Chevy Truck Help!

[400sEXridr]

Hey all, I'm going to be graduating college here in a few months and I've decided my first investment will be a new truck. I'm partial to Chevy, and after 6 years of driving a short cab 1500, I'd like a crew cab. But refusing to give up the long bed automatically puts me into the 2500 class. I'd like this truck to be an investment (something I can count on to run for a while so i can focus on saving for other things) so the Duramax becomes an option. Do you guys have any experience with the 6.0L 2500 combo? I've heard mixed reviews on the towing and mileage with them. I wouldn't be towing that often, mostly construction equipment when i do, so I want my drivetrain to be up to the task and definitely don't want to be kicking myself later for selling myself short. What criteria do you guys use when choosing gas/diesel? Also, pros/cons to stepping up to 3500 for the minimal price increase? Thanks in advance!

[1fastR]

alot of stuff you wrote makes no sence

1.new truck and investment do not go hand and hand, new anything is a rip off

2.why buy a 2500 or 3500 if you plan not to do much hauling, those are built for hauling only, a 1500 will tow more than enough

3.saving money? buying a 6.0l or diesel, with todays gas prices, good luck



flame on

[CJM]

Originally posted by 1fastR
alot of stuff you wrote makes no sence

1.new truck and investment do not go hand and hand, new anything is a rip off

2.why buy a 2500 or 3500 if you plan not to do much hauling, those are built for hauling only, a 1500 will tow more than enough

3.saving money? buying a 6.0l or diesel, with todays gas prices, good luck



flame on

Hes actually making sense, listen to him.

While I understand you want a nice, new truck unless you have a a signing bonus of 40k I wouldnt dare buy one right outta college. Your not investing in anything, moment you drive it off the lot it drops 5k in prices if you were to drive it back to the dealer and sell it to them.

Buy a good used one, all you need is 10-15k. Id make sure you have at least 60-75% of the cost for downpayment as well so your payments arent insane.

Sadly if you want the crewcab 8ft bed then all your gonna find is the heavier duty gas or diesel 3/4 tons. Gas will get 12-15mpg at best, diesel 15mpg or so pretty much. Gas will cost you in the long run as well.

Smarter idea would be buying an older truck you want with the options for less than 10k and keeping your car or whatever you drive now as your daily driver.

[krt400ex]

if you are going to be towing equipment, how much weight do you think the truck will be seeing? depending on the yr, a 3/4 is good to town between like 10 and 13k lbs while a 1 ton can go as high as 18-20k lbs. i wouldnt invest in a 1 ton unless you are getting a dually, and they kinda suck to daily drive(though i'd also probably be the retard doing it if i had the money :p )

as far as gas versus diesel, i have heard good things about the 6.0, but the duramax is much better. a stock duramax is by far one of the strongest trucks i have been in and they do fairly well on fuel. the only downfall is that with prices rising, the cost of diesel with the combination of the fuel mileage still may not be enough to justify the lesser cost of a gas job. idk about ya'll but around here diesel is $.50 a gallon more than gas. we're up to close to $3.90 a gallon for diesel. gas is anywhere between $3.35 and $3.45

[400sEXridr]

I understand that new isnt necessarily the best value, but when I was 16 I bought a used 02 Silverado with 21k on it and I've been fixing the previous owners problems ever since. To me, used is used is used, and to me the only way to guarantee that something is maintained properly is to do it yourself from mile 1. I shy away from the 1500 for 2 reasons: A. I have pulled with the 5.3's and they are dogs. Plain and simple. B. As stated, the crew cab/long bed combo is not available in the 1500. I've been getting 17-20 mpg for years on my current truck, so poor mileage isn't new to me. Towing weight would be anywhere from 5k to 10-11k

[wilkin250r]

A few people are getting caught up in the word "investment".

Anything you buy is an investment. The value you get out of something isn't always money. He's not looking at selling it down the road for more than what he paid, he's looking to keep it for a long time and get the most possible use out of his "investment".

[400sEXridr]

^^^ that's exactly what I was trying to say. Maybe investment wasn't the best word, but that's all I could come up with

[CJM]

My point is:

A) Your gonna be right outta college, unless you have ALOT of money getting a decent job and buying a truck just wont happen. You will find in short order you either cant afford the payments or really struggle with them. Dont think cause you grad school your gonna find that gem of a job too where they pay you 100k to start either.Entry level means 35-50k or so at most. Yea it seems like alot when you look at the numbers, but after taxes and other expenses it isnt at all.

B) Sorry your current truck has cost you, welcome to government motors my friend, dont expect anything else if you buy another one.

[400sEXridr]

I understand that I won't be making millions and millions of dollars. I've already signed an offer making 45k so I'm well aware of that. I'm coming out of college debt free, and I've got about 25-30k saved up. Plus an extra 6-7k coming in from my internship this spring. My question was not for financial advice on whether or not to buy a truck, it was on which truck to buy.

[slightlybent47]

I’m 50 years old and I have only bought 1 new truck in my whole life. If you want a new one, then be prepared to drive it till the wheels fall off. That the only way you can even come close to getting your moneys worth.
Remember towing is not a problem for any ½ ton with a good 350 v8.
The real challenge is stopping it once you get it rolling, a heavy truck is best for stopping a heavy load, but not necessary for towing unless you live in hilly terrain.
Look a some good used trucks, you’ll save a lot of money.

[CJM]

Originally posted by 400sEXridr
I understand that I won't be making millions and millions of dollars. I've already signed an offer making 45k so I'm well aware of that. I'm coming out of college debt free, and I've got about 25-30k saved up. Plus an extra 6-7k coming in from my internship this spring. My question was not for financial advice on whether or not to buy a truck, it was on which truck to buy.

Ok, then if you want my advice BUY A USED ONE FROM A DEALER WITH A WARRANTY! Happy?

Like bent says, your gonna buy new drive it till the wheels fall off it.

[dgmiller]

i'm 34 and have owned 5 new vehicles, 2 new harley davidsons, 1 new polaris ranger all in the last 6 years so i understand that its not an investment like stated but my vehicle now is a '09 chevy crew cab duramax ltz and its nice. i'm getting around 16-19 mpg witch is better than my '06 duramax witch was getting like 14-16 mpg. i say go for it you only live once.:D

[stroked 400ex]

I would personally only get a chevy duramax 6.6l diesel, a ford f250/350 7.3 l only made from 1999 to 2003 a good truck now dodge idk the 5.9l are ok but the 6.6 And 7.3 are the best... U can't go wrong they will wake up with motor,turbo,exhaust, tranny mods like crazy... U have to drive all the trucks to decide what u want I have A 7.3l 2000 a very good truck get anywhere from 14 to 21 mpg my buddy have a 5.9 he gets 22 mpg the chevy is about the same... U can get a running diesel maybe 100 k miles for a very good price and don't buy a new truck u will regret it new ones have all that egr junk and a bunch of electronics... Automatic is what u want even if u tow but not heavy loads

[buck440]

Originally posted by 1fastR


2.why buy a 2500 or 3500 if you plan not to do much hauling, those are built for hauling only, a 1500 will tow more than enough

lol, some people...

[buck440]

Originally posted by stroked 400ex
I the 5.9l are ok but the 6.6 And 7.3 are the best...

by best do you mean reliability? sure as hell hope not. if your talking about mechanical fuel injection in the 5.9 there never was a more reliable motor than that one. as for electronic fuel injection in the 5.9 it is still more reliable than the others mentioned. i would even go as far to say the 6.7 ctd is more reliable than the others, why you ask? the 6cyl ctd has 25% fewer parts than all the other v8 diesels. less parts, less **** to go wrong which= more reliable.

[CJM]

^ Until the rest of the truck falls apart the engine.

[rollie]

I have an 02 2500hd with a 6.0 in it and i love it, i would rather have the diesel any day of the week, but it wasn't, and still just isn't an option at this point. The 2500 does eveything i need to do and has been very reliable. Mine is the ext. cab 8 foot bed, one other thing to keep in mind with an 8ft bed is you get a bigger gas tank:cool:, mine has a 3 inch lift and 35 BFG all terrains and on the highway crusing i will get 14, with a trailer loaded im getting about 8:ermm:

[buck440]

Originally posted by CJM
^ Until the rest of the truck falls apart the engine.

unless tou put it in a delorean:p

[nitrochicken]

Im with buck, owned a 12v and a 01 24v and even a 700 horse 6.7. All of them super reliable and would take off in any 3 of them before i got in anything else. Chevy 6.0's aren't to bad, seems they lack power but an all around good truck, company i work for owns about 20 of them and they are pretty decent riding around on dirt roads all day lol. In the end....just get what you want, none of us are buying the truck lol

[buck440]

i must admit i do like 99+ 7.3 powerstrokes because they are nice looking trucks and decently priced.

[400exc]

Duramax is a strong motor. I have worked on all of these (7.3 powerstroke, 6.0 powerstroke, 5.9 and 6.7 cummins, and durmax) at the school I am attending right now. (University of Northwestern Ohio) All of the big three have their ups and downs. The only thing to watch with the duramax is what year it is. Anything that was made the second part of 2004 and newer you should be safe. The first half of 04 and later had bad injector problems.

[buck440]

kinda like cummins with the killer dowl pin and some of the later 2nd gens had a bad year for blocks. they had an e stamped on them i think? they called them the explode block lol.

[Ruby Soho]

the 6.0 would be just fine, the duramax more of a luxury.

Id go diesel, but that's coming from someone who drives one.

Id go 2500/3500, because if you need it, you have it. Sure you can do all that and then some with a 1/2 ton but why struggle.

Drive both and whatever you like better get obviously..

Im willing to bet you put some seat time in a duramax you'll be the proud new owner of one shortly..:macho

p.s Ill sell you a mint 7.3 superduty!:devil:

[extremeblastr]

out of this entire thread there are 3 usefull posts that don't belong to the OP lol.


take your time and pick out what you really want. the earlier chevy hds with the 6.0 had some issues with piston slap i'm not positive about the new ones. the duramax is a very solid truck and if your not going to do a lot of towing this is the one i would choose out of the 3 diesels easily. it rides like a car and has a very comfortable interior and can get the work done when you need it to. the fords are workhorses and it kind of shows comfort wise and the dodges are known to fall apart around the motor. but take everything you hear with a grain of salt because you never know til you try...