Looking to get an economical pickup/suggestions

[AZjeff]

A young guy with a nice Crown Vic and people are giving him a hard time? He actually didn't say he commutes an hour (maybe he does), only that the car is uncomfortable to drive for more than an hour, and he also didn't ask for financial advice. Hard to argue not wanting a Yaris if you can afford anything else.

When I'm looking for a vehicle at a lower price point I look for the newest base model with the least miles I can get for the money and start from there. Amazing what $8000 (for example) will buy in a 4wd Toyota compared to everything else. The Toyota tax is a couple of model years and 10s of thousands of miles. Search truck, 4wd, max price, on CL, Autotrader, Cars, etc and see what your options are.

 

[earlyre]

used truck, around 100kmi?
my biggest advice would be to NOT look in your local area.

where you want to look is in TX,NM,AZ.
why? Almost ZERO rust.
vehicles just don't get the cancer out there...

 

[PantherFan88]

Haha, I didn't expect such strong opinions! My school is only about 20 minutes away, and I do small engine repair as a side hustle, in which a truck would be useful. (Try putting a weed wacker in a yaris... I have, and its not comfortable!

 

[PantherFan88]

Originally Posted by maxdustington
Selling a 5 year old super fuel efficient car with 5K as a student who commutes presumably more than an hour away, yikes! Stay in school bud.


Is reading comprehension something you struggle with? I commute 25 minutes and was not asking for financial or other advice outside of what a good truck would be for my situation. Thanks for the irrelevant and rude reply!

 

[benjy]

a FWD with 4 SNOW tires will pass most AWD or 4 wd cars or trucks as well as many gas stations. i passed many struggling 4WD trucks + SUV's with my 2001 VW jetta with 275 chipped HP + 4 real snow tyres while maintaining 30 mpg's in snowey drives in Pa for 200 thou miles!!

 

[Skippy722]

Originally Posted by PantherFan88
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Selling a 5 year old super fuel efficient car with 5K as a student who commutes presumably more than an hour away, yikes! Stay in school bud.


Is reading comprehension something you struggle with? I commute 25 minutes and was not asking for financial or other advice outside of what a good truck would be for my situation. Thanks for the irrelevant and rude reply!


You gotta forgive them... you want to get rid of a perfectly functioning Toyota product that is miserable to drive. The epitome of of motoring according to some BITOG'ers, no matter how uncomfortable it is.

 

[PantherFan88]

Originally Posted by Skippy722
Originally Posted by PantherFan88
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Selling a 5 year old super fuel efficient car with 5K as a student who commutes presumably more than an hour away, yikes! Stay in school bud.


Is reading comprehension something you struggle with? I commute 25 minutes and was not asking for financial or other advice outside of what a good truck would be for my situation. Thanks for the irrelevant and rude reply!


You gotta forgive them... you want to get rid of a perfectly functioning Toyota product that is miserable to drive. The epitome of of motoring according to some BITOG'ers, no matter how uncomfortable it is.


Hahaha! Facts!

 

[oilpsi2high]

Here's what I did when I was in your shoes:

http://chrisleoonline.com/dodge-dakota-review/

1. Don't buy anything with rust. Go south if you have to. I lucked out and found a truck owned by someone who knew what oil spraying was.
2. Get the most powerful engine you can afford. 1-2MPG is negligible on the wallet.
3. Join forums/FB Groups in advance to learn more about the vehicle and common problems

 

[oilpsi2high]

Originally Posted by benjy
a FWD with 4 SNOW tires will pass most AWD or 4 wd cars or trucks as well as many gas stations. i passed many struggling 4WD trucks + SUV's with my 2001 VW jetta with 275 chipped HP + 4 real snow tyres while maintaining 30 mpg's in snowey drives in Pa for 200 thou miles!!


Not on hill starts you won't.

 

[oilpsi2high]

Here you go:

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/742292225/overview/

*Edit* Improper listing. Don't get one with an auto, lol.

 

[PantherFan88]

I am well versed on the rust/oil undercoating fields, I did a fly and drive to get a rust free 30k mi vic from down south

 

[LoneRanger]

Originally Posted by oilpsi2high
Originally Posted by benjy
a FWD with 4 SNOW tires will pass most AWD or 4 wd cars or trucks as well as many gas stations. i passed many struggling 4WD trucks + SUV's with my 2001 VW jetta with 275 chipped HP + 4 real snow tyres while maintaining 30 mpg's in snowey drives in Pa for 200 thou miles!!


Not on hill starts you won't.


benjy always spouts that nonsense about front wheel drive vs awd and truck 4wd. Go apples to apples same tires on all and the awd and 4wd slaughter his jetta in every low traction situation. Jetta probably high center itself on six inches of snow anyhow.

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted by maxdustington
Selling a 5 year old super fuel efficient car with 5K as a student who commutes presumably more than an hour away, yikes! Stay in school bud.


Absolutely concur focus on finishing school with a low cost to own vehicle. I only state this because you mention economical in your question which a pickup trucks from the 2000 vintage are not.

 

[supton]

My 2004 Jetta would high center on less than 6" of snow. I ran some pretty good Nokian tires, and not only would it high end it had issues if there was a hill.

Snows and FWD is great, but drop a truck into 4WD that has snow tires, and there's no contest--the truck will get going fast enough to find the ditch with authority.

 

[caprice_2nv]

The 2005 Silverado work truck I drive has a full time 4 wheel drive option which is awesome in winter weather. I can turn it on and leave it on and it will get going in any conditions and will blow Jettas out of the water lol.

The only downside is a slight delay before it kicks in the front wheels so if you're not smooth enough with the gas it jerks you a bit when the tires bite.

Not sure if this is an option on Toyota's. Our 2010 Tacoma at work has the annoying traction control system someone else mentioned earlier in this thread. The beeping everytime you lose traction is really annoying.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted by PantherFan88
Haha, I didn't expect such strong opinions! My school is only about 20 minutes away, and I do small engine repair as a side hustle, in which a truck would be useful. (Try putting a weed wacker in a yaris... I have, and its not comfortable!


Wasn't trying to rain on your parade, I just saw "economical" and decided to give fair warning. Your Crown Vic probably gets significantly better MPG than any 4x4 pickup, or even 2wd pickup, save for the Duratec Ranger, which is the only truck I know that can break 30 MPG (with a light foot and a manual).

I love V6 4x4s from the 90s, but I'll readily admit none of my trucks can really be called economical. Even my manual Ranger with selectable hubs (front wheels free wheel unless engaged) doesn't get over 20 MPG unless I take it on a highway trip.

 

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted by PantherFan88
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Selling a 5 year old super fuel efficient car with 5K as a student who commutes presumably more than an hour away, yikes! Stay in school bud.


Is reading comprehension something you struggle with? I commute 25 minutes and was not asking for financial or other advice outside of what a good truck would be for my situation. Thanks for the irrelevant and rude reply!
Ninety-first percentile reading comprehension as tested by professionals in 2014.

I also went to school and was lucky enough to own my own car during my last year: 2000 Golf 2.0 5 speed. I got 40 mpg one night heading south on the QEW, 60 litres would get me like 500km highway (metric, lol). You will start to be more conscious of how far and often you drive with a 4x4 truck, and you might start to resent that front axle after a while.

I've driven my parent's old 4x4s with junk all season tires for years in the winter. You almost never use the 4x4 and only on the worst few days of the year and usually only on hills or residential streets (I'm a Toronto city slicker). It is very nice to park in in 4x4 so you don't get stuck if it snows while your car is parked, but 4x4 is not worth the MPG hit for a DD when you can (and should even if you have a 4x4) run snowies. I am going to be looking for a new vehicle and possibly a truck but no way a 4x4 unless it is to good to pass up.

4x4s are good for not getting stuck, but a FWD car with snowies has far superior grip and the better handling characteristics mean more traction, especially in slush. Lots of MK4 Jetta winter car anecdotes in this thread and I can definitely attest to that. TCS, FWD and snow tires is a match made in heaven for winter driving.

4x4 is better at:
1. not getting stuck
2. driving through deep snow
3. increased engine braking, especially with snow tires. A friend had a 4x4 YJ on snow tires when I was a teen and the drag from engaging the 4x4 and coasting was considerable.

A 2WD truck with a LSD or locker, snowies and maybe some ballast would be a lot more practical IMO. I've been looking at truck MPG and choosing a 2WD makes them a lot more realistic as a DD. In addition to that, they are cheaper than 4x4s. You're not getting a deal on a Yota 4x4 but you might be able to not get ripped off on a 2WD

I'd still run the Yaris with snowies. You can't look a gift horse in the mouth and then turn around and sell it for bad value.

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted by Skippy722
Originally Posted by PantherFan88
Originally Posted by maxdustington
Selling a 5 year old super fuel efficient car with 5K as a student who commutes presumably more than an hour away, yikes! Stay in school bud.


Is reading comprehension something you struggle with? I commute 25 minutes and was not asking for financial or other advice outside of what a good truck would be for my situation. Thanks for the irrelevant and rude reply!


You gotta forgive them... you want to get rid of a perfectly functioning Toyota product that is miserable to drive. The epitome of of motoring according to some BITOG'ers, no matter how uncomfortable it is.


Tacoma's are on par with Yaris for uncomfortable just in a different way. They ride terribly especially once winter roads occur with heaves and you get thrown about. The Tundra drives decently but at best gets half the MPG of a Yaris. Frontiers rot apart was my father in laws findings living in coastal MA. The entry price for a working irrelevant to mileage/condition pickup 4wd is $5000++ because people want and desire inexpensive work trucks.

If the OP looks for 2wd and does not mind getting stuck occasionally he may find an economical truck. My father in law picked up an 8 yr year old Chevy Silverado 2wd with 40k for $7.5k. Its been excellent and comfortable. Just sucks when one or two rear tires spin(with winters) on ice patches/small snowbanks during winter events.