SFR New used truck - potentially

Sorta fishing-related
This past summer picked up a 2014 Tahoe LTZ, last year of that generation with the best track record and my fave body style. Have owned two Suburbans and this is my fourth Tahoe.
Car was up for sale by a guy with an immaculate 5 acre estate by the river in Bend, heavy equipment business operator owner who did most of the roads here in Sunriver.
Pulled into his sweeping driveway, uber mega house with four garage doors open, Tahoe parked on epoxy floors alongside a new F350 and BMW M3. He was selling it because his ordered 2026 Tahoe had just arrived at the lot.
The LTZ was immaculate inside and out, under the hood, looked like it just came onto the showroom.
45K miles on it, the price was $22,500. We went for a short drive, said consider it sold, I'll be back the next morning with a certified check. No Carfax check or service history review, all I had to see was what his property and fleet looked like. Picked it up next day, his new cherry red Tahoe had arrived with it's 95K window sticker.
This coming summer we'll flip the wife's 2020 low mileage Forester, excellent vehicle, for a new one with an extended warranty.
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I have owned 2 suburbans. I like those things. Looked at one recently and the 2nd row captains chairs are narrow! I felt like I was in economy coach on southwest airlines. That's really too bad!
 
Not to divert thread, but I know Highlanders have come up a few times. I’m kinda eyeballing Toyota Grand Highlander as a nice car camping rig. AWD, super roomy, and includes a 26 mpg hybrid with an >300 horse good torque option or a very high mpg ~36 mpg option in more sedate hybrid. Can fit two cushy Hest camp mattresses side by side inside.
Buying it would require me to sell my truck though (bummer). The lack of ground clearance and 4WD also bit of a downer. The ventilated seats to keep my junk cool in summer though - priceless.
 
Eastside said:
Well, I guess that our 2015 Highlander will the last one in our family. It only has 140K miles on it and runs great. Ski car in the winter and waterski car in the summer when my wife leaves it hooked up to her Mastercraft from July through the end of September. We gifted out 2001 Sequoia to our nephew who really needed another vehicle at the time. It had 301K miles on it when we gave it to him and it’s still running strong. Never leaks oil and we never had to do any major engine or transmission repairs. Changed the oil regularly.
View attachment 178873
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I wonder if they’ll do something similar to Dodge and offer other powertrains like hybrids on future year models if Highlander sales decline due to electric being the only option.
SF

 
The one thing I don't like about our Highlanders is the feature of the AWD traction control that cuts power to all four tires if the tires are spinning on ice. It's not such a big deal here in Western Washington, but back in Vermont there were plenty of steep driveways that required a running start and some spinning of the wheels to make it up in the winter. The Highlander would just stop and I'd have to back down the driveway. Maybe they fixed that in later models.
 
Bugmeister said:
Not to divert thread, but I know Highlanders have come up a few times. I’m kinda eyeballing Toyota Grand Highlander as a nice car camping rig. AWD, super roomy, and includes a 26 mpg hybrid with an >300 horse good torque option or a very high mpg ~36 mpg option in more sedate hybrid. Can fit two cushy Hest camp mattresses side by side inside.
Buying it would require me to sell my truck though (bummer). The lack of ground clearance and 4WD also bit of a downer. The ventilated seats to keep my junk cool in summer though - priceless.
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Doesn’t the Highlander have a bump up where the back seats lay down? My 4runner did.
I have been looking lately to do the same, camping/fishing rig. I found the Honda Pilot has a flat floor, is just over 4’ between wheel wells, just over 6’ long inside.
 
Zak said:
The one thing I don't like about our Highlanders is the feature of the AWD traction control that cuts power to all four tires if the tires are spinning on ice. It's not such a big deal here in Western Washington, but back in Vermont there were plenty of steep driveways that required a running start and some spinning of the wheels to make it up in the winter. The Highlander would just stop and I'd have to back down the driveway. Maybe they fixed that in later models.
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We held off on testing driving new vehicles until an icy Bend morning in late 2020, and then in succession drove a new Highlander, Rav4, and Forester. Road grip ranking was an easy first for Subaru, not so close second for Rav4, and a distant third for Highlander. So wife went home with her fourth Subaru.
Recently test drove both the new bigger 2026 Outback Wilderness and current Forester while waiting for our Forester to have an oil change and tire rotation. If I was shopping a new rig for myself, the Outback Wilderness would be it.
1771793861777.png
 
Fourbtgait said:
Doesn’t the Highlander have a bump up where the back seats lay down? My 4runner did.
I have been looking lately to do the same, camping/fishing rig. I found the Honda Pilot has a flat floor, is just over 4’ between wheel wells, just over 6’ long inside.
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The Grand Highlander seats lay down flat. I can’t speak for the Highlander on that front. The Grand Highlander is substantially larger inside vs the Highlander.
 
My Highlander seats lay flat and I’ve never had the power cut to all four wheels. It’s a solid snow vehicle.
 
Man, I go on vacation and @flybill starts a truck thread? already at 6 pages? :ROFLMAO: Well I better spew my truck experiences on here then.

Current truck, that I bought on Feb 27 2020 (right before covid), is a 2013 F150 FX4 SuperCrew 6.5' bed 4WD V8. It only had 34k miles and was "only" $28,685, which was a crazy good deal just a year later. I almost bought a nice Ram Laramie over in Spokane, but the F150 popped up in Issaquah the day before I was headed for Spokane. The Laramie was only $33k and also low mileage. Pre-covid trucks...
Of course, now we have post, now pre, now whatever tariff trucks. What a mess. Anyhoo...

What I like-
- V8 reliability. I don't want to start a huge debate here, but the Ecoboost V6s have had their share of issues. You're always taking a risk with turbos. We ended up selling our 2018 Audi Q5 2.0 turbo because of a oil consumption problem. Audi thought they had solved it, but nope. That thing was the nicest car we've ever owned. Well, besides the horrible infotainment system. See below... 😁

- Leather seats are really comfortable

- 6.5" bed is good for sleeping (I'm 6'3"), boats, rafts, etc.

- As silly as it may sound for a truck, the infotainment system! I read all sorts of nightmares about Microsoft Sync in Ford trucks. Well, they must've solved them by 2013 because it's the best I've ever had. And we've had Audi, Volvo and Honda that were all newer that suck. My bluetooth syncs and Spotify will be playing before I get my seatbelt on and put it in drive.

What I don't like-
- gas mileage. It sucks. The Coyote V8 is a great motor, but you're not going to get more than 15 or 16mph with a FX4 SuperCrew 6.5' bed truck. Just too heavy. And the Yote is a high rever. I get 15 overall. Now, I'm a 7 over the speed limit guy so on I-90 that means 77. If I'm cruising a county or state hwy and only doing 50-60 it probably gets about 17. It's NEVER gotten more than 18. Anyone that tells you they do is hopelessly optimistic, the slowest driver ever or a flat out liar. Haha! Slight asterisk below...

- The stock FX4 shocks are crap. If you have a 2009-2014 FX4, or any model for that matter, do yourself a favor...replace the stock shocks, front and back with Bilstein 5100s. This is what should've come on the FX4s, but someone at Ford screwed the pouch big-time. There is no comparison. Mind you, mine only had 34k miles on it when I got it and they were crap. My buddy's are crap. Just do it!

- The optional F250 mirrors. They are great for towing. Besides that, they suck. They're too big. They block your view when turning, decrease gas mileage*, shine headlights from behind into your eyes, get really dirty and make the already full-sized truck even wider. Most F250s actually have smaller mirrors than my F150. Haha!

- Stripper pole. The pole was handy for climbing up the tailgate step, but made the tailgate surface very unfriendly for stacking stuff and the knees. I did the popular stripper pole delete. See mods list next.

Mods or adds-
- LED bed lights
- Stubby antenna. This is cheap and stock one is like a damn flag pole.
- 2" extension on running boards: The FX4 ones are too close to the truck. I moved them out. Very happy.
4x6" piece of 1/4" steel x4 (2 4"x6" pieces hack in half) spray painted to fight corrosion.
1/4"x1" stainless bolts, nuts, washers and lock washers 16 count
2 bolts long enough to replace the inside OEM rail bolt since 1/4" steel makes the OEM bolt too short. 2 lock washers for those bolts.
- Canopy- Used Leer 100XL in matching Sterling Gray. Found on OfferUp. Had to go to Salem to get it.
- Stripper pole delete
Added Hooke Road ABS tailgate board
- Replacement tires at 73k- SUMITOMO ENCOUNTER AT I really like them.
- Bilstein 5100s at 75k miles- Should have done it immediately! Best mod you can buy.

Fixes-
- T Pipe Coolant leak- Fixed in January 2024, but then had another one so had Iron Mike in Maple Valley replace all those cheap stock parts. Some plastic was replaced with alloy parts.
- At 76,900 I fixed 1000rpm rattle from broken clamp on muffler/heat shield. $5 stainless 2 3/4" clamp from Home Depot.

I think she's purty. Here she is on the way home from Salem with the only used color matched canopy I found in the entire west coast. Half the price of a new one. Got lucky there.
20211203_121752_HDR (1).jpg

6.5' bed is good for camping.

20230627_173009.jpg

Previous truck-
2000 F150 Supercab Sport 4.6L V8 2WD

This might be the best vehicle we've ever owned. I traded in a nice 1998 Toyota SR5 T-100 king cab 4WD 5pd for it. The T-100 was nice, but the clutch was really stiff and the seats were not comfortable. No back doors either. And only a 6' bed.

The F150 was in Burlington and only had 14k miles on it. Still smelled new.

It was a great commuter, boat puller and dirt bike hauler. Both boys ended up driving it during their high-school years. It's last fishing trip was to the John Day in 2019. I was arranging my shuttle with Wendy at Gorge Outfitters when she saw a big puddle of coolant under the truck. The $10.65 plug between the motor and tranny had failed. She still agreed to do the shuttle and it didn't strand the driver or me. I had to spend $30 on coolant to get home, but she made it! That was at 199k miles. EDIT: The repair was going to cost $3100 so I sold it for $800 cash to a dude that runs a fairly large landscape company. They buy trucks just like that and fix them up for their crew. There's no doubt in my mind it's probably got 250k on it by now and going strong.
20200118_152902_HDR.jpg

Good luck!
 
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SurfnFish said:
We held off on testing driving new vehicles until an icy Bend morning in late 2020, and then in succession drove a new Highlander, Rav4, and Forester. Road grip ranking was an easy first for Subaru, not so close second for Rav4, and a distant third for Highlander. So wife went home with her fourth Subaru.
Recently test drove both the new bigger 2026 Outback Wilderness and current Forester while waiting for our Forester to have an oil change and tire rotation. If I was shopping a new rig for myself, the Outback Wilderness would be it.
View attachment 178908
Click to expand...
When a hybrid outback wilderness comes out, I'm going to be very tempted.
 
skyriver said:
Man, I go on vacation and @flybill starts a truck thread? already at 6 pages? :ROFLMAO: Well I better spew my truck experiences on here then.

Current truck, that I bought on Feb 27 2020 (right before covid), is a 2013 F150 FX4 SuperCrew 6.5' bed 4WD V8. It only had 34k miles and was "only" $28,685, which was a crazy good deal just a year later. I almost bought a nice Ram Laramie over in Spokane, but the F150 popped up in Issaquah the day before I was headed for Spokane. The Laramie was only $33k and also low mileage. Pre-covid trucks...
Of course, now we have post, now pre, now whatever tariff trucks. What a mess. Anyhoo...

What I like-
- V8 reliability. I don't want to start a huge debate here, but the Ecoboost V6s have had their share of issues. You're always taking a risk with turbos. We ended up selling our 2018 Audi Q5 2.0 turbo because of a oil consumption problem. Audi thought they had solved it, but nope. That thing was the nicest car we've ever owned. Well, besides the horrible infotainment system. See below... 😁

- Leather seats are really comfortable

- 6.5" bed is good for sleeping (I'm 6'3"), boats, rafts, etc.

- As silly as it may sound for a truck, the infotainment system! I read all sorts of nightmares about Microsoft Sync in Ford trucks. Well, they must've solved them by 2013 because it's the best I've ever had. And we've had Audi, Volvo and Honda that were all newer that suck. My bluetooth syncs and Spotify will be playing before I get my seatbelt on and put it in drive.

What I don't like-
- gas mileage. It sucks. The Coyote V8 is a great motor, but you're not going to get more than 15 or 16mph with a FX4 SuperCrew 6.5' bed truck. Just too heavy. And the Yote is a high rever. I get 15 overall. Now, I'm a 7 over the speed limit guy so on I-90 that means 77. If I'm cruising a county or state hwy and only doing 50-60 it probably gets about 17. It's NEVER gotten more than 18. Anyone that tells you they do is hopelessly optimistic, the slowest driver ever or a flat out liar. Haha! Slight asterisk below...

- The stock FX4 shocks are crap. If you have a 2009-2014 FX4, or any model for that matter, do yourself a favor...replace the stock shocks, front and back with Bilstein 5100s. This is what should've come on the FX4s, but someone at Ford screwed the pouch big-time. There is no comparison. Mind you, mine only had 34k miles on it when I got it and they were crap. My buddy's are crap. Just do it!

- The optional F250 mirrors. They are great for towing. Besides that, they suck. They're too big. They block your view when turning, decrease gas mileage*, shine headlights from behind into your eyes, get really dirty and make the already full-sized truck even wider. Most F250s actually have smaller mirrors than my F150. Haha!

- Stripper pole. The pole was handy for climbing up the tailgate step, but made the tailgate surface very unfriendly for stacking stuff and the knees. I did the popular stripper pole delete. See mods list next.

Mods or adds-
- LED bed lights
- Stubby antenna. This is cheap and stock one is like a damn flag pole.
- 2" extension on running boards: The FX4 ones are too close to the truck. I moved them out. Very happy.
4x6" piece of 1/4" steel x4 (2 4"x6" pieces hack in half) spray painted to fight corrosion.
1/4"x1" stainless bolts, nuts, washers and lock washers 16 count
2 bolts long enough to replace the inside OEM rail bolt since 1/4" steel makes the OEM bolt too short. 2 lock washers for those bolts.
- Canopy- Used Leer 100XL in matching Sterling Gray. Found on OfferUp. Had to go to Salem to get it.
- Stripper pole delete
Added Hooke Road ABS tailgate board
- Replacement tires at 73k- SUMITOMO ENCOUNTER AT I really like them.
- Bilstein 5100s at 75k miles- Should have done it immediately! Best mod you can buy.

Fixes-
- T Pipe Coolant leak- Fixed in January 2024, but then had another one so had Iron Mike in Maple Valley replace all those cheap stock parts. Some plastic was replaced with alloy parts.
- At 76,900 I fixed 1000rpm rattle from broken clamp on muffler/heat shield. $5 stainless 2 3/4" clamp from Home Depot.

I think she's purty. Here she is on the way home from Salem with the only used color matched canopy I found in the entire west coast. Half the price of a new one. Got lucky there.
View attachment 178915

6.5' bed is good for camping.

View attachment 178916

Previous truck-
2000 F150 Supercab Sport 4.6L V8 2WD

This might be the best vehicle we've ever owned. I traded in a nice 1998 Toyota SR5 T-100 king cab 4WD 5pd for it. The T-100 was nice, but the clutch was really stiff and the seats were not comfortable. No back doors either. And only a 6' bed.

The F150 was in Burlington and only had 14k miles on it. Still smelled new.

It was a great commuter, boat puller and dirt bike hauler. Both boys ended up driving it during their high-school years. It's last fishing trip was to the John Day in 2019. I was arranging my shuttle with Wendy at Gorge Outfitters when she saw a big puddle of coolant under the truck. The $10.65 plug between the motor and tranny had failed. She still agreed to do the shuttle and it didn't strand the driver or me. I had to spend $30 on coolant to get home, but she made it! That was at 199k miles. EDIT: The repair was going to cost $3100 so I sold it for $800 cash to a dude that runs a fairly large landscape company. They buy trucks just like that and fix them up for their crew. There's no doubt in my mind it's probably got 250k on it by now and going strong.
View attachment 178918

Good luck!
Click to expand...
We have the exact same truck. I did swap my infotainment system for a modern unit with android auto though. The Microsoft sync from 2013 wasn't doin it for me 😉 I did change the shocks too.

Otherwise, what an awesome rig. Can't imagine anything the current gen could do that would convince me to update.
 
RCF said:
An observation or rant. You decide...

I am so glad I am not looking to buy a new vehicle. This and other threads have convinced me of that. It appears that new vehicles cost a lot more, have lower quality, and higher repair costs. Pay more for less? Makes no sense to me at all...

I have never bought a new vehicle. Always bought used. The old adage 'drive it off the lot reduces the value by 20%+' prevented it. New vehicles now cost more than my first house. My belief is that vehicles are for a utilitarian purpose, use it for what it was intended. Not to be a comfortable living room with all the gadgets. It is not to impress others nor have every gizmo that will never be used. Many friends have shown me their new vehicles and all the comforts of home and associated gizmos only to complain in a year or so how much it costs to maintain or repair them. Vehicles are not an investment, but rather a sinkhole of funds.

Many of the new features are 'safety oriented'. A very good thing for sure! In the last 40 years I have been in 4 accidents and in all cases vehicle number 2 was a " Washington State Deer". None of those safety improvements would of prevented those accidents...

How much is one actually going to use a pickup truck bed? My Honda Ridgeline has a 5' bed and when the tailgate is down, 6 1/2'. Meets most of my needs. I can load 10' boards thru my back window or on top of my canopy. Is an 8' bed really necessary? Are you going to load gravel and bark in your pristine bed? Why have a pickup truck when a SUV will do much the same function almost all of the time? Just rent a truck or have it delivered is much better choice.

The last vehicle I bought is 89 years old. No gadgets, no electronics, no gizmos, just a reliable vehicle that is much better looking than any current mass production vehicle that has lots of issues. I can actually work on it too!
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i get you on this.
but, there are a ton of features in newer vehicles that huge safety improvements over the past. you can start with 3 point seat belt, air bag, and go on and on. we may have gone too far on this. i dont know. i kind of would like to see breathylizer tech put in. too many dipsticks drinking and driving
go
 
this thread gets me to kicking myself in the butt. again.
last auto screwup, was selling my 2015 gmc that i bought new in 2017. i bought a sprinter van and after spending the $ i was thinking i didnt need the truck.... less than 2 yrs after selling truck with with 55k miles, i was looking for another truck. ended up with a tacoma.
the van is great, but i dont enjoy driving it around town.
 
Evan B said:
We have the exact same truck. I did swap my infotainment system for a modern unit with android auto though. The Microsoft sync from 2013 wasn't doin it for me 😉 I did change the shocks too.

Otherwise, what an awesome rig. Can't imagine anything the current gen could do that would convince me to update.
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Funny. To be fair, I don't use the Android Auto on mine. I have a phone holder I like so just use the phone screen. I'm a Spotify guy so love that it does that well. And yes, I really like the truck. It's definitely my favorite truck so far.
 
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Just realized, while I've been a Ford guy most of my life, I really don't like their SYNCH or the clumsy and almost useless navigation system they use.

SYNCH could be so much better, but there's rarely updates to it after the 1st 2-3 years of each generations introduction. I might be wrong but I think their license with Microsoft is holding them back.

Their navigation requires an expensive SD card which is am option, but the whole interface and set up are crap. The touch screen lags heavily, if it works at all, it's not properly oriented, it's too far down in the dash to not be a distracted driver issue, and I could probably name a few more things if I thought about it

When we had the Fusion Energi, (14) I'd found an aftermarket unit that replaced the existing display with a far superior format and product. I almost bought it.

Trouble is, if you pull a SYNCH unit out of the car, you end up with a lot of sudden other issues you didn't have before because of how deeply embedded that system is into the basic function of the vehicle.

Anyone else notice this?
 
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