Need truck advice

[Argeo]

My Honda Accord is on it's death bed so I am thinking about a new, used car, actually a truck. The reason for the truck is that I have to take my trash to the dump everyweek and fall leave pickup would be so much easier than pulling the seats out of my wife's caravan.

Here is what I am looking for:
2 wheel drive
better on gas (I drive approx 30mile a day)
small
dependable
$3K or less.

Basically a decent commuter, no frills truck. It can ugly but not rusty or dented up. I wouldn't care but I would hate to have my neighbors have to look at it.

I have spent so much time thinking Porsche, I have really forgotten what is out there for other cars. Any suggestions? What type of miles do certain trucks get before they start falling apart. I don't want to buy a truk that has a 100k only to find out that they typically start falling apart at 105K.

Thanks,

David

[IROC]

I, personally, would buy an older Toyota pickup. They last forever. 105k miles is just getting broken-in.

Mike

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I'd recommend a Nissan Hardbody or King Cab. the straight 6's are indestructible and they are very simple vehicles. Unfortunately, bodies are prone to rust, so you may want to pick up a Southern truck.

Can't go wrong with a similar Toyota.

[Argeo]

Funny, a guy in the office said the same thing about Toyota's. What is old?

[slakjaw]

Datsun pickup.

[Tim Hancock]

Toyota!!!!

A guy I work with has 300k on an old one and he just keeps driving it.

I have a '99 Tacoma 4x4 4 cyl. If you want good gas mileage stick with the two wheel drive as the 4x4's only get around 20 mpg.

Older PRE Tacoma's are prone to rusted beds, but I think since the Tacomas, they did a better job in the rust dept.

My '99 has 65k on it, lives outside and has no rust. Other than brakes and tires, it has never needed any work at all.

I recently had it up on the lift to wash it's belly and it looked like new underneath after washing. It appears Toyota has done a better job of coating the underside components with paint unlike a new Dodge that has rusted suspension components while still new on the dealer's lot!

[Argeo]

How about an 87 Toyota Pickup with 187K for $2,500 or best offer. Supposedly runs like new, no rust and well maintained?

Not to far either.

Thanks. I'll check out the Nissans and Datsuns? Where would one get parts for a Datsun?

[Tim Hancock]

Datsun=Nissan.... Just a name change. I owned a Datsun in the early 80's and it ran forever also like a Toyota.

[legion]

Does Nissan still make the Datsun parts?

[Shaun @ Tru6]

I was really into 240Z's in high school/college. I think Nissan built the motors, Datsun built the bodies. The straight six was a direct copy of the time-honored MB 6.

[Tim Hancock]

Body
1. Description
Sometime during the model run of the 720, the manufacturer's name changed from Datsun to Nissan. The name change began 1983 while 1984 was the first complete year that they were called Nissan. Long bed and King Cab bodies were available for both 2wd and 4wd models.


I copied the above from an off road truck site. It is just a name change, in other words, if you need parts for an '82 Datsun truck, you can order them at a Nissan dealer (or better yet, on-line from a import part type website).

[legion]

Have you thought about a Ford Ranger. I'd stay away from Chevy S10's, but the Ranger seems to be a reliable small truck.

[id10t]

I had an '88 mazda B2200 that was un-killable. It sorta halfway died on hte way home one day, gave it to a friend and bought a minivan (second child was due in a month or so). A few hours later, he had a good truck - carb problem. He should get another 100k out of it no problem.

[IROC]

Originally posted by Argeo
How about an 87 Toyota Pickup with 187K for $2,500 or best offer. Supposedly runs like new, no rust and well maintained?

Not to far either.

Thanks. I'll check out the Nissans and Datsuns? Where would one get parts for a Datsun?

An '87 will have the 22R (or hopefully 22RE) engine. The "RE" version means fuel injection. The carb'd versions are good, but the injected ones are better. These are practically indestructible. They are also cheap and easy to work on.

That's exactly the kind of thing I'd be looking for.

Mike

[rhaas]

I have a Nissan hardbody with over 400,000 miles on it on the original engine. It runs as good now as it ever has. This is my daily driver for 16 years and has never left me stranded.

[vash]

all my cheap contractor buddies drive beat up 300k mile toyota pickup trucks from the 80's. they dont die. you have to kill it.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Toyota all the way! Have you guys seen the Top Gear, where they try to destroy the '80s Toyota truck? I'll probably forget some, but they submerge it in the ocean, set fire to it, wreck it repeatedly, then put it on top of a building and blow up the building. When they dig it from the wreckage, it still starts.

[IROC]

Originally posted by Shaun 84 Targa
I'd recommend a Nissan Hardbody or King Cab. the straight 6's are indestructible and they are very simple vehicles. Unfortunately, bodies are prone to rust, so you may want to pick up a Southern truck.

Can't go wrong with a similar Toyota.

Shaun, I saw this and wondered...when did Nissan put a straight six in their trucks? I only remember the V6.

Mike

[vash]

let me add that my beater is a S10. but i think i got the only good one.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally posted by IROC
Shaun, I saw this and wondered...when did Nissan put a straight six in their trucks? I only remember the V6.

Mike

Good catch Mike, not sure what I was thinking. I just called my friend who had an 87, I was positive it was a straight 6, like I can visualize opening the hood and seeing an inline 6. Nope, it was a V6.

Suppose I could be mixing it up with another friend's old FJ40.

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