First of all - hello! I've been a long time member of tdiclub - and have owned and wrenched on my own tdi's for the last 10 years or so, but this is my first post here! I just sold my Touareg V6 TDI back to VW on wednesday and have been looking for a truck for a while. I've found 3 possible options, somewhat close, and have searched and read and searched and read and driven and searched and read...and I still can't make up my mind.

A little background - I have a 7k # camper that my touareg towed easily, but am looking to upgrade to a 5th wheel next year. I don't take many trips each year - probably less than 10, most about 1-200 miles...maybe a 700-1000 miler once or twice a year. I'll also be getting another little mk4 tdi to commute with, but the truck will be my bad weather transportation in the winter, as I work in a hospital.

Anyhow, here are the 3 that I can't decide between...

2002 F250 Super Duty 4WD 7.3 Truck. Mechanically very tight, Body in very good condition paint two years old, 2014 bed with Tonneau cover, new cab corners when painted. New injectors, Glow Plugs, Turbo & Base, Down Pipes, HP Oil Pump, Oil Lines, Regulators and Sensors, Radiator. Does not burn oil, no leaks. Many other items in interior and exterior have been replaced or modified, Must see. A very good truck, well maintained, 95% of mileage is highway miles. 350k miles. Needs new front springs, and inner rockers replaced. 30 year diesel mechanic owned, he has used it for his escort business for the last 100k miles. Asking 8500.

2007 F350 crew cab, New head gaskets, studs, heads machined, new lifters, new oil cooler, cooler deleted. New water pump and radiator. Engine resealed, all new updated parts from ford. New rear calipers and pads, new parking brake assemblies. New shocks. Injectors replaced with in the last year, ujoints and tie rod ends recently replaced. New tailgate, factory wheels powder coated, 2" leveling kit practically new 285 tires, LED lights through out the truck. Truck has 280k, very clean, solid body very little rust, few scratches, dent on bottom of rear bumper. Ford master technician owned. He did all of the work. Asking 11500.

2005 Dodge Ram 3500 SLT. It is a quad cab with a short bed and single rear wheel. It has the 5.9 Cummins motor, no emissions checks or dealing with DEF, with just under 310,000 miles. I purchased it with 248,000 miles. It is a 6 speed manual transmission. Everything works fine. There is a gooseneck ball installed in the bed by the previous owner. There are two spots of rust. One is on the driver side fender, the other on the driver side bed above the wheel well. Neither has rusted all the way through. Tires were replaced with 285/75/17 Nitto Terra Grapplers. There are 5 tires, the spare is matching and gets rotated with the others. Speedometer was corrected with a Smarty. Never turned the Smarty up high as I didn't want to risk damaging the motor. Edge CTS is only a display for gauges. It does have an EGT probe. Offroad lights on the front are Hella driving lights. Currently not hooked up, but they did work at one time.

Parts replaced/upgrades:
Afe intake @ 250k
5 inch turbo back exhaust with muffler @ 250k
Secondary fuel filter added @ 254k
Driver side hub bearing @ 257k
Passenger side hub bearing @ 288k
Axle u-joints replaced with Spicer joints @ 266,500
Two new batteries @267k in March 2014
Raptor fuel pump added in June 2014
All injectors replaced with Industrial Injection 50hp injectors @ 271k
+08.5 Steering Linkage to replace old style @ 273k in Sept 2014
Carli track bar to correct death wobble @ 280k in March 2015
Carli ball joints installed @ 282k in May 2015
Nitto Terra Grappler tires in June 2015
Water pump replaced @ 292k in Jan 2016
Replaced worn cloth seats with Laramie leather seats from a 2014 Ram
Asking 13000, but willing to negotiate.

All bodies are in comparable condition. Again, I'm just looking for thoughts. I tend to look for the best value - in case I'd need to resell it at some point.

Any an all opinions are welcome!

Thanks!

Tyler

 

All of the opinionated guys in here - and not 1 reply ?!

 

Hey there, gotta go with cummins. I've owned 2 2nd gen 24 valve cummins and they both have over 450,000 km on them and run like dime. one Is a 5 speed manual and the other a 6. great reliably and towing. Don't know about any major problems with the 3rd gens

 

Thanks. Drove the cummins. Awesome. A few concerns. 1. Seepage from valve cover gasket. 2. Exhaust leak when exhaust brake is used. Dude with the 7.3l hasn't gotten back to me in about a week.