How Bad Are American Vehicles

[cug]

These days most new vehicles sold in America don’t have major reliability gaps vs other makes sold here. If you are buying used the way that the prior owner(s) used/abused/maintained the vehicle will have much more impact on overall reliability vs. the initial build quality anyway.

That said many vehicles sold in the US are specific to this marketplace and as such if you do have a problem in another country without a good service network for that vehicle you may run into costly and untimely situations getting things fixed if it is related to some odd USA only part. You may want to choose a vehicle based on this to ensure if you run into issues in Peru, Chile, etc that there are dealers/repair shops that support that vehicle.

Also if you are just buying the vehicle for this trip are you doing a loop and driving back to the US to resell the vehicle? If not you probably won’t be able to resell the vehicle legally in South America as your entry visa for the vehicle is for tourist travel only without legal permission to leave or sell that vehicle.

I would ship back to the US or ship elsewhere. In South America, I would probably do more than just the PAH and loop back to Cartagena or Montevideo. The plan is to take my time and it possibly won't even leave North or Central America for a couple of years, there is so much to see.

I would avoid any American truck except the Ford Ranger if you’re going outside of the US with it. But that might just be me, who doesn’t want to either look like a rich American or a drug dealer in other countries. At least get something old and beat up looking if it has to be such a big truck.

Other than that, I’d recommend thinking about usage, like shipping and insurance for such an oversized vehicle, can you get from bed to driver’s seat without going outside, can you spend time inside in halfway comfortable conditions, can you get parts in the countries you’re traveling to.

Just think about this one: people travel with old Land Rover Defenders all over the world. One of the least reliable vehicles. But it’s simple, small, lightweight, with a roof conversion works like a tiny RV with the option of living space inside and a way to the driver’s seat in case you want to leave quickly.

Requirements for world travel are different than outright reliability, size, etc.

 

[Alanymarce]

I think the US vehicles have largely closed that quality gap that was glaring in the 1980's and 90's. If you get a Toyota, great. If you get a Ford F250? Great.

A client of mine in Argentina replaced its fleet of Hiluxes with Rangers (2500 vehicles). They are happy with the Rangers.

 

[Alanymarce]

Also if you are just buying the vehicle for this trip are you doing a loop and driving back to the US to resell the vehicle? If not you probably won’t be able to resell the vehicle legally in South America as your entry visa for the vehicle is for tourist travel only without legal permission to leave or sell that vehicle.

Although it's difficult to impossible to import into most Latin American countries, it is possible to sell to another traveller. You have to exchange between borders so that you are not infringing the terms of the TIP or CdP.

Our preference is for an SUV (currently a MkIV Montero) rather than a pick-up, largely since everything is inside the same space, and also because handling is better.

One final point on the big pick-ups. You plan the PAH (with detours); a big pick-up will cost a lot more in fuel. We spent USD 9066 in fuel on our last big trip, with a Wrangler JK (51,000 km). Had we used a big pick-up like an F250 we'd have spent USD 5000 more (or had to stop after 34,000 km). USD 5000 worth of fuel will give you a lot more travel...

 

[eriefisher]

Although you can certainly find US/North American truck all over the Americas, Once you cross over into Mexico and start south you will find more and more Asian built trucks from Japan, Korea, India and even China. The full size truck is a rare find in Central and South America. You likely familiar with most of those trucks down there such as Mahindra, Toyota, Mitsubishi etc being from Australia. They just put the steering wheel on the other side.

 

[rtexpeditions]

A client of mine in Argentina replaced its fleet of Hiluxes with Rangers (2500 vehicles). They are happy with the Rangers.

I'm now also looking into "midsize" vehicles. Rangers in Australia were not so great although they are Rangers in name only and completely different to the US version.

 

[eriefisher]

I'm now also looking into "midsize" vehicles. Rangers in Australia were not so great although they are Rangers in name only and completely different to the US version.

I believe the latest model of the Ranger is the same in North and South America but the previous model was a totally different truck. Likely the same version as in AUS. Ford used the same/similar truck for like 30 years until the recent platform. Also shared this platform with Mazda for a long time.

 

[MMc]

I'm looking to buy an overland vehicle capable of doing the Pan-American (with detours). Buying an LHD vehicle in the US gives me more options than bringing my own (RHD, Insurance is difficult).
Looking at what's for sale anything with a Toyota badge will be way out of my budget (like it is in my home country, Australia).

I see plenty of full-size Dodge, GM, and Ford, pickups for 20% of what we get them for in Australia.

Looking at something built in the last 10 years, less than 80,000 miles.
I will probably add a canopy with a sleeping area on a 5-seater pickup.
$20k-30k + fitout

Will they go the distance?

It may end up with Montana Plates but there is going to be at least some pieces of Tasmania in the vehicle.

You should know a 3/4 ton truckor bigger with a standard license plate can not me TIP'ed in mainland Mexico. No proplem for a RV plated rig, 1/2 ton are fine also fine.