What pickup truck would you choose?

For farm/work truck/daily driver. Early 90's, 4x4, 5 spd, v4 or v6. Anybody have any advice on a good, reliable make/model?

Toyota Tacoma, hands down.

http://www.edmunds.com/toyota/tacoma/1995/consumer-reviews.html

Thanks Jay. Lots of testaments to the truck's reliability at that link. I take it that you have had a good experience with one too? I'd ruled those out because I read of rust issues and a recall.

The rust is cosmetic and not on the frames of the trucks. My family doesn't buy any other breed of truck then the Toyota Tacomas for many a long year now. We've had Fords, Chevys, Dodge and even Jeep trucks back in the day. None have impressed us as much as the Toyota Tacoma and when we invest money in a truck, we get the T T.

A rusted fender or door panel is easily bondo-ed. The engine performance, gas mileage and toughness of this truck is unrivaled in our area and you rarely ever see one for sale as a used truck...they are all on the road and in use. Plenty of other kinds of trucks in the classifieds but rarely the Toy Tacoma and when they are, they are snatched up so quickly that one can barely get to see one or try it out. They hold their value. So do the Toyota Forerunners.

It's good to read your experience, I appreciate it. Not to be contrary, but I've read a lot of reports of the frames rusting.

http://tacoma-upgrade.com/2009/06/info-on-the-19955-through-2004-toyota-tacoma-frame-recall-for-rust.html

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/toyota-offers-to-buy-back-rusty-tacomas/

If number of parts sold is any indication our store sells fewer parts for Toyota' s than other brands of trucks.

I like the old 1-ton toyota compact pick-em-ups. they're in relatively high demand and fairly rare, though.

currently, I drive a 1986 diesel f-250. diesels motors last a real long time, but some basic repairs can be obnoxiously difficult. the possibility of homebrew fuel also makes them attractive. the f-250 is substantial overkill for loads between what I can haul in my bicycle trailer and 1000 lbs or so, but it's handy when I've got a lot of material to move or a delivery out of town.

I loved my buddy's old vw diesel pick-up. was small enough to not feel ridiculous driving with it empty, but stout enough to move substantial weight around. certainly not as burly as those old toyotas, though.

Dodge with a Cummins non-intercooled engine.
Getrag tranny if you can find one, since they are lubed with regular motor oil, no special fluid.
Manufacture service schedule for engine starts at 200K.
Can't really beat that.
Hawaii, a lot of which is rural, and all of which is remote, has a bunch of 20 year old Dodge d-150, w-250's running around.
One could surmise b/c they are pretty reliable.
They can be hard to find with low mileage b/c they are all 20 or so odd years old, but they run forever.
If people turn up the injection pumps and hotrod them -- the 2 go hand in hand usually -- (they can be made to go crazy fast), I would avoid purchasing one b/c the tranny will be a hassle.
But if the Injection pump is not messed with, super strong and reliable.
Also, as mentioned, alternative fuels and such, (jatropha seems to be the best imo).
I got mine with 118k miles and it's 22 years old now with 135k miles.
6k to purchase, no rust, minor paint damge, but if you squint, it looks brand new.
I rarely see 10 year old trucks that are in as good shape mechanically or visually.
I have had toyota b/4, but I always found the engine to be underpowered.
I get between 17-20 mpg on a one ton 4x4.
Going up hills, diesels don't slow down as much as gassers.
Tons of torque.
I drive like i'm 70 but can blast almost any car off the line, but I let them race to be the first at the stop sign.

Tom Davis wrote:Dodge with a Cummins non-intercooled engine.
Getrag tranny if you can find one, since they are lubed with regular motor oil, no special fluid.
Manufacture service schedule for engine starts at 200K.
Can't really beat that.

that would be my first choice for a diesel truck. they're in pretty high demand around here, though, so I settled for the International Harvester in a Ford. the one negative I've heard about the older Dodge diesels is that the body isn't nearly as well-built as the motor.

The truck I'd lke to have is a customers conversion of a 71 GMC 3/4 ton 4x4 with a turbocharged cummins 4bt diesel, NV4500 transmission. Power and over 25 mles to the gallon. The 4bt is short enough that it fits easily into the engine compartment. Replace the input gear on the 208 transfer case, fifth gear replacement and an adapter a nice conversion of a truck body style I have always liked. The 4bt does buckle up to a TH400 if you want a 2wd.

Thanks all, lots of good information to keep me busy with. I've been surfing around Craigslist looking at the Tacomas in my area, but I've read some good reviews of Ford Rangers as cheaper, reliable alternatives to Toyotas. I opened up about 25 tabs with Ranger ads and 95% of the Fords were being sold with some kind of mechanical problem. It was a stark contrast to the Tacomas, where about 5% or less had mechanical problems. As Tom guessed, I haven't seen many older Dodges out there.

Toyota's are fairly tough to find for a reasonable price.

I have always purchased Nissan harbody pickups. Dirt cheap and there are tons of parts around.
I have owned both Nissan and Toyota. The Toyota's are nice but bang for buck is in the Nissan.

If I were to weigh into the subject I would first say that we'd need more details, specifically:


What is your price range?

How mechanically inclined are you?

How often are you towing/hauling and what is the weight/volume?

What are your long term expectations? (is this something your going to drive every day for the next 20 years or is it something to 'get by' for now?)



With those questions posed, I'll give my personal, and very general opinion...


I've known 1980-1990 Toyotas to be generally very reliable. However I purchased a new Toyota in 2003 and I had given up less than a year and 14,000 miles later, I was having too many issues which I didn't want to handle when the warranty gave up. Dealer support was also pretty shoddy. So I wouldn't buy a newer Toyota.

Same story for the old Nissans... However I bought a new Titan in 2004 and it was totally reliable until 100K some major issues occurred. So slightly higher marks than 2000+ Toyotas in my experience.



Any american product from 1990 to 2005 is junk, pure junk. Except I would get a Ranger simply because parts are soo ridiculously cheap and abundant. I helped a friend do a brake job, we discovered that a front caliper was cracked so we replaced it, a rebuilt unit was $7 and a NEW caliper was $16.xx!!! This was only a couple of years ago, not 1982 prices!

2008+ American trucks are unbelievable... Better than any trucks of any era in my opinion. Specifically Ford and Dodge (cummins!)


For something to have along time, I would actually consider a wrangler to swap in a mechanical 4B-T and convert it to pickup bed later on. Anybody knows how to fix one, and parts are everywhere and affordable. Aftermarket is also well supported.


Some food for thought...

I can vouch for the quality of the 80's to early 90's toyota trucks as well, and in a nasty heavily road salted environment. The frame was always solid, though I'd certainly be looking for that if buying one. Due to our winters you don't see many of those around these days up here. I drove an 88 4runner 4x4 from 97 until 2001 or 2002. My dad drove it about 120km round trip every other day for probably 5 or 6 years (shift worker) on top of my tooling around town, going to the ski hill (another 130-40km round trip) and 4x4 ing on back roads. It put up with lots of abuse, but was never great on gas.

Speaking to more modern trucks, the newer generation of ranger seems to be both everywhere, and reliable..although some certainly disagree on that last point! Lots of parts are available, and parts are cheap. BUT since its been discontinued it seems like the price has gone up on used models.

Also, If people are into the Ranger don't forget the Mazda B-series. Its the exact same truck as far as I can tell. All the parts are interchangeable despite different part numbers apparently. That's what I've been looking into as I need something newer and smaller for reliability on longer trips but also need to be able to haul stuff and have 4 wheel drive for when I reach my destination.

j

Forgot to mention: Tom is very right about the toyotas being underpowered. Although I could always get the power I needed out of it by just shifting down, it really was underpowered with the 4 cylinder engine. I imagine the v6 option was better, but it often struggled on hills if you didn't shift way down and sacrifice some speed for power...more so than you really should've had to with a 'modern' vehicle.

This is a bit off topic but have you considered getting a beater 'work' truck in addition to a small, reliable over long distances, and economical daily driver vehicle? Depending on how you will use the truck aspects of the truck, it can be more economical depending on where you live and the costs (registration, insurance, etc.) associated to owning a vehicle. When I was growing up we always had a plow truck. Sometimes it was such a beater that it wasn't even licensed, and it ONLY functioned as an on-the -property work truck. Over the years we had a 1948 willys jeep, a 1950-something willys pickup, and an 80-something ford f-150. All were had for very little money and all but the willys jeep were re-sold for at least what was paid for them initially. The willys jeep went for parts at around 400..i think we paid 500 for it. If your not driving great distances an older, simpler, vehicle is often good enough and considerably cheaper than a newer model in terms of purchase and repairs to the point that the difference in fuel economy is less of a big deal. The willys pickup was perfect as it had a big home built flat bed, and a 6 cylinder chevy engine that provided plenty of power for the low gearing, and of course the plow hookup and hydraulics..also we knew a guy with lots of old willys and land cruisers hanging around..otherwise the aftermarket parts would have been a bit steep. There wasn't much that couldn't be fixed easily on that beast. But what it means is that you need another vehicle, and that means more insurance/registration to pay etc. if both are on the road in an official capacity.

Eventually for me I'd like have a work truck, something like the willys with a very low range 4 wheel drive, running on wood gas and not insured or registered at all. Slap an orange triangle on the back when I need to leave the property with it. Insurance is too crazy expensive in NB. But for now, as I split time between Montreal and NB, I can only manage one vehicle, and its going to need to be a small truck.

j

Zach Baker wrote:It's good to read your experience, I appreciate it. Not to be contrary, but I've read a lot of reports of the frames rusting.

In '07 a coworker in Michigan took his '97 truck in to the dealer for an oil change. They wouldn't let him drive the truck home. They did let him pick a new car off the lot (lower end model, but still) and drive that until he received a check 2 months later for 1.5 times the bluebook of the truck. They use a lot of salt in Michigan so that may be the culprit. He bought another Toyota.

I have a 1993 Dakota. I picked it after reading countless owner testimonies of the engines lasting well into the 3-400,000 mile range. The transmissions don't last quite that long, but the 318(5.2L V-8 ) engine has been produced by Dodge for longer than just about any other engine they make. The truck has more power than a 4 or 6 cyl Toyota, but doesn't guzzle nearly as bad it's larger V-8 brethren. It has an 1,800-2,000 lb. payload capacity with the V-8 and can haul up to a 6,400 lb trailer with the correct gears. Mine is the extended(club) cab. While bigger than the similar Toyota or Ford Ranger extended cabs, it isn't something you'd want to have to sit in if you're a full sized adult. The front seat on the other hand has room for days(I'm 6'0"-200 lbs.) For kids, dogs, groceries, or general stowage though, it works great. The bed is 6-1/2 feet IIRC so a full grown person can lay right down in it. A full 4x8 piece of plywood or drywall doesn't stick out much past the tailgate(down). My only gripe is the oil filter being in about the worst position you could possible imagine. If you change your own oil, be prepared to either buy a filter relocation kit and install it with your first filter change, or end up regretting that you didn't take my advice(seriously, it's that bad). Another truck I'd personally recommend is a Jeep Comanche. It's lighter(like a Toyota) but has an inline 6 cylinder engine which puts out an awesome amount of torque and horsepower. It's a tad light for serious farm type work, but it always gets a solid 20+ MPG and never seems to lack for power. The 4.0 motor also has a reputation for lasting well into the high 200's to low 300,000's of miles.

Reliability is everything for mechanical idiots like myself. Anything toyota but would also consider Nissan. LOVE my 4wd v6 '96 tacoma and will drive it into the ground. If regularly hauling heavy loads or trailers, one would need more power.

Why the heck cant we get diesel Toyotas in the states!? Been hearing rumor they are coming for years but with the way fuel prices have gone, maybe not the best idea.

Rather than starting a new thread basically asking the same questions, I figured I would revive this one.

I just had my bid on 40 acres accepted, and will need to look at trading in my 2001 CRV for something a bit more suited to homestead use. With a 2 1/2 mile not so good road to the property, and no snow removal for that road I would need the ability to have a snow plow as well as a decent 4 WD.

I had already been considering the 90's Toyota Tacoma as I have heard some good things about the 90's Tacoma trucks, but would love to hear more input and other suggestions.

To be honest my dream vehicles would be a Volvo c304 6X6 or the c303 4X4, or a Unimog. But the reality is I will likely need a pickup not a van or SUV. So I would really be most interested in something with a decent bed for hauling materials etc.. As I will be building my home on the land, and doing lots of work there. As well as I do plan to get livestock and would need to be able to pull some sort of trailer for moving livestock.

Something else to remember for suggestions, is I am on a tight budget. So wouldn't be able to afford anything over $10K, so that takes out a lot of the newer vehicles right there. And to be honest, dependable but lower than $10K would be preferable since every penny will count at this point with lots to buy and get to start this homestead up.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, to help me get started on narrowing down what to look for in a truck search.

*edited to make more sense, and add a little more info

Hey Devin, congrats on the property acquisition!

Are you needing to commute to town daily, weekly, monthly? How far is town?

Some folks have a small-medium truck like a Tacoma and work the snot out of it to make it do the work of a bigger vehicle, but it's worth it for them because they need the better fuel economy for commuting hundreds of miles per week in the same vehicle. If you're not doing a lot of long distance driving, I'd look for a larger diesel pickup. Plowing and hauling are definitely things where size and power count.

I think the general consensus as far as the fullsize pickups old enough to be in your pricerange, the Cummins is the best engine but it's a shame about the Dodge it comes wrapped in, the Ford IDI or 7.3 Powerstroke would be second place(tradeoffs between the two) with a more durable truck in general, and the 6.2/6.5 Chevies... well, some people seem to like em, but they seem to be last choice generally. No data about the early Duramax stuff, they were out of my pricerange last time I was looking, though likely to be within it by now.

Sadly you're right about the need for a bed vs an enclosed vehicle.... I used to have a '91 Delica; it was awesome, but I eventually gave in and replaced it with a truck. It would fit a fullsize sheet of plywood inside with the hatch closed... but longer stuff was a pain, and manure/livestock pretty sub-optimal!

I think whichever platform you go for, a flatbed is the biggest improvement you can make for usability. Regular pickup beds are not to my taste at all.

Yes I had someone suggest flat beds, and have been looking into them. However they seem few and far between in my area right now for sale in my price range. But I will keep checking for them, I only need one good one.

I wouldn't need to do huge amounts of commuting. So I am leaning toward something somewhat larger, though don't want to go too big and end up having to later buy a 2nd vehicle just to use to drive around when not hauling something. My brother has been trying to steer me toward smaller stuff and better MPG, telling me 3/4 ton is as big as I should look and pointing me toward 1/2 even.

Good thing is I don't have to make a decision right away. I have until mid June before I fully close on the property, well unless I get motivated to pay sooner. So I am using this time to do the research to make a wise choice (hopefully) and pick the right truck not just for the job in the next year or two but one I can grow into and keep using for several more years down the road.

Brian Knight wrote:Reliability is everything for mechanical idiots like myself. Anything toyota but would also consider Nissan. LOVE my 4wd v6 '96 tacoma and will drive it into the ground. If regularly hauling heavy loads or trailers, one would need more power.

Why the heck cant we get diesel Toyotas in the states!? Been hearing rumor they are coming for years but with the way fuel prices have gone, maybe not the best idea.

You can import a 25 yr old diesel from Europe. A 90's Toyota Hilux or Landcruiser will likely outlast new gas powered trucks being sold today plus you'll make a profit when you sell it. I'd avoid the Japanese models as they tend to be abused and often have auto gearbox and AC which seriously impacts engine cooling, some of the Jap imports to USA have cracked heads but the European ones tend to be solid.
Where I live is inundated with decades old Toyotas. It's hot and hilly but these trucks last forever.

In the past, I had a 4 cylinder S-10 that I got off Craigslist for $500. Since I don't pull a camper/boat I found that the little truck was good enough for about 98% of the truck stuff that I wanted a truck to do. Taking a 80-something horsepower truck loaded with a ton of bricks in the bed on the interstate was fun...it went 0 to 60 in about a minute and a half. For the other 2% of things, since I am in the Midwest there is no shortage of overpowered trucks used primarily for picking up kids from soccer practice that can be borrowed for a few hours to do some real truck work.

Hello Everybody........ I have lived on very remote homesteads most of my life.... several miles of rough dirt roads, no snow removal, and then over 75 miles on paved roads to the nearest towns. Living out like that you have to do most of your own repair work so.........I always buy pre- 1987 Toyota or Nissan 4x4 Trucks.... No computer......... simple mechanics..... easy to work on.......... and I pull lots of trailers full of firewood, rocks, logs, lumber, hay and manure....... climbing steep hills, with a load, just shift down and get in the 'no hurry, no worry' mode......... I have always gotten over 400,000 miles out of each one, working them heard......I have had 6 Toyota four cylinder 4X4 pickups and 3 Nissan 4X4 pick ups...... they are both very well built.......Worried about frames rusting...... simply buy the spray on undercoating (or even the brush on), and undercoat your frame and fenders every 5 years or so..... it really makes them last!! IF YOU BUY PRE-1987, be sure to get a low mileage truck (under 150K) or a one with a Recently Rebuilt engine........ And DON'T limit yourself to buying local......... expand you vision, go on the national craigslist search engine and punch in the years and make(Toyota) you want and go fishing in the big pool. A one way plane or train fair to get the perfect truck will only cost you less than $400..... It is well worth is to get that low mileage rebuilt awesome 4X4......... Here is a photo of my present farm work truck, A 1929 Model A ford body, I made it into a king Cab, beefed up the suspension to 3/4 ton, put 1983 Nissan 4X4 running gear in it , with the Z 2.4 engine, 5 speed tranny, rack and pinion power steering....... cute, strong, great off road and good at freeway speeds 70-75 mph..... and it makes people Happy ......to see it driving down the road....... 22 mpg........... and I recycled two dead vehicles and brought them back to life........

That's a really sweet rig, Sunny.


My dad had an '83 Toyota for almost 25 years. It was more reliable than the modern Ranger that replaced it, had a proper 7ft bed/single cab which seems impossible to find in a modern small 4x4 trucks, and was geared more intelligently.

The downsides were indeed rust, and when he finally sold it every system except the engine needed major overhaul. A sweet find for the person he sold it to, it still had less than 150K KM on it!


If you can't find a nice truck with a flatbed, keep your eyes open for a nice truck with a shitty box that can be had cheaply; I see nice flatbeds(minus the truck) for sale often enough that adding one afterwards would seem a reasonable option.

Some great tips there Sunny, and what an amazing truck you shared with us. Now that is what I want, but finding one of those in my budget range doesn't seem likely. but I will take your tips and work with those.

BTW something worth asking about. What about the good ol' deuce and half? I would have to have it as a 2nd vehicle rather than primary, but figured why not get some thoughts on the Deuce and how practical they might be. Definitely a beast for hauling and winching, and driving right over trees if you have to knock some down. Has the multifuel option. Of course some down sides, they are huge (height and width), heat sucks in them typically (as in hot in summer and cold in winter), tend to be noisy (need ear protection when driving), and of course take up a lot of space when parked.

Well, you've listed most of the downsides of the ex army rigs already, but there's also the substantial fuel consumption and the limited highway cruising speed.

I've thought one of them might be nice for an uninsured farm truck, IF the size isn't a problem to fit where it needs to go. As you note, I sure wouldn't want it for an only vehicle, and insurance on a truck that big would probably be more than I'd want to spend for an occasionally-driven thing.

And then by the time I think through all that I end up deciding a tractor with a backhoe would be a lot more useful for an on-farm vehicle...

Steve Farmer wrote:
You can import a 25 yr old diesel from Europe. A 90's Toyota Hilux or Landcruiser will likely outlast new gas powered trucks being sold today plus you'll make a profit when you sell it. I'd avoid the Japanese models as they tend to be abused and often have auto gearbox and AC which seriously impacts engine cooling, some of the Jap imports to USA have cracked heads but the European ones tend to be solid.
Where I live is inundated with decades old Toyotas. It's hot and hilly but these trucks last forever.

May be tough to find in the pricerange mentioned, and in pickup form? At least up here the vast majority of grey market imports are SUVs or vans, very few pickups. Maybe importing is cheaper down there though. Not sure I agree about avoiding the Japanese models, the 3 JDMs I've had have all been good to me with no signs of abuse before hitting this continent, though none were landcruisers. All the landcruiser 'Prado' models and some of the surf/hilux trucks are the ones I've head of having head issues; proper 60/70/80 series landcruisers are generally solid.

If it's free it's for me.
Never look a gift horse in the mouth.
Never look under the hood of a free truck

There you go Dillon not talking me into a Deuce, but actually pointing out why they aren't all that practical.

Amazing machines, but pretty much not something to even consider at least at this point. Maybe 10 yrs down the road as a novelty fun truck that can work hard to justify being there.

@Dillon N: ".... the Cummins is the best engine but it's a shame about the Dodge it comes wrapped in, the Ford IDI or 7.3 Powerstroke would be second place(tradeoffs between the two) with a more durable truck in general, and the 6.2/6.5 Chevies... well, some people seem to like em, but they seem to be last choice generally."

I suspect the newer Dodge ecodiesel has not been tested enough?....Certainly would be out of the desired price range. Wasn't Ford going to be bringing a smaller diesel into the F150?

@ John W, Ya, tested or not, the newer Dodge Ecodiesel and for that matter the new small diesel option from Chevy are too new to fit the budget... a smaller Ford diesel is coming but not for sale yet AFAIK. There's also a smaller Cummins available in the Nissan Titan up here, but again too new to fit the budget.


The trucks in this pricerange will be a lot more user serviceable than the newer ones anyhow; I think it's kind of a sweet spot unless you really need the much higher power output of a newer engine.

Well picked up a '92 Chevy Silverado today. Came with a snow plow, studded winter tires, chains, summer tires, and a canopy.

Already has a dent in the bed fender, so I won't feel obliged to put one in to make it fit in to homestead existence.

I will post some pics and more info tomorrow, I am beat, 3hr drive there and 3hr drive back over a mountain pass ugg. Thankfully the seller let me store the plow there at his place since he is much closer to where the homestead land is.

So here is what I got.





I really like this canopy style, the Dodge I was looking at had a similar one but it was missing the tailgate if you removed the canopy.







I like that it can be a small door that opens to the side, or the entire back hinges up. Really smart canopy design I think.

4 studded winter tires, for the really troublesome winters.


Chains, the tailgate, and sandbags for counter weight for the plow. I didn't take a pic of it, but there is a nice wood frame to keep the sandbags all the way in the rear of the bed and in place.


The interior is in decent condition


Rear seat in folded position


Plow controls. I left the plow at the person's house I bought the truck, with the agreement to pick it up once my property closes. He had offered to let me do that so I wouldn't have to haul it over to Western WA through the pass, then back again to Eastern WA once I close on the property.


4WD controls


High tech ultra modern '92 stereo system, with equalizer tape deck. It is amazing to think how far we have come since this. At the time this was high fluting to have a tape deck with an equalizer in your pick up.


The windshield does have some cracks on the right side, bad enough that I will need to replace the windshield. Even though it doesn't really interfere with visibility, those cracks will just keep getting worse.


Some other issues I didn't take a pics of. The drivers side seat belt is locked up (not a hard fix) so can't reach over my lap. A small section of the tail pipe after the muffler is missing. Transmission has a slow leak (this I plan to immediately address). My brother noticed some oil leakage on the engine (he suspects it just needs a new gasket). There is a dent in the bed fender (I like it gives the truck homestead credibility). Small crack in one of the tail lights (I wouldn't have noticed if the seller hadn't pointed it out. And there is some rust on the underside, nothing horrid or critical, just typical of a 20+ yr old truck. Oh and the rear bumper has a little bend in it on the passenger side, but considering under that is a solid towing mount, no worry at all just again more character and homestead credibility.

Over all I think I got a pretty good truck. Few things I want to get checked out and fixed but for $5K not bad at all. Especially being a complete package deal of pretty much everything I need coming with the truck. I had to fill up the tank to drive it home, adding in 19 gallons. Stopping after 150 miles and a half tank still left gives it about 15mpg, though that was also going up and over a mountain pass. So 15+mpg, which I don't consider too bad for the age and type of truck it is. And with 600+lbs of sand bags and 4 winter tires in the bed.

Thanks everyone for the advice and tips. On another forum the consensus was not to use the truck as a plow instead use a tractor or backhoe with plow blade, but I am not sure when I will be getting a tractor or backhoe. I might be just renting the equipment this first year as I get things started. So for me it just made sense to pick up this truck and plow combo.

I plan to keep my CRV for 3-6mths, for a light duty commute and errand vehicle and emergency back up just in case this new to me truck craps out on me. I think the truck will do fine. But having a back up is a good plan.

Well I would definitely steer clear of Dodge and Mazda. I'd choose Ford pickup cuz it's one of the most reliable vehicle of all times. My personal choice is f-series, for example this one FORD F250 XL .

The first rule of Permieness is to observe, and if you watch the highways you see a few things regarding pickups: there typically is only one person in the vehicle and there is usually nothing in the back.

Because of that I would never own a pickup truck. I might someday buy a wheeler dump truck or something for my farm, something that has real use, but a pickup is just too limiting,

For us, we like versatility. I can put all 6 of us in our Ford Explorer and go places, or fold the seats down and fill it with nearly as much stuff as a pickup. If that is not enough capacity, I add my trailer onto the back and haul even more. All the while I am not registering, inspecting and maintain two vehciles that do the same thing. When we are not all together, then we jump into a Ford Focus because they are cheap to buy, get incredible gas mileage, and I have yet to have one yet that does not reach 200,000 miles with little upkeep.

I have two Ford's, but am hardly brand loyal, it is what they accomplish for us and our farm that is important.

Our Ford Explorer moving big round bales on our farm:

I had a 2001 Ford F150 with the Triton v-8.  She ran for quite a while but I got tired of fixing stuff.  When I sold her she had 256k.  She was starting to lose power and needed a rebuild.   My Food Forest truck (I don't haul heavy machinery) is a 1996 Ford Ranger.  The ranger isn't beautiful but it just doesn't quit running.  I

don't like anything about it other than it just keeps going.  It is underpowered, not particularly comfortable and the wheels are too small.  Mine is kind of trashed though, maybe I'd have warm fuzzies if the interior wasn't torn up.  IT is a great little truck.

My first new car in about 20 years is the 2017 Nissan Frontier TRD Pro. She has a Six-speed-V-6.    I love this truck.  I wanted a mid-sized truck that is a little more agile than the big 5.4 of the Ford.  Nissan doesn't really push U.S. market because the Frontier, in all of its forms, is one of the most popular trucks in the

world.  This truck is more utilitarian and doesn't have a modern bling factor.  I fix my own stuff unless it's something major, so I wanted something easy to work on.

 They haven't done much to change this truck in a decade.  I kind of like that.   My Neighbor had a Toyota and had to turn it in for frame rust.  I'm guessing they have fixed that issue.  I was considering Toyota but I just couldn't justify the additional expense. I plan on running this thing until it dies so resale isn't an issue.

What I don't like about the Frontier:  1. The gas tank is too small.   2. I'm only getting 16 MPG.  Pickups, in general, aren't good in the snow but I did a road trip last Christmas and drove through a blizzard in the mid-west.  She handled well.

Some of the earlier models had issues with the radiator fluid leaking into the transmission but this is a pretty easy fix.  This isn't an issue in the newer models.

It really comes down to the intended use - there's a lot of vehicles out there that will do light to medium work, but put them in a REAL situation and they're liable to fail just when they need to be relied upon.

For example, I'm looking to retire in several years and want a vehicle that will capably carry farm gear, camping gear, and heavy duty off road 4WD exploring in outback Australia. The only truly tested and proven vehicle in the bush is the Toyota Land Cruiser. It's really a light truck rather than a so-called 4WD or SUV.

The only current issue is the recently released versions have a few significant design faults, that will hopefully be rectified by the time I choose to get one e.g. some of the components have been placed low in the engine bay meaning they get unduly wet doing creek crossings, different tracking of front and rear wheels, the gearbox gearing is not high enough in the high gear ratios for long distance Highway driving, etc.

Importantly, parts are easily available in remote areas because most of the outback farmers and tradies use them = proven reliability, ease of repair, and 8 cylinder turbo diesel. (Toyota in their wisdom decides to make air-conditioning extra, and only the single cab gets a high safety rating because the mining sector; who is the major user; requires it to meet Work Health Safety rules!)

Still deciding whether to get a single or dual cab.

F Agricola.  

I love these trucks.  I've seen them in Australian movies.  They probably wouldn't be great here but in the Outback or Sub Saharan Africa, this would be my go to.  There are quite a few awesome diesel vehicles that we just can't get here.  Australia had a pretty cool model of the Ford Ranger.