What make of Truck?

[cheter]

My son and I tomorrow are going to start looking for a truck, for his 1st vehicle. This truck will be used, no more than $6,000 do I want him to pay.
We have looked at Ford Rangers, Dodge Dakotas, etc something small. What year did they start with air bags? I know nothing about trucks. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[RonB]

I have an '01 Dakota and it has airbags. Also, I just got my county assesment and it's valued at about $4800.
I hope this helps ~ Ron

PS: it's my 3rd Dakota, so I guess you could say I like 'em.

 

[johnmfaeth]

Dodge's have very well made trucks. Just gave up and finally junked my 1985 Ramcharger with 150,000+ miles on it. It was used for plowing the last 5 years of it's life (never buy a used truck that was used for plowing - beats them up good) without impact. But mine experience is anecdotal as will be all opinions that you get here.

Best bet is to look at Consumer Reports and other ratings for used vehicles. You can do this for free while sipping coffee at your local Barnes and Noble Bookstore.

If the total budget is $6,000. I would only spend $5,000 as registration costs some $ and any used vehicle will have a surprise of two waiting to be fixed.

And don't be afraid to let this be a learning experience for him, defer to his opinions, even if painful, so he learns (or you are proven wrong).

Have fun!

John

 

[stevedmatt]

I have always been a GM guy. I am still driving my 96 GMC pickup with 145,000+ miles on it. General maintenance, a couple couple of higher dollar repairs ($500+), and it still runs good and has no rust.

My friends 1993 Blazer has 260,000 miles on it and has never had any major repair.

We both maintain our vehicles very well.

As for $6000, it should buy you a late 90's small pickup with around 80-100,000 miles and in good condition. A full size would be more expensive.

If you have a mechanic that you use and trust, ask him if he would be willing to check out the truck before you buy it. He should be willing to do this for the cost of 1 hours labor, which could save you a decent amount of money and headaches in the future. A good mechanic also knows some of the quirks different models have and knows what to look for. He may also tell you what type of truck to look for.

Happy shopping.

 

[granpabush]

I would go on line to the Carmax site to get ideas of what might be available in your price range. You might be able to narrow the choices this way. I used the site when I recently purchased a '02 Dakota Quad cab for $10500.00. In checking it out, I was comfortable with the purchase.

Dick

 

[cheter]

"Truck Shopping-con"t"

Well today we went looking for trucks. Not really to buy, but to give my son more driving experience. Now if something was seen that was unbelievable we would have bought, nothing was. We drove up to Melbourne, Fl. from St.Cloud, Fl. We saw a few we were a little interested in. Are car sales slow? Some of the deals were great, but not what we were interested. Then my son was shown a 2002 Big Black F150 that the salesman was willing to sell at $6,000 tax & title included, it was nice, but it was a standard, not automatic.
So now we will start our search on an F150, not a Ranger or Dakota.
Any experience with an F150 would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cheryl17]

My husband has been driving F150's for the past nine and a half years. He currently has a 2002 F150 XLT V8 4WD, and he said he would buy it again. Consumer Reports and Edmunds.com also recommend the 2002 F150. Prior to this truck, my husband had a 1998 F150 XL V6 2WD, which he also liked.

My husband's 2002 F150 came with Goodyear Wrangler RT/S tires. After having two vehicles with those tires, we concluded that they have poor traction on wet roads. Although my husband's tires weren't worn out, he recently replaced them with different tires, and he said the difference is remarkable. If your son buys a truck with Goodyear Wrangler RT/S tires, strongly consider replacing them.

 

[teachingmyown]

If the total budget is $6,000. I would only spend $5,000 as registration costs some $ and any used vehicle will have a surprise of two waiting to be fixed.

And don't be afraid to let this be a learning experience for him, defer to his opinions, even if painful, so he learns (or you are proven wrong).

Have fun!

John

Excellent advice on both points. When buying our son's car I spent the entire budget on the vehicle, and then spent the next three weeks in sticker shock as I added taxes, tags, title, insurance (for a male teenager!!!), and minor but necessary mechanical updates. It easily came to well over an extra thousand dollars, probably closer to two, thanks to the insurance hike.

 

[teachingmyown]

Hubby loves his 2001 F150 Super Crew (family of five...needed the extra room). In fact, I think it may have been yesterday that he said, "I love my truck."... It gets better gas mileage than my van, has had practically no maintenance issues, and is becoming our main family vehicle.

 

[Bill4728]

Are you sure you want something as big as a F 150? We had a Mazda mini pick up for years and always wanted something bigger. We now have a Dakota and love it. It is big enough to do almost anything you want in a truck but significantly smaller than a F 150.

 

[cheter]

We had thought we found the perfect truck today. $4900, 60,000mi, V6, automatic. New paint job & tires & rims! It was a Ford Ranger XLT 2001. It was to small for my son. My son is about 6'1", his knee occasionally would hit the steering wheel. Found out the owner of this small auto sales shop, goes to autions about once a week, and then puts them up for sale. The owner had head up to Baltimore to an auction, his brother was there to help us. He will have his brother keep an eye on an extended cab truck for my son.

Please refrain from duplicate postings in the future. I have combined both of your Threads on the same subject.

 

[Laurie]

We've had 2 Mazdas, long beds, one w/an extended cab, and loved both of them. I believe the last one was a B2600, perhaps they both were. We had a Toyota with a custom *double cab*, that was an outstanding truck, I can't think of the model name, but it was 4WD and got excellent gas mileage.

Now we have a Toyota Tacoma w/long bed and extended cab and love that one too. Toyotas probably hold their value longer than most other makes.

We really like the extended cab - you get a larger utilitarian vehicle without diminishing gas mileage. It can carry extra passengers if needed, but mostly, we use the space for stuff. In this day of expensive fuel costs, I'd go for the smaller engine, the V6's and V8's can really guzzle the gas.

Here's a short-bed double-cab Tacoma I believe in Florida for ya, for $6000:
www.listsomething.com/site/show/540995

 

[cheter]

Unfortunately, the Toyotas, Mazdas, & Nissans are out of his price range. I have a Honda Civic with 104,000 and it still runs like a brand new car. I take it in every 3,000 miles, and have never had any serious problems. I quess foreign cars/or trucks have sold me. But, the price is more than american made.