Is it possible to find a four door smaller pickup from at least the mid 00s for $5k or less without a ton of miles on it and not a Dodge?
I am trying to find a pickup that is large enough for a baby seat to be a daily driver for a bit before becoming a backup vehicle at the beginning of next year.
Possible, yes. You're probably going to limit yourself to 2wd and a ton of miles, but it can be done. It won't be a Tacoma, as those seem to hold their value just as well as the Hilux did. So you're looking Frontier/Colorado/Canyon. Those will fit a rear-facing car seat if you get a crew-cab, but your front-seat passenger will likely be eating their knees. I don't know if I've ever seen a $5k Ridgeline, but that would be an excellent choice for a parent-mobile if you could find one.
If you never (and I mean never) need to carry another front-seat passenger until the baby is old enough to ride forward facing (minimum 1 year, recommended 2 years), you could look at extended cab small pickups. I looked at an ext-cab Frontier when I was in your situation a couple of years ago and while I liked the truck, the back seats were a joke. Same thing in the other extended cab pickups. But a rear-facing seat will fit if you fold down the front. Once they're forward-facing the footprint of the car seat is a lot smaller.
I had bought a Ranger extended cab and was pleasantly surprised to find that my kids actually liked riding in the jump seats. Hadn't even intended to carry kids in it, but it worked.
For a real back seat, is an Explorer Sport Trac close enough to a pickup for your purposes?
MadScientistMatt said:I had bought a Ranger extended cab and was pleasantly surprised to find that my kids actually liked riding in the jump seats. Hadn't even intended to carry kids in it, but it worked.
For a real back seat, is an Explorer Sport Trac close enough to a pickup for your purposes?
Can't do a child seat on the jump seat. I looked into it. They've got to ride rear facing and the seatbelt won't work, nor are there LATCH points.
I'm gonna chime in to say that your challenge is going to be from 1.5yrs to 3.5ys-ish. Before that the baby will be in a "baby bucket" the car seats with a handle, much like a 5 gallon bucket. Those are generally easy to fit in a car. The real challenge come next as the kid goes into a full sized car seat, facing backwards. These seats, in this configuration, take up an amazing amount of space.
If you are just one kid, you can often place these seats in the middle of the back row. This allows for the seat to protrude into the front seat area but protrude in the space between the driver and passenger seat.
My thought is a 4 door Frontier/Colorado doesn't really have the backseat room you might need. Take a seat with you to test fit. Especially take a seat for a rear facing 2 yr old.
The Sport Trac seems to be highly overlooked in this category. Might be a good choice.
Does the uhaul ban affect explorer sport tracs as well? I remember my mom had an explorer 02 or 03 model and we always had a heck of a time renting any trailers because of the explorer firestone tire debacle.
Curious if that is still an issue and if so is the sport trac included? I just checked my own local CL and they are definitely nicer and lower priced than anything else in the same category.
Couple things to add, as far as pickup usability, it basically needs to be able to haul bikes, runs to hardware stores and haul loads of mulch. More then likely not pulling trailers or doing any heavy duty truck stuff. Zero need for 4wd. It isn't going to be a main baby hauler and it will probably only ever haul three people when my wife and I are going to go ride bikes somewhere and we are taking the baby trailer. Otherwise our Escape will be used for all the baby hauling.
I had been thinking about finding a manual Accord as my daily driver, keeping my Ranger and then next year selling the Ranger and getting a four door pickup. But with me working on building a new garage, it probably makes more sense to save a little on insurance and not have an extra car to move around while the garage is being built.
Reliability and sub kind of 200k miles really would be the only goals.
I had looked at Ridgelines first but the only ones I see close to $5k have well over 200k miles. The Taco was out anyway cause they have the worst front seats I have ever been in my opinion.
The other option would be an SUV plus bike rack and trailer. I don't love that idea but it maybe another option.
I personally have my eye on a Nissan Titan as a future truck. I think I might consolidate my 4wd Montero and my 2wd F250 single cab down to one 4wd, 4 door Titan. I think I might be able to sell the Montero for $2k and the F250 for $4k giving me $6k. If I then add $2k I'm up to $8k for Titan.
My goal is '06 or newer avoiding the first two years of '04&'05 which had some "new model" teething issues. After that they seem pretty durable. They only come with a massive 5.6L engine so mpg is horrible (but really not worse than my Super Duty.) That big engine has a big tow rating making it on par with my Super Duty. My kid is not nearly 6 (booster seat) so I could get away with a Titan King cab rather than the full 4 door version. That makes it cheaper for me.
For the last 3 years, I have been moving kids around in my single cab Super Duty. At least here in Ohio, kids in the front are not illegal, just discouraged. The actual verbiage is that "kids are safest in the back seat." It does not say that kids are not allowed in the front seat. Other states might require back seat, "when a back seat is available." My '06 Super Duty has a switch to turn off the passenger airbag which I do when the kids are there since the air bag is too powerful for kids.
In reply to 93EXCivic :
Sort of sounds like a trailer hitch, bike rack, and roof-top box on your Escape would solve all your needs.
John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:In reply to 93EXCivic :
Sort of sounds like a trailer hitch, bike rack, and roof-top box on your Escape would solve all your needs.
I am planning on doing that but the Escape is my wife's car. I still need something to drive that can carry a baby in case I need to pickup from daycare or the Escape is at the shop. I also want a backup automatic vehicle for us at some point in case the Escape is in the shop or I injure myself mountain biking and driving a manual transmission is a lot more difficult.
I think if you shop hard (far and wide) you can find a truck for your needs near $5k. For me, it was the Gov't Mule and it has been great.
Another option might be a full sizer rather than a mid sizer. A full size single cab will hold the 3 of you across the front seat. Not perfect but gets the job done. I put my wife in the middle seat. Its not comfortable but neither is a Frontier king cab with the passenger seat forward so the kid can be in the rear.
Maybe seek out a single cab, F150, 2wd in fleet white.
John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:I think if you shop hard (far and wide) you can find a truck for your needs near $5k. For me, it was the Gov't Mule and it has been great.
Another option might be a full sizer rather than a mid sizer. A full size single cab will hold the 3 of you across the front seat. Not perfect but gets the job done. I put my wife in the middle seat. Its not comfortable but neither is a Frontier king cab with the passenger seat forward so the kid can be in the rear.
Maybe seek out a single cab, F150, 2wd in fleet white.
But if I was going to stick with a single cab, I'd just keep the Ranger... I am not a big fan of Single cabs. The lack of space inside is a issue for me anyway.
I really think it sounds like my options are try to find more money and get a Ridgeline, do some more research on a Sport-Trac or do an SUV and trailer. My wife will not want to drive a full-size or half ton.
Do the Sport-Tracs have any issues?
Look at all this inside space!
https://memphis.craigslist.org/cto/d/lepanto-2009-ford-150-utility-topper/7147981030.html
Made from '01-'04 so only mid '00-ish.
John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:My thought is a 4 door Frontier/Colorado doesn't really have the backseat room you might need. Take a seat with you to test fit. Especially take a seat for a rear facing 2 yr old.
Frontier rear leg room (33.6) comes in right between my Saturn SL2 (32.8) and my Veloster (34.1). They all have approx. the same front leg room. Colorado has more rear leg room at 34.8 and slightly less front leg room.
I did not have any issues fitting a 'baby bucket' or a normal (3 in 1 / 4 in 1) car seat in the Saturn. Seriously, its fine. Especially if it only occasionally has 3 people in it.
93EXCivic said:Do the Sport-Tracs have any issues?
The V6 models have the 4.0 SOHC engine that's known for timing chain tensioner issues (at least in the early years). There's one chain in front and another in the rear, so fixing them is an "engine out" affair. They supposedly fixed the issue in later years (after 04-ish?). Listen for engine rattles if you test drive one, or perferably find one that's had the tensioners fixed already.
My daughter and i had a full size Chevy extended cab for years - it worked for each of her car seat progressions. 2wd. Cheap. Won't depreciate. Reliable and able to do all truck duties. I say you can easily find one at your price range.
I wound up buying a crew cab '08 Titan instead of a frontier. It is absolutely CAVERNOUS inside. And outside. And in every possible dimension. Seriously, it's ginormous. It's a bitch to park, and it's really thirsty, but other than that it's been great. Rear facing seat fits behind the front seat with the front seat all the way back.
Too bad you're ruling out the single best vehicle in this bracket, the Dakota. The 4dr models have some caveats because they came in the year range that exposed them to 3.7 and 4.7L engines which both are massively less reliable than the older 3.9/5.2/5.9. Get one of the older engines and you're 100% as reliable as everything else in the category except maybe a newer Frontier or Tacoma that costs more. A Sport Trac is LESS reliable than a good dakota. You can even get the big engine and manual together in a 4 door Dakota (5.9L/5spd manual). I personally wish they put the small engine in the 4doors. I like the AMC 2.5 and don't even think it's particularly slow. It's incredibly easy to work on and gets good mpg. Oh well. I have a lot of personal experience with all the dodge stuff i just mentioned, but while i no longer own any Dakotas i do crurrently own a 2003 S10. While i like that option ok too, it's not really better than the Dakota (4dr vs 4dr) at anything except being a little quicker v6 vs v6 (but the dakota has 3 different larger v8 options..).
Maybe look at Nissan Frontiers. It's been basically the same truck for like a decade now and my recollection is they don't hold their value well (because they're not Toyotas and not big-three). But they seem to be decent trucks, if not a bit dated.
I'm pretty much a ford fanboy but with your criteria I'd be shopping dakotas. Since you ruled out dodge the next best hope would be a non beat too crap 4 door s10. I personally hate working on the 4.3 in that era truck but people love them. Shame the wife won't drive a full size you can manage almost the same mpg with more room.
The gen 1 frontiers came in a 4-door and are WAY cheaper than the second gen.
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