Good Used Trucks.

Daemonion

Hey dudes,


I'm selling my super-awesome GTI MKV for a used truck. If you must know, although it is a sweet, sweet car, I'd rather have something I can beat the shit out of.

I'm looking for any recommendations on used trucks. Probably going to buy something with 50k-80k MILES. What trucks have a reputation for being fuck-awesome forever?

Ford?
Dodge?
GMC?
Toyota?



Thanks guys.


[edit] Should add that I'd like some sweet 4x4, off-road power. Plenty of room for driver + 4 would be nice, too (as in 4 door).

[edit2] Annnnnd someone just backed into my car. Nice.

YourFatAuntSusan

Toyota is pretty much the end all be all of reliable, go forever trucks. Specifically the Tacoma.

Daemonion

How is it with off-roading/heavy snow, etc?



I just realized I'll need to buy a decent sound system, too. Humph.

YourFatAuntSusan

Daemonion wrote: »

How is it with off-roading/heavy snow, etc?



I just realized I'll need to buy a decent sound system, too. Humph.

Look at the Tacoma TRD 4x4 4-Door. It'll do everything you want and go 500k+ miles.

Serpent

Avoid the fullsize toyota tundra.

Ford also makes good trucks. Ford does stand for "found on road, dead", but they've been making trucks for years and they're good at it. The ranger is a nice small truck, and you can't go wrong with an F-150.

A used ford is also much cheaper than used Toyota.

edit: you can get a 2door truck + 2 suicide doors (the smaller doors) with a decent size bench seat for quite a bit cheaper than the full 4door trucks, too. Do you REALLY want to pay a premium just for some more back seat room?

Daemonion

Serpent wrote: »

Do you REALLY want to pay a premium just for some more back seat room?

It depends on the size of the bed. I don't live in my car, but everything I own must be able to fit in my car without hassle.

However, since I can do this just fine with my GTI, I think suicide doors would be fine ...I just kind of am always driving people around.

Uncle Long

Ford does trucks well.

Have a look at the 1995 F-150. I've had one and my Dad has had one and we could have welded the hood shut they were that reliable. Just damn good trucks.

Daemonion

I've previously owned an F-150 2001 Lariat to 100k miles. Wasn't a bad truck, and had plenty of torque and room.

Willeth

The Toyota Hilux is pretty much indestructible.



This truck was submerged for a night in the ocean and then put on top of a tower block that was demolished. It still runs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrk6vsb77xk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Uc4Ksz3nHM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfZDtC9kjVk

Daemonion

Ha, yea, I've seen that. I don't know, though, I drive my cars pretty hard ...:P

Willeth

Well the point is that they bought it when it was 19 years old, however many thousand miles, put it through hell and fixed it with only basic tools, and it's still a running vehicle. If you're looking for a used truck then this is a prime example.

They also used the most recent model to drive to the North Pole.

(note: all of my motoring knowledge comes from Top Gear :P)

Hardtarget

most recent toyota trucks have had problems actually and I'm not sure I'm so keen on them anymore.
A F-150 might be the way to go

Serpent

something to consider : if you're looking for an offroading/snow vehicle, certain SUVs will be better than a flatbed truck.

If you can get an older SUV which is built full-frame (like a truck) with limited slip differential, you can do pretty good. Or find an old jeep cherokee -- those things are offroading beasts! And they last forever.

I just picked up a 96 isuzu rodeo specifically for offroading.

edit:

I just kind of am always driving people around.

then make those others pay the premium for the 4 doors

Al_wat

If your budget is in that range, why not something more powerful like an F-250 or even 350?

Cycophant

Hardtarget wrote: »

most recent toyota trucks have had problems actually and I'm not sure I'm so keen on them anymore.
A F-150 might be the way to go

I'll echo this, though with the caveat that all newer trucks seem to have a lot more problems. Toyota's fall from grace has just been more noticeable, since before now they were fairly high on quality.

The biggest problems I've noticed (and this is probably applicable to the OP, living where he does) deals with cold-weather stuff. I live in an area that gets pretty cold in the wintertime, and all the brand new trucks break down or wear through parts significantly faster than the older, simpler trucks. Typically it was the fancy electronics stuff that was going wrong, but even mechanical items like transmissions seemed to fare worse.

To be honest, I can't fathom why you'd want to spend $50k-80k on a truck you want to "beat the shit out of", but hey it's your money. I'd say spend half of that, find a used truck a few years old that's been taken care of, and spend the money elsewhere.

Daemonion

Cycophant wrote: »

To be honest, I can't fathom why you'd want to spend $50k-80k on a truck you want to "beat the shit out of", but hey it's your money.

OH JESUS, NO!

I meant miles for a used car! Oh god, no! No!

I'll clarify the OP immediately. My god, man.


I want a used truck that can carry the little bit of shit that I own, take a beating, haul schtuff, handle any snowy, mountainous treachery I throw at it, and be an all-around bad ass hunk of junk.

I'm not looking to add a 3-foot raise, useless dinosaur tires and a sweet paint job. I just want something rugged, somewhat roomy, and dependable, because I will put it through hell.

TexiKen

If you can find a Tundra used, do it. I drive an '06 Tundra for work sometimes and it is great. It's quiet, and has a great ride. The only thing it doesn't do well in is gas mileage, where it pretty much never goes above 15.5 mpg. But gas is $1.92 in Houston now so who cares

I've heard mixed reviews about the Nissan Titan.

My grandfather drives a '95 Nissan Frontier. He swears by it, 135k miles on it and no major problems. If an 84 year old can still enjoy driving it, it must be good.

b0bd0d

I got a 1996 2.3 liter 5 speed ranger for a few hundred bucks. The thing had been flipped, wrecked twice, rolled, and ran up a light pole. In contests with other cars, I won the most dents. By a lot. I also took the entire thing apart in my garage. Stripped the bed off with the driver's door and hood. Replace the drivers side window. Replace the rear glass. Took the rear end apart. Super super SUPER easy to work on. Well, all expect the rear glass and the driver's side window. Messing with windows is a f'ing pain. The forums and information I found had nothing but good things to say about the 2.3 Lima engine. Every 2.3L I found in the pull-a-part had several 100K miles on it. I found one that had 3xxK miles on it. And it was wrecked. When I got the thing, it had sat for a year. Never done any regular maintance to it. The oil almost came out in chucks. After all my love, thing ran like a champ. I took the bed off and just straight out cruised. You wanna get look at, take the bed off. Then the hood. Maybe a door if you feeling froggy. You'll start meeting your local cops. And off-roading with no bed is fun! Hope you like traction problems.

tl;dr: By a ranger. Get a stick. No automatic.