Car shopping time, ugh

[DuckRyder]

Ridgeline?

Ranger?

F150?

I actually towed a Ski Nautique all the time and a 30 foot car trailer once with a Box Body Crown Vic SSP... so yeah they actually do make good tow rigs...

 

[macarose]

A few things...

I have a popular car buying service on Facebook called 48 Hours And A Used Car which specializes with vehicles that are 2015 or newer and with no more than 60,000 miles. About 95% of our business is with small-to-medium sized rideshare companies. But we do some business with individuals if they know exactly what they want. Very few shoppers can get to that point which is why I generally avoid dealing with that segment of the market.

You are in the thick of tax season which means a small army of car shoppers are going to take their tax refunds and put them towards a car or truck. Prices will stay high until around late-May. Even then you likely won't see a major correction since new car production is still in the doldrums.

Start with this study I co-developed which now has over 4 million vehicles inspected by mechanics all over the USA from 2013 to the present.

http://dashboard-light.com

The 2013 Equinox that was totaled? Consider it a mixed blessing. You got rid of garbage but the market right now will not be easy. Figure out what you want. Then test drive it. Even rent a version of it for a day if it's a late-model vehicle.

Good luck!

 

[Revving2Redline]

Car shopping is like job hunting.... sometimes it's the hardest part. It's like wife hunting and deer hunting too....always waiting for the perfect one.

 

[Finklejag]

You can get thousands off a left over 2022 Honda Ridgeline or even 2023. All my local Honda dealers are stocked with them. I guess people are waiting for the redesign 2024.

 

[Dave Sherman]

Success! Found a slightly used 2021 RAM 1500 4x4 (22,000 miles) 3.6 Pentastar. Test drove a 2019 Ranger, and while it was nicely equipped, the 2.3 turbo engine was just a tad noisy and it had 80,000 miles. Decided to be fair and drove the RAM as well, and while it didn't have the fancy heated leather power seats and adaptive cruise control like the Ranger, first thing my wife and I noticed it was so much quieter than the Ranger, and had better mirrors for towing our camper. Also has the tow/haul mode. So, I'm a new owner of my first pickup.

 

[supton]

Success! Found a slightly used 2021 RAM 1500 4x4 (22,000 miles) 3.6 Pentastar. Test drove a 2019 Ranger, and while it was nicely equipped, the 2.3 turbo engine was just a tad noisy and it had 80,000 miles. Decided to be fair and drove the RAM as well, and while it didn't have the fancy heated leather power seats and adaptive cruise control like the Ranger, first thing my wife and I noticed it was so much quieter than the Ranger, and had better mirrors for towing our camper. Also has the tow/haul mode. So, I'm a new owner of my first pickup.

Did you get the 3.23's or 3.55's for gearing? IIRC it had a difference in official tow rating--YMMV, depending on just how much you think a slight rear gear change matters for the towing you plan to do.

Congrads, and good luck.

 

[Trav]

Success! Found a slightly used 2021 RAM 1500 4x4 (22,000 miles) 3.6 Pentastar. Test drove a 2019 Ranger, and while it was nicely equipped, the 2.3 turbo engine was just a tad noisy and it had 80,000 miles. Decided to be fair and drove the RAM as well, and while it didn't have the fancy heated leather power seats and adaptive cruise control like the Ranger, first thing my wife and I noticed it was so much quieter than the Ranger, and had better mirrors for towing our camper. Also has the tow/haul mode. So, I'm a new owner of my first pickup.

I have no idea what the weather is where you are but if they use salt I would rustproof it yesterday, up here in the salt belt they rot badly in places in a short time.

 

[chrlsful]

define the trailer. Cant answ till I no the need...
If I went by the equnox (Id say never tow w/that, just finished a rear break job on 1 & its awd crap,
after only a few yrs - junk).

I'd say the trailer is so sm my car can haul it (105 inch WB, 3.8L, 4 speed OD).