Quote:
Originally Posted by max20s14
only immediate usefulness for a tuck for me would be to carry kayaks...
|
You're wrong. You don't realize it, but you are. When you have a truck or SUV, you end up using it for all sorts of things that don't even come to mind now because you're used to denying yourself without realizing it. When I want something that won't fit in the BRZ, I just take my XJ instead. "How will I get it home?" is a question that rarely comes up.
An old Jeep Comanche would fit your budget. People get up to 400K miles out of them, especially if you find one with a 4.0L. Also consider an S10. They are super easy to work on and have huge aftermarket support.
If I didn't have any sort of utility vehicle, I'd be looking at full sized Chevy/GM pickups or Tahoes/Yukons/Suburbans. Not a giant brodozer, but one of their normal sized pickups or SUVs. The gas mileage is not nearly as bad as you'd expect, and the damned things are tough as shit and last forever. We've use my dad's '01 Yukon to move furniture, dogs, engine blocks, transmissions, jetskis, boats, cars and utility trailers. My brother and I used it to pull a Jeep J10 pickup on 35" tires a few hundred miles from Tennessee down to Birmingham. Yet it drives like a vehicle half its size and doesn't beat you to death like some of the older trucks could.
Personally I'd stay away from Fords. That company has always cut corners.