford. You gotta be careful with the paperwork though and make sure the curbstoner doesn’t give you a title in the previous owner’s name. I don’t know how much trouble that can cause in Oregon, but I wouldn’t recommend getting yourself caught up in that kind of hassle.
With no further information about the Ram’s accident, I would have to go with the F150. Trucks are expensive enough that even 8 to 10-year-old trucks still have substantial value. I am far more concerned about a salvage title in vehicles that were worth $20k when wrecked as opposed to $5k. It takes a substantial whack to total a modern pickup truck, particularly considering these are old school body-on-frame vehicles built knowing that at least a subset of customers will subject them to hard work/daily abuse.
These trucks appear too similar in terms of value-for-price to even consider the one with a major accident history. I’m a Ford guy so I probably would have voted for the F150 if these were equal, but these trucks aren’t equal.
This is a tough one for me. If the hypothetical is that it’ll be a daily driver then the F150 is the better choice, but if the truck is a weekend toy hauler then I think it’s Ram. In that fantasy life I’d have a boat and somewhere to put it, so I guess I’ll go with that one.
An ecoboost with 173k on the clock is a little concerning but not more than a salvage title Ram. Also, seems like 90% of the time someone with a full size truck is acting like a douche, it’s in a Ram, I don’t really want to be associated with that.
In my neck of the woods it seems to be guys in older GM’s that are the absolute worst, especially anything with a DMax, but Ram bros can be terrible too.
On the other hand, I tend to see a lot of older guys driving Rams too. I was walking my dog the other day and an older (retirement age) guy out doing yardwork struck up a convo and wanted to pet my dog. I noticed a late model Ram with a Harris/Waltz sticker on the rear bumper in the driveway. We’re not all stereotypes.
“I think that’s the way to go. You don’t buy a car like this because it’s cool, or fun to drive. You buy it to rack up as many miles as possible while stopping for fuel as few times as possible, and absolutely no vehicle on the planet does that better than a Toyota Prius”
– Any EV that can be charged at home enters the chat. YMMV but if you never leave it*s range radius you never need to stop *for fuel* at all.
EVs at that end of the price spectrum come up pretty short on range, especially if you live where it gets cold as most early/cheap EVs use resistive heating.
I’ve looked at sub 10k EVs around me, and something like an EV Spark may not actually make my 40km round trip commute in the winter.
Now, if your budget is 20k, you’ve got some real options.
PHEVs are EVs too. I hear tales of folks with Volts who fill their tiny tanks maybe twice a year. There’s the BMW i3 REX too.