New Truck
Structural Total = New Truck for
Marc
One of our avid readers pointed out that I hadn't
concluded the rear end saga. As you may remember, I was hit by another car a
little while ago and that ended up bending the frame of my truck. When the
frame bends, the insurance companies typically declare the accident a structural
total loss. Apparently, the special steel that they use to build these frames
loses its structural integrity when heated to bend it back into shape. It's
better for them to sell off the parts for scrap than it is to waste the time and
money trying to repair the truck. If, like me, you start thinking of your next
vehicle a few weeks after you buy your current vehicle, this is the best thing
ever - a new truck for me!
I will now bore you with the details of how I selected my new truck. Suffice it to say that there are only 5 choices for full size trucks - Chevy Silverado, Ford F-150, Dodge Ram, Toyota Tundra, and the Nissan Titan. If you know me, you know that I buy domestic vehicles so that knocks off the Tundra and the Titan. Honestly, the Tundra is not competitive from an engine perspective and it's basically built like a car and not my style. The Titan, however, is probably the ideal truck for me since it's a new design and has a very powerful engine... but I just can't bring myself to buy a Nissan. So, between the Ram, Chevy and Ford, it was a tough decision. I had a Ram as a rental which was helpful - frankly it feels a little chintzy and they have some reliability issues so it was lowest on my list. The F-150 is beautiful - probably the best truck on the market from a comfort and aesthetic perspective. I drove the F-150 and the only problem with it is it's top of the line engine is pretty weak compared to the bigger Chevy, Dodge, and Nissan engines - combined with the fact that it weighs almost 800 pounds *more* than the other trucks makes it feel reaaally slooooow and enormous. It's a beautiful truck but it would be depressing for me to drive. Chevy's design is old and their totally new trucks are going to be out at the end of 2006 - honestly, the new Chevy's would be the ideal truck for me but I can't wait that long. The current Chevy isn't the freshest truck on the market and interior is pretty "trucky" but they have the best engines and, with the GM discounts, you get the most truck for your money right now. GM is the only company that offers OnStar which is a really nice feature from a safety perspective.
The previous truck I had was a Chevy Silverado SS which is a sport truck with a great engine - very fast and fun - but I ended up not getting another SS like my last truck for three reasons:
1. The SS only has the extended cab body style which has small half clamshell doors to get into the back seats - these are a pain in the butt to get into when you are parked next to another vehicle.
2. The big wheels and full-time-all-wheel-drive made the turning radius pathetic - it was really hard to maneuver in small spaces
3. The stiff sport suspension handled really well but almost chattered your teeth out of your head on rough pavement
So, for the final year of production for these Chevys, they offer the SS engine as an option on the regular trucks. I was able to get a 4-door Crew Cab Silverado with on-demand 4 wheel drive, off-road suspension, AND the SS engine (called the VortecMax). The best of all worlds for me!
Honestly, I'll probably trade this in when the new Chevy's come out so I'm happy with my interim purchase.
Here she is:
I will now bore you with the details of how I selected my new truck. Suffice it to say that there are only 5 choices for full size trucks - Chevy Silverado, Ford F-150, Dodge Ram, Toyota Tundra, and the Nissan Titan. If you know me, you know that I buy domestic vehicles so that knocks off the Tundra and the Titan. Honestly, the Tundra is not competitive from an engine perspective and it's basically built like a car and not my style. The Titan, however, is probably the ideal truck for me since it's a new design and has a very powerful engine... but I just can't bring myself to buy a Nissan. So, between the Ram, Chevy and Ford, it was a tough decision. I had a Ram as a rental which was helpful - frankly it feels a little chintzy and they have some reliability issues so it was lowest on my list. The F-150 is beautiful - probably the best truck on the market from a comfort and aesthetic perspective. I drove the F-150 and the only problem with it is it's top of the line engine is pretty weak compared to the bigger Chevy, Dodge, and Nissan engines - combined with the fact that it weighs almost 800 pounds *more* than the other trucks makes it feel reaaally slooooow and enormous. It's a beautiful truck but it would be depressing for me to drive. Chevy's design is old and their totally new trucks are going to be out at the end of 2006 - honestly, the new Chevy's would be the ideal truck for me but I can't wait that long. The current Chevy isn't the freshest truck on the market and interior is pretty "trucky" but they have the best engines and, with the GM discounts, you get the most truck for your money right now. GM is the only company that offers OnStar which is a really nice feature from a safety perspective.
The previous truck I had was a Chevy Silverado SS which is a sport truck with a great engine - very fast and fun - but I ended up not getting another SS like my last truck for three reasons:
1. The SS only has the extended cab body style which has small half clamshell doors to get into the back seats - these are a pain in the butt to get into when you are parked next to another vehicle.
2. The big wheels and full-time-all-wheel-drive made the turning radius pathetic - it was really hard to maneuver in small spaces
3. The stiff sport suspension handled really well but almost chattered your teeth out of your head on rough pavement
So, for the final year of production for these Chevys, they offer the SS engine as an option on the regular trucks. I was able to get a 4-door Crew Cab Silverado with on-demand 4 wheel drive, off-road suspension, AND the SS engine (called the VortecMax). The best of all worlds for me!
Honestly, I'll probably trade this in when the new Chevy's come out so I'm happy with my interim purchase.
Here she is:
Posted: Fri - December 16, 2005 at 09:48 AM
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Published On: Dec 31, 2005 09:53 AM
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Published On: Dec 31, 2005 09:53 AM