Opinions on small trucks

[Jon325i]

Toyota hands down. Anything with a 22r or 22re will be bulletproof. You'll spend a few more bucks initially but far far less in the long run.

+1. That is a very durable engine Toyota made. Very little maintenance is needed to keep it humming right along for hundreds-of-thousands of miles. My own experience owning a small truck was in the form of a 1989 Toyota 4x4 standard cab with V6 and 5-speed. Pretty much your basic truck: manual windows, manual locking hubs, no sliding rear window, am/fm radio (although I upgraded to a CD player after buying it). Fuel economy wasn't the greatest due to the engine & drivetrain choice, but in the several years and 100,000+ miles I had it (at the time of purchase it was 5 years old and had 80K on the clock), the worst thing that happened mechanically was a dead battery.

You will pay a bit more for a Toyota product compared to similar offerings, but in my experience it is worth it if you plan on keeping it for a while.

Jon

[trashcop 80s 80s]

NISSAN is just as good as a Toyota. You could get a newer Nissan for the same price. D21 hardbody with a k24 will last forever.

[ethree]

Toyota hands down. Anything with a 22r or 22re will be bulletproof. You'll spend a few more bucks initially but far far less in the long run.

22r or re is definitely the direction I'm leaning with the 5-speed ofcourse, do you know when they went fuel injection? I think it was 85 or 86 but I'm not sure.

[Tavern Gnome]

Toyota hands down. Anything with a 22r or 22re will be bulletproof. You'll spend a few more bucks initially but far far less in the long run.

[StereoInstaller1]

The only reason I hate Mazda is parts support. Expensive, and they never seem to have what i need in stock.

Ford small truck can suck my balls. Worst pile to work on ever, IMO. Some guys can deal, but not me.

GMs work OK, but unless you are really patient when it breaks (not if, when) just for getting the damn thing apart, stay back.

All in all, I think there is a few really good reasons why Toyotas retain so much of their value...

[ethree]

I'm begining to research buying a small truck and I'd like opinions and experiences and also any leads to enthusiast sites or other good info. I'm leaning towards 86-89 toyotas but am open to nissan mazda izusu mitsu etc. I have had trouble locating info on when each make went to fuel injection as I will not deal with effing carbs right now, I want the truck to run decently all the time in all weather conditions and altitudes. Oh yeah like a typical r3ver I'm looking to spend about a grand. Your thoughts?