USED CARS - Pickup Trucks Reviews

The following report was originally published on ConsumerSearch to cover new trucks manufactured and sold in the 2006 model year, and so can offer a good guide as to which cars from past model years are good bets as used vehicles. We are keeping this report on our site as a convenience to our readers who may be shopping for a used truck.

We found many good-quality reviews about pickup trucks, but three articles are standouts, two from the editors of Car and Driver and one from Motor Trend. Car and Driver magazine regularly evaluates pickup trucks on factors like comfort, cornering, off-road ability, towing capacity and a variety of acceleration measures. It also evaluates less quantifiable factors such as styling. Motor Trend conducts similar tests, and its 2006 Truck of the Year award is the result of a seven-truck torture test. We also found excellent pickup-truck reviews from InsideLine.com, an offshoot of Edmunds.com. Consumer Reports has some good information on pickup trucks, but you have to be a subscriber to read it. Kelley Blue Book, Consumer Guide and Yahoo! Autos are helpful sites for reviews, pricing and features information, but editors don't compare trucks to each other as much as Car and Driver and Motor Trend.

Though originally designed as workhorses, pickup trucks are increasingly being used to haul people. Thus, many newer models seek to address some traditional pickup shortcomings, such as acceleration, passenger comfort and interior room, while still delivering the towing and payload capacity that originally made pickups popular.

As a result of the new trend of increased passenger comfort and ergonomics, some older stalwart pickup trucks suffer in comparison to the Toyota Tacoma, Honda Ridgeline, Ford F-150 and Nissan Titan. These include the large trucks manufactured by General Motors -- the Chevrolet Silverado, Avalanche and Colorado, as well as the GMC Sierra. However, GM trucks can carry up to six people as well as a lot of gear, and they can be configured to haul more than 15,000 pounds.

According to Motor Trend, the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (*est. $28,135 to $34,810) ranks last in comparison to the Nissan Titan , Toyota Tundra , Ford F-150 and Dodge Ram 1500 , with the Titan being the clear favorite. Editors say the Silverado pickup truck has a "soft" suspension, making it difficult to handle bumps and corners. Additionally, editors say that the Silverado's mostly plastic trim -- even on fully optioned models -- adds to an outdated interior. The Silverado is still a recommended model in several pickup truck reviews, including Consumer Guide, but it cannot surpass the achievements of the newer Ford F-150 and Honda Ridgeline . According to industry analysts, the Silverado is set for a 2008-model year redesign, which may address some of these shortcomings. In recent government crash tests, the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra got four-star ratings for protecting the driver in a frontal collision. They received lower three-star ratings for protecting the front-seat passenger. ... Continued  ... Continued