Used pickup truck buying advice wanted

[HersheyPAGreg]

After years of borrowing trucks from friends and family, I'm thinking it's time I buy a used pickup truck and since I guess many of you either own one now or have owned one in the past, I'm here for advice about which make and model to buy.

My only requirements so far are: automatic transmission so my wife can drive it, a back seat since I have a little one, and 4 wheel drive. I won't be driving this vehicle much at all, it would be a 2nd vehicle and just a nice to have kind of thing.

My budget is $3,000 to $5,000 so I'm probably looking at something from the early 1990's to early 2000's. I've owned a few early 1990's Ford cars and was happy with their reliability plus I have relatives with F150's so I'm leaning towards an F150 at this point but I'm open minded about make and model.

As far as F150's go, I've read a bunch of reviews on MSN Autos which kind of steer me towards a pre-1997 F150 rather than a 1997 and up, that owners have reported a lot of issues with the 97's and newer. I know sometimes you just get a lemon no matter the year, make or model. My father-in-law has a 93 and a 97 F150 and loves them both but I'd like to hear from anyone else out there who's had a 90's or early 2000's F150 to hear their experience: years, engines or transmissions to avoid, that kind of thing.

I like Ford Rangers some too but I'm not sure about their towing capability although I don't know how much I should be concerned with towing though. In the future I want to buy a second Spider and maybe a Spider parts car so I'd probably want to be able to tow a Spider on a trailer or maybe an old Chevy on a trailer but this would be a one or two time thing at most. Bed size is another thing to consider I guess, not that I expect haul much but you never know.

Mostly I'm looking for your experience good or bad with the various makes and models out there. I've mentioned Fords a lot but I'm open to Dodge, Chevy, Toyota, whatever.

Thanks,

Greg

[spiderrey]

I had a 90 ford ranger extra cab with a 6 inch lift. I towed my spider and a boat with no issues. Just not at the same time.

[81SPIDERMATT]

well just typing in 4x4 pickup on a local craigslist for sale section ... 3000 to 5000 brought up 88 matches .... mostly dominated by Toyota ... lots of older options of all the makes and models ... some looked great some overpriced .... few ford rangers.. king cab .. 4x4 ..a really cool old blazer .... once you figure it out .. be patient and get what you want

with that being said .. I vote an old international ... then you would have 2 cool cars

[narfire]

In Canada anyway, the F150 has been the #1 selling truck for years. I had an Expedition for years and drove it for work while logging all over BC. I sold it with 380,000 kms and today I see driving around town today with over 500,000kms on the clock. Thirsty, but reliable. I bought the Ford as I had a Chev Tahoe that must have been built on Friday the 13th payday afternoon during baseball playoffs...Crap vehicle that was. Over $10,000 in warranty repairs before a year was out.
The guys in the bush do not like the Dodges as the tranny's were very weak. Father-in-laws Dodge 3500 has had two tranny replacements in 10 years. Great engine though.
If I was looking for a used pickup....I'd look for a F150 with lower mileage from a sunshine state. The smaller engine would be fine for around town and light duty towing. The older 5.4L engines were thirsty in my opinion.
Toyota's ...expensive and a friend that has a Tundra said parts are expensive as well. He does like it though.
Good luck in the search.
Chris

[spiderrey]

Yes, i love my tundra.

[vandor]

I've driven a '95 F250 4x4 quite a bit and find it quite crude. It has the 5.8 liter V8 which gets up to 11 mpg and seems to warp exhaust manifolds every few years, plus has had a bunch of other problems at only 120k miles. The ex had a 2001 Ranger and I was amazed at the low build quality and the totally gutless, yet thirsty 3.0 V6. A 4 cylinder Toyota pickup could run circles around it.
Used Toyotas are expensive, but for a reason. Maybe a Nissan would be similarly good but less expensive? Not sure.

[spiderrey]

I HD six rangers and I wish I still had the last one. I went from an 83 4 x 4 all the way to a 90 4 x 4. Enjoyed everyone of them. I almost forgot my last ranger, a 2002 edge.

[spidernut]

Ford F150 with the 5 liter will burn a valve towing anything substantial - it is a common problem. I've heard of problems with the F250 as already mentioned. Avoid the diesel. Ford Rangers with the 4 cyl are horrible dogs with no power. I'm not a fan of the Ford Exploders - too many reliability issues for me.

Anything made by General Motors (Chevy, GM) will be subject to all accessories failing. Motors and trannys are good, but nothing else. Everything else will break. S10 was rated by Consumer Reports as much worse than average. Tahoes, Suburbans, etc., are all the same...very unreliable when it comes to anything but the drive train.

Toyota are great - they're like cockroaches ... very hard to kill. Coworker had one with 240,000 miles and ran great.

Older Nissan trucks are great ... my brother had one with 300,000 miles on it and it ran great and passed smog tests fine

Older Dodge trucks suck unless you go with the newer body style and the diesel. The gas motors are nowhere near as reliable. They're next to impossible to find in that price range.

Older Mazda and Mitsubishi trucks had very reliable drivetrains. Everything else broke or fell apart. Our work ones were great running trucks but headliners fell out, door handles broke, A/C stopped working, etc.

As you get into older trucks, it is a crap shoot. It depends on how they're maintained and driven. My brother in law has one of the worst GM trucks produced yet it has over 175,000 miles and runs and looks like new.

[Jimb]

I have a 2000 Tacoma 4x4 fully loaded with just 40,000 miles on it and I love it. It's hard on gas though, and they are known to rust depending on your climate. If you decide to get a Toyota just remove the inner fender liner and paint a couple of coats of rustoleum on the insides of the body. I did that to mine and there are no signs of rust anywhere.
Jim

[SoFlaFiat]

Alright, I have to put in my two cents...
Get a 7.3 diesel 250 or 350 ford
It might be crude as Csaba says but it is a truck and the diesel will do anything you ask it to!
I have put 217000 on mine and the most expensive repair has been the AC....
DON'T buy a ford diesel made after they stopped putting the 7.3 in them!!
Love my big pig and it gets 18-20 which, in my opinion, is great for a big truck.

[fiat218]

get it inspected no matter

[Exit98]

Did you ever see the Top Gear episodes about their unsuccessful attempts to destroy a Toyota pick up? It is hilarious. Among other things they left it in the ocean. For the grand finale they parked it on the roof of an apartment building that was subsequently blown up. The mechanic was only allowed a few hand tools to start it up after each adventure and he always got it running.

Here's part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnWKz7Cthkk

My son's first car was (is) a 1999 Toyota pickup he bought used around 2003 for $9K. Barebones 4X4. They've bought a couple family cars since but he's still got the truck. Many years of hard use, looks like crap, but runs just fine. He called me one time last year asking me what I thought. Was running real rough and wouldn't rev. He was afraid the motor was shot or at least he'd have to spend a bundle on the FI or something. 4 sparkplugs later it was good to go. Guess the damn plugs don't last much past 150000 miles or so.

[SoFlaFiat]

Ha, watched all 3 parts!!
BUY A TOYOTA!!
Just make sure it's a diesel

[htchevyii]

I think if I was looking for a truck with that budget, I would buy the best maintained, cleanest one I could find regardless of the make. Try to find one that a old person owned. If your market is anything like here, you won't touch a decent Toyota or diesel for that money. If you buy a Ztoyota, don't buy a 3.0 v6, 3.4's are OK.

[johndemar]

I'll 2nd the 7.3 powerstroke. They will run forever, at least that's what I'm hoping for. I bought a 97 new, which is the last year for the 7.3. I have 200K on it and have done nothing to it other than regular maintenance. Drove back yesterday from Vegas to Phoenix and got 20MPG out of it and that's with a 4:10 rear end. And it will pull anything, including tree stumps if necessary. They are a bit of a beast and not always the easiest to park, so that may be a consideration for the wife. But I plan on keeping mine until the last ounce of life is left in it.