[hcoles]

Maybe there is a PP thread on this but I couldn't find it.
My brother-in-law wants a pickup truck and is thinking $20-25k for a budget. I'm trying to provide advice by reading reviews and posts on issues. He lives in a fairly remote mountain town (~70 miles north of Reno) that has snow say 3-5 times per year. He will have a backup car (old Toyota 4WD 4cyl pickup). Some "constraints":

Wants:
- budget $20-25k
- 4WD
- extended cab, not crew cab
- 6 foot bed or maybe a bit longer, not sure seems like different brands have different bed sizes
- reliable
- brands: Toyota, Chevy (per what the local mechanic said), there are no car dealers near the town, my thinking was get what the good local mechanic can or wants to deal with, local mechanic said no on Ford, not exactly sure why
- comfortable (he is 6ft tall)
- we are thinking automatic trans. (after reading re. all the issues people are having with Toyota auto. trans. I don't know) This "new" vehicle will be used to drive to San Francisco and Bay Area say 5 times per year so a manual may not be good if stuck in traffic, this could be revisited

My input is biased toward reliability and ease of repair by a local mechanic.

Any ideas? Thanks.