Waying in shooter 32, cars are my business, trucks included, I work on them and fix them, neither ford or toyota are my area of expertise. In my experience Toyota is a higher quality product, that does not mean that Ford is bad, my main marquee is Volvo, the car, not the heavy truck line. I base my decisions against Volvo, which have built their reputation on longevity, and it is justified. Toyota has built a reputation on the same, but in my observance, Toyota products will last beyond 200k miles, but they look like it, interiors are trash, plastic pieces all broken, but mechanically still strong. Ford products go all over the place, they make very cheap vehicles and better vehicles, and they are not comparable, a focus, vs a Crown Vic, vs a truck, not apples and apples. Some of the Diesel offerings in the trucks are trash, and the 100k warranty they are not backing up. Putting the problem on the owner, for not coming in early enough, and they caused the problem by not getting it looked at soon enough. But it is a flaw on the part of the manufacturer. I think Ford drivetrains are tough, but not the beds on pickups, thin sheet metal, easily gouged, but if it does not put a hole through the bed, it is just ugly, not a deal breaker. Toyota has strong beds and ride like cars, last a long time, very fuel efficient, both have creature comforts galore.
The question did not include GM, they make a good product, but as a truck, they are not that strong, I always consider them Monte Carlos with a bed on them, drive nice, do nice for home depot shopping, but not a real truck. And yes, they do last too, and have a good fuel management system, so get really decent mileage for what they are. 20 mpg out of a v8 truck is good stuff. Thing is, that is what most people use them for, so, no harm, no foul. In a business environment where a Truck is used hard, loaded hard, I will give Ford the nod, unless it is a diesel, and watch out for certain v8 gas motors, nothing wrong with the motor, but changing spark plugs at 100k, as recommended by ford, the spark plugs break on removal, and have to be extracted by laborious means. Some transmission issues too.
It is usually not a good idea to buy new, but it depends. If you put 200k on a vehicle, buy one with 30k and enjoy the depreciation, and lower entry cost. Me I usually own a vehicle for 10 years, so I buy new, and keep them up, and trade off later. Except for passenger cars, I buy old Volvo's that need major work, but are in really good condition, I have 2, 940 Volvo's that have 150k and 208k respectively, they look good and drive good, I would drive either 2k miles to a destination, and back, comfortable and reliable, last a lifetime and infinitely repairable.
My current truck is a Dodge, 2001 ram 1500, have 108k on it, I have replaced the water pump, changed the oil and filter regularly, air filter, but have not even changed the plugs yet. I will soon
It was cheap, and has served me well, now 8 years old, the only complaint is the dash has begun to break up, really badly. But it has not cost me much. I did replace the transmission fluid with synthetic and the rear end fluid with pure synthetic as these were known problems, and have had no issues.
Long post as usual, but my .02 cents.
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