Replace the Grand Cherokee with a good used Pick-up

[pianoman9701]

I want to get rid of the Grand Cherokee Laredo before it costs me any more money and was thinking about a Tacoma with a full bed, probably 2010-2012. What do you guys think of them and do you have other suggestions for a truck I could buy in the $14-18K range?

I want the pick up to be 4WD and have a good-sized bed for hauling yard debris, gravel, mulch, etc.

[smittyJ]

The Tacomas are great trucks but recently there have been reports of premature frame rusting on a couple of years.

[MADMAX]

Love the Tacoma
sold the diesel,downsized the RV and kept the Tacoma

[cbond3318]

We are in the exact same boat. We have been looking for quite sometime and I think we have settled for the moment on the Ford F-150. I own a F350 V10 and overall has been a good truck.  For us , the 150 gives us everything we need and in that price range, one can be found with relatively low miles.

We also looked at the Toyota pick ups, but determined in that price range it was going to come with higher mileage than we would like.

[MADMAX]

 
agree 14-18 is going to get you a used toyota with some miles

[WSU]

I bought my truck for right around 19 as best I recall. I had to look a bit but it was an f150 v8 4x4 with under 60k miles.

[headshot5]

Be prepared for some sticker shock in Western WA, prices on used pickups are ridiculous.  Check into SE Oregon and Western Montana, its worth the drive to save outside of the beltway.

 

[pianoman9701]

agree 14-18 is going to get you a used toyota with some miles

I don't mind a Toyota with 100K or less.

[jcswamp]

Tagging along, I need to get a new rig that will fit three car seats and still go into the woods myself.  Currently thinking about a Nissan Frontier, but have limited experience with them and am on the fence between one of those and a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
For what it is worth I love my 05 ranger 4x4 and am very sad I will have to give it up. That would be my recommendation for you is to find a ranger, it will do everything you need and more.

[cbond3318]

Tagging along, I need to get a new rig that will fit three car seats and still go into the woods myself.  Currently thinking about a Nissan Frontier, but have limited experience with them and am on the fence between one of those and a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
For what it is worth I love my 05 ranger 4x4 and am very sad I will have to give it up. That would be my recommendation for you is to find a ranger, it will do everything you need and more.

I know you're not getting 3 car seats in a Cherokee and would doubt in a frontier as well. We have 2 in our cherokee now and there is not room in between them for a 3rd, not to mention my 4 yr old and 2 yr old can rest their feet on my shoulders.

[jcswamp]

That is good to know! So far i have just been reading the reviews on different websites and both of those keep coming up as good for 3 car seats, i will have to head down to a dealer with a measuring tape and seats in hand to check i guess. Thank you for the heads up.

[pianoman9701]

This is my thread! Let's get back on track. 

[cbond3318]

This is my thread! Let's get back on track. 

Sorry Pman, I've had 2 Red Bull's this morning. 

Toyotas are great rigs. I guess we were looking at Tundras for the size. You may be able to find a decent Tacoma in that range with low "Toyota" miles.

[cavemann]

For what it's worth, I've had 5 used F-150 over the last 20 years..  All bought used and last 4 driven to a range of 180k - 230k miles..  Three had major tranny issues.  My current one is a 2011 F-150 eco boost.  Including this one, 4 out of 5 have had interior water leaks ranging from the third break light, failing slider gaskets and the current one coming in from the factory satellite radio antenna.

I've put in 3 alternators, 2 window wiper motors and am an expert on failed electric window elevator replacements.  I've done 5 of them, 2 on one of the trucks.  These are not pleasant when they fail while driving.

The biggest headache is the well know Cam Phaser failures the 5.4 liter are notorious for and I went through on my 2006.  I had them replaced and rebuilt only to have it go out again.  Ford will give you the run around.  My 2011 eco boost had 29k miles on it when I bought it 2 years ago.  2 months into driving it I had the same issue.  Rattling on cold start, limp mode, not shifting smooth at 40mph.. Ford swore up and down they have never seen this in V-6.  On the way back from hunting with my old man, I had to have him video tape me driving as my truck went into limp mode trying to accelerate while merging.  It wasn't until I showed them the video they finally replaced them on this truck.

My next truck will be a Tacoma hands down..  It certainly will not be an F-150, and I was a diehard Ford guy for years...

[Alchase]

Toyota Tacoma's in the Vancouver area between $14000 and $18000

https://portland.craigslist.org/search/clk/sss?query=toyota+tacoma&min_price=14000&max_price=18000

2010 - 2012 will be a lot higher in price.

Two years ago, when I lived in Puyallup, I went looking for a decent Tacoma 4x4 4 door for a decent price. I searched from Bellingham to Vancouver.

Every Tacoma was priced way above blue book and nobody would negotiate. They are nice trucks, they are not twice the truck as the others on the market. If you are planning on carrying loads of gravel or rock, you will need to replace you leaf springs. Theirs are garbage.
I still want one, I won't pay new truck prices on a Tacoma that is two to four years old.