2011 Ford F150 or 2011 Chevy Silverado??

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The struggle is real.....

I'm shopping for my next "new" truck and wanna hear some story from real owners about the pros and cons. Thinking of a crew cab with a v8 engine, and 4x4 since I live in northern Canada. I'm looking at the XLT trim with F150 and LT with Chevy. I personally had both Chevy and Ford trucks before and never had any serious issue with them. They are great trucks, I like them both. Too bad I only have enough money for one.
 
It depends on what you are wanting out of it. If you want a crew cab to have room for people get the ford. If you want an interior that isn't boxy and odd feeling get the Chevy.

If you get a Chevy look for one that isn't made in mexico. They had more issue with those. I never had a problem other than the oil useage from the afm and bad seals on the front axel on my USA assembled 2011. Father in law had several Mexico assembled ones in that body style and had a few issues over the years.
 
Chevy. Just get a tune to disable AFM/DOD and check the oil once in a while and you have a great truck.
 
Originally Posted by jhellwig
It depends on what you are wanting out of it. If you want a crew cab to have room for people get the ford. If you want an interior that isn't boxy and odd feeling get the Chevy.

If you get a Chevy look for one that isn't made in mexico. They had more issue with those. I never had a problem other than the oil useage from the afm and bad seals on the front axel on my USA assembled 2011. Father in law had several Mexico assembled ones in that body style and had a few issues over the years.



+1
 
Both are great with great powertrains. Pick which one is in the better condition and at a price you like. There's a reason they have been #1 and #2 nearly forever.
 
They are both very well built. Pick the one you like the best as far as condition, colors, and interior. Personally, I like the Fords but what you really need to do is check for rusting on these older trucks.
 
Take this with a grain of salt. My ‘11 EB FX4 has been one of the most problem free vehicles I've ever owned. All it has taken out of the ordinary was an electric vacuum pump, which Ford would have replaced for free, but I did the job myself, on my dime because I didn't want my truck to have that "dealer experience".

Caveats: I use premium fuel about 90% of the time. Also run a heavier oil than recommended- 0w40 every 5k miles. It's still on its original brakes at 126k miles. There's been some pulsing lately so this spring they'll get replaced.

So it's had 3 rounds of spark plugs, numerous air filters, one trans service (new filter plus fluid) and 2 brake and radiator flushes which I consider normal for an 7 year old vehicle. On the trans I occasionally pulled 3-4 qts fluid swap out via suction pump prior to the full pan drop. The diff will get its first oil change this next week.

What it hasn't had: stretched timing chains which i attribute their health to the thicker oil. Intercooler problems - only once when it was pretty new and I called myself hyper-mileing, after that I gave up on mileage and just started performance driving the thing - never happened after that. Original water pump, hoses and belts and tensioner/idler, turbochargers. Paint and interior holding up well with mostly rinseless car washes and spray wax. Zero leaks anywhere dry as a bone underneath.

She's still quiet as a mouse, rattle free and will hit 100 effortlessly at 5000 ft elevation so I don't think intake valve deposits are much in play so far. The key to a happy Ecoboost is airing the ‘ol girl out pretty regularly. They like that a lot.

KJSmith has had several of these things, perhaps he will chime in as well.
 
At an 8 year old truck l'd be buying on condition more so than by brand, though limiting it to one or two helps.

They both are fine - don't let anyone kid you, they both have their quirks.
 
I'd look for a Chevy that was obviously taken care of with a solid maintenance history. Using good oil on reasonable OCIs is all you can really do about the AFM lifter problems. I spent time on GM truck forums learning before buying the 2016 and it really seems to be luck of the draw if you're going to have problems or not. Disabling it seems to help oil consumption but the suspect parts are still in there. A redesign for 2014 seems to have fixed the problem, something to consider.
 
Originally Posted by MNgopher
At an 8 year old truck l'd be buying on condition more so than by brand, though limiting it to one or two helps.

They both are fine - don't let anyone kid you, they both have their quirks.



That would be my plan. They're all good. Even RAM if you considered throwing it into the mix. Many of the 'truck guys' I know rarely keep them for more than a few years, so a 2011 could have already had 2 owners. Even that wouldn't scare me depending on the condition and price.
 
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Originally Posted by AZjeff
I'd look for a Chevy that was obviously taken care of with a solid maintenance history. Using good oil on reasonable OCIs is all you can really do about the AFM lifter problems. I spent time on GM truck forums learning before buying the 2016 and it really seems to be luck of the draw if you're going to have problems or not. Disabling it seems to help oil consumption but the suspect parts are still in there. A redesign for 2014 seems to have fixed the problem, something to consider.


I can't speak to the newest generation, but we still have our 2011 Tahoe. With reasonable oil changes and a Range Plug to disable the AFM from day one, we have had zero problems and no meaningful consumption between changes. It has been a bulletproof powertrain for us.

Can't say the same about the frame, which I had to have cleaned and undercoated a couple years ago to check the rust. Still, a very solid vehicle.
 
Originally Posted by krismoriah72
Skip both and get a 2011 Toyota Tundra

+1
http://dashboard-light.com/vehicles/Toyota_Tundra.html
The 4.6L V/8 would be my engine choice for the Tundra. It gets better gas mileage than the 5.7L (which is a BEAST, but is a gas hog) and still has descent power. The gas mileage and power are both on-par with the Silverado's 5.3L V/8, and it doesn't have the Silverado's problematic AFM system.
If I HAD to choose between the F150 and Silverado, I would choose the Silverado. I have owned two F150s and I won't buy another one.
 
Originally Posted by jhellwig
It depends on what you are wanting out of it. If you want a crew cab to have room for people get the ford. If you want an interior that isn't boxy and odd feeling get the Chevy.

If you get a Chevy look for one that isn't made in mexico. They had more issue with those. I never had a problem other than the oil useage from the afm and bad seals on the front axel on my USA assembled 2011. Father in law had several Mexico assembled ones in that body style and had a few issues over the years.


Thanks for the info! I know the 2014+ were made in mexico but had no idea the older gen was made in mexico as well.

Originally Posted by 2strokeNorthstar
Skip the Ford. Still had motor issues at that time. Make sure the paint isn't defective on either. Big $$ to fix or really ugly


The older 5.4 had some issues and I thought they fix it with 5.0. What issues exactly am I looking at right now?
 
Originally Posted by krismoriah72
Skip both and get a 2011 Toyota Tundra


Tundras really hold their resell values very well. I could easily get a newer gen used 150/silverado instead of a 2011 tundra that has lots of miles.
 
Originally Posted by PotatoFarmer77w
Originally Posted by krismoriah72
Skip both and get a 2011 Toyota Tundra


Tundras really hold their resell values very well. I could easily get a newer gen used 150/silverado instead of a 2011 tundra that has lots of miles.

This is a prime example of "newer is not always better". Personally, I would rather own a 150k mile Tundra than a 120k mile Silverado or a 90k mile F150, assuming that all of them were well maintained and not abused. Also, Toyota tends to provide support to their customers long after a vehicle is out of warranty (I have personal experience with this), Ford and GM don't.
 
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