Well my trusty 1996 Chevy Silverado's trans went out today. She was a great truck, 350. Reg cab, long bed to fit 2 bikes and close the tail, she will be missed since i don't want to dump $$$ into a truck with 210,000 miles.

While I can not go out and buy a new truck (I'm under contract to buy a house right now), i am looking at pre-owned trucks.

Here's some things I'd like

4x4
4 or 3 door
Fit 2 bikes
Gas engine
I'll be towing/hauling bikes. Maybe a ski boat or trailer but I don't need a 250/2500 truck since those will be few and far between.

I'm surprised the v6 trucks get the same mpg's as most full size trucks. The Tacoma (which I like) gets 17-21mpg. My Silverado was avg 19! Wth?

Right now my budget is around $15-20k. Apparently (after minimal research) this gets me a pre-2009 truck with ~75,000+miles. Again haven't REALLY started looking. I'm just trying to seek any advice such as "stay away from Dodge pre-2005 because they rust out" ect.

I'd appreciate the info!

I'd stay away from Dodge period.

You can steal a new Suzuki Equator , thats what I did.

My father recently purchased a Nissan Frontier V6. It has a buttload of get up and go power. It's been a good truck for the past 3 years. It does drink a lot of gas though, almost as much as a V8.

The back seats are very cramped in space, good for hand tools. We really run trucks hard in my family, between home depot runs and snow plowing. I would consider this truck in his experience as an option. We really test trucks.


I'm not huge into the Nissan crowd but he got a great deal on it. Just advice.

Ford makes a good truck too.

I've had two dodge 1500s both with 100k miles and not a single problem. Even better if you get a diesel. Stay away from ford diesel.

Check your driving style . I get 18 in town and up to 22 on the highway with my 4wd V6 . The best mileage I got out of a full size truck was my 2005 F250 with a PS diesel , 18 om the highway . Every other truck I owned got around 15-16 on the highway , even the 2000 F150 with a V6 and a manual never went above 16 .