I need to get a truck to carry building stuff and to pull a travel trailer next year. I have always been a Chrysler type person-many Jeeps and a Roadrunner in my past. I am trying to decide between used and new. If I go new, it has to be my only car. If I get something around 100k-120k miles, I could trade in my jeep and add money and not have to get rid of my little car. I worked for a rental company several years in school. I maintained Diesel Ryder trucks, Bobcats and Air Compressors. I never really did any troubleshooting. I am pretty good at gas motor troubleshooting. My little car is a WRX that has been a bit of a hobby, so I am also pretty familiar with turbos. Finally, I pretty much understand the theory behind how diesels work. So here's the question:

Should I dump everything and get a new truck w/ warantee or should I by a high(at least I usually consider 120k high) mileage 5 year old truck?
How much is too much mileage?
Am I likely to be biting off too much to learn how to diagnose problems?

They seem generally reliable and I see several for sale with 200k+, which is why I am even considering something with 120k. I read a recent article in diesel power mag about buying an old truck, but they were talking about ancient(80's and even before)I obviously would make sure there is no rust, but what do you guys think? Thanks for your help. If I get an old one, I'm sure I'll need more help.

 

120K is still young on these trucks. 200+ and the engine is just getting broken in, with another 500 or more thousand left

if you got yourself an older truck, even a 1st gen. they will still be very reliable, plus you would have money left over to have fun with your subaru

now if you got a 2nd gen, and it is between 93 and 98 there is alot you can do to that truck to make it run circles around your little subaru

 

Oh man, this just got harder. My friend owns a muscle car resto shop. My Jeep has been having some problem I couldn't figure out, so I offered to meet him and buy him lunch if He'd ID the problem. Well, he guessed right off it was a dead cyl. - probably wires and plugs. That done, I started chatting him up about an older diesel. He drives an 04(I think - it's the last year the headlights had rounded bottoms) Ram 2500 Laramie with the CTD. So not only does he confirm they are good for 300k+ miles but he also decides he, my wife and I should drive around all day doing errands in his beast with me driving to see if I like it! I Like I Like!!!! Anyway, now I'm considering dumping the Subie and the Jeep and get one of these new as a daily driver. His is an auto, but otherwise, I really liked it. I think I might be taking a trip to the Dodge dealer soon!

 

looks like we're gunna have another oil burner on our hands

 

Well, last night on the way home some 18 year old hit me at ~70mph. I and all all the other people paying attention had stopped at a light. The speed limit is 60. I looked up in my rearview and see the kid looking away as he rockets into my Cherokee. I have a reciever with a big steel bike rack from the company that makes them for metro busses. Well, it split his 06 cobalt all the way back into the engine block. [:@]Take that! Unfortunately, I will now need to wait for them to total it to give me my downpayment on the truck. Of course this emphasizes the need to drive a bigger vehicle. Like...maybe...a...DIESEL RAM!!!!

 

a guy from another site I frequent had a little car hit him head on. he had a 6" lift with 37's. the car had the emergency cable snap and roll down a hill. his truck is fine, nothing wrong, but the little car was just about totaled

then another guy had some low rider run into his trailer hitch. nothing wrong with the reciever, but the low rider had the radiator and condenser busted

 

Here in St. Louis, Lynch Hummer used to have a picture of what happened when someone wasn't paying attention and drove an MR2 into/under the back of an H1 that was stopped in traffic. Needless to say the final score was Hummer - 1 Toyota - 0 The MR2 went from being mid-engine to nearly a front engine car. 'Course that was when Hummer only made the big beast. I imagine an H2 might have gotten a little body damage.