Posted by Brian in Oregon on January 02, 2000 at 16:28:49:
In Reply to: Diesel, Dodge or Ford? posted by Steve on January 02, 19100 at 06:41:02:
Forget the Ford diesels. I liked them in the early '80's, but they keep going downhill for reliability. Dodge has them whupped.
As for gas engines, the Ford 460 is the way to go.
As for styling, I don't care for any of them, I preferred the boxy look. But at least the Dodge doesn't have a sissy yuppie look.
And yes, be sure and ask service managers about repairs. My wife took her '90 Trooper in for routine servicing. The mechanic mentioned he rarely ever saw them come through. But he said the new Troopers are in the shop all the time and the new engine is unreliable. And we thought new front rotors were bad at $133 each (you get about one clean up turning is all), but the rotors on the new Trooper are $249 each. That means every other brake job on the new Trooper will set you back around $1200 - $1300 bucks. My point is, ask mechanics and also go to the parts department with a list of common items, like brake parts, water pump, etc., and ask how much the replacement parts are. See if you hair stands on end. It doesn't do any good to buy a vehicle and then go broke on routine maintc.