Pickup - 5 passenger = 3 car seats

monstah · Apr 30, 2010

Help.

We are looking to buy a used pickup truck for DH. BUT, we need to keep in mind that 3 car seats will have to fit across the back. I have no problem buying new seats to fit the truck. We want to spend under $15K but can possibly stretch up to $20K if need be.

Any suggestions?

bobandjess99 · Apr 30, 2010

i think most of the full size larger pickups that have complete second rows are pretty wide and fit 3 across pretty well. Do you prefer chevy, ford, toyota, etc? Also, does it need to tow or anything?

npauli · Apr 30, 2010

Sounds familiar - we just went truck shopping a couple years ago with similar criteria. I did lots of shopping around and absolutely love what I've got. I hope to teach my girls how to drive stick in it.

Any full sized pickup w/ crew cab would do just fine for fitting car seats. I can even fit a Britax Advocate (huge carseat - very wide) next to the other 2 carseats in my truck.

GM calls it crew cab
Ford = super crew
Toyota = double cab
Ram = crew (they also have a Mega cab that's even bigger - it's nice, but expensive)

For that price range you could get a ~ 5-8 yr old diesel 3/4 ton or a new(er) gas half ton.

diesel would give you:
better fuel economy, depreciation, capability
more maintenance & hassles (fewer gas stations sell diesel, for example)

Some of the newer gas half tons offer better safety features, like side airbags.

So what do you think? Gas or Diesel? What else does the truck need to be used for (besides doubling as a minivan)?

monstah · Apr 30, 2010

npauli said:
Sounds familiar

For that price range you could get a ~ 5-8 yr old diesel 3/4 ton or a new(er) gas half ton.

diesel would give you:
better fuel economy, depreciation, capability
more maintenance & hassles (fewer gas stations sell diesel, for example)

Some of the newer gas half tons offer better safety features, like side airbags.

So what do you think? Gas or Diesel? What else does the truck need to be used for (besides doubling as a minivan)?

Sweet.

Diesel would be fine but I'm not a fan of the smell or noise. I'd prefer a newer 1/2 ton with better safety features.

It will be used mainly as a commuter truck for my DH (20 min each way). It will need to be able to plow long driveways and have 4 wheel drive. We are buying a house soon so it may have some hauling jobs from NJ to NH and/or hauling from Home Depot to the house. But that's about it for now. It would be nice to have the option of pulling a pop up or similar someday but that's a few years off right now.

npauli · Apr 30, 2010

hmmmm....

4wd might put the newer & safer half tons out of your price range. I just checked and it looks like Ford didn't put side airbags in till 2009, Dodge & GM in 2010. In that case I wouldn't expect a big difference in any of the full size pickup option as far as safety.

I'd start looking at GM and Ford, and let the preferred combination of features (bed length, trim level, 5 vs. 6 seats, etc.) help you sort through the local listings.

I got a crew cab longbed 4x4 w/ diesel and a 6 speed stick. It's great

We've had as many as 7 people in it (one not born yet).

TXDani · Apr 30, 2010

My husband used to have a Nissan Titan crewcab which was easy to do three across....I had a Regent, BV and a PP in it.

Now my husband has a Toyota Tundra crewmax (the back seat is HUGE) and it is also super easy to do three across. I have done a FN, MA and a B510 booster (or whatever it is called).

You can find lower models of both used for under $20,000.

1stTimeDad · May 1, 2010

Take a good hard look at the Honda Ridgeline. It is ridiculously safe, 4wd (all of them), full 4 doors, airbags all around, and extremely reliable. The only knocks on it are the smallish bed size (but most "crew" style trucks have a smaller bed), and v6 engine which doesn't allow it to tow REALLY heavy things. The first model was a 2006, but they have been highly recommended since then. I am pretty sure you can find a 2006 for less than 20k. These will last you long over 100k miles and probably closer to the 200k mile range or more. Go do the research and find out. The safety ratings are fantastic.

npauli · May 1, 2010

Ridgeline might very well be safer, since it's a unibody instead of body on frame. I'd seriously doubt if it would be suitable for plowing snow though.

Plowing is hard on trucks. My FIL does facility management for a school district and told me that they've bent frames on Dodge trucks while plowing, so now just buy Ford's or Chevy's. I don't know how the imported trucks would compare, but I'd imagine there's more aftermarket options (like plows) for the domestic trucks.

npauli · May 1, 2010

Oh yeah, the Ridgeline also isn't as wide as a full size pickup either, making it harder to do 3 across. It's built on the same platform as Odyssey and Pilot.

kathysr98 · May 1, 2010

Depending on what year model you look at, you could probably buy an extended cab Ford and have plently of room. The F150s have grown significantly in the past few years. My dad's 2010 crew cab is at least as big interior wise as his 2000 F250 crew cab. His 2007 F150 extended cab had a lot of room in the back seat as well. Maybe an 07 crew cab or a newer extended cab would be good...not sure if they grew again in 08 or 09.

beeman · May 2, 2010

No matter what make you choose, get the crew cab :twocents: . It offers way more room, and they do seem to hold resale value better. Don't get the 1/4 ton model, as they are rather light, useless when towing even a smaller trailer, and don't really get much better economy. I'm a Ford guy, so I have to throw that in as my preference. If you choose to go with a diesel option the Cummins in the Dodge has a better history of reliability than Ford or GM, however if you aren't towing big trailers a diesel isn't necessary.

Pickup - 5 passenger = 3 car seats

monstah

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TXDani

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