Small to medium-size Truck recommendations

Sikarian

I'm looking at trading in my civic and getting myself a truck. I want something in the small to medium range. I don't need anything gigantic. Price range around 20 to 25,000$.

So far that's caught my eye would be a Toyota Tacoma and Dodge Ram. I'm trying to get as many opinions as I can on what trucks people think are worth while, and their opinions and experiences with different types (F-150, Colorado, etc). It seems everyone I ask has a different thought on the matter. Some say that Ford are terrible vehicles and that Dodge is great, some say Dodge is horrible and to get a Chevy. I can't find a straight answer, so I'm going for volume of answers to see generally what is liked the most.

Out of all the stylings and options, I like the Tacoma the best. Just putting that out there

RUNN1NGMAN

Man, they're going to love you--most people are doing the opposite. What do you need a truck for, specifically? That makes a big difference. Hauling loads? Towing? Off-roading?

Fats

The Ram is gigantic, so that sort of crosses it off your list. I've no experience with the current model Dakota (Dodge's midsize truck), but I have a '98 which has been fine, my only suggestion there is to avoid the automatic transmission. The Tacoma is always good, but the current model is really fucking huge compared to what it used to be, so you might want to look at one first.

The Ford Ranger is one of the last small trucks out there, and still really good. The 4.0L V6 with the 5 speed gives it some balls, or you can get the 2.3L I4 and get decent mileage. My only complaint with the Ford is you can't get a non-electronic transfer case, but that's the case with most things these days.

Sikarian

I think by small I mean the Ram, Tacoma size ones. The rangers are far too small. I guess in my head, Large would be a Ram 3500, F350, etc :P

I basically need a truck that I can toss my bunker gear in when I'm changing stations, I can throw stuff in when I need to move it... some off-roading fun (which is what got the Tacoma in mind), and also occasionally working on my parents farm. Moving light horse equipment and hay, etc. Rarely I may need to tow something, but likely not.

Thankfully for my situation in life right now, gas prices arn't an issue. My place of residence is about 1.5 miles from work, and I work 4 day, 10 hour shifts. I could make it an entire week on 12-15 miles. I also don't pay rent any more, and have gotten rid of most of my debt. Decided I wanted a vehicle that I actually enjoyed driving. The civic is decent, but I mean, come on. It's a civic. It's not quick and peppy to be fun, it's not off-roading fun...it's just GET TO WORK. GET HOME.

I want some fun

Fats

I can't think of much the Ranger is too small for (we crammed 1900 lbs. of wire in the back end of one and made it down the interstate, though it wasn't too happy about it), but it sounds like the Tacoma is fine for you. The other midsize models don't really do anything better than the Tacoma. Make sure you get the manual gearbox.

Edit: Build-a-Tacoma puts the largest engine, 4x4 6-speed model at the far end of your price range, but I'm sure you can get huge discounts in the current market.