Better Truck For Your BuckEveryone has seen these vehicles on the road at least once. From old and dilapidated to brand new. These vehicles are ford and chevy trucks. These trucks are known for being America’s trucks.  Each brand has their fans and haters for millions of reasons from their engines to the way they look. The question of which company makes longer lasting vehicles between Chevy and Ford will always be the most controversial question between owners and fans of both vehicles. Both fans will argue for days on end defending their company, but there’s only one answer to this question. Many will say Chevy is the answer but that is simply not the case. They are similar in many aspects and are often compared to one another, except in life expectancy and quality. The life of a truck can be described as how long it lasted. There are many different interpretations of that word especially in this category. Another question that goes along with it is what determines when a truck is completely unusable. Dictionary.com defines outlast as “to endure or last longer than”. In this case it would refer to ford trucks outlasting chevys. There are many different meanings for the word outlast, but when speaking about the length of the lives of trucks you have to be very specific in what can be replaced and the condition other parts have to be in. that shows the true ruggedness of the truck and exemplifies how much the brand cares about what they are producing. This shows the truck brands power to outlast the competitors. A truck, unlike a human, has many different parts that can die at all different times. The three main parts that have the biggest probability of putting the truck out of commission would be the engine, transmission, and frame of the truck. Considering there’s so many moving parts of a vehicle it is hard to decide what can be replaced before it is no longer considered the original truck. If a chevy lasted 4 years longer than a ford but it had the engine replaced, I would not consider that fairly outlasting. A trusted website for a car enthusiast called MotorBiscuit wrote an article stating 5 reasons why Chevy trucks are better than ford. The first thing talked about in this article is towing capacity. A highlighted section where Chevy takes the advantage would be in the small truck series. The Ford Ranger and the Chevy Colorado. “The 2020 Chevy Colorado’s highest capacity is 7,700 pounds. This beats the 2020 Ford Ranger which tops out at 7,500.” The Chevy does surpass the ford in this category by 200 pounds. Although, that should not seal the deal in the decision when buying these vehicles. According to FourWheelTrends.com “The Ford F-150 and Ranger trucks have a lifespan of 300,000 miles with a life expectancy of 20 years. The Chevrolet Silverado and Colorado trucks only last 200,000 miles, providing a lifespan of 15 years.” A measly 200 additional pounds of towing capacity is worthless compared to an extra 100,000 miles and 15 years of vehicle life.Another thing that plays a big role in this subject and can defer research is brand bias. What I mean by that is people with a fiery love for one of the brands can hop on to a website and create an article stating why their brand of truck is better and use non factual statements that may trick people that are uneducated in this field. “Are Chevy full-size trucks better than Fords? When it comes to rugged, off-road rides and capable towing and hauling performance, two automakers are a cut above the rest: Chevrolet and Ford. … However, when it comes down to it, Chevy has the edge over Ford.” (Lamkin). This quote was pulled from a website called burlingtonchevy.com, not surprising. Considering this statement does not have a sliver of factual evidence or any statistics for that matter it is deemed useless to the research. After extensive research Ford seems to come out victorious in every aspect. A great point that MotorBiscuit brings up is the standard tech in both of these vehicles. “Every Chevy truck comes standard with a 7 inch touch screen display. The standard infotainment system comes with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity. The Ford pickup truck, however, is basic when it comes to its base model infotainment. A radio and Bluetooth are pretty much it.” This may sound disappointing to some but in reality there is a very logical reason for this which makes ford the better choice. In this example MotorBiscuit decides to use the infotainment centers on both brands’ base model trucks. A base model truck is supposed to be a cheap hard working truck. For example vinyl seats, steel wheels, and other cheap options. The reason for that is because they are usually bought for companies as fleet vehicles and or work trucks so they do not require any of the fancy options. The base model 2022 Ford F-150 starts at $29,990 while the Chevy of the same spec starts at $33,890. For a business owner who needs several fleet trucks for his workers to drive he is not willing to spend an extra $4,000 so they can have a 7 inch radio screen. It is not practical. Chevys failures and Ford’s ability to surpass and overcome them with their vehicles is one of the biggest reasons Ford sells more vehicles. A Chevy owner could experience tremendous issues with their current vehicle causing them to switch over to another company. Which causes Chevy to lose a customer. GMauthority.com lists five reasons GM customers are infuriated with GM. This being number 2 on that list “In August 2012, we received a mounting amount of tips about frequently cracking dashboards on full-size GMC and Chevy trucks and SUVs based on the GMT 900 platform. More specifically, hairline cracks appear on dashboards on either the driver or passenger side of 2007 model-year trucks and SUVs.”. This is a very bad thing for Chevy. Reason being is these issues are causing Chevy fans to stop buying them which in turn could cause them to purchase vehicles from their number one competitor, Ford.When trying to figure out which trucks are the best, the engine is the most important part to some buyers. Motorbiscuit says “The 2020 Chevrolet truck lineup boasts many desirable options. The Silverado alone has five engines available ranging from the 285 horsepower 4.3 liter V6 to the 420 horsepower 6.2 liter V8, to a variety of diesel options (with best-in-class fuel economy) that are available to every truck in the lineup, including the compact Chevy Colorado.” The author says many options but there are only 2 gas options and they say a variety of diesel options but if a person has any knowledge on Chevys nowadays there are only 2. Four engine options is a lot for one vehicle but it doesn’t compare to Fords. For the F-150 alone Ford offers 5 different gas engine options not including the 1 diesel option. When buying a vehicle you want as many engine options as possible because they are all very diverse and with 6 total options there is a very high chance you will find one that fits all of your needs. Considering the intricacy of these engines, one small part failure can cause complete engine failure down the line if not taken care of properly. For example, vehicles with the Ford manufactured 5.0 liter V8 have a sensitive mass air flow sensor that can leave the engine running rough. According to Copilotsearch.com “Ford F-150 equipped with the 5.0 engine report that the engine may start to run rough around 100,000 miles. The issue seems to be tied to a dirt mass air-flow sensor (MAF) that will get dirty and eventually fail.”. A mass air flow sensor is a very small sensor located within the air intake. Although this part is very small and inexpensive it will cause the engine to run very poorly if it is dirty or damaged. The Chevy 5.3 Liter engines have a similar issue. This Problem is with their O2 sensors. “The O2 sensor in the Chevy Silverado 1500 monitors the level of oxygen in the engine’s exhaust gasses and reports the data to the control unit that continuously adjusts the air to fuel ratio in the engine to achieve maximum efficiency.” If this sensor is faulty, just like the Ford it will run rough and you will experience loss of power. Although, unlike the Ford, replacing the O2 sensor on Chevy trucks is a very expensive and time consuming task. When arguing which vehicle is better than the other, a good source is J.D. Power. The reason for that is because this ranking is done by people who have owned the vehicle. The ratings are completely unbiased. MotorBiscuit says “2019 Ford Ranger, 2018 Ford F-150, and 2019 Chevy Colorado all receive a three out of five. However, the 2018 Silverado receives a 4.5 out of five. Chevy has actually demonstrated superior reliability over the past several years. For that reason, it gets the crown.” This is great for Chevy in 2018, but according to J.D.Power.com, Ford held the crown for superior reliability for 10 years straight from 2007-2017. In 2014 Ford surpassed Chevy by a whopping 4 points, which is a lot on that scale. Reliability is one of the most important things that people look into when they are purchasing a new vehicle. With statistics like that it is obvious which one is the better truck. The best vehicle manufacturer makes a diverse line of vehicles along with some very exciting vehicles that some would see as toys. The final argument that MotorBiscuit brings up is the compact pickup truck comparison. Chevy has its Colorado and Ford has its Ranger. They say “We can definitely appreciate the Chevy Colorado for its array of designated off-roading packages.” Although this may be true for Chevy fans, this is meaningless to Ford fans. When it comes to offroad Ford is the king. For example the Ford Raptor has been the best selling offroad truck since it came out. A Ford Raptor is a Ford F-150 outfitted with racing offroad suspension, beefy tires, and a souped up engine. The Ford Raptor does not compare to any Chevy truck. Chevy decided to produce the Colorado ZR2 which is a Chevy Colorado with upgraded suspension and bigger tires. Ford’s response to this vehicle is the Raptor Ranger. This truck carries all the performance parts of an F-150 Raptor but has the smaller nimble body of a Ranger. The Ranger Raptor has a strong 392 horsepower from Ford’s ecoboost engine while the Colorado ZR2 only has a disappointing 302 horsepower out of their naturally aspirated V6. The Ford Raptor line is the type of vehicle that certain buyers really want to see. Certain people want a fast lifted truck but dont have the knowledge or time to do it themselves, so when a car manufacturer makes it for them it could be a huge selling point. After all of my research it was obvious what vehicle manufacturer comes out victorious in this category. Many will say that Ford and Chevy are very close in ranking when it comes to performance, interior, and driveability but I don’t think they are as close as most think. Having the ability to refute a large percentage of the information that was researched It was more than obvious that Ford stood tall against Chevy. This argument can be seen to some as an opinion based argument because Ford and Chevy are two very dependable and highly respected truck brands, but that is not the case. There are more than enough facts that defend Ford in being superior. Most of these facts also carry high significance that will deter or persuade a customer to buy one of these vehicles. Work Cited Turner, W. (2021, November 19). Do Chevy or Ford Trucks last longer? Four Wheel Trends. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://fourwheeltrends.com/do-chevy-or-ford-trucks-last-longer/Carlier, M. (2022, January 18). Light trucks in the U.S. – best-selling models 2021. Statista. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/204473/best-selling-trucks-in-the-united-states-from-january-to-october-2011/Musicaccoustic. (2022, February 21). Why Chevy Trucks Are Better Than Fords Burlington Chevrolet. Music Accoustic. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://musicaccoustic.com/why-chevy-trucks-are-better-than-fords-burlington-chevrolet/Brennan, S. (2021, April 27). Does the Ford F-150 have what it takes to outlast the Chevy Silverado? MotorBiscuit. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.motorbiscuit.com/ford-f-150-outlast-chevy-silverado/?ampMerriam-Webster. (n.d.). Outlast definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/outlastAlmond, J. (2020, June 1). 5 reasons Chevy Trucks are better than Ford. MotorBiscuit. Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://www.motorbiscuit.com/5-reasons-chevy-trucks-are-better-than-ford/?ampTurner, W. (2021, November 19). Do Chevy or Ford Trucks last longer? Four Wheel Trends. Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://fourwheeltrends.com/do-chevy-or-ford-trucks-last-longer/2007 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. J.D. Power. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://www.jdpower.com/cars/2007/chevrolet/silverado-1500