I just wish I could buy one of those no-nonsense pickups.
A small Toyota pickup with a diesel engine, 1/2 ton running gear, and 4WD would be almost perfect for everything but pulling a bigger trailer. Throw in a small flatbed like the trucks they drive down in Australia and it might be even better.
Indeed, that would be a fine truck, except for places where you get a fair amount of snow (their disadvantage here). Isuzu used to make a diesel small 4x4 truck that would be almost like what you are describing.
I'll confess that recently I've been looking for used Jeeps. Now that my son drives the Dodge 1500 isn't available during the day, and the big 3500 is a pain in town.
I used to drive a 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee back and forth to the farm, it was pretty rugged and reliable (more like a pickup than an SUV), and I'd get a little over 20 mpg. I finally sold it with almost 200K miles on it because the transmission was starting to act up (it wasn't worth enough to justify replacing the transmission and it's a lot easier to sell a vehicle that actually runs).
I always thought that a '97-06 Jeep TJ might make a decent replacement since it was more rugged, probably got similar mpg, and was easier to modify if I ever got the urge.
We had a Nissan Pathfinder that we traded off when we bought a Suburban. I really regret trading the Nissan off, as it would be highly useful now. It was big enough that it didn't have some of the deficits of a Jeep CJ, but it was a true 4x4.
Mileage wasn't great, it only got around 13 mpg, but we really liked it.
Some time ago we bought a short box club cab Dodge D1500, 1997 model. My son is driving it now, and I miss it. It's the only short box truck I've ever owned, but man alive was it useful in town, and useful enough for light duty in the sticks. I still prefer a long box, but I miss driving the short box on a daily basis.
4 comments:
I just wish I could buy one of those no-nonsense pickups.
A small Toyota pickup with a diesel engine, 1/2 ton running gear, and 4WD would be almost perfect for everything but pulling a bigger trailer. Throw in a small flatbed like the trucks they drive down in Australia and it might be even better.
Indeed, that would be a fine truck, except for places where you get a fair amount of snow (their disadvantage here). Isuzu used to make a diesel small 4x4 truck that would be almost like what you are describing.
I'll confess that recently I've been looking for used Jeeps. Now that my son drives the Dodge 1500 isn't available during the day, and the big 3500 is a pain in town.
I used to drive a 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee back and forth to the farm, it was pretty rugged and reliable (more like a pickup than an SUV), and I'd get a little over 20 mpg. I finally sold it with almost 200K miles on it because the transmission was starting to act up (it wasn't worth enough to justify replacing the transmission and it's a lot easier to sell a vehicle that actually runs).
I always thought that a '97-06 Jeep TJ might make a decent replacement since it was more rugged, probably got similar mpg, and was easier to modify if I ever got the urge.
We had a Nissan Pathfinder that we traded off when we bought a Suburban. I really regret trading the Nissan off, as it would be highly useful now. It was big enough that it didn't have some of the deficits of a Jeep CJ, but it was a true 4x4.
Mileage wasn't great, it only got around 13 mpg, but we really liked it.
Some time ago we bought a short box club cab Dodge D1500, 1997 model. My son is driving it now, and I miss it. It's the only short box truck I've ever owned, but man alive was it useful in town, and useful enough for light duty in the sticks. I still prefer a long box, but I miss driving the short box on a daily basis.
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