Used 3/4 ton gassers...

today14 · November 19, 2020

Have driven diesels (all three) since the mid 90’s and looking to possibly buy a ¾ ton gasser for our teenage daughter, budget is approx. $20-25k, of course would like to spend less, but looking for something that I don’t have to wrench on every weekend that may have a few of the driver safety features of today.

Would be used mainly for daily driving (school is 25 miles one way) and also pulling gooseneck horse trailer occasionally…she could take our dually when I’m not there but this would always be another option

Leaning towards either Ram 2500 (5.7 or 6.4) or GM 2500 (6.0)…is there anything about either of these that have issues with specific model years?

Any issues out of lease turn ins?

I’ve found tradesman Rams and both WT and low end LT GMs in our budget with <125k

dplarson · November 19, 2020

I have a 2017 GM 2500 6.0 that would probably be in your price range on the used retail market.

My first thought was the 25 mi commute and the cost of gas. You'd probably be looking at 10-14 MPG depending on highway or city driving. I'd calculate it at 13 not knowing. Not a cheap city runner but you will not be wrenching on it all the time.

The 6.0L L96 is a strong engine, fine for pulling your gooseneck up to about 13000lbs and a good candidate for lots of upgrades if you want to throw hardware at it. It responds well to intake, exhaust, cam, superchargers, you can really go crazy on these.

Just for economy I'd absolutely look at the smaller Ram. Their interior (on the half tons, not sure about the 3/4 tons) is much nicer in my opinion.

Sent from the demons in my head

ewbldavis · November 19, 2020

I've had 2 of the 6.0L's and know a number of folks with very high mileage 6.0's - they are a good engine.

I very highly doubt you will touch anything in the 2015+ range for $20-25k (at least in our area you won't). Certainly not with at least 100k miles on it - current conditions merit top dollar for used trucks.

Rams are very nice - but GM and Ram love to have rusty rockers. Good luck searching!

today14 · November 19, 2020

Have thought about a half ton, but leaning towards a little more heft especially if she ever has to pull something or just in general have a bigger vehicle than the majority of everyone else, off the cuff she may put 1200-1500 miles on it in a month…so 13mpg vs 18mpg is about $50 difference…

trying to stay away from whatever we get from being “too nice”…bares bones is fine for a first vehicle as long as its safe…downside is if you want any of the safety features, those usually aren’t available on the lower end models.

And yes – probably looking for something right around the 100k mile mark

ewbldavis (Eddy) - how much salt do they use on the roads up there? dealership down here in the south has a few lease returns that were all serviced out of Ohio on the carfax (16/17s)...i havent climbed under one yet, just saw them on their website

Mike Barber · November 19, 2020

Out here on the west coast the prices for late model 2500hd gassers is crazy. The local Chevy dealer has called/emailed at least three times in the last few months trying to get me to trade mine in or offering to buy it outright. It serves me perfectly so I am keeping it.

I wish you the best in your search, though. If your teenage daughter is a horse girl you have a huge part of life's struggles well under control! One of the best investments I ever made was a horse for my girl.

ewbldavis · November 20, 2020

22 hours ago, today14 said:

ewbldavis (Eddy) - how much salt do they use on the roads up there? dealership down here in the south has a few lease returns that were all serviced out of Ohio on the carfax (16/17s)...i havent climbed under one yet, just saw them on their website

Depends on weather. A 16/17 should be in decent condition. We've had a couple mild winters. Even my 2015 with 45k miles was still pretty clean. If truck was cared for properly, should be good. May even be undercoated, which helps in long run I believe.

today14 · November 21, 2020

On 11/19/2020 at 2:15 PM, Mike Barber said:

Out here on the west coast the prices for late model 2500hd gassers is crazy. The local Chevy dealer has called/emailed at least three times in the last few months trying to get me to trade mine in or offering to buy it outright. It serves me perfectly so I am keeping it.

I wish you the best in your search, though. If your teenage daughter is a horse girl you have a huge part of life's struggles well under control! One of the best investments I ever made was a horse for my girl.

dealers around here are beating the bushes for sure trying to find good used vehicles...family member bought a new Camry at the first of the year and the dealer called them up mid summer and got them to trade the one they just bought in on one that was identical to what they had...guess it worked out

and yes, horses are a great way to teach responsibility, figure we’ll spend it on something so might as well