Yesterday I was driving along thinking of how ironic my current position was. Towing my restored 71 vette w/ my 07 Titan... To me, Chevy is where its at when it comes to American performance cars and trucks. However, when I went to buy a new truck I test drove them all, Fords, Nissans, Toyota's, Dodges, and GM. I came to this conclusion:

Dodge: Way to expensive and didn't measure up to the other vehicles i drove, i just didnt' like em.
Toyota: Liked the Tundra alot but wasn't about to buy the last model year, or risk buying the first (the new one)
Ford: I liked them as well. However, it honestly felt like too much of a truck. I've had sports cars and trucks as daily drivers forever, and after a few hundred thousand miles you like to forget it. Pretty damn pricey too.
GM: All in all, I liked the GM's the most. If I had unlimited resources, I'd of optioned one of these puppy's out all the way. However, maybe because its they have a loyal customer base, none of the dealers could offer me a great deal, and I just couldn't afford what I wanted

So I'm left w/ the Nissan. I got a truck that was tagged w/ a 36,750 MSRP for 31k. It drives a little more civilized than the Chevy, but I wanted the 6.0L bad. Oh well. Money is where its at in the end... if you can't pay to play you don't play!

So what made you guys buy your trucks other than sheer brand loyalty...? Its interesting to see what one person weights more than another in buying a truck.... other than their fierce brand loyalty.

 

It's funny that you posted this, I wanted a Titan really bad but could only afford my silverado. I like both trucks very much but the Nissan seemed to be just alittle less work truck and more luxury. overall it was price for me.

 

I have always bought a chevy because every truck i have beenaround or driven the chevys always get the best gas mileage. You cant beat 18 to 21 mpg with a 5.3L stock chevy z-71.

 

Let me know how it performs. The new Armadas supposedly run low 15's in stock form, according to Truckin'(the big chart in the back, seems to be accurate with all the other vehicles tested). Dunno how accurate this is. Seems unlikely with only 305 hp. But hey, who knows?

 

I bought mine due to several factors. as Stook 02 also did. Here are what I found and have noticed since.

Titan - fast truck, stiff ride, poor braking, terrible fuel milage comparitively. My boss has one and I much prefer driving my truck out of town than his. Also with minor improvements I am much faster and there is no real difference in towing despite claims.

Toyota - cab too small, no backseat legroom at all (may be different with new one), low fuel milage, low towing, slow truck

Dodge - everybody I know says they squeak like hell. fast truck , but again poor milage like titans. Also do not hold up much past 100k

Ford - was in close running with chevy except they admittently had tranny issues at the time and was dificult ti get them to repair / replace. Also could never get anyone here to let me take a test drive. (maybe I look like a hodelum) Have some folks I know that bought them and sold 1 year later due to too many break downs (1 had 6-7 major repairs, others 3-4)

Chevy - better overall milage (when I race my boses titan I still average 15-16mpg while he is getting 8-9 and still loses, slightly less towing capacity, but has not been an issue. Does have driveline noise, but I brought it to attention of dealership while in warantee and they stated it was a known problem and gave me paperwork that if problem results they will fix even out of warantee. Plus this truck is just fast as hell with minor mods and I still have a long way to go. My last chevy went 283k when i traded it in and I beat the **** out of it (with 35s) . That says alot to me.

 

Thanks for recieving me well.... some boards just arn't worth coming back to. The 5.3L is a nice engine, and definetely the work horse of the Silverado line, but I wouldn't jump to too many conclusions about speed, ect just yet. Some quick facts about the Titan:
1) 315 HP in 2007, and not from exhaust. Some time of VVT was used that was never implemented before. Its simply more than before, not just a factory 'tune'.
2) Before you decide which is faster, make sure you ride in trucks w/ AND w/o the big tow option. This is the only way (pretty sure) to get the higher/shorter final drive gear which definetely helps accelleration.
3) I dynoed my Titan w/ 2500 miles on the odometer. Only thing I have on it is a factory replacement magnaflow muffler, good for a supposed 5 rwhp... maybe. I dynoed at 267 rwhp at over 2000 ft agl. Not sure what the real density altitude was, didn't really bother. This engine, like many, takes a while to break in fully, and usually gains another 5-7 whp by 10-15k.
4) Tuning helps ALOT in this truck. I swear Nissan messed w/ the timing to jack us up as much as possible. W/ 2 degree's of advance you gain anywhere from 5-12 hp throughout the entire rev band, w/ no noticeable loss anywhere. Significant gains are made down low.... i can't wait to do this mod. Best of all, 2 degree's is the max a factory tech rep can do for a tune.... meaning it can be done w/o voiding the warranty if done professionally.

Now, this isn't to say its the best... just the best for me.
1) Gas does suck... and it sucks gas, I'm only averaging about 15-16 mpg in the winter wonderland of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
2) The interior is awesome..... perfect for my taste. NOT, I SAY NOT perfect for a work truck for imo ONE reason. The materials!!! The dash is too hard and not plyable enough..... its easily scratched where some other brands would simply 'give' then return to shape. Think Nissan think.....
3) Breaking.... again, needs work. Not the worst I'd say, but it certainly needs work. I'm fine offroad and on ice, but general breaking feels heavy.
4) Handling... I like the handling, but again, for having 18' rims I'd expect something more... not much, but maybe a little. I wouldn't mind it if it had maybe another 2' of lift, but as it stands, it needs some tuning. I'll fix this when I lift it 1.5' front and rear. I don't really expect the handling to improve, but I will try to negate any of the negative affects of the lift by balancing the suspension a little better.... or so I hope, we'll see.
5) Transmission... I like the tranny. Its smooth, and the gates are pretty awesome. Makes damn sure you never ever go into the wrong gear. Only down side is this.... lots of trucks/suv's have or are being developed to use a 6 speed which will only make my 5 obsolete sooner, but thats just getting nitpicky.

Overall, the general reliabilty has been awesome. Not a single flaw to report as of yet. I also had one hell of a salesman..... threw in a Lund bug deflector for me at his cost (not a huge deal i know, but still.... it was good salesmanship). Combine this w/ the vent visors and the blue paint and she looks awesome.

Now..... back to what I really wanted... I'd of loved a 6.0L LS2 powered Silverado.... but that was just too much money for me. I know the 5.3L is the standard, and what just about everyone owns, but I wanted "my" truck. You can argue w/ me all you want, but I just dont see a 5.3L modded out performing a modded 5.6L, or a 6.0L at the track. Where there is more displacement there is more room for hp. Granted, at a point you could just modify the 5.3L to something larger, it is a chevy..... gotta love it! But.... keeping to mods under say.... $1500

 

wow. i love trucks.lol especialy chevy/gm. seems to soon to judge the titan, i mean comon enough years have not gone by to call it reliable. i guess im only saying this because, once i took an ol 87 chevy c10, and put a brand new motor and trans in it and some small things hear an there like new poly bushings and brake's and im sure this truck will go another 300k ,,,,honestly i think im just being biased,, i do try and be opend minded and would most likly sport a titan or others if it was givin to me,, and id probly learn to like it,,
Im still holden my money back to get the new camaro when it comes out. and i cant wait, lol,,, but with all this talk about these trucks. i have not heard anyone say anything about hondas version of a truck..lol anyone know anything about that?

 

I know its a piece of s***.... enough said on that matter.

 

Well, I guess not everyone can be open minded.

Anyways, yea, I like the new Camaro too. Buddy of mine is saving for what ever the top of the line model will be in the second year of production. He's been driving his 01 now forever! I'd consider getting one simply because it will prolly be a classic. As soon as money allows I want something "different". Either a Z06, Viper.... something exotic that I would like to hold on to. If I had to get a 2+2 it would def. be a Camaro.

I agree, there hasn't been enough time to evaluate the Titan. However, lets be realistic..... with all the pressure on foriegn trucks to measure up to American made ones if it did have serious flaws or reliability issues we'd all know about it. For me, 5-6 years is all I care about. Once the factory 100k warranty is up its gone.... maybe I'll wait an extra year.

As far as American trucks go, I don't think the Titan is really less American than most domestics. I forget where I was reading it.... but the Titan has has more American parts and assembly than all but perhaps the Tundra... lol. Its styled in Cali, built in Miss.....

I've yet to hear anything about the Titan that leads me to believe its "piece of ****". I read on the usual problems select people have w/ every brand, but don't know anyone who owns one that is having issues. Likewise... I don't hear anything about problems w/ GM's.... at least not major ones. I do hear ALOT of comments from dodge and ford owners though. It seems like some people never have a problem, then I talk to ford diesel owners..... it could just be my experiences w/ em but they seem weak on reliability. The dodges just seem weakly built.... w/ the exception of the tranny and engine.... too bad cause they look sweet.

 

i meant that the honda gotfuel was talking about is a piece. The Titans are ok, but i love my chevy!