If you are only putting 4-5K miles a year on it why worry about under 50K miles? I bought a 2005 Dodge Diesel 2500 crew cab 4x4 loaded in 2011 for $15,800, it had 187,000 miles on it, I now have 272,000 miles on it. Been very reliable and will pull anything I want to hook to.

I had a Taco DCSB for a handful of years and ended up hating it. It’s hard to find them used, and the cost of new is marginally more. So I ended up with a 5 yr lease on a top-of-the line loaded TRD Baja edition. The terms and residual were so good, I figured I’d be able to readily sell it near the expiration of my lease. After 3 1/2 years, I had enough. Interestingly I couldn’t sell it used for what it was worth. Everyone looking for used Tacos wanted a bro deal and expected me to give the truck away for far below blue book. I ended up trading it in on a certified BMW X5.

The Taco was underpowered and got crappy mileage. I never got over 16mpg, and anything over 75 mph on a highway was noisy and uncomfortable. The Taco’s interior seating was crappy, and the tech like Bluetooth never worked well. The Short bed was too small to hold bikes w/o removing the front wheels. I recently sat in a new one equipped with a moonroof, and my 6’3” height made it a non-starter — my head was against the roof even with the seat all the way down.

If buying another truck, I’d look to a fill size like an F150 eco-drive. Bigger, more comfortable, and better gas mileage.

Nice, can you locate me one in south Jersey? My daughter is on the lookout for one!

Yep! Used a lot of "fleet" Cherokees in the Nevada desert while in the military. Great little trucks that seem to run forever and need nothing but basic maintenance. Keep toying with the idea of ditching the truck for one.

You’re talking about trucks but you keep mentioning little jeep SUVs. A lot of the $50k real trucks you speak of like an F series or Silverado are built well enough for contractors to use and are often used for business / commercial use (not always obviously). You’re also taking about used vs new so it’s unclear whether you actually want a new vehicle with a warranty or are willing to go used and work on it yourself.

hot tip:

DO NOT buy one in south jersey. the salt air down there murders the undercarriage of these older non-coated trucks. it's worth a drive up here to get one that is less rusty. trust me.

clarification:

i am not talking about little SUVs. i'm talking about real trucks that have the engine in the proper direction, and full frames.

i'm definitely looking for a used truck, not new.

Early 2000s tundra is probably the only thing that makes sense for you. Either that or shell out for an F150 eco boost. They are amazing and get really good MPG. We towed my land cruiser on a flat bed with one like it was nothing. Don’t even look at diesels lol.

yea, diesels are out, i dont drive nearly enough for that to make any sense.

fuel economy is pretty much dead last on my list of priorities too.

Offroading and camping are HUGE right now. The growth in 1/2 tons is pretty massive. "compact" pu's ... Tacos gone crazy.
Basically, all Toyota's are even higher than usual.

I am also shocked at the sticker prices on 1/2 tons. People are going 60-70k It's pretty shocking. 40-50k on midsize like Taco and Gladiator...

The problem is the base trim models are not much cheaper. Poverty pack F150 is still more than a loaded family sedan.

If you like fullsize, going up to 3/4 ton diesel nets you better mpg and lower used prices. Cummins 2500 or super doody.
*just saw your last post - no oil burners

1/2 ton market is tough. Good thing is there are a lot of used F150s and Rams out there...

I like some of the V6 plain Jane Nissan Frontiers with 4 doors and long beds (long for a small pickup).

The average price of a new car in the U.S. is just over $38k. You can go into a Ford dealer today and walk out with a new F150 for about $42k. (If you want to spend less, you can buy a new Ranger for about $34k.) Pretty reasonable.

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used...027_isFeatured

I looked for like 1 second and found this. These have plenty of power and are extremely reliable. Just get an old tundra and call it a day. My friend has one that he’s used for the family business forever and it’s an absolute beast.

this may be the solution that i go with. i know toyotas have a reputation for durability, but it's my experience that almost any used truck, at around the 200k mark (this one has 197 on it...), lots of things are shot. suspension, starters, alternators, etc.

it may make sense to buy something like this for 8 grand and dump a bunch of money in upfront to refresh it to good condition and drive it forever.

we'll see what shakes out.

I feel ya.....and that's why I got this:

https://i.imgur.com/mgRvsdnl.jpg

Would've bought an old toyota but finding one with less than 500,000 miles seems impossible. This one is already ls swapped and fully reconditioned.