Are you interested in buying a pickup truck? Ensure the one you choose is the right one! If you need help, read our guide to buying the best pickup truck.
Buying a new pickup truck is an exciting process, and there are a lot of possibilities to choose from.
Are you going to get a compact truck that you can tool around town in and still find a parking spot with ease? Or will you get a standard pickup that can go off-road when you ask it to?
When you’re looking at buying a new truck, there are several decisions you’re going to need to make.
As long as you’re honest with yourself about what you need, you’ll wind up with the best pickup truck for you. Read on to learn more about picking out a new truck.
Buy What You Need
One of the most important things when choosing a pickup truck is to remember not to go crazy.
Yes, it’s tempting to get the biggest truck with the highest towing capacity and the all-wheel drive. But if you’re driving from your house to your work fifteen minutes down the road in a small town every day, you don’t need all that and it’ll cost you both in truck price and in fuel efficiency.
Before you start looking at truck models, sit down and think about what you need from your truck.
Will this mostly be a family vehicle and a city driver? Or will you be towing heavy loads, bouncing across fields, splashing down trails, and using all the hard-riding features on a daily basis?
Size
When it comes to size, pickup trucks come in almost every available size and ratio.
From compact Ford Rangers to the 3500 series, you can find a size that suits you. There are two main things you’ll want to look at when considering truck size: the cab size and the bed.
With cab size, you’re looking at regular cab, extended cab, or crew cab trucks.
Regular and extended cab trucks have just two doors, though the extended cabs include a tiny backseat. Crew cab trucks come with four doors and a full-size backseat that’s great for a family vehicle.
In a full-size pickup truck, the standard bed size is eight feet, though you’ll lose about three feet of that length if you get a crew cab truck. Crew cabs with eight-foot beds do exist, but they’re hard to find.
If you’re wanting something smaller, compact trucks usually come with five- or six-foot beds.
Fuel Economy
It should come as no surprise to you that trucks are not the most fuel-efficient vehicles.
They’re large, and the demand for extra power means fewer miles to the gallon. But fuel technology is improving every day and newer pickup trucks are beginning to feature better fuel economy.
For most full-size pickup trucks, you can expect somewhere between fourteen and nineteen miles to the gallon. Electric pickup trucks are beginning to make their way into the industry, too.
The Rivian R1T 2020 model is expected to completely change the game when it comes to electric-powered pickup trucks.
Drive
The amount of drive power in your truck is another one of those factors where you need to seriously assess your need.
Most pickup trucks feature rear-wheel drive ideal for moving heavy loads. But there are also four-wheel and all-wheel drive options available, depending on your needs.
If you live somewhere where winter weather is dangerous, four-wheel drive is a good idea.
Some models are starting to include a full-time four-wheel drive option where the extra drive kicks in only when needed. An all-wheel drive vehicle uses four-wheel drive all the time, which can be bad for the truck if you spend most of your time driving on concrete.
Safety
It’s not as exciting as thinking about the drive and size of your new pickup truck, but you do want to make sure your truck comes with solid safety features.
Trucks tend to flip a little more easily than sedans, and you want to make sure you and your family are protected. Luckily, automakers are keeping trucks updated with all the latest in safety technology.
Many trucks these days will come equipped with forward collision warning technology and automatic emergency braking to help prevent crashes.
They may also have the technology to let you know if you drift out of your lane on the highway or even adjust steering to keep you on course. And in the event of an accident, many trucks now alert emergency personnel automatically if one of the airbags deploys.
Towing
Back to the exciting stuff, let’s take a look at towing capacity.
Many people use their pickup trucks to haul boats, trailers, and similar objects, so be sure you know how much you need to tow on a regular basis. Everything from the bed size to the axel ratio can go into towing capacity, so be sure to buy what you need.
A standard pickup truck can generally haul between 5,000 and 10,000 pounds; for scale, the average speed boat is about 8,000 pounds.
That should be plenty for most applications, but let’s say you’re needing to haul several cows. In that case, you’ll need a heavy-duty truck, which can be configured to haul up to 31,000 pounds.
Comfort
Finally, as much as a truck can be a rugged work vehicle, it should also be a comfortable ride. Some trucks are starting to feature full-on massage options in their seats, which can be amazing on long rides.
But if that seems a little frilly for you, just make sure the truck is comfortable for you and your family.
Make sure everyone who’s going to be regularly riding in your truck can easily get into it and install running boards if not.
Some trucks come with retractable running boards now if you don’t want the look of permanent ones. And on the test drive, pay attention to how the truck rides; loud and clunky may seem tough and rustic right now, but it’s going to get old in a hurry.
Find the Best Pickup Truck
Finding the best pickup truck for you is a matter of being honest about your needs.
There’s no sense in paying another $10,000 for way more truck than you need and then paying thousands more in gas and maintenance down the road. Be realistic about what you need, and you’ll find yourself in a truck you love for the best price.
If you’d like to get your hands on the truck of your dreams, come see us at Holzhauer Auto and Motor Sports Group.
We make buying a vehicle simple, easy and fun. Check out our new inventory to see what models we have ready for you to drive home today.
AdChoices