Need advice

[FLATHEAD]

IMO, everything is a POS nowadays.
Just pick your turd.

 

[Yarak]

Used trucks are selling good right now so I’d sell the sons truck and not worry with a payment

 

[SWOHTR]

Not sure where this ended up but I’ll offer something:

Have him sell it. He WILL NOT need it as a junior enlisted Sailor. He will either live on a ship, or be lucky enough to live on base (“barracks”). He will either make friends who have cars or use public transportation. He won’t be missing anything by not having a vehicle. Oh, parking on base sucks, and is especially terrible for junior Sailors.

Should he want to buy another car, he can talk to his chain of command for advice, use the command financial specialist for some help, etc.

This is coming from someone who leads and works with Sailors on a daily basis.

 

[tdvxrdob]

How long has your son had his truck? I can't imagine it being upside down on the loan with the market we are in unless he bought it in this market. Either way though I would sell his off since it's the best time to sell. He can get another truck down the road when the market stabilizes and he can afford it. You aren't doing him any favors by holding onto it if you are worried about its value now. It's only going down.

 

[Wild_Aber]

I have a paid off 2104 Ram 1500 Big Horn with 102k that I love. My son just went into the Navy and with the pay cut he is experiencing it looks like I am going to have to start paying his loan on a used 2013 Ford F 150 Crew Cab with the 3.5 twin turbo. I think he has 3 years left on the loan but I need to confirm. This was his first purchase and I co signed the loan when he first bought it. After making enough payments he refinanced it in his name but didn't get Gap Insurance like I told him. I am thinking of selling my Ram to pay to pay off his truck since I am afraid with it having 130k on it and the amount of time before it's paid off I could potentially be on the hook for a worthless truck.

Before he went into the Navy I was thinking about selling my truck and putting additional money down to step up to a Ram 2500. I would still like to do this but and wondering after reading a friend comment about he reliability of the big 3. I am looking for an unbiased as possible source on the reliability of Ram, Ford and Gm trucks. My friend had said that he bought his Ford F 250 because they were the most reliable overall with some issue mechanically but the best reliability with the electronics, he said the GM trucks were in the middle of the pack with both mechanical and electronic issue and Ram was the best mechanically but the worst with electronics. This got me thinking about my own experience and I was a die hard GM guy before I got my Ram. I had a 75 and 86 K5 Blazer, a couple Oldsmobile's, a Venture van, a Trailblazer and a Yukon XL. The Venture cam snapped at 65k just outside of warranty and they wouldn't do anything. My 2007 Yukon XL with the 5.3 l engine had the issue of burning a quart of oil every 1000 miles once it hit about 35k. At 100K I thought I blew the engine but it slugged from the oil burning with the MDS shutting down and not burning off the carbon. I have never owned a Ford but my daughter owned a Focus and that was the least safe vehicle with the transmission issues I have ever seen. They had a known issue and wouldn't cover it under warranty. When I bought my truck in 2016 the rep suggested getting the extended warranty because of all of the electronics in the newer vehicles. I turned it down and the sensor for the windshield washer fluid went within 6 weeks. When I went in for my first free oil change I asked them to fix it and when they told me it was going to cost $300 I said don't fix it for something so stupid. I then had issues with my transmission slamming into a lower gear while at highway speeds and they wouldn't replace it because it didn't throw a code. I had it in and out of the dealership 4x for that and each time they wouldn't do anything about it except flash the computer. On my last time there someone overheard my conversation and told me to call Ram and they made a case and assured me that if the transmission went on me within 100k they would replace it free of charge. I have had the transmission drop in gear only 2 more times in the last 3 years but now I am over that 100k.

So what would you do in my position and is there an unbiased source on the reliability of the big three trucks?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Wild_Aber]

I have a paid off 2104 Ram 1500 Big Horn with 102k that I love. My son just went into the Navy and with the pay cut he is experiencing it looks like I am going to have to start paying his loan on a used 2013 Ford F 150 Crew Cab with the 3.5 twin turbo. I think he has 3 years left on the loan but I need to confirm. This was his first purchase and I co signed the loan when he first bought it. After making enough payments he refinanced it in his name but didn't get Gap Insurance like I told him. I am thinking of selling my Ram to pay to pay off his truck since I am afraid with it having 130k on it and the amount of time before it's paid off I could potentially be on the hook for a worthless truck.

Before he went into the Navy I was thinking about selling my truck and putting additional money down to step up to a Ram 2500. I would still like to do this but and wondering after reading a friend comment about he reliability of the big 3. I am looking for an unbiased as possible source on the reliability of Ram, Ford and Gm trucks. My friend had said that he bought his Ford F 250 because they were the most reliable overall with some issue mechanically but the best reliability with the electronics, he said the GM trucks were in the middle of the pack with both mechanical and electronic issue and Ram was the best mechanically but the worst with electronics. This got me thinking about my own experience and I was a die hard GM guy before I got my Ram. I had a 75 and 86 K5 Blazer, a couple Oldsmobile's, a Venture van, a Trailblazer and a Yukon XL. The Venture cam snapped at 65k just outside of warranty and they wouldn't do anything. My 2007 Yukon XL with the 5.3 l engine had the issue of burning a quart of oil every 1000 miles once it hit about 35k. At 100K I thought I blew the engine but it slugged from the oil burning with the MDS shutting down and not burning off the carbon. I have never owned a Ford but my daughter owned a Focus and that was the least safe vehicle with the transmission issues I have ever seen. They had a known issue and wouldn't cover it under warranty. When I bought my truck in 2016 the rep suggested getting the extended warranty because of all of the electronics in the newer vehicles. I turned it down and the sensor for the windshield washer fluid went within 6 weeks. When I went in for my first free oil change I asked them to fix it and when they told me it was going to cost $300 I said don't fix it for something so stupid. I then had issues with my transmission slamming into a lower gear while at highway speeds and they wouldn't replace it because it didn't throw a code. I had it in and out of the dealership 4x for that and each time they wouldn't do anything about it except flash the computer. On my last time there someone overheard my conversation and told me to call Ram and they made a case and assured me that if the transmission went on me within 100k they would replace it free of charge. I have had the transmission drop in gear only 2 more times in the last 3 years but now I am over that 100k.

So what would you do in my position and is there an unbiased source on the reliability of the big three trucks?

Thanks in advance!

So I was a mechanic for an outfit that ran exclusively Ford's. I have never been a Ford guy but it's all turning wrenches. One day we saw that there was a F350 with over 700k miles for sale online and it said it still ran strong and was all original. This lead to us checking forums and researching if this was possible. Ford paired the Torqshift 6 transmission with their 6.7L diesel from 2011-2017. We found that there were a good number of documented trucks with that combo that were going strong over 500k miles and a handful over 900k miles. All these trucks said they were supposed to be original tranny and engine. Ford did change their tranny after 17 and I don't know much about this newer one but I will say that the Ford's with the previous combo are fantastic as long as fluids and fuel filters are changed regularly.

 

[wapitibob]

Get rid of the 2013 f150 pronto, Then worry about the other truck. Gen 1 echo boost is a money pit.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

All my Rams have been sold with over 150,000 miles on em but I maintain the damn things, drive with the radio off weekly to listen for unusual sounds, protect em with frequent ceramic coats. Yeah, sensors and digital upgrades are a pain with Ram but the comfort of the truck makes up for it. I've got 104,000+ in my '14 Ram and will get another 5-7 years out of it.

 

[hunterjmj]

I'd sell your sons pickup and keep yours unless you need a 3/4 ton. We have a 3/4 and a 1/2 ton. I haul stuff so I need the 3/4 but it's not driven a bunch. I won't buy another newer vehicle again. All the electronic crap they have now is nothing but problems. We have some Ford Transit vans at work and every single one has issues. One has 35 codes ( 4,000,000 sensors for everything) and ford can't figure it out. It's been to 3 ford dealerships. The slider door won't open and they can't figure it out. This particular van has under 30,000 miles on it.

 

[KoolBreeze]

I get a wild hair for new pickup every now and then. Debate it for awhile and come to my senses. No way I’m paying 50k+ for a new pickup. Just drop a few dollars in my ‘95 K1500 every once in a while and keep on keeping on. If if something breaks, I can fix it, unlike the electronics heavy newer ones.

So my advice would be if you’re happy with what you have, keep it!

 

[Tbonespop]

Most reliable and best valve vehicles are lightly used 3/4 ton GASSER trucks that are used like 1/2 ton trucks 99% of the time, then used to tow as a 3/4 ton truck ~1% of the time. Any automaker that can't make a reliable gasser truck to not leave ya stranded (not talking about minor sensor issues, I'm talking about the major engine/tranny problems) should put themselves out of business and just give up.

 

[Crghss]

Not sure where this ended up but I’ll offer something:

Have him sell it. He WILL NOT need it as a junior enlisted Sailor. He will either live on a ship, or be lucky enough to live on base (“barracks”). He will either make friends who have cars or use public transportation. He won’t be missing anything by not having a vehicle. Oh, parking on base sucks, and is especially terrible for junior Sailors.

Should he want to buy another car, he can talk to his chain of command for advice, use the command financial specialist for some help, etc.

This is coming from someone who leads and works with Sailors on a daily basis.

100% truth right here. He‘ll be paying for a vehicle that will get very little use Initially.

Boot camp 2 months, then sent to a school (hopefully) for a few months Or more. Then to a duty station which probably will be in the US but maybe not. Most places he‘s going he probably won’t want a truck.

Sell the truck, let him save money first six months or so. Then he can decide if he wants a vehicle and if so what type.