Looking for a pickup as a second car to the cl-s. Used 04-06s preowned w/ warranty are going for 20K area. looking for 4x4 w/ either quad cab or crew cab because i need the extra passenger space. don't need anything major in terms of engine or bed size. just the regular 1500s will do. i basically need to haul crap in the bed, drive through snow, and take it upstate to the 'wilderness' on occasion. spare me the gas stories. just looking for opinions.

here is what i have established:
silverado: looks sharp, but the interior is archaic in the 04-06.
ram: interior way more refine w/ acceptable exterior, and i felt like it had more room in extended cab.

both have somewhat similiar reliability, features, and safety ratings. and the motors are almost identical. so it really comes down to looks.

 

What about ride quality? That could be quite different between the two.

I personally prefer the look of the Chevy to the Ram.

 

My boyfriend has a 2006 2500HD Silverado, fully loaded, quad cab with extended bed and it is COMFORTABLE inside. Easily fit me, 3 big guys and 2 puppies on the 15 hour trip to Kentucky. The seats, either up front or behind, are so comfy and roomy, and its actually bulit very well inside, for a Chevy. I've seen more expensive cars with crappier interiors. He has full leather, so that might be the difference. He got an incredible deal on it, and I mean incredible, and it was too good to pass up. He didn't want a truck THAT big, but the deal got him. The diesel is so unbelievably quiet and the shifting so smooth, even when you are towing a huge trailer. The truck has some serious balls, even with a trailer. The manual shift mode is also pretty neat-I can't believe that Chevy didn't offer that on the Trailblazer SS.

 

Voted Ram.
My Dad has an '03 quad cab/4X4 SLT 4.7 V-8 (I think that's the trim) and he loves it.
No recalls or other problems that I've heard. He now wishes he would've waited a few months and got the Hemi (wasn't out yet when he got it).

I think it looks better than that gen Silverado.

It looks like it squinting at everything

 

Company awarded me w/ brand new 2007 1500 Silverado LS Regular Cab Black/Black two weeks ago so my CL-S turned into weekend ride. My impression so far... I love it. I know it's 07 and brand new but I wouldn't expect much changes between 06/07. Also you are looking for quad cab/crew cab but I don't believe that would add much difference in ride quality. I'm still trying to get used to driving this b/c of its size but it's suprisingly comfortabl in ride quality.

Let's not get to gas assumption b/c yeah it's crazy... (mine's only V6) Gets same amount of mileage out of full tank (300-350 miles) as my CL-S but then it does take 10-13 gallons more.

I can't say much about RAM but I think you would be happy with silverado. Coming from driving around imports all my life, I didn't expect anything great in interior out of these domestic vehicles. Just my two cents

 

Based on how much money I make on Silverado's I would strongly urge someone to get the Dodge or even a Ford(I can't believe I just said that!). If it was not for Chevy building complete turds for the last decade plus I would not make near as much money as I do. Common problems on the silverado include, idler arm, pitman arm and inner tie rod ends going bad with alarming low mileage on them(I've had cases where a truck with as little as 8k miles has had play in the idler arm), brake rotors seem to get very rusty much quicker then any other make vehicle(requiring replacement), which I believe is why GM went back to drum brakes on a lot of their vehicles. Tensioner pulleys are very common as are wheel bearings going with very low mileage, and premature ABS brake activation. And if you want to get pissed at GM, change oil on a silverado with a 6.0L when its even luke warm, you wonder what kind of engineer can let something that poorly designed happen on a modern vehicle.

Dodge's are known for tempermental rear ends(the limited slips in those usually start acting up around 30k miles), trans. problems are not uncommon, but not too common either, they also seem to go through coolant, yet have no leaks... but topping off coolant at ever service is fairly cheap. By far problems are less frequent with Dodge and Ford based on my personal experience of the newer trucks.

 

thanks for all the info. i havent driven a ton of trucks yet, but i assume ride quality was also similiar, although i would be limited to whatever the tire/wheel combo is since i'm going preowned.

tireguy - you make me want to buy a new 07, haha, but i plan on paying for a 3 year/36,000 warranty so i dont have to worry too much.

 

Nissan Titan !!!

 

F-150.

 

07 was totally redone. 06 was the one with the craplastic interior

 

Quad Cab Dodge RAM SRT 10 for the win

 

Really? well in that case, i'm glad they got me 07...... IMO, 00-07 look basically the same.

i know 08 has different body design to it. I don't know if that includes basic 1500 models tho..

 

just based on looks, the Ram. But if you throw the new 07 Silverado in the mix, I'd go with that.

 

we had a 2001 dodge dakota quad cab w/5.9... loved the truck... by what you described a dakota might work for you.... the only problem that we had with the dakota was the tranny was slipping at 13K miles, and my dad drive like an 80 year old on the fast lane of a 6 lane expressway, so its not an abuse problem, just a bad tranny choice by dodge, and durangos were having the problem too, so its not an isolated case just us. the dakota was awsome, and for 20K you might be able to get a new or very low milage, i assume in the last 6 years they fixed the tranny problem.

 

Why not a Toyota?

 

looked into the dakota, not as much room in the cab as the ram

a few people i know have nissan/toyota, not a fan personally.

 

My in laws have a couple Dodge Rams. From what they said, they are solid trucks.

 

+1


The Titan is the only pickup that EVER made me consider getting a pickup!!!

 

I've never driven one, but the Ram just looks huge, even with the base suspension/engine and everything. It's the front end. I'd think that would be incredibly hard for me to drive like that. I'd think the Silverado, with it's flat hood and all, would be easier to drive.

So I'd go with the Silverado, because of that, and my family is all about GM. But I do understand the interior is crap.

Since that's the case, seems like the F-150 is worth looking at. Why not on your list?

 

i think ur confused. the 07 is the one with a different exterior/interior design

 

 

My pops has a 4X4 Dodge Hemi w/ 4 doors and it is a BEAST to say the least! It seems like you are sitting up higher than EVERYONE. We pulled next to a Burban and we were looking down on it. Rides very nice and very spacious.

 

If it is 03-06, then the F150. If you can somehow swing the 07, Silverado > *

 

Get the Dodge, Chevys customer service really sucks......lost a tranny at 24000 miles and they wouldn't warranty it as the car was 37 months old. Talked to both the dealer and GM zone office, both said "tough shit" so I wound up laying out $1600.

If I ever buy another GM product I hope someone will take me out and shoot me, it means my brain has finally rotted away.

 

That sucks but that is why they have a "XX,XXX miles or XX months" warranty. About 3 years ago I had a Dell crash 3 days after the warranty expired. It sucks and it damn sure is bad timing but there is not much you can do about it.

I am definitely surprised that a GM tranny failed at 24K though.

 

chevy hands down.

 

lots of chevy fans, im suprised to be honest.

 

For full sized domestics I like Chevy, Ford, then Dodge... But I think that they are pretty much the same qualitywise...

If you don't need something for towing, a Tacoma is a great 4x4 commuter vehicle... My brother traded his 03 v6 taco in for a 05 4cly taco... Still has a bed to load stuff in, and it gets better mileage then my CL...

When my brother moves out on me, I'll have to buy an old Chevy pickup (with a vintage 350 in it) or a old toyota since I won't be able to borrow his...

 

Just wish it came with the diesel.

 

As with all new Chevy's the new Silverado looks like a molding of plastic.

 

:mashedpotatoes:

 

the srt10 ram is overkill, haha.

 

If GM had even tried to meet me half way I would have been happy...maybe it was the snotty attitude of the twerp I talked to but they sure made me feel like I was wasting their time by even calling them. The dealer wasn't much better....maybe if I had a pick up and spit a lot they'd have like me more.

Had a similar situation with a Honda at 80k (brakes, not tranny). Honda said even though it was out of warranty their cars are better than that and that I should not have had the problem. Honda sold me the parts at cost and picked up the labor....total for all new brakes was under $100. That's why I keep comming back to them.

 

i believe he's referring to the silverado "classic". for 2007 chevy is offering the old body style "classic", as well as the redesigned models side by side. i personally prefer the looks of the new 2007 GMC sierra over the new silverado.

 

drove a ram today, and i like it way more than the silverado. mind you im looking at 04-05 preowned silverados/rams. i think im pretty set on going with the ram. thanks for all the help people. keep it coming because nothing is set in stone yet.