lookin for a truck. suggestions?

[recurve shooter]

hey guys. I graduated highschool a month or so ago and collage is comeing up soon. been driveing my pawpaw's truck for a year or to, but its time to buy my own ride. dont have much to spend so its gota be old and cheap, like 5 grand and under kinda cheap. i wanted an old toyota tacoma 4x4, but they seem to be kinda hard to find and a little expensive for being so old. also thought maby a ranger or s10 4x4, maby a dodge dakota if they make thim in 4 wheel drive, heck even an old isuzu trooper, i think they come in 4 wheel. i guess you can see basicly what i want, small and 4x4, so i can get decent milage and still get where i need to get (ok fine probably just cuz mud is fun). is what have you guys owned in the past, what would you expect to pay for such things these days, and what do yall recomend or advise against? thanks guys!!

[Stretch]

I'm a Jeep Cherokee guy myself.  Mine gets 20-22 mpg and is a blast to drive, on road or off.  They're easy to work on, parts are cheap and readily available, and there's tons of aftermarket support if you want to make modifications.  The Jeep 4.0 liter straight six is an excellent engine.  Many people get 300,000 miles out of em.  Mine has 170,000 miles on it and runs like a top.  For what you have to spend you should be able to find one in very good condition and still have money to fix it up. 

[gstoneberg]

I'm with Stretch, I drive a 96 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 when I'm hunting.  Mine's also in the 170k odometer range, but i t doesn't get that good a mileage, about 17mpg most of the time.  You have to work at it to get it stuck and I keep a luggage carrier on the hitch receiver all the time I'm hunting to have a place for critters.  On most hog hunts lately it's been covered in mud.   It has 3 osage logs on it right now.

For pickups, my favorite was a mazda b2000, but it was not 4wd.  It got almost 30mpg though and was fun to drive.  On the acreage I had a Ford F150 4x4 that we abused badly by hauling too much junk, but it never let us down.  Sure drove like a truck though and got about 12mpg.

George

[osage outlaw]

I owned a ford ranger several years ago.  It was OK, but not much power.  I currently have a Dodge Dakota with the V8 engine.  It doesn't get very good mileage, but it has more power than I will ever need.  It is a blast to drive.  I got the quad cab because of my 2 kids.  Adults can fit in the back seats with no problem.

[cracker]

Best all round truck was a mid eighties ford f150 manual tranny 300cubic inch in line six got about 16 miles per gallon indestructible and dependable as the sunrise. I abused this truck all to hell and back and she never once let me down. Drove it on road trips and the whole nine yards.Ron

[hillbilly61]

Got a 98 Chevy Cheyenne 1500 4X4 has a 196,000 and just replaced the u-joints. We pull a 2 horse slant trailer with it. A good choice we made

[sailordad]

cracker you said what i was thinking there 
ok lets see a good truck
well them jeeps aint bad,i owned
but they,like any other,have their problems like cherokee viscus couplers (big bucks to fix)
any jeep likes to have output shaft seals leak,minor repair but very repetative,u-joints can be an issue
older ones liek to have problems with vacuum leaks due to the intake/exhaust manifolds coming loose
coolant leaks
chevys are ok too,but also have issues same with the dodges
owned some of each
everyone knows i am partial to fords,working on them for the last 16 yrs now
i do think they are the better ones when it comes to making trucks,especially for work purposes
theres a reason they have been the number one selling truck for like 41 yrs or so
the ranger can be a gret truck with lots of power if you get the right engine
the ford 4x4 system is probably one of the most dependable
Ford also has the least issues (atlest in my years of working experience) witht their suspensions and front ends

but its like i tell folks
"their all junk,its just a matter of whos junk you want to be seen driving"
only you can decide whats a good truck for you

but i will tell you this,and i have seen it first hand
i have seen rangers/f150-f450/expeditions/explorers all with over 300k on them
we work on all brands at the dealership i work at
i cant recall seeing many if any other makes come in with that high of mileage on the original drivtrains

no matter what you decide on,have a good reputiable auto tech look it over
we can usualy find issues most other folks dont notice
personally i can drive a vehicle and pretty much tell you whats wrong before i even get it on a hoist
doing regular maintanence will make any vehicle last a lifetime or more
oil changes,tires rotates,brake jobs arent the only maintanence thats needed
fluids need to be changed regularily i.e differential fluids,trans fluid,coolant,even brake and power steering fluids
any clunks/rattles etc should be addresed right away as they are usually from the suspension systems
not to mention if your mechanic says this or that should be taken care,take care of it and you more than likely will never get stranded

ok ok enough of my ranting 
good luck on finding a truck

[mullet]

I've owned 9 Jeeps, starting with Willis' station wagons. When I sold my Cheerokee it had 870K miles on it. Only repaced the engine once and rebuilt the transmission twice. I've driven Ford pick-ups for 25 years at work, I've never had to pay for one but I've signed a lot of tickets for repairs and maintenance so I don't think I'd ever buy one. I like Jeeps

[Josh]

I'm pretty partial to my 2000 Tacoma 4x4... I've never had a problem out of it. It was rather expensive when I bought it 5 years ago but it has also been a very dependable truck. 

[Justin Snyder]

It is a gamble no matter what you buy. I had an S-15 with 500K and it was still running. I had another with 130K and it was garbage. Rather than shopping for the best truck, shop for the best previous owner. How it was treated means more than the name on the tag.

[HoBow]

Good point Justin.

[HoBow]

Good point Justin.

[cracker]

This may be unrelated to this discussion but I recently purchased from my company for the absorbatant sum of 750.00 dollars a 93 ford f250 manual tranny 7.3 normally aspired diesel which now has 300k on it I would not hesitate to hop in this old war horse and head for the west coast I like the old fords don't care to much for the 97 on up models. Ron

[R H Clark]

A few years ago I bought a F-150 manual no frills that was a little over 2 years old with 36K miles with a 100K warranty for $6000.Keep an eye out on autotrader for several months and be willing to drive a little for a good deal.Mine was 150 miles away.

I always shop on line.A few years ago I found a local car on autotrader with a price of $7995.00.I went to the dealer asking about it but didn't tell them I had seen it on line.The salesman asked $12,000.00 and came down to $10,000.00 after a bit of haggling. I told him I would think about it.I went home and offered the internet guy $6000.00 and bought the car.I also got him to replace the window seal.

[iowabow]

When I was in college back in 88 I. Was given a Mazda b2000 for painting a guys living room.  The truck must have been 8 years old and was rusted real bad.  I drove that truck hard even jumped a levee and caught air.  I broke the frame in half bought a welder put her back together and drove from Illinois to PA many times during grad school.  I put over 200k on an engine that leaked like crazy and sold it when the door fell off because the hinges rusted through.  I bought a new ford ranger 4x4 and sold a year later hated it.  Drove s10 bad truck just junk for 9 year many repairs now bought a Toyota Tacoma and love it.  It is a 2008 it cost a lot but worth every dime.  Best truck for the money was the Mazda hands down.  Now you are not likely to find one.