I'm looking for recommendations for a cheap "beater" truck. Truck, in order to have an open bed for manure and similar. By cheap, I mean $3k or less. Price cap is not a financial issue - paying more would be counterproductive, as the goal is to have a vehicle that we don't feel bad abusing. Base models are fine, NOT interested in frills (but would take them for "free" as long as they're not high maintenance). Ugly is ok, but parking options may be better if it's not too ugly.
This is NOT primary transportation. It would be used for jobs / destinations where either a truck would work better than a trailer, the trailer is too small, DW needs to haul something (we have a trailer but DW doesn't feel comfortable pulling it), or where we want to spare another vehicle the mess / wear / odor (we don't currently have a truck).
Needs to be reasonably reliable, low maintenance and easy to work on. Probably RWD to keep things simple (and the price down). Also need automatic, or I'd be the only one driving it. I'm pretty handy and generally do my own work including suspension, timing belts, etc. I don't anticipate putting more than a few thousand miles a year on it.
Looking around, I see the following:
* Toyota Tacoma - Too expensive, but otherwise I'd buy a late 90s to early 2000s with the 22RE.
* Nissan Frontier - Seems like a "budget" Toyota substitute, if I can find a good first gen 98-04? with the KA24DE engine.
* Ford Ranger - Less expensive than Nissan.
* Ford F150 - Looks like they're pretty much all automatic, and lots of 2005-2010 XL standard cabs avaiable under $3k. Seems like a lot of those were government / corporate fleet vehicles, which might bode well for maintenance history. I'm assuming that people aren't interested in these as personal transportation because they're bare bones. A bit of reading leads me to believe that the 4.6L V8 is the engine of choice here.
* GMC Sonoma / Chevy S10
* GMC / Chevy full size
* Dodge - seems like Ford / GM are better regarded?
Given that 2005-2010 F150s are within the price range, I'd prefer 2005 or newer unless going with Toyota or Nissan (convince me otherwise, I'm all ears).
Any recommendations?
This is NOT primary transportation. It would be used for jobs / destinations where either a truck would work better than a trailer, the trailer is too small, DW needs to haul something (we have a trailer but DW doesn't feel comfortable pulling it), or where we want to spare another vehicle the mess / wear / odor (we don't currently have a truck).
Needs to be reasonably reliable, low maintenance and easy to work on. Probably RWD to keep things simple (and the price down). Also need automatic, or I'd be the only one driving it. I'm pretty handy and generally do my own work including suspension, timing belts, etc. I don't anticipate putting more than a few thousand miles a year on it.
Looking around, I see the following:
* Toyota Tacoma - Too expensive, but otherwise I'd buy a late 90s to early 2000s with the 22RE.
* Nissan Frontier - Seems like a "budget" Toyota substitute, if I can find a good first gen 98-04? with the KA24DE engine.
* Ford Ranger - Less expensive than Nissan.
* Ford F150 - Looks like they're pretty much all automatic, and lots of 2005-2010 XL standard cabs avaiable under $3k. Seems like a lot of those were government / corporate fleet vehicles, which might bode well for maintenance history. I'm assuming that people aren't interested in these as personal transportation because they're bare bones. A bit of reading leads me to believe that the 4.6L V8 is the engine of choice here.
* GMC Sonoma / Chevy S10
* GMC / Chevy full size
* Dodge - seems like Ford / GM are better regarded?
Given that 2005-2010 F150s are within the price range, I'd prefer 2005 or newer unless going with Toyota or Nissan (convince me otherwise, I'm all ears).
Any recommendations?
Statistics: Posted by toomanyquestions — Mon Jul 29, 2024 11:31 pm — Replies 2 — Views 309