Buy/Drive/Burn: Expensive Trucks You Won't Use for Truck Things
Today’s truck trio includes three very expensive rigs that aren’t likely be used for hauling duties or any other truck-type responsibilities. And that’s a good thing, because they’re loaded up on equipment and leather, and covered in nice metallic paint. Which nice truck gets used as kindling? Let’s find out.
Today we proceed in order of displacement.
GMC Sierra Denali
The top of the regular duty truck pyramid at GMC is the Sierra Denali. In crew cab and short box configuration (the one people buy), asking price reads $60,495. For that cash, there will be a tried-and-true 6.2-liter V8 under the hood. With 420 horsepower and 460 lb-ft of torque routed through the 10-speed automatic, towing capacity rests at 9,400 pounds. You won’t reach the estimated 20 mpg highway with that sort of weight at the back, but you won’t really be towing anyway. Enjoy the real wood trim while you wait to pick the kids up from school.
Ram 1500 Limited
The most expensive Ram 1500 consumers can buy is the Limited trim, which sits above the Tradesman, Laramie, Big Horn, and Rebel in the truly vast trim tree offered by the good people at FCA. For $59,385, Ram hooks up a hybrid system to the beefy 5.7-liter Hemi V8. Combined output is 395 horsepower and 410 lb-ft of torque, netting a highway rating of 22 mpg. Owners can tow a whopping 12,750 pounds, and the tree decorating the dash is real.
Jeep Gladiator Rubicon
The most unique expensive truck offering in our trio is the brand new Jeep Gladiator, in Rubicon trim. A Wrangler with a bit at the back and a removable roof, Gladiator has the familiar 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 at the front. 285 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque are there for the taking, and Gladiator can tow 4,500 pounds. I know you’re shook right now, screaming at your screen “The Gladiator Rubicon is only $45,500!” And you’d be right, but the Rubicon is currently retailing at $60,000 because of that fun additional dealer markup. It plays with these other two for now.
Which one gets a Burn, and which would you actually Buy?
[Images: Steph Willems / TTAC, RAM, Jeep]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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ill take a used JK sport X and get that $5k pickup kit https://uncrate.com/mopar-jk-8-jeep-kit/ burn all 3.
Burn the GMC. I've never liked GM trucks, though with a gun to my head, a GMC over a Chevy. The next two, in context, are a challenge. Buy- RAM- My brother has a '16 4x4 with the V6 that towed my Mustang 250 miles with little complaint. It was comfortable and smooth. The new truck is even nicer. The downside (and a possible "Drive" rating) is the usual caveat: FCA long term reliability and durability and depreciation. Here in the rust belt, 6-10 year old Rams are quite rusty compared to the others, they don't hold their value like Ford or GM trucks. Buy- Gladiator. It's a novelty and there's pent-up demand among diehard Jeep folks. You ever price a used Wrangler? Stupid money new, stupid money used. I read an opinion, I believe on TTAC at some point, that Jeep is to be viewed like the Land Rover/Range Rover of America. Kind of novel, national treasure,etc. and a premium is paid, even if they aren't the best. But unlike the Brits, Jeeps maintain value. With a soft top and minimal options, it's a truck and convertible. It can do lot of things and I dig the looks. The downside (and possible Drive not buy) is it's a Wrangler. I had one as rental, a long time ago. 4.0 inline six time ago but still a TJ series. It was fun for a few days, but the bouncy ride, noise and everything else that makes it suck as a vehicle made it kind of wearying to drive. I know the new ones are better vehicles, but still it's that kind of money for a jack of all trades, master of none vehicle. The pickup bed adds utility though. Meh. YOLO. The Gladiator to buy, the Ram to lease (drive). I'll get my money out of that Gladiator. But I'm not buying during this initial frenzy, even in hypothetical terms.