Hi Scotty! I absolutely love watching your YouTube channel. You are so informative and entertaining! I have learned a lot by watching your videos. I am currently caring for my elderly mother, including paying for her nursing every month. I currently own a 2017 Lexus NX200t (automatic) with 22,000 miles on it and a 2017 Ford F150 pickup truck (automatic) with 8,300 miles. My Lexus was previously owned by an elderly lady and garage kept. Maintenance was kept up. I purchased it when it had around 7,300 miles. My Ford was previously owned by another elderly lady, who was not good about judging her distance and the truck was left with minor cosmetic issues that have since been repaired. The truck runs essentially new. The previous owner of the Ford did not really do any maintenance on it. Since it is now in my care, I am getting the oil changed and doing maintenance. To continue supporting my mother's nursing, I need to sell one of these cars.
My question is: In your opinion, which vehicle is going to be my best choice long term, both in reliability and maintenance costs?
I also purchased my dad's 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 Crew 4x2 Quad truck when he passed away four years ago. I have not really had any issues with it until now. It is automatic with 178,000 miles on it. I have replaced the battery and tires and now it is making a squealing noise when turning the steering wheel; especially to the right. I have also noticed a leak coming from underneath the hood. My dad purchased it used and I personally do not know what type of maintenance was done prior to him owning it. I do know it was used as a work truck from the person my dad purchased it from. It starts immediately with no hesitation. It drives well. The main issue I have is the wasp get in through the doors in the summer and make nests. Would this be a good truck to keep long term and what could the leak possibly be?
I appreciate you answering my questions. I know your time is valuable. Keep making great videos. I tell everyone I know to watch your channel.
Have a blessed day,
Jacqueline
Out of those I'd say the Lexus has the best long-term potential.
Thank you!
Which of these vehicles is best for reliability and longevity?
So the options are: a 21 year old Dodge, a Ford with the nightmare 10 speed, or a turbocharged Lexus?
Uhhhhh, the best out of these, if your Ford has the 10 speed, would be the Lexus - but not by a huge margin, as it has a niche European super complex engine that they only made for a couple of years and there's very little information about it.
Thank you! I appreciate your response.
After I saw your comment, I checked to see what kind of transmission my Ford F150 had and it actually has a 6-speed automatic transmission, instead of a 10-speed. With this information, do you still believe the Lexus would be more reliable in the long run?
Which engine
3.5L V6 TIVCT
That's probably the last good Ford Truck - but some 3.5L Ford engines do have a serious fatal flaw.
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On some of these, Ford has went with an internal water pump, but they have made it ridiculously weak.
Basically it's a time bomb, any leaks from it will go directly into the engine oil, and when that happens, if not caught immediately, the engine will be damaged.
According to some sources it can happen as early as 50,000 miles although almost all cases I herd about were around 100,000 miles or more.
It can get pretty expensive (~$1k) to replace the internal water pump with a reputable AFTERMARKET water pump with an improved gasket design, not the OEM ford crap.
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If the fatal flaw gets resolved / your truck is not affected, sure it has a very decent change of outlasting what ever that turbocharged 2.0L may - the 6 speed transmission on these is also just great.
As far as maintenance and ownership costs, apart from the somewhat low MPG, it's not a Tacoma, random stuff may brake here and there - but overall it's a very good truck!
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EDIT: found a detailed article on the issue, https://vroomfume.weebly.com/ford-35l-and-37l-transverse-mounted-duratec-v6-internal-water-pump-failure
Also, here's a Scotty video on the topic:
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It's really not that bad to replace the internal water pump on most cars, usually there's enough room - on some cars you would have to pull out the engine.
So I'd consider just replacing it with a good aftermarket one, and just driving the Ford - other than that issue, the DuraTec V6 is a very solid engine, and so is the ZF 6HP transmission.
You can get many hundreds of thousands of miles out of the, with decent fuel milage - just keep on top of maintenance and drive it moderately.
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Honestly, if you're looking for the best reliability and low ownership costs - the Lexus and Ford you have are, each worth around the price of a new Camry 2.5L and as far as ownership costs and longevity you can't really beat that.
If you don't keep your cars for more than 10 years, the Camry hybrid also has the benefit of being rated at 52 mpg (in the LE trim, others have worse economy ratings) and except for the batteries that get worn out from age, the powertrain on those is as close to being bulletproof as they get.
Yes, Camrys are not exciting tucks or luxury cars but they're so common and so well built that their ownership costs are minimal - especially now that they've finally engineered out almost all of the quirks out of the DirectShift and the naturally aspirated DynamicForce engine. (previous years had issues with water intrusion, clunky shifts, etc. - but since 2021 they seem to be holding up quite well)
Thanks so much. I really appreciate your time and advice. Very helpful! Have a great day!
Lexus
Thank you for your response!
+1 for the Lexus to keep.
Thank you very much!