sleeze

im thinking of getting a truck for around 6-8k. my top choices are a ram or f-150, but they guzzle and i drive a lot. i really dont like any of the compact trucks. i guess the tacomas are alright. anybody have suggestions?

TommyDeVito

Some of the Tacomas get 28MPG on the HWY. Go small with whatever you get (4 cyl) if you don't need to tow.

gomarlins3

"fuel efficient trucks"-- I think that is an oxymoron.

Signed,
Your friendly Neighborhood Insight Driver.

05S2K

No it's not. I have a 97 Tacoma 4X4 which gets 18 around town and 28 mpg on the highway. It gets this MPG with 32X11.5 mudders and 4.10 gears. Motor is the 2.7L 4 cyl and 5spd trans. I have 97k on the truck and it still looks and runs like new.

I highly recommend a Tacoma if you want a little truck that gets good gas milage.


Here's mine:

Elistan

I have a MY04 Tacoma S-Runner with a V6 and 5spd. I get 20 to 22mph in both city and highway driving. Because it uses regular fuel, it costs about the same per mile as the S2000 even though it has slightly worse mileage.

Why do you not like compact trucks?

Triple-H

Because this is also true for me, I drive a real truck.

gsolman

So what is a real truck?

fueleconomy.gov is a good place to look at user experiences with their vehicles real world gas mileage.

I don't know much about them aside from the fact that thieves love pick up trucks and all the goodies people leave in them. Both my roommate and neighbor can attest to being victims of them.

vader1

WHat are your needs with the vehicle?


I needed something to tow a 2000 pound boat with 4 wheel drive but still wanted something comfortable and fun. Got a Station wagon!!!!!

Outback turbo 5 spd that is fun as hell but still tows what I need and has 4wd. It won't haul drywall but home depot delivers. If you lay off the turbo it gets high 20's, if you stomp on it, it gets to 60 about as fast as the S2000.

If it is a hauler you might need a truck, but if it is just to get groceries and large items and beat deep snow, you might find an AWD car like a Subie or Audi Quattro wagon used that fits the need and has a little more comfort and fun built in.

Otherwise I had a four cylinder Toyota truck that was good on gas, but it was an 88 and rusted to swiss cheese. The other thing about Toyotas is resale. I bought mine for $3500, drove it for three winters and sold it for $3700.

Triple-H

For me the answer is easy...
- V8 with 300+ hp and something higher than 350 ft-lbs
- 4x4
- 9,000+ lb towing capacity

Actually, thieves love people who don't think... I have never had anything stolen out of one of my trucks, but then again I have a solid locking tonneau cover and a locking tailgate. Anybody who wants to carry stuff around in their bed needs to add something like this or a locking cap. Just leaving things out in the open is just asking for trouble.

Triple-H

I know this was not directed at me, but as sleeze only mentioned a couple full-size truck options it is indeed a great question.

I drove small trucks from 1992 to 2005; 2 extended cab V6 4x4 Nissans and 1 extended cab V6 4x4 Chevy and then stepped up to a full-size Titan in 2005. I can easily say, I loved my small pickups. I would never own any pickup with a regular cab because I hate having my head so close to a window as well as you really want that extra space in the cab when you have a smaller pickup. My small pickups were good on gas and had just enough space to run a lot of errands, and best of all kept my cars off the road in the winter. I'm actually a big fan of smaller pickups as I believe they are the perfect match for lots of people, it just all boils down to the individual's needs. My small trucks ran a ton of errands, dragged my ass through mountins of snow, supported my track activities and in general were a complete pleasure to own.

I would still be driving smaller pickups had my needs not changed. Those needs were not only big towing capacity because as far as I'm concerned towing an S with a vehicle rated at 5,000 pounds is just flat out asking for trouble, and the second thing - as a new home owner who has lots of house projects I was sick and tired of having Home Depot cut crap in half so I could get it into my truck. That is the joy of a full-size truck, drop the tailgate and just shove those 4x8 sheets of plywood and sheetrock right into the back. I would not have been able to haul this total load of wood in my small pickups.

All new knotty pine in my breezeway, the wood for all 4 walls came home in one load, and the lumber yard I got this at was not at all close to where I live...