Truck advice for a car guy...

Hey all!

Well, the wife has brought down the ban hammer and declared that she is done with me scrapping out of her minivan, and that it is time to get myself a truck. Problem is, I've never owned a truck (I'm more a sporty-foreign-car kind of guy), so I have pretty much no idea where to start.

I'm hoping you guys can help me with some ideas, or at least help me figure out what questions I should be asking. I've got a budget of a couple grand.

Some stuff I like about the minivan:

• Decent gas mileage. I get about 18mpg right now (but that includes a lot of running kids around to school activities and such). Not sure if that's achievable in a truck.
• Reliability. I love my mechanic, he's a great guy, but I hate having to give him money. I really, really don't like playing the "will it start today" roulette in the mornings.

So I'm open to any suggestions. Mostly I just shop CurbCo, with some light dumpster diving and the occasional pick up from a few regulars, and I've had to pass on some items because they were just too big to fit in the van (although it's amazing with what I can cram in there when I set my mind to it).

I worry, too, about stuff blowing out of the back of a truck-- a lot of the steel I end up with is light, flat appliance steel. Has anybody had problems keeping their goodies in the bed while going down the highway?

One thing I know I'll miss: total stealth scrapper mode. Nobody expects to see a scrapper in a minivan.

Thanks, all!

Have you considered getting another Mini Van?
If you are only using it for scraping >> Pull all the seats out

i have never known what it is like not to own a truck....i have owned a couple cars but i didnt drive them a lot..they were usually bought for my wife or girlfriend at the time....in my opinion if you do not plan on pulling a trailor or hauling real heavy loads you should be able to get by with a v6 cheverolet, i am a huge fan of the 4.3 motors they have the old ones were called vortec motors..ive never owned one newer than 2004, i prefer the 90,s models myself..ive had 5 of them at different times and i got great service from all of them...

the reason i mentioned about not wanting them to haul heavy weight or trailers is that when i was younger i had a bad habit of using my 6 cylinder half ton and thinking it was a v8 1 ton in my head...im not saying you cant haul a lot of weight in one or even that you cant haul a car and a trailer with one...ive done it time after time....what i can tell you is it is the difference between getting 200,000 miles out of your truck or getting 300 to 350,000 miles from your truck..

as i have aged i have realized i am better off to try and use the proper vehicle for the proper job...dont get me wrong i am still guilty of slightly overloading at times but i dont get to crazy with it like i did years ago....

i also want to say i am not putting down cars,vans,small trucks, fords dodges or any other type of vehicle out there...i just dont have alot of experience with any of the other types of trucks as i have almost always drove a full size chevy truck and i just cant give much info on the others....

I agree with the mini van crowd. If that's working for you, buy a scrapping mini, pull the seats out and cram it full. You still get great mileage, stay stealthy and don't have to worry about stuff blowing out.
If you really want a truck, and like foreign rigs, the older Toyota Tundras are really nice. (The older models are smaller) I used to have an 06 Tundra with a topper on it. I've owned several Toyotas and they run forever. I got married, and my wife sells Fords, so needless to say my Toyotas had to go

Originally Posted by JohnC4X4

Have you considered getting another Mini Van?
If you are only using it for scraping >> Pull all the seats out

...I feel really, really dumb for not thinking of this. I just thought scrapping = truck.

Originally Posted by Mick

If you're going to use it for ferrying the kids to school, stick with the minivan. It doesn't sound like you're a heavy-hitter on the scrapping side so stick with what works and what you know.

Well, we're keeping the minivan, I just have to get a second vehicle to do my scrapping with. I've got a couple old cars that I don't need, so we're going to sell them to afford me a new scrapping vehicle.