I am planning to get a vehicle that has a box at the back. But i can not decide between a FORD/CHEVY OR ISUZU(the one that the front cabin tilts) Diesel or Gas?

Please give me your ideas.

Thanks
Edward

Edward:
If I had a choice I would buy a Ford diesel truck. Over the years our company has switched from Chevrolet to all Ford's now. We have one diesel in the fleet, I drove it for about 4 years from the time it was new. Didn't really have too many problems and I averaged about 25k per year.

I am driving the newest one in the fleet right now. It is a 2003 F350 4door crew cab with a Reading utility body and custom made aluminum ladder/pipe rack on it. It rides like a Cadillac.

P.S. The diesels get better gas mileage.

[This message has been edited by fla sparkey (edited 12-21-2002).]

Just from past experience I have used an old Type III Ambulance, E-350, diesel. These vechicles have large box space, dual battery and oversized alternator for a large inverter, lockable outside storage, front and rear air, scene lights on all sides which come in handy for after dark time work. But if it was feasible I would go with a custom Dodge.

Having watched my Custom Dodge van burn to the ground in a matter of about 5 minutes (all on its own, no less), that wouldn't be my 1st choice.
I'm partial to GM products, but if it's got to be a diesel, I'd go with a Ford.
[smartalec]Yes, diesels get great gas mileage[/smartalec]

I've had both Fords and GMCs. Had good luck with both, Fords diesel is better IMHO and you will get better milage but the up front costs and mainteneance on a diesel becomes a factor. If you live where its cold, fuel quality and starting the vehicle in the morning become problems also.

I like gas jobs better, able to pass on back roads and don't make as much noise.

We have Ford E-250s and the GMC work vans. If your a tall guy and need a lot of leg room the cab on the GMC's are more roomy compared to the Fords

For what it's worth, the diesel is my choice. We have a '95 Ford 350, Powerstroke Diesel, new in '95. It has about 140K on it now. Yes, it's "noisy"....the mileage is great...and it's a strong truck.
Here in NJ in the "winter" we plug our two diesels block heaters in and have no trouble starting them.
Maintenance costs for the diesel are "higher" then the gas vans, but maintenance intervals are longer. Repairs are "pricey", but again, not "often".
As to the diesel being "slow", the powerstroke can blow away a lot of the competition on the road, if you are so inclined.

Now the F700 diesel w/55' TECO is "slow", but steady, and if it was a gas engine, we would spend a lot of time at the gas pump.
Diesel is the way for a work truck...
Ford seems to be the brand..
John

Ford or Chevy???

Buy what you can get the best deal on. We are currently running all fords, but I still think that an old chevy C20 van we had was the lowest cost (to maintain) vehicle we ever had. The fords seem to take a steady stream of $$'s to keep 'em going.

GJ

Dangerous topic here!

No offense intended, but personally I wouldn't drive a Ford even if it was free. If you did give me a Ford, I would sell it and buy a GMC or Isuzu, or even a Toyota if available. For diesel box trucks, the Isuzu NPR is the best on the market.

Found On Roadside Dead

Factory Ordered Road Disasters

Flip Over, Read Directions

Four Old Rusty Doors

For Only Retarded Drivers

Flipped Over Russian Dunebuggy

For Off-Road Dead

it Freaking Only Runs Downhill

Found On Railroad Deserted

Forget Out-Running Dale

I guess you could say, I'm not a Ford man

First On Race Day.

Can Hear Every Valve Rattle On Long, Extended Trips

I'm a Ford guy (remember, if it weren't for Henry Ford, NONE of us could afford a vehicle! It would be a toy for the Rich!!!)

The most resilient motor ever made:

300 cu in Six Cylinder by Ford.

Just ask UPS (they were forced to switch to diesels when Ford quit making the 300-I6 in '96).

[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 12-22-2002).]

I own a 1992 F150 4x4 and 1986 C20 CHEVY, The FORD nobody has been able to fix,many $$$ later it still has a miss and 10 MPG, the Chevy has been a good truck but with 150.000 K its time for a new motor I do not trust GM on newer goods at all due some of the garbage they have dumped on the market over the years, Fords diesels have performed well over the years so that would be my choice.

GMC
GOTTA MECHANIC COMING
GAY MANS COMPANION

JEEP
JUNK EACH EVERY PART

I do some work for UPS and they switched to Diesels in their package cars and guess what they didn't stand up so now they are switching back to gas jobs. Can't remember what they were installing but I think 250cu in chevys.

Oh boy....Ford vs. Chevy. This argument is like the pretwisting vs. no pretwisting.

Personally, I drive a '96 F-150 Work with the 6 and E4OD auto. Its been a good truck with relatively few problems.


True...but the E4OD really robs the power from it. I still wish I got mine with the manual.

If you live in New England, this place has some good deals.
www.portford.com

I will probably order a Chevy 3500 with the 6 liter gas engine. The dealer said unless I was doing more mileage it wasn't worth the extra cost for the engine for the increased mileage per gallon. Also the incereased maintenance costs were a factor.

I looked at one of the Freightliner Sprinter vans that FedX is now using. It comes with a 5 cylinder Mercedes diesel that gets 20-22 mpg fully loaded. You can get a 8, 10 or 12' box and 2 different heights. My problem was where to store the ladders, it would take a ladder to reach the ladders on top. I didn't want them on the sides.

stay away from one of those cab over thingies. My brother in law won't walk for months after he wrapped the front around his legs in an accident.

TW

got an 89 chevy with 71000 miles new motor new tranny broken shock mounts (need I go on?)Also have a 69 F100 get in turn the key and go

around here, (central ohio), chevys seem to be a little cheaper to get repaired, and the parts for them seem a little more readily available. but, (theres always a "but"), the fords seem to go longer between repairs, and their front suspensions are, by far, much more heavy duty than the chevys. chevys seem to have scrimped on the durability of their front suspensions for the past 25 years, and they are still very deficient in that area, IMHO.

just another opinion..............

I've owned all of the big 3, was a while ago. 75 F250 w/a 360 cu in 4sp manual, that truck took abuse and had no problems with it except for rust. 82 Chevy C10 4.3ltr. 3 on the tree, this truck had several problems, but it's parts were easier to find and replace. 88 Dodge 1/2 ton 4wd, big problems with transmission as I've noticed dodge has a long history of trany problems. I drive a 92 Dakota now, doesn't burn or leak a drop of oil, hasn't given me any problems, had regular maintenance expenses and that's it. Seems like these days, even though I'm partial to the older vehicles that the trucks are engineered much better than the old days. I think if I was to purchase something now, i would see which one fits my situation the best and compare the warranties. Waranties seem to be very important as materials and labor costs are extremely expensive. I think that would make the decission a little easier. If I'm in business and it costs me more time and money for repairs than another vehicle, there's all the time lost from the business on top of repairs. these days it doesn't seem to matter which company you buy for, it's not all american parts anyways. I know people who own isuzu, they tell me they're very expensive to fix, I know people that own ford trucks, some of them have told me the suspension gave them expensive repair bills. I haven't heard anything bad a bout GM products from anyone yet. I guess a big part of the whole buying new situation would be the dealers reputation, their service department, how they treat you when you need them. Checking track records, looking at consumer reports, asking people who've owned such vehicles, checking reasale value. I know when I buy anything I do quiet a lot of investigating, specially if I have to make payments .

[This message has been edited by Wirenuttt (edited 12-22-2002).]

All my trucks are chevrolets BUT... I have contemplated an F250 Powerstroke for myself.

The oldest truck in the fleet is a 95 6 cyl stick, a straight work truck. It is WAY overloaded, cross box, two side boxes, three storage boxes, ladder rack, 20 ft extension, 10ft, 8ft, 6ft, and 4ft ladders all weighing the poor thing down! Plus the added weight of wire and overhead poles about every other day.

All I can say is the truck has never let me down or left me walking after 147K miles.

I drive a 2000 2500 long bed extended cab with all the fixings less the rack and a couple of ladders. Good truck but the driver side door leaks. Havent had time to put it in the shop and get it fixed.

The newest truck is a 2002 long bed 1500 V8
decked out too.

No major problems with any of them! Guess I'm a Chevy man.

or like ground up or down for all of us from the us

Hrm....talked about 'work vans' in a previous post, but here is my thoughts. When we first started, we were Chevy people... first van was a 79 Chev 1/2 ton, then we added a 87 Chev G-10, then a 90 G-20. Those vans were very durable and bullet proof. When it came time to replace these things, we (and many of the other tradespeople I talked to) weren't too happy with the new generation GM full sizes.

My beefs with the current generation GM vans......I could swear the sheetmetal is very thin on these vans. The bumpers are wimpy too...ever notice how easily they are dinged??

Anyways, starting in 97 we switched to the Ford E-series, and currently have the following in our fleet..

still running 87 Chev full size, 97 E-150, 2001 E-150, 2001 E-250 and coming soon.. 2003 E-250.

The Ford vans, so far have been very good and seem much more solid than the current GM vans.

p.s. See how ugly the new 2003 GM vans are these days? They destroyed that front end.

Bye for now.

Sandro.

I had owned 2 Dodge vans. One was a 1985 maxi in length, and 200 series. I put cloce to 200,000 miles on that one. Engine would smoke a lot at start up. Now I drive a Dodge 350 van, 1986 with only 70,000 on it and it seems like a good truck, but the Dodge Vans are no longer around for 2003. It's going to be Damier/Chrylser with a mercedes engine and the Van style will have a new look. I don't know the price but I would think the price is going to be big bucks. I'm thinking about a new Ford Van. I hope it's the right decision.

SJT, I checked Dodge's website and it still seems like they've got those small cargo vans for 2003. Is that what you're looking for, the ones that look like little micro-buses without side windows?

If so, look under the "Trucks" link and go to where it says "Cargo vans".

It'd be kind of stupid to not make them and hand over that market to GMC & Ford....

Aw come on now.. Cox communications around here uses Fords.. now I found it funny in the winter time i never saw one of the normal fords on the road, they all magicly turned into Dodge Dulley Disels.. <shrugh> The car fairy must of come by or something.. I prefer the dodge, I traveled home in a Dodge 1500 RAM from Amarillo,TX in a convoy of a cpl other trucks.. (I know where this one is going, its more the drivers).. But i was able to keep that dodge on the road more than they could, they finally gave up and sat on the side of the road.. My friend let me drive his GMC, i dont like the rear ends on there sierra's.. there too loose for me.. its not heavy enough.. But this is like asking why you like that blue shirt you always wear.. Go test drive a cpl of them and see what you think/feel

On the Diesel/Gas..

Diesel = More power, towing..
Gas = Touring, SOME towing, etc

I drive a 2002 Ford E250 Van. Very happy with it.

I don't have much experience with full-size trucks, but when I'm shopping for a new vehicle I always check out iihs.org for crash protection. Based on that alone, you couldn't pay me to drive a Ford or a pre '03 Ram.

Neat website....unfortunately, I couldn't find any crash test info on full size vans.

I must say, I wouldn't be driving a current GM pick up either, it did marginally better than the others. And considering the GM is a newer design, it would have been nice if GM spent more R&D money on crashworthiness.

I have an 02' chevy full size king cab PU with the 5.3L and like everything about it, a great truck!

Electric eagle, you forgot
Fixed or repaired daily...
Sorry for the delayed responsed