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May 3, 2008
We’ve owned a lot of pickup trucks over the years, ranging from first-generation mini-pickups to late model diesels, but I think my favorite of the bunch is our 2007 Nissan Frontier. It’s comfortable, gets decent gas mileage, and has plenty of power. With its slick shifting 6-speed manual transmission it feels like a pickup version of a 350Z. We had intended for it to be our last truck ever, that is until be bought our new travel trailer. Even though the trailer is considered to be a “Lite” model, the Nissan is never comfortable with it in tow.
To be honest, we are both disappointed and more than a little bit upset at the prospect of having to sell the truck. The Nissan is getting 21.5 mpg in our combined daily driving and we don’t relish the thought of going from that mileage figure to some lower figure that full-sized trucks are known for. We bought the trailer based on the power and published towing capability of the Nissan, but had no idea that there would be problems. After all, the trailers dry weight is only 3,200 pounds, while the truck has a 6,500-pound tow rating, but it’s all water under the bridge now. It’s time to replace the truck with a larger one or sell the new trailer. Those are our choices.
Our decision is to put the truck up for sale on the Internet. We have placed ads on both Cars.com and Auto Trader and now we’re waiting for the phone to ring.
May 12, 2008
They say that the economy is slow right now, but it must be really slow. Over the past two weeks we’ve only received one phone call about the truck and that person never called back or made an appointment to come see it. The truck is definitely priced right compared to others we’ve seen, and it’s in like-new condition, so what gives? We figure that people must not be buying right now.
At this point we’re thinking of trading the truck in on another one. Doing a trade-in is always our last resort, but we want to get going on using the trailer, so that may be the way to go. We’ve been looking at truck ads at dealerships on the Internet and we’re surprised at how prices have dropped on them in recent months. It must be the state of the economy and the cost of fuel that is driving the prices downward.
We’ve pretty much decided on a used (I refuse to use the term “pre-owned”) 2003-2005 Dodge 2500 quad-cab diesel if we can find one we like. The Cummins diesel is a great engine, and we know from our previous experience with one, that we should be able to match the fuel mileage we’re getting with the Nissan. We are also thinking that there won’t be too much money changing hands between our paid for Nissan and the older Dodge.
May 13, 2008
After many hours of searching on-line, we’ve found what appears to be a nice ’03 Dodge 2500 diesel with 6-speed manual transmission, located at a dealership in Athens, Georgia. After many phone calls and emails, we’ve finally arrived at a sales price and reasonable allowance for our Nissan, so it looks like we’ll be heading over there with title in hand early tomorrow morning. The dealership is located about 350 miles from Southern Pines so tomorrow promises to be a long day.
May 14, 2008
We were on the road and headed towards Athens, Georgia just after daybreak this morning. As we rolled down the highway I kept asking myself if we were doing the right thing in selling the Nissan. It’s paid for and we love it, plus we would be trading for an older and bigger truck with more miles on it. That’s another thing, what if the Dodge turns out to be a turkey? We have only seen photos of it on the Internet. Maybe this 700 mile round trip will be for nothing. Oh well, we have been wanting to make a day trip to get away from the house, so this will be an adventure if nothing else.
We pulled into the dealership just before noon and immediately spotted the Dodge we had seen on the Internet sitting out front waiting for us. At that point it looked pretty nice sitting there all washed up and looking sharp. After a brief introduction by our sales person, we gave the truck the once over including a test drive. All went well on the drive and the truck seemed to be worth the money so it was time to do the deal.
The actual deal took a little over two hours so we were back on the road and headed home by a little after two in the afternoon. It was sad to leave the Nissan behind, but we need to do this if we are going to have fun with the trailer and do our exploration of the East Coast as we have planned.
The drive home was uneventful and our mileage was a respectable 22.5 mpg. Compared to the Nissan, the Dodge felt like a semi with its large and comfortable cabin. While the Nissan was cozy the Dodge felt warehouse-like by comparison.
Now all we need to do is hook it up to the trailer and see how it pulls and tows. Our fingers are crossed.
May 15, 2008
We’re already in love with the “new” dodge. It’s like going home to our old dually, except for the absence of the two extra rear tires and the extra fender width. We don’t really know much of the history of the truck, except for what we were able to get off of the Car Fax report. We do know that we’re the third owners and that the truck has never done any serious towing due to the absence of a 5th wheel, goose neck or brake controller. We did find some straw under the fender wells and there is a lot of red dirt up under there as well. Our theory is that the truck was used to tow a horse trailer, but that’s just a guess.
I had removed the Prodigy brake controller from the Nissan and was able to install it, with a little advice from our friends at Four Seasons RV, the dealership where we bought our new Flagstaff. They sold us a pigtail, which allowed us to mount the controller then simply plug it into the Dodge wiring harness. While I was at Four Seasons, one of the RV tech’s took the truck into the shop and checked to make sure that we had a charge line and that the rest of the tow wiring on the truck was in good order. There was no charge for that service, which we appreciated. We can always depend on Four Seasons to treat us right and we can’t recommend them highly enough.
May 17, 2008
Today is the big day, the day when we hook up our new Flagstaff 18FD to our recently acquired Dodge 2500 pickup. I know that this truck is definite overkill for a small trailer like this, but I love overkill. According to the Trailer Life tow ratings list, the Dodge should be good to tow over 13,000 pounds, so we’re not too worried about having the same sorts of problems that presented themselves with the Nissan.
After hooking up the trailer and doing our usual light check we pulled out onto a level space out of the way to set up the brake controller and to get the brake bias just right. Then it was time to go out onto the road and see how everything handled.
I think everyone has heard expressions like, “it pulls the trailer like it’s not even there”, but in the case of the Dodge/Flagstaff combination that saying is really true. Uphill, downhill, wind, no wind, it doesn’t seem to matter. That truck just seems to drive the same with or without the trailer attached. What a joy compared to the Nissan. So it looks like we made the right decision to change trucks. The Dodge takes up more garage space and will cost more to feed, but being retired we don’t drive much except for taking trips.
It’s time for us to get out the road atlas and start doing some serious trip planning. We’re back in the game!
May 24, 2008
Not knowing the past history of the truck including its maintenance schedule, I’ve been making some inspections and working to bring the maintenance up-to-date. This includes an oil and filter change, fuel filter and changing the rear-end lube. I’ve also replaced the wiper blades and been cleaning the interior. These are the things that help to make a used vehicle feel more like it’s ours, and not the castoff of another owner.
In going around the truck with a fine-tooth-comb, I’ve discovered a few flaws that we didn’t catch when we did our inspections at the dealership, but this is to be expected. It’s mostly paint and cosmetic issues, and we found out that the jack tools are missing. The dealership has already authorized us to replace the jack tools, so we need to get on that as soon as possible. Other than that we’re looking forward to our first road trip, which will be coming up early next month. Can’t wait!
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