Thinking About Upgrading to Full Size Half Ton...Best Bang for The Buck?

[JaySimon]

You were lookin for sled rental places in fernie weren't you? You may find yourself with a sled sooner than you think....

If you can get a good deal on a dodge, it would almost be silly to do anything else.

 

[drew562]

Interest rates are a huge consideration also. If used vehicle is at 6-8 % and new is 0% it payes to get new. And the eco boost ford kicks ass on the competition. They rip and have good economy. Do the math on price of vehicle vs pay amount at end of loan. I would pick a vehicle on the loan rates that are out. I believe ford is 0% right now. Dodge maybe also

 

[-LadyDirt-]

You were lookin for sled rental places in fernie weren't you? You may find yourself with a sled sooner than you think....

If you can get a good deal on a dodge, it would almost be silly to do anything else.

Haha yes that's true I was looking into rental rates, but I can't see myself owning one anytime soon, maybe down the road if we don't have kids, and sell off all of our properties years from now and make some bucks off em! Hehe.. other then that, its just too expensive to own and ride sleds. I'd have to sell my bike, which I'm not willing to do yet lol.

Yeah I know! I think the Dodge deal is going to blow Ford out of the water, but my other half really wants the Ford, but a new one with everything we want is probably going to be too expensive. We could find a used one for cheaper with all the options we want, but then I'm not sure what kind of bank financing we can get compared to going new. We have a few mortgages as we own some rental properties and the bank gives us awesome rates, but..who knows.

Interest rates are a huge consideration also. If used vehicle is at 6-8 % and new is 0% it payes to get new. And the eco boost ford kicks ass on the competition. They rip and have good economy. Do the math on price of vehicle vs pay amount at end of loan. I would pick a vehicle on the loan rates that are out. I believe ford is 0% right now. Dodge maybe also

yes interest rates are a huge consideration. I think our bank would do much, much better than 6%, but i'm not too certain if it would be better than financing new. Is it still 0% with most domestic dealers? I thought I saw on Ford's website 3.9%. Either way, its a tough choice and basically will come down to best bang for the buck in the long run. Also how much I can get for my Tacoma will influence things as well, because I have to be able to buy out the lease on it and hopefully have some extra to put towards a down payment. But basically at this point i'm just trying to get as much feedback on the whole truck buying process and some experience from some other Ford, Dodge half ton owners to also find out some pros and cons.

Hoping to get into a few dealerships this weekend to test drive a couple. I want the Dodge, and my boyfriend wants the Ford so I have a feeling we're both going to be biased, but I'll keep an open mind.

What kind of buying experiences have people been having with purchasing a new Dodge or Ford lately? Which dealership did you go to? Which one did you avoid? I want to be able to get the dealerships to compete on the pricing a little. I want to walk into Dodge, do up the pricing on a truck with all the options i want, add my ATCO discount (not Telling Ford that), then walk into Ford and see if they will even be willing to negotiate. Oh and any confirmation on their interest rates would be handy, I'll obviously look into that soon enough but if someone knows, please pass it on!

 

[Rockwerx]

If you're just talking 1/2 tons. Hands down. It's a 2011 F150 with the Ecoboost. 8 cylinders are not the future - they're the past.

10,000+ lbs towing from a 6 cylinder running on regular unleaded gas and delivering 25+ mpg when not towing. First year for the ecoboost in the F150 (but - the engine has been in Ford's line-up for a while). No issues with the engine so far - 9 months into the 2011 model year.

Sad thing - I'm deep down a GM guy - and they (and Dodge and Nissan and Toyota) have noting to compete with the Ecoboost - YET. This engine will change the future of trucks and it will be really interesting to see how the others respond.

Also - regarding real towing numbers - be careful. Dodge plays all sorts of games around their actual numbers with the 1500. I don't think you can legally tow much more with the Dodge 1500 than your Tacoma (that is - AND - also have any passengers and/or payload in the truck itself).

Good luck

I have to agree with you on this one. The new Ford F150 with the Ecoboost turbo V6 is one of the best offerings out of all the heavy half ton pickups. No manufacturer is even close to building a similar truck. It has more torque and hp than some of their V8s. The truck performs a lot better on fuel than all of the competition loaded or empty.

The other manufacturers are going to have to step it up soon or start looseing market shares to this vehicle. I was very impressed when I test drove my brothers new truck. For people that do not tow heavy loads, this truck offers the best of both worlds. It is definately worth the extra cost over their V8 powered trucks. You will make up the cost difference in fuel economy. You can bet that the competition will be trying to copy this engine combination soon.

Good luck with what ever you decide on!

 

[mathrulz]

What kind of buying experiences have people been having with purchasing a new Dodge or Ford lately? Which dealership did you go to? Which one did you avoid? I want to be able to get the dealerships to compete on the pricing a little. I want to walk into Dodge, do up the pricing on a truck with all the options i want, add my ATCO discount (not Telling Ford that), then walk into Ford and see if they will even be willing to negotiate. Oh and any confirmation on their interest rates would be handy, I'll obviously look into that soon enough but if someone knows, please pass it on!

I got my ford from Koch in Athabasca - not sure how the one in the city would be to deal with though. The guys in Athabasca were very easy to negotiate with. I never did the financing thing but I remember asking about it because at the time there was a big 0% sign outside. They said the 0% only applies to certain vehicles?? And trucks didn't qualify. And as soon as you tell them you need financing vs cash deal the asking price is a few thousand more.

 

[rzrgade]

LOL ...........There is NO 0% financing if the cash price is cheaper !!! So many people fall for this, if the financing price is more than the cash price , guess what ? It is not zero percent, you just paid all the interest up front !!!

 

[-LadyDirt-]

LOL ...........There is NO 0% financing if the cash price is cheaper !!! So many people fall for this, if the financing price is more than the cash price , guess what ? It is not zero percent, you just paid all the interest up front !!!

Haha yes this is something i've known for a long time, but its a lose, lose situation if the bank rates are higher, your still paying it regardless if you dont necessarily have 40K sitting in the bank. That's just one of the shitty things about buying vehicles lol. I will be doing some heckling though no doubt. Seems there are some pretty good deals on right now with dealerships trying to get rid of 2011 stock to make room for 2012s so I might have a bargaining advantage at this point, but still gotta get the Tacoma on the market regardless, start with that and go from there.

Appreciate all your feedback people!

 

[GYMBRAT]

the dealer WILL get their money every time regardless of what type of "deal" you get or "told" their giving you

 

[-LadyDirt-]

Well of course, Dealerships can't sell vehicles without making money off them. That's just the way it goes. But I do know that I can get one for below MSRP and its just a matter of which dealership is willing to give me the best possible price they can.

 

[white6]

Dealers do also sell used vehicles and offer their financing on them... which would still allow for a used vehicle with good dealer financing.. and potentially even your atco discount if it were from dodge

 

[-LadyDirt-]

Yup, but sometimes their financing on used vehicles is considerably higher, atleast with Toyota this was the case, not overly sure about the domestics. Ohwell there's lots of things to look at and weigh all the options. I got the Chrysler Preferred Customer account # from ATCO just to see what the discount rates are like and through the website it looks like about $3500 discount atleast, but they might throw some other incentives in there too. Kinda hard to tell until I actually go into a dealer and discuss it. Now just need to find time to scope out a few Chrysler & Ford dealers and check out a few and take them for a test drive

 

[Bogger]

Avoid Denny Andrews Ford like the plague....

Sherwood Dodge NEEDS customers so go there, and if you run into the guy from the comercials kick him in the nads for me....

Freedom ford is offering the lowest pricing of the year.... but next week will be lower..and lower the following week...

I've dealt with Derrek Dodge on Calgay trail... they were decent, got me out of a pissin match with crosstrail chrysler (took back my lease with no penalty - crosstrail wanted $4500 upon return) then I bought my chevy silverado from them a few years later.

Yup, but sometimes their financing on used vehicles is considerably higher, atleast with Toyota this was the case, not overly sure about the domestics. Ohwell there's lots of things to look at and weigh all the options. I got the Chrysler Preferred Customer account # from ATCO just to see what the discount rates are like and through the website it looks like about $3500 discount atleast, but they might throw some other incentives in there too. Kinda hard to tell until I actually go into a dealer and discuss it. Now just need to find time to scope out a few Chrysler & Ford dealers and check out a few and take them for a test drive

 

[-LadyDirt-]

Avoid Denny Andrews Ford like the plague....

Sherwood Dodge NEEDS customers so go there, and if you run into the guy from the comercials kick him in the nads for me....

Freedom ford is offering the lowest pricing of the year.... but next week will be lower..and lower the following week...

I've dealt with Derrek Dodge on Calgay trail... they were decent, got me out of a pissin match with crosstrail chrysler (took back my lease with no penalty - crosstrail wanted $4500 upon return) then I bought my chevy silverado from them a few years later.

Sherwood Dodge is not even a 2 min drive from my house so I'm definitely thinking about checking them out first. I'll definitely be sure to walk in there and kick the owner in the nads for ya.. I'm sure that'll get me a great deal eh? Are you talking about Crosstrail or CrossTown? One of Boyd's friends family owns Crosstown I think.. so we might check them out as well. Why is Freedom Ford so low compared to others? Or is that just what they're saying? Is it better to check out small town dealerships like Spruce Grove, Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, etc compared to the city dealerships? Or do you think there is more competition among the city dealers?

 

[GYMBRAT]

I've seemed to always find better deals at the larger City dealerships personally

 

[Bogger]

Avoid Crosstrail... Crosstown I don't have experience with but they service our fleet here at work and I've heard no complaints.

my remark about freedom ford was again just the comercials... small town dealers claim low overhead so cheaper but city dealers have higher volume so they don't need as large a margin... I think it's very much like the sled/ATV world.... find a salesman/dealer you can trust

Like I said Derrek dodge was very good to me... only other dealer's I'm familier with won't help you when it comes to trucks, but if Dave Morris fine cars happens to have the truck you want... don't do it walk away.... On the other hand if Bavaria BMW has a 1/2 ton dodge thier service department kicks azz....

Sherwood Dodge is not even a 2 min drive from my house so I'm definitely thinking about checking them out first. I'll definitely be sure to walk in there and kick the owner in the nads for ya.. I'm sure that'll get me a great deal eh? Are you talking about Crosstrail or CrossTown? One of Boyd's friends family owns Crosstown I think.. so we might check them out as well. Why is Freedom Ford so low compared to others? Or is that just what they're saying? Is it better to check out small town dealerships like Spruce Grove, Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, etc compared to the city dealerships? Or do you think there is more competition among the city dealers?

 

[-LadyDirt-]

Can anyone tell me what this "GoAuto" is all about? They have tons of trucks, that seem to all be at Southtown Chrysler, that seem significantly cheaper than the other Dogde dealers I've looked at. Haven't checked what they have for Fords yet... but i'm curious as to why they seem so much cheaper.

 

[Bogger]

Go-Auto is a group of dealers from all brands with common ownership...

the crosstrail I was refering to was actually "Southtrail" which is now Southtown.. they changed the name when they moved from Calgary trail to just south of the whitemud. My experience with them was YEARS ago like back when you were still in diapers so who knows they may be alright.... it's a crapshoot....

Can anyone tell me what this "GoAuto" is all about? They have tons of trucks, that seem to all be at Southtown Chrysler, that seem significantly cheaper than the other Dogde dealers I've looked at. Haven't checked what they have for Fords yet... but i'm curious as to why they seem so much cheaper.

 

[magnet]

we have had good luck and pricing through Zender in spruce grove, our go to guy has been Harry. i know you said not really diggin the fords but drive one i am sure your mind wil change mine did. lol
higher gvwr than everyone else, and if you wanna drop the bucks nobody comes close to their poer and fuel economy, cab is larger than all others in the 1/2 ton class if going to a crew or super crew as you cannot get a mega cab half ton. gcwr is actually about 200lbs higher than dodges hd 3/4 ton they lose to much off the top for the weight of the diesel.
i have 110k on my 09 and have had no major malfunctions imo. i drive my truck and not just to get groceries. lol our welder was braggin up his yota one day and i said i will trade ya for a week and see whos truck shines after that. he said no. lol
check out the fords see what you think.

 

[plio7]

i would advise against go-auto just because i know they are owned by or affiliated with the same group who owned kentwood and team and i have had bad experiences with them both

Can anyone tell me what this "GoAuto" is all about? They have tons of trucks, that seem to all be at Southtown Chrysler, that seem significantly cheaper than the other Dogde dealers I've looked at. Haven't checked what they have for Fords yet... but i'm curious as to why they seem so much cheaper.

 

[imdoo'n]

View attachment 113172

My old dodge drags around my 26' trailer 6000# with a quad in the box with no problems so I would imagine a new one would do better

couldn't pass the liquor store?