Looking at 2011 Ford, Dodge, Or Chevy...

[helpless blonde]

Hi guys! I'm in the market for a new truck. I currently have a 02 7.3 which I love, and will be keeping. I own horse's so will be pulling a trailer often, as well as this truck will be my everyday driver. I'm looking for opinions on all 3, yes I know this is a Ford Forum, but I would like to know the pro's and con's of the Ford's or the others if you have them. Thank you!

[atvrider93]

I replied in your other thread.....

[kabear]

Originally Posted by helpless blonde

Hi guys! I'm in the market for a new truck. I currently have a 02 7.3 which I love, and will be keeping. I own horse's so will be pulling a trailer often, as well as this truck will be my everyday driver. I'm looking for opinions on all 3, yes I know this is a Ford Forum, but I would like to know the pro's and con's of the Ford's or the others if you have them. Thank you!

I reciently tested all 3 diesel brands. I bought a Ford F-350 diesel XLT crew cab. I really like the truck. The Ford drove better than the other 2 brands and was a lot quieter. The Ford cost about $5000 less than the Chev. The Dodge was the cheapest, but has less power.

Drive them and see. ken

[acousticinnovations]

I never looked at the Dodge, just not the truck for me. I was a chevy/gmc owner since 99. I truely feel Ford has Chevy beat since 2008. While most likely the performance is going to be similar between the two. Ford has them all smoked with the comfort and ease of use inside the truck. I put about 1000 miles a week on my truck and so comfort is very important to me. It has been nothing but enjoyable for me.. Make sure to look at the difference between the 250, 350, and 350 DRW. The gearing on the DRW and weght "I think" scrubbed some of the milage off. For example, I drove F350 SRW and it was getting 18-20 Hwy. My F350 DRW gets about 13.5/14 which is a little dissapointing but better than my 08...

[Over29]

Originally Posted by acousticinnovations

I never looked at the Dodge, just not the truck for me. I was a chevy/gmc owner since 99. I truely feel Ford has Chevy beat since 2008. While most likely the performance is going to be similar between the two. Ford has them all smoked with the comfort and ease of use inside the truck. I put about 1000 miles a week on my truck and so comfort is very important to me. It has been nothing but enjoyable for me.. Make sure to look at the difference between the 250, 350, and 350 DRW. The gearing on the DRW and weght "I think" scrubbed some of the milage off. For example, I drove F350 SRW and it was getting 18-20 Hwy. My F350 DRW gets about 13.5/14 which is a little dissapointing but better than my 08...

nice truck
do you have the 3.73?

[acousticinnovations]

Originally Posted by Over29

nice truck
do you have the 3.73?

You are correct.

[Clay Henry]

The Chevys are overpriced and ugly as hell... IMO.
The dodge I think is a very close second to the ford so if you drive them, whichever one YOU like the best, I dont think you can go wrong with either one. Keep in kind the ford scorpion is VERY new and they will find changes to be made with it before next production run so it might be best to talk to some techs and see what they think about the new scorpion.

[swampercj]

I'm in the same boat, truly not sure which way to go since both are so new...I’ve been looking at all diesel boards since I've owned a few diesels and each one had their strengths and weakness. Please let me rant for a few and I don’t want to upset anyone other than dealers! Here is my thought on each...My 98 dodge 12 valve, 4x4 extended cab was probably my favorite truck, loved the layout and fuel mileage, wished I saved it for my son. The only got rid of it was, we needed a crew cab. So I bought my loaded 05 duramax 4x4 crew cab dually, got a great price 38k out the door in early 2005 for a new truck, nobody touched the price happy as a pig in….. That truck out the door pulled superior to anything that I’ve ever towed with. It could pass anything but a gas station, after it turned 50k it would jump to the high side on engine temp just before the red line then typically get 7 to 8 mpg towing my enclosed 24 foot tag along with my buggy inside, from 30-50k I was getting 12-13 mpg. The dealer blew me off every time said it wasn’t getting hot so there was nothing to do, it was costing me a fortune to drag my jeep from AL-VA and back to go wheeling 5 to 6 tanks each way only 820 miles. So I traded it in on my 07 Ford crew cab. I could and still can make it in 3 tanks every time dragging the same load, but it doesn’t tow like that duramax, plus this truck has been into the shop a few times with issues that were covered under warranty, however ford is really slow on getting my truck out of the shop each time. It took them 5 days to chase down and replace the O-rings in the high pressure side of my injectors, the bill was close to 2k, and thank god it was covered under warranty. However, I had to hitch rides back and forth to work the whole time…On pick-up the mechanic states this is a common problem with the 6.0’s…well it has started happening again just like last year, but this time, no codes! So once again it’s me against the dealer and the dealer isn’t going to do anything and I’m screwed since now the truck has 99.5K and the warranty is about to run out. BTW, ford can’t even fix my wife’s 09 fusion, the headliner keep popping down after about 100 miles of driving and hits us on the head. Nor can their computers seam to catch a pesky tire pressure sensor code and remember it long enough to where the dealer can pull it. So far they’ve changed 6 sensors and I still get a warning light after about 4 hours of driving, funny thing is now my wife’s car is out of warranty so I have to live with it.
So what’s with the rant…If you’re feeling lucky go buy a new ford/dodge, no matter which truck you’ll buy you’re gonna have fit and finish problems. In my opinion neither ford nor dodge has figured out how to deal with the new emissions laws and they’re both overpriced, comon50-63K for a truck! My opinion; continue driving your old Ford for a few more years! BTW my son is driving a 86 F-250 with an international 6.9 with a T-19, 4x4, regular cab, with crank roll up windows and A/C and cruise. The only thing he’s *****’n about is he has to shift gears in traffic and the truck is too slow off the line and he can’t jump into traffic. Kind of reminds me of my favorite truck, my 98 dodge! Funny how some things come full circle.

[Over29]

Originally Posted by acousticinnovations

You are correct.

I think I could live with that MPG almost doubles the MPG I was getting with the 08. I wonder what 4.30s are getting.

[helpless blonde]

Originally Posted by swampercj

I'm in the same boat, truly not sure which way to go since both are so new...I’ve been looking at all diesel boards since I've owned a few diesels and each one had their strengths and weakness. Please let me rant for a few and I don’t want to upset anyone other than dealers! Here is my thought on each...My 98 dodge 12 valve, 4x4 extended cab was probably my favorite truck, loved the layout and fuel mileage, wished I saved it for my son. The only got rid of it was, we needed a crew cab. So I bought my loaded 05 duramax 4x4 crew cab dually, got a great price 38k out the door in early 2005 for a new truck, nobody touched the price happy as a pig in….. That truck out the door pulled superior to anything that I’ve ever towed with. It could pass anything but a gas station, after it turned 50k it would jump to the high side on engine temp just before the red line then typically get 7 to 8 mpg towing my enclosed 24 foot tag along with my buggy inside, from 30-50k I was getting 12-13 mpg. The dealer blew me off every time said it wasn’t getting hot so there was nothing to do, it was costing me a fortune to drag my jeep from AL-VA and back to go wheeling 5 to 6 tanks each way only 820 miles. So I traded it in on my 07 Ford crew cab. I could and still can make it in 3 tanks every time dragging the same load, but it doesn’t tow like that duramax, plus this truck has been into the shop a few times with issues that were covered under warranty, however ford is really slow on getting my truck out of the shop each time. It took them 5 days to chase down and replace the O-rings in the high pressure side of my injectors, the bill was close to 2k, and thank god it was covered under warranty. However, I had to hitch rides back and forth to work the whole time…On pick-up the mechanic states this is a common problem with the 6.0’s…well it has started happening again just like last year, but this time, no codes! So once again it’s me against the dealer and the dealer isn’t going to do anything and I’m screwed since now the truck has 99.5K and the warranty is about to run out. BTW, ford can’t even fix my wife’s 09 fusion, the headliner keep popping down after about 100 miles of driving and hits us on the head. Nor can their computers seam to catch a pesky tire pressure sensor code and remember it long enough to where the dealer can pull it. So far they’ve changed 6 sensors and I still get a warning light after about 4 hours of driving, funny thing is now my wife’s car is out of warranty so I have to live with it.
So what’s with the rant…If you’re feeling lucky go buy a new ford/dodge, no matter which truck you’ll buy you’re gonna have fit and finish problems. In my opinion neither ford nor dodge has figured out how to deal with the new emissions laws and they’re both overpriced, comon50-63K for a truck! My opinion; continue driving your old Ford for a few more years! BTW my son is driving a 86 F-250 with an international 6.9 with a T-19, 4x4, regular cab, with crank roll up windows and A/C and cruise. The only thing he’s *****’n about is he has to shift gears in traffic and the truck is too slow off the line and he can’t jump into traffic. Kind of reminds me of my favorite truck, my 98 dodge! Funny how some things come full circle.

Thank you for your insight on all the trucks! We are keeping the '02, but we need 2 trucks. The problem with the '02 is that I'm pregnant with our first child and need a crew cab not an extended like what we have! Soooo I'm stuck with getting a new truck! Not that I would call it stuck with! But we pull trailers almost every weekend, and we are both normally going a different direction. I will not get a chevy! You couldn't pay me enough money, we had an '07 classic for about 3 months. I pulled the horse trailer (4 horse slant, 6 foot short wall dressing room) one weekend, I was passing a car going 80, the truck started slowing down, almost like I was pushing the brake. So I looked to make sure and I was pushing the go fast petal. So I pulled over and turned it off opened the hood to make sure everything was ok. Everything was, I wait about 10 minutes started it up and it wouldn't go over 15 mph. I called onstar to see if they could see anything wrong, nope, everything was fine. Of corse they couldn't tow me because of the trailer, asked me if I could leave the trailer and 3 horse's on the side of the road! Ummmm nope those 3 horse's are worth more then the truck! No-one could figure out what was wrong with that chevy, we traded it on the '02 we have. I know not all chevy's are like that, but I'm not a fan anymore and can't risk having that happen again with my daughter and myself. I know it can happen in any truck, but once one does you wrong its hard to go back! I asked about Chevy, because I was told to find out about all 3.