Pick A Crew Cab Pickup: 2011 Ram 1500 vs 2013 Ford F-150

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?