I'm Thinking About Getting a Truck

[SlickTony]

Eventually, we'll need another vehicle. My son has at last started to evince an interest in driving, and it sure would make it easier on me in the morning if he could drive himself to school instead of me having to make that drive to Jax Beach every day. Of course, it also means that we'll get killed on insurance. I was thinking to let him take over my car.

Anyway, I have been thinking about getting a truck. I'm tired of not having anything to haul stuff in. Also, I'd like a red truck. It has occurred to me that some problematic episodes in my life have had red trucks mixed up in them, even though it hasn't been so much the red trucks per se, but the guys who drove up in them...still, I could get a red truck, and then, no more curse.

I want something with fairly decent gas mileage, at least not any worse than I am getting with my car. I don't want anything too big, because I don't like driving really big vehicles anymore, although I once borrowed the neighbor's truck back in the 80s and had a blast driving it. It should be automatic. Also, it's definitely going to have to be pre-owned, as there isn't enuf money to buy anything new...the Nissan 240SX I'm driving now is a '90, and I paid around $3K for it, and I've had it since '99 and it still runs good.

I'm thinking something like a Nissan Frontier, or a Sonoma, or a Colorado, or a Tacoma, something in that size range. Anyone who's had experience with light pickup trucks, I'd like to hear from them.

 

[The_Fool]

Nissan makes a good smaller truck as does Toyota. Had one of each. What ever you do, make sure you have at least an extended cab if not a crew cab. Not so much to carry people, although you can do that as well, but more to put stuff you can lock up. I have also usually put a toolbox on my truck, but I am a bit of a redneck....

 

[SlickTony]

Extended cab...that's the kind that has a back seat of sorts?

 

[The_Fool]

Extended cab...that's the kind that has a back seat of sorts?

Yes, in many cases just a jump seat.

 

[TE999]

I have owned a Ford Ranger Extended Cab and was very satisfied with it. It had 130k miles on it when I traded it in on a Ford Explorer Sport Trac in 2001.

For my money, the Sport Trac is the way to go. You can carry four passengers in the cabin and using the bed extender on the tailgate you have a full size truck bed for hauling stuff. There are plenty of tie downs in the bed and there are roof rails on the cab. It will tow 3,500 lbs with the bumper hitch and another 2k with a ball hitch. I has a 200 hp V-6 and an automatic transmission with an overdrive gear. I get 25/26 mpg over the road and 19+around town.

There's a fair amount of them on used car lots, but shop carefully and don't get a beater. Mine has 90k on the speedo and no problems to date.

Good luck with your truck search.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

Toyota makes a great small truck, especially their 4 cylinder. I don't know if they are still using the 22R engine or a variant, but it was probably one of the best gas engines ever built. We now use Toyota Tundras, I love the truck, but for a smaller truck it's fuel economy is poor...about 17 mpg around the city.

We used Ford Rangers in the company for a few years, and there are some reliabilty issues, especially with the main computer, and the transmission, especially after about 130.000 miles. The Ranger is built by Mazda and mechanically is the same as the B2300.

I don't have any other experiences with smaller trucks.

 

[Misty_Morning]

What ever you get...get it quick cuz I'm gonna havta move soon and I need all the help I can get.


Red? Sounds great to me...does that mean you can haul more of my shit than a blue or black one?

Personally I think you need to get a great big dually (sp)...all the better to haul my stuff to the next place I'm going.


Don't worry it's intrastate......just from one end of the state to the other....but it's the same state.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

What ever you get...get it quick cuz I'm gonna havta move soon and I need all the help I can get.


Red? Sounds great to me...does that mean you can haul more of my shit than a blue or black one?

Personally I think you need to get a great big dually (sp)...all the better to haul my stuff to the next place I'm going.


Don't worry it's intrastate......just from one end of the state to the other....but it's the same state.

You can use my Dodge 2500...but it's white...LOL

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

I've had a half dozen pickups over the years. Rangers, Fords, Toyotas and Chevys. The best small truck I ever had was a Toyota 1 ton. Not sure they make them anymore. Best larger truck was a Dodge D150 with a slant six and SWB. Damn thing would go anywhere, ran on regular gas, got 18 MPH and hauled my river raft all over hell and gone. I miss that truck. Every Chevy I've had has been a piece of shit. Last pickup I had was a '95 Ford F150 with a SWB. It would be my second choice.

I have a Ranger now. It's sort of ok for what I use it for.

 

[drksideofthemoon]

I've had a half dozen pickups over the years. Rangers, Fords, Toyotas and Chevys. The best small truck I ever had was a Toyota 1 ton. Not sure they make them anymore. Best larger truck was a Dodge D150 with a slant six and SWB. Damn thing would go anywhere, ran on regular gas, got 18 MPH and hauled my river raft all over hell and gone. I miss that truck. Every Chevy I've had has been a piece of shit. Last pickup I had was a '95 Ford F150 with a SWB. It would be my second choice.

I have a Ranger now. It's sort of ok for what I use it for.

Yes, the full size Toyota is the T-100 and they still build it.

 

[Lisa Denton]

I'm thinking something like a Nissan Frontier, or a Sonoma, or a Colorado, or a Tacoma, something in that size range. Anyone who's had experience with light pickup trucks, I'd like to hear from them.

I had a lil mazda truck, a B2500. It was almost exactly like a ford ranger in looks and stuff, but was the best truck ever. It was comfortable with cloth seats with headrests and not bumpy when driving. I have ridden in some ford rangers, plastic seats and bumpy as hell. This mazda had carpeting, really quiet at high speeds and handled well.

Include small mazda trucks in your lookin at list, peoples always said the only way looking at it to tell it wasn't a ford ranger was the front grille emblem, but when they got in it they said ahhhhhhhhh, this is nice.

It had a good radio also.

 

[Misty_Morning]

I've had a half dozen pickups over the years. Rangers, Fords, Toyotas and Chevys. The best small truck I ever had was a Toyota 1 ton. Not sure they make them anymore. Best larger truck was a Dodge D150 with a slant six and SWB. Damn thing would go anywhere, ran on regular gas, got 18 MPH and hauled my river raft all over hell and gone. I miss that truck. Every Chevy I've had has been a piece of shit. Last pickup I had was a '95 Ford F150 with a SWB. It would be my second choice.

I have a Ranger now. It's sort of ok for what I use it for.

So...how far are you from Florida?

I need to move within the next couple of weeks....

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

So...how far are you from Florida?

I need to move within the next couple of weeks....

Ummm...About 3000 miles. I'm in NW Oregon

 

[Weird Harold]

Also, it's definitely going to have to be pre-owned, as there isn't enuf money to buy anything new...

Don't expect a pre-owned truck to be as trouble free as your pre-owned car has been. Trucks tend to get harder use than cars and don't tend to be replaced as often as cars unless there's something wrong with them -- people tend to hang on to good trucks and drive them into the ground before trading them.

It is possible to find good used trucks, but it is VERY important to run anything your considering past a qualified, neutral, mechanic you trust before you buy.

I drive a 1986 Chevrolet T-10 Blazer that had 17 miles on it when I bought it. I've always had good luck with Chevy trucks' durability even though they're a bit under-powered compared to comparable Dodge and Ford models.

Don't discount the comfort factor in making your choice; If whatever you buy isn't comfortable for you to drive, it won't matter how capable, powerful, or fuel efficient it is, you'll wind up cursing it every time you get into it.

As Lisa pointed out, Ford don't seem to put a lot of effort into making comfortable trucks -- in the 40+ years I've been driving, I've never driven a Ford that I was comfortable in (except the "new" mustang from the 80's); they simply don't fit my anatomy.

If I were in the market for a new vehicle, I think I'd start looking at the Dodge Dealership and the mid-sized Dodge Ram pickups -- although if I had the money, I'd be looking pretty seriously at the Dodge Hybrid 3/4 ton AWD.

Dodge Pickups have always been the most capable pickups as they come off the assembly line, but until recently they had quality control and reliability problems. However, in the past ten to fifteen years, Dodge seems to have licked their reliability problems and I see more old Dodges on the road than old Fords or Chevies.

I've never paid much attention to foreign makes of pickups, but it seems to me that Toyota is the best of that breed insofar as I have any opinion at all.

 

[Chantilyvamp]

I drove a dodge ram 50 University. It was small had good gas mileage and went anywhere in anything. I loved that truck.

I would be getting a larger truck the next time I get one. However, I have a friend who has a Dodge Ram SRT-10 Quad cab and is completely in love with that truck.

Dodge Ram SRT-10 Quad Cab

 

[mjl2010]

I've got a 95 chevy 1500 I use for work. Rarely do I have any trouble. It's got 233,000 miles on it. Probably half of those are highway.

Just my .02. Anything will last if you take care of it or break down if you beat it.

MJL

 

[Goldie Munro]

Get one - any kind - trucks are sexy!

 

[drksideofthemoon]

I've got a 95 chevy 1500 I use for work. Rarely do I have any trouble. It's got 233,000 miles on it. Probably half of those are highway.

Just my .02. Anything will last if you take care of it or break down if you beat it.

MJL

I totally agree, take care of your truck and it will last. My 95 Dodge has over 160,000 miles and still runs like a champ. A lot of those miles are hard miles towing an 8000lb trailer in the desert southwest.

 

[SlickTony]

I've been leaning toward Japanese trucks. After all I've owned two Nissans and have gotten a lot of use out of both of them. When I bought my 240SX I had our mechanic, a guy we go to church with, give it a going-over before I actually purchased it, and if I get a truck I'll have him do the same thing.

 

[pop_54]

Names and models won't mean a thing to you US guys and gals cos it will be different over there for the same vehicle... I had a Vauxhall crew cab pick up when I was running my own contracting business up to 2004... It was basically a re-badged Nissan sold by Vauxhall in the UK... So I'm guessing Nissan is a good bet...

The seats were cloth, it had carpet, a good factory fitted stereo, and brilliant air conditioning/heating, and it seated 5 people... 2 front + 3 in the bench seat behind... It had a reasonable size load space at the back as well... Engine was a 2.5 ltr turbocharged diesel... and best fuel figures taking it easy at 65 mph 52MPG Urban/town driving 30MPG Freeway cruising at 70 to 80 mph 45MPG

Whether you'd get the same spec in the states from Nissan I don't know, but it was a beauty of a vehicle and behaved like a car on the road, while capable of off road if you needed.