Best and Worst New Trucks
What are the best and worst new trucks that you can buy?
If you need to buy a reliable, well-designed new truck that’s capable and offers good value for the money,
I’m gonna share the best choices available and I’m also gonna share which are the worst new trucks that you should just stay away from.
Best Trucks You Can Buy Right Now
But first, let’s start things off with a good truck to buy and the first one on the list is the Toyota Tacoma.
✅Why Toyota Tacoma Remains a Top Pick
The Tacoma is a bestseller among mid-size trucks and there are many reasons for that.
Tacomas are well known for their reliability, ease of service, low servicing costs, and as a bonus, they hold their value better than just about any other vehicle out there.
Frankly, it’s truly absurd how much old Tacomas are worth even after several years, so this is a really safe place to put your money if you’re buying a truck.
Toyota redesigned the Tacoma for 2024, giving it the latest technology and making it more capable than ever before. Best and Worst New Trucks
You can get it in a wide variety of configurations from a basic SR five to the feature pack, limited to a number of off-road capable variants, including the TRD off-Road, the TRD Pro and the super rugged trail hunter.
You can choose whether you want a five foot bed or a six foot bed.
You can even choose whether you want to have an automatic or manual transmission.
Toyota did make one controversial move by retiring the super reliable V six engine from the old Tacoma and replacing it with a new 2.4 liter four cylinder turbo engine to its credit.
It is a great performing engine and if you want serious power, you can also get a performance hybrid.
All the big changes and updates that Toyota made to the redesign Tacoma have resulted in a few unto like quality issues and complaints, but that’s to be somewhat expected from an all new design that’s in its first year of production,
the Tacoma is still a great truck and Toyota will more than likely sort out these early kinks and restore its reputation as a reliable, no nonsense workhorse in no time.
✅Nissan Frontier: A Simple, Reliable Workhorse
If you want something more along the lines of the Toyota Tacoma but want something that’s a little bit more sorted, straightforward with a simple no nonsense V six engine, then the best choice to go for is the Nissan Frontier.
The frontier follows the same formula as the Tacoma. Only Nissans have messed with the use of any super complicated technology. Best and Worst New Trucks
Instead of a complicated turbo engine, the frontier gets a naturally aspirated 3.8 liter V six engine with a nine speed automatic transmission.
But like the Tacoma, the frontier is still a proper truck built for towing, hauling and handling heavy abuse.
It offers five and six foot bed options and you can get an off-road capable pro four x trim if you really want.
And what’s nice is that the frontier is not only well made and reliable, but it’s also a fairly reasonably priced option when compared to most other new trucks.
This is just a simple, honest, reliable, well-made truck that’s built to handle proper truck tasks and will do so without breaking the bank.
✅Honda Ridgeline: Perfect Truck for Everyday Use
Now getting away from full size trucks for just a moment,
if you need something that’s not necessarily a proper truck but still has a proper truck bed and can handle a little bit of towing, well one of the best options that you should not overlook is the Honda Ridgeline.
Yes, the ridgeline may share its underpinnings with Honda’s Crossover SUVs, but this is still a very capable truck. Best and Worst New Trucks
The five foot bed has decent payload rating and it even comes with a huge lockable storage area underneath, which is a great bonus.
The cabin is also incredibly spacious, both in the front and rear seats with tons of storage space.
And best of all, because of its crossover chassis, this is an amazing driving truck with a smooth comfortable ride that no body on frame truck can even come close to matching.
It’s also extremely well made with a reliable and well proven 3.5 liter V six engine that can last forever.
The Ridge line pretty much has it all and unless you really need to have a truck that can tow over 5,000 pounds, this is really one of the best trucks for everyday consumers.
✅Ford Maverick Hybrid: Small, Affordable, and City-Friendly
Now for the next truck, if you want something that’s city-friendly and a bit on the smaller size, Best and Worst New Trucks
but also a great affordable option, a fantastic truck to go for is the Ford Maverick Hybrid for those who miss the old school trucks that were not too big,
just a nice manageable size for city use but still have plenty of room for all kinds of stuff, a useful size bed and some light towing.
The Maverick is nearly ideal. You can get it with a powerful turbo force cylinder engine and all wheel drive,
but the hybrid is the better option for most with its good performance and incredible fuel economy, which blows away anything else out there.
Ford’s hybrid system is actually quite reliable too.
Best of all, the pricing is excellent, especially if you go for a more basic XL or XLT model and the resale value is about as good as the Tacomas, so your money is really well spent. Best and Worst New Trucks
If the Maverick fits your needs, don’t even bother looking at something bigger and more expensive. It’s a great choice
Trucks to Avoid: The Worst New Models
🛑Stay Away from the Jeep Gladiator
Unfortunately, though the next truck on the list doesn’t have any hope whatsoever. It’s just a terrible truck that you should just stay away from and that is the Jeep Gladiator.
The gladiator is essentially a Jeep Wrangler with a truck bed, an idea which may have appealed to some, but the execution is just not great like the Wrangler, they have next to no comfort being noisy, crude, and also rather slow.
These vehicles are also known for various reliability issues and subpar build quality and they just don’t hold up well over time, which is a major concern for a truck which is supposed to be able to tolerate abuse and withstand heavy usage.
And not only are they not well made, but they’re also incredibly overpriced and they just don’t Offer good value for money. Best and Worst New Trucks
It’s no wonder why they become one of these slowest selling vehicles on the market that dealers are absolutely desperate to sell. Just stay away from this one because it’s not worth your money.
🛑Ram 1500: Overpriced and Complicated
The next truck on the list, however, is the complete opposite of that and is one that you should absolutely stay away from and that’s the new generation Ram 1500, excessive, complicated, difficult to repair, shaky reliability, and hideously expensive and overpriced.
These are all ways to describe the latest 2025 Ram 1500.
Yes, other full-size trucks can easily get into the same 70 to $80,000 price range or higher as the Ram, but at least when you buy something like an F-150 or a Sierra, you can still get a straightforward V eight engine if you really want.
In the case of the latest 1500, Ram has replaced the Hemi V eight with a new and super complex twin turbo six cylinder engine and given Ram’s pretty dismal reputation for quality,
I wouldn’t have high hopes for it holding up well over time.
Put it this way, this engine doesn’t even have a simple oil dipstick.
It’s just a service headache waiting to happen.
It’s a truck that’s clearly not designed to go the distance, at least not without major expensive repairs and not without losing enormous amount of value.
In the meantime, because like gladiators rams are a tough sell, so don’t waste your money on one of these. Best and Worst New Trucks
If you need a full-size truck, get something that’s a better value and has a reasonable chance lasting such as an F-150 with a five liter V eight or even a V eight Sierra or Silverado would be safer bets at this point.
🛑Hyundai Santa Cruz
I would not say the same about the next truck, however, which is the Hyundai Santa Cruz, like the ridge line, the Santa Cruz is a unibody crossover base truck, so it is very car-like and comfortable to drive compared to the ridge line.
However, the Santa Cruz is a step down in terms of value, reliability and capability.
Unlike the ridge line, simple and durable V six engine, the Santa Cruz gets a turbo four solar engine that’s unlikely to last as long.
Highlander Hybrid vs Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid
It also comes with a problematic dual clutch transmission, which has a history of major issues that has no place in a truck at surface level.
The Santa Cruz is a nice small truck, but it’s just not the best choice to go for and you have much safer alternatives instead.Best and Worst New Trucks
🛑Toyota Tundra
The final truck on the list that you should avoid. Well at least for now.
And that truck is the current generation Toyota Tundra.
This one may seem confusing given that the tundra has historically been one of the most reliable and best trucks to buy, but unfortunately the latest generation model has had a rather tough time so far introduced for 2022.
The current Gen Tundra uses a new 3.4 liter twin turbo V six engine, which has been suffering from main bearing failure ruining the engine, which Toyota alleges is the result of a manufacturing defect.
Toyota has recalled over a hundred thousand trucks made since 2022 for this problem and so far there’s no firm indication of whether the problem is solved.
Toyota will likely eventually sort things out with the tundra’s engine bringing the reliability back to normal and getting things back on track, but in the meantime, buying one is just a bit of a gamble right now.
In the meantime, if you have to have a full size truck, the best option would be to find yourself a lightly used previous generation 2020 to 2021 Toyota Tundra, which had a Bulletproof V eight engine and zero reliability concerns.
if you really want something brand new with a full warranty as previously mentioned, an F-150 with the five liter V eight engine is not a bad option either, especially if you get a great deal on one.
The truth is, is that the truck market is a very tough one.
None of the options are really quite perfect. Best and Worst New Trucks
They all seem to have some issues here or there, but going with one of the trucks on this list seems to be the safest way to go.