Why buy small trucks?

[DeanMk]

Thanks, never thought about Nissan.
Problem with buying new is all the gadgetry that goes with it.
My Ranger is currently parked because mice decided to make a midnite snack out of the wiring.
Sure, they coulda done the same with an older truck, but the SOB still woulda ran....I mean, a Cam Synchronizer assembly?..in my day, that was called a timing belt! WTF?!
...

 

[wewaits]

Thanks, never thought about Nissan.
Problem with buying new is all the gadgetry that goes with it.
My Ranger is currently parked because mice decided to make a midnite snack out of the wiring.
Sure, they coulda done the same with an older truck, but the SOB still woulda ran....I mean, a Cam Synchronizer assembly?..in my day, that was called a timing belt! WTF?!
...

Yeah there are a lot of vehicles now that aren't going to stand the test of time, the engine and transmission might be beautifully engineered but the ancillary stuff is going to kill them before they make it ten years. I wish we had one small option without all the extra crap. Mihandra tried to bring a pickup here, small, 4WD, diesel without all the bells and whistles but the chicken tax killed that idea before it bore any fruit. Too bad because that's all most people need.

 

[DeanMk]

THANK YOU!!!!
Glad to see I'm not the only one that feels that way.

 

[RVNvet]

Back when I spent more time camping and such, I got great use out of my F 150, but times change, and my Colorado LT makes more sense now that 99% of my driving is in town...it's just easier to drive in traffic and park. I bemoaned not having the larger bed for my occasional hauling of sheets of plywood or sheetrock for my DIY projects, until I got around to reading my owners' manual and learned that there are cutouts in the bed for supports for just that purpose. Now I just drop in the 2x6s and leave the tailgate down to accomplish the same job. I'm 6'2", 190 lbs, and there's plenty of room for me in the cab. The five cylinder, 242 hp engine has enough power for anything I'm likely to pull, though the 13-14 mpg in city was a shocking disappointment. My only musts when buying a pickup: American manufacturer, usefulness, spray-in bed liner, tow package.

 

[ajmacomber]

Reliability and resale are both key factors where the Tacoma is concerned anyways. I've been a fleet mechanic and have worked on them ALL and I can tell you, that with a few exceptions the only full sized truck I would own is a Ford, and I wouldn't have a dodge shoved in my bubblegum if there was room for a trainload. Dodge trucks are the venerial disease of the automotive universe.

All that said, I'm on my fifth Tacoma if that's any indication of what I think of them as a whole.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

My partner bought his from Dave Smith up in Kellogg, Idaho. They were way cheaper than anyone in the Portland area. He told them what he was looking for as far as trim / equipment, they called when they got one in, he wired the funds and flew up to drive it home.

I test drove a few that are a year or two newer - in 2016 IIRC they went to push button start vs key, but the key is like the Dodge's - it's still a computerized ignition, you don't hold it till it starts, just basically tap it, the electronics take over to crank. I like the push button, as you leave the fob in your pocket. Both versions have remote start option - which I got real used to on my last car.

I'm 6'4 with long legs, and the Colorado / Canyons are very comfortable for me. The salesman usually rode behind me on test drives, and didn't seem to have leg room problems. The new Chevy / GMC trucks are nicely appointed across the board - I like the interior styling on them more than the Fords & Toyota counterparts.

Good to know thx! I am renting a jeep wrangler for a couple weeks starting next week while my car gets fixed after a lady ran into me. Kind of excited to drive a jeep again. My last Jeep was a 78' CJ7 with levis interior. Exactly like this one right down to the colors, interior and even wheels. It had an AMC v8

 

[DeanMk]

Reliability and resale are both key factors where the Tacoma is concerned anyways. I've been a fleet mechanic and have worked on them ALL and I can tell you, that with a few exceptions the only full sized truck I would own is a Ford, and I wouldn't have a dodge shoved in my bubblegum if there was room for a trainload. Dodge trucks are the venerial disease of the automotive universe.

All that said, I'm on my fifth Tacoma if that's any indication of what I think of them as a whole.

For commercial work, I agree. Ford all the way. Built like a tank and you don't pull your hair out when it comes to time for repair and/or maintenance.....although I did find the old Super Duty's (F-450) had excessive sheet metal hanging down between the engine bay and the cab. Made pulling the tranny for a clutch change a bit of a pain, but I found I could cut quite a bit away and that made life a lot easier.

Dean

 

[DeanMk]

Good to know thx! I am renting a jeep wrangler for a couple weeks starting next week while my car gets fixed after a lady ran into me. Kind of excited to drive a jeep again. My last Jeep was a 78' CJ7 with levis interior. Exactly like this one right down to the colors, interior and even wheels. It had an AMC v8
View attachment 627587

AMC must've gotten a heck of a deal on denim because that theme extended past the Jeep, in the 1970's.
The Hornet, the Gremlin AND The Javelin all offered a denim interior treatment at one time or another.

Dean

 

[CamoDeafie]

There's a company making conversion kits to turn the 4 door Jeep Wrangler JK vehicles into 2 doot extra cab utility vehicles similar to the old CJ8 Scrambler... looks decent really.. reminds me somewhat of the Hummvee 2 door conversions ; but a realistic size... now the Gladiator 4 door pick up.. if similarly done with 1.5 cab kit, might have a longer bed area that can be more useful for certain things...

 

[ilikegunspdx]

That's an interesting little jeep truck. I love the looks of the gladiator pickup with the top off. Really don't like the looks of the gladiator with the top on at all. I guess that's why on the TV ads they only show it with the top off.

But that little jeep truck looks pretty cool. I used to have a comache pickup back in the day which was sort of like a cherokee with the back turned into a pickup. It's 4.0 L engine was reliable but gas hungry.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Believe the Gladiator is the first Jeep Wrangler based vehicle to not have a truly removable top... the "top off"mode is just panels off a space frame, looking closer at the "topless" pictures; it looks like the structure is more like the space frame used in modern vehicle construction without the external panels,instead of a typical round tube roll cage

 

[DeanMk]

I guess Jeep has brought the "Gladiator" name back to a current production vehicle?
New to me, but when you guys say "Gladiator", all I know is......

 

[CamoDeafie]

Theres an interesting article from 2 years ago about the apparent failure of 2 door SUVs to stay profitable/viable in the U.S. market; and that may also be true of standard 2 door pickups these days.

Autotrader - page unavailable

www.autotrader.com

Short summary; Americans are overwhelmingly buying 4 door SUVs and trucks, and even the classic Jeep Wrangler 2 door may cease to exist as new models

I guess Jeep has brought the "Gladiator" name back to a current production vehicle?
New to me, but when you guys say "Gladiator", all I know is......

Yea; for 2020.

This.

 

[DeanMk]

Thanks Camo.

 

[DeanMk]

That's an interesting little jeep truck. I love the looks of the gladiator pickup with the top off. Really don't like the looks of the gladiator with the top on at all. I guess that's why on the TV ads they only show it with the top off.

But that little jeep truck looks pretty cool. I used to have a comache pickup back in the day which was sort of like a cherokee with the back turned into a pickup. It's 4.0 L engine was reliable but gas hungry.

View attachment 627663

The very fist mid-sized truck...and yes, a Cherokee with a pickup bed is EXACTLY what that was. Based on the XJ is why.

 

[Arlington2018]

I know my '98 Ranger has noticeably more cab room than my '89 B2200 did....still, I never had any problems with driving around in the ol' Mazda.
...still want an 80's Toyota in good shape.

I had a 1986 Mazda B2000 for 25 years. It met a terrible end parked in front of my house: one of the local teenagers was racing on the street and hit the Mazda. It was totalled out for $ 800. I looked into salvage, but it was almost impossible to find all the necessary parts.

 

[tac]

Gasoline is around $7 a gallon here.

That might make you buy a small truck.

 

[DeanMk]

I had a 1986 Mazda B2000 for 25 years. It met a terrible end parked in front of my house: one of the local teenagers was racing on the street and hit the Mazda. It was totalled out for $ 800. I looked into salvage, but it was almost impossible to find all the necessary parts.

Sorry to hear about your truck.
I owned Ol' Betsy for almost 21 years.
In the early days of owning her, I would get parts from the local junkyards near me (there were a bunch back then, sadly, most have closed due to local EPA laws getting too tight).
However, all the parts I was finding back then were from '87's.
I would tell people, that if I put anymore '87 parts in my '89 Mazda, I was gonna start calling it an '88!

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I had a 1986 Mazda B2000 for 25 years. It met a terrible end parked in front of my house: one of the local teenagers was racing on the street and hit the Mazda. It was totalled out for $ 800. I looked into salvage, but it was almost impossible to find all the necessary parts.

That's the same little pickup the late Paul Allen drove for years. Had a Porsche 959 but the little Mazda is what he mostly drove so they say.

 

[No_Regerts]

Gasoline is around $7 a gallon here.

That might make you buy a small truck.

Or move.