Need your thoughts on a Truck

[D-FENS]

Hey guys,

I figured I would turn to the same guys that give me great advice and opinions on laws, guns, politics and other local interests. I'm looking at getting a newer truck and would like your thoughts.

Here's what I need it for:
Driving about 1k miles a year, usually less, so fuel efficiency is nice, it's not the primary concern. I need room to transport my guns and some other stuff that I have a hard time getting in my single cab now. It's either guns or a person as there's no room for both. I'd also need to haul small loads of firewood from Central PA. Nothing major, no trailers or campers. I'd also like to be able to drive around the woods a bit back home. No serious off-roading, just some steep and corroded mountain roads.

Here's what I have:
2 wheel drive, 4.3L V6. No power anything, single cab. Automatic

What I need:
Extended cab, 4x4, V6.

What I would like:
Extended cab, 4x4, V8, Power windows/locks, alarm, tonneau cover

Any suggestions? for what I need, I can't justify spending more than 8k on it and would prefer something in the 4-6 range. I just don't get much use out of a vehicle. In the last 3.5 years, I've only put on 2.5k miles on my truck. Ideally I am thinking of a 1998 or newer.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

[RocketFoot]

I'd look at Chevy Avalanche...they can meet all the points on your wish list! Might be too high for your budget, though...

[Frenchy]

Although I was a die hard fan for the Ford products, my neighbor has change my mind, he has a F-150 and has had a hard time getting an engine for it, his blwe after only 60K and it seems to be the trend in those, he said he cant find an engine anywhere in a recyler yard, they get bought before they arrive.

His new expression is its Ford tough to find a good engine in a F-150


Personally, I have a GMC, although the same bodu style and truck as the Chevvy lineup, it is about 3K less in price. THe GMC is a 4X2 so not yet sure how it will be winter driving, but the back end is light i can tell you that. I carry every thing under a tonneau, so passenger space is always ready fro some one.

A Policeman friend here seems to live his durango or dodge products, he has a couple of them, truck, Suv and Jeep style thingy...
Friend at work picked up a Silverado 4X4 Crew Cab, nice machine to look at, mind you 20K more then I paid for my GMC, and so far, he has had to look into new tires, wore out a set on the highway, looking at new brakes , he merely has 2k more miles then I do, and frustrated at his payments. But he lives with mom so I am sure he can make his $750+ payment for a while yet.

If you are looking at a "car" like truck, I would say go Chevy, but a work truck or I dont car if i bounce a bit truck, go GMC, truck for truck side by side they look the same, but one is a work truck, the other is a city truck/Suv part time I can do anything vehicule.

With your needs, I might even think about a van, mini van... Kia has a nice minivan with 100K warrenty on it, might suit your bill.

Sheesh less then 1000 miles per year? I do that in a month here!

If you are looking to transport wood once or twice a year, might as well rent a U-Haul van and just get a small car that has folding seats for the guns.

But like i said before, with a tonneau, I carry my guns in the back, no one ever looked under to see if it has any thing in there, most people who have pickups these days are for "show" Once they put the tonneau cover on, they completely forget what color the box is.

Ill Keep an eye pealed around here for your PU. I Have seen a few going at a low price, and Ambridge seems to have its fair share of PU trucks.

[LittleRedToyota]

i got two words for ya....

the first one is toyota...the second is nissan.

as far as long term reliability goes, no one else comes close to toyota and nissan...since you are going to be buying used, long-term reliability should be high on your priority list, imho.

the tacoma is prolly the toyota you would be looking at. you can get them with a 2.7 liter 4 cylinder or a 3.4 liter v-6. both are bulletproof engines.

don't write off the 2.7 because it is a 4 cylinder...if you aren't going to be drag racing or hauling horses around, it has plenty enough power. (i have on several occassions hauled literally 1 ton of gravel/sand/etc up and down the hills of pittsburgh in my truck with no problems and i have the older 2.4 liter 4 cyl toyota which has less power than the newer 2.7 liter).

the 3.4l has more power, of course, but it will add to the price of the truck.

also, i would not hesitate at all to buy a toyota or a nissan that was older than 1998 as long as you check it out and make sure it doesn't have serious rust problems. you should also have a mechanic or someone who is knowledgeable about cars/trucks check it out in general...looking for leaks, checking for play in the driveline/wheel bearings/etc., reading the spark plugs (assuming they have not been just recently changed), doing a compression test, looking for signs of previous accidents, etc. (if you want me to come along to check out any trucks with you, just let me know.)

one final piece of advice is to get a truck with manual tranny and as simple of a 4wd system as you can (ideally the good old true part-time 4x4 manual hub all mechanical transfer case kind...no all-wheel-drive or full-time 4x4 or electronically controlled this or that)...just less crap to go wrong and much more easily (and cheaply) fixed if anything does go wrong. that's just my opinion, though. also, you might have trouble finding that in a truck that is 1998 or newer as everyone has jumped on the gizmo-based 4wd marketing bandwagon.

just my 2 cents.

(ETA: you might want to think about getting one with a bed cap...or getting a cap after the fact. it's really nice to be able to put stuff back there and be able to lock it up and keep it protected from the elements. and they are easy to take off if you need to haul something that won't fit with the cap on.)

[Atomic Dog]

I like where LRT is going, but wanted to throw out the original Jeep cherokee. You can find them for a decent price, they have a nice solid powertrain, and are easy to wrench on yourself if you want.

Throw down a tarp and you can haul wood with no problems and I used the heck out of my roof rack for moving stuff around the property too.


You have some options..

[LittleRedToyota]

but wanted to throw out the original Jeep cherokee. You can find them for a decent price

yep. there is a reason why most serious "wheelers" (i.e., off-roading enthusiasts) start out with jeeps or toyotas. (i say "start out with" because they usually then tear them all apart and rebuild them into customized go-anywhere machines...woohoo...fun, fun, fun.)

[Hawk]

Start here if you want to find a deal.

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/car/

Here is a good example: http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/car/457181435.html

Hawk,

[Karys]

I can't comment on prices. I keep my truck running until it falls apart so I only start pricing them when I'm ready to buy, which is about every 7-10 years.

One thing I would suggest if you're not going to put a cap on the bed is get a quad cab, not just an extended cab. The extended cab is nice, especially when you have a bunch of stuff that you want to keep dry and secure, but there really isn't a whole lot of room back there and you'll be surprised how quickly you can fill that space. It's nothing for me to completely fill the back seat of my extended cab Silverado when I'm going hunting upstate.

...one final piece of advice is to get a truck with manual tranny and as simple of a 4wd system as you can (ideally the good old true part-time 4x4 manual hub all mechanical transfer case kind...no all-wheel-drive or full-time 4x4 or electronically controlled this or that)...just less crap to go wrong and much more easily (and cheaply) fixed if anything does go wrong.

I agree 100%. Follow the KISS rule. Keep It Simple Stupid.

[D-FENS]

Thank you all very much for the great replies so far.

First, I am vehicle stupid. My skill set is indicative of growing up in a house full of women (Stole that from a friend). I don't do mechanical stuff. Hell, I've never driven a manual transmission for that matter. I am not opposed to one for any reason, I just don't think a dude selling a truck is gonna want me to learn on his. lol. I'm also hearing that it's not ideal for city driving. So, while working on a type of truck might be easier or whatever, it's not really in the cards for me as I don't have the space to work on something, I don't have the skillset either.

Secondly, I'm not opposed to a foreign auto, they're just pretty small it seems. As some of you know, I'm pretty big for one of those Toyota cabs. An extended cab might alleviate that (the T100 rocks and I like those!). The Tacoma's seem a little too small.

Thirdly, I should have said this but I'm looking for a midsize truck. I have no need for a fullsize and parking it would be a huge biatch.

Thanks, Hawk, for the link. I've been checking it out regularly the last few days. I <3 CL.

My parents have a neighbor who is a car salesman(and good neighbor) and he has a '98 Ford Ranger XLT with the 4L V6 in the mid 4's. Does anyone know about this truck?

My main concern is the transmission.

[BFit70]

im a dodge guy myself, but i have nothing against chevys and GMCs. if you want full size, dodge ram 1500 with the 318. thats what i have now and my neighbor had one as well. neighbors was a 97 that ran great. he put 170K on it before it really needed anything, and that was a tranny.
however, if you want a smaller truck, the s10 is the way to go. i know atleast 5 people that had one with the 4.3 v6 and and all ran great well past 100k. my s10 was my first car and that thing was indestructable. you can probably find a 98 for around your price range. mine was a 94 and i payed 4000 for it in 2002.


and and i agree with karys, i fill my quad cab with crap all the time. it looks like alot of room, but it goes quick