I bought my F150 3 years ago for $4500 with 95k. Then it rusted into swiss cheese and I drove it until it had 132k. I sold it for $4100. Not too bad.
Now I'm looking for a smaller truck to replace it (Ranger, Colorodo/canyon, etc) and so far I've found a few resonably priced trucks that disappear in a few hours, and a ton of crack-smoking priced trucks.
04 Ranger with 106k and crank windows for $8400
2011 Ranger with 125k for $9000
06 Canyon with 134k for $6500
and of course the regular selection of Tacomas with 300k and still commanding $7000
Did something happen that I don't know about?
Ranger prices went way up because no one makes that size truck anymore. All of the last gen small truck prices are climbing.
Maybe time for a van again.
TJL
New Reader
8/19/18 5:59 p.m.
If i remember right the MSRP my 2012 frontier pro4x was like 35k. The same truck a few years later was over 40k msrp. Not sure whats up but thats a ridiculous price for a smaller truck. Id like to swap up to a 2015 titan(before nissan took the worlds largest ugly stick to the titan) but they still go for more than i want to spend and i dont really see the niceness of the fullsize truck offsetting the annoyance of tighter parking, harder to maneuver and increased insurance and registration costs.
I scratch my head when i see people buying new full size trucks or bigger as friggin commuter cars. Their car payment is more than my house payment.
Curtis said:
Maybe time for a van again.
Or a minivan! Everybody seems to hate minivans, in spite of their position at the pinnacle of automotive evolution. Extreme utility, car-like driving dynamics, and rugged good looks.
Unlike popular but miserably impractical small trucks, used minivans are plentiful and attractively priced. 
I 've thought the same thing. Everything is crack prices in my area. It 's so frustrating trying to find a decent car for a decent price.
1988RedT2 said:
Curtis said:
Maybe time for a van again.
Or a minivan! Everybody seems to hate minivans, in spite of their position at the pinnacle of automotive evolution. Extreme utility, car-like driving dynamics, and rugged good looks.
Unlike popular but miserably impractical small trucks, used minivans are plentiful and attractively priced.
Meh... I don't hate minivans, just strongly dislike them.
I need 4wd or AWD... which I can get in a minivan, but not the ground clearance. I do some light off-roading getting in and out of camp. Minivan won't cut it. I just like the idea of a frame so I feel less guilty beating the snot out of it.
So what you need is an early MPV:
These are body-on-frame rwd/awd vans, and you could get them with a manual as well.
Or an Astro Van w/ a lift
iirc you can get the commercial GMC Savannah Vans with an LS and AWD.
TJL said:
I scratch my head when i see people buying new full size trucks or bigger as friggin commuter cars. Their car payment is more than my house payment.
That's not fair. Locations have different home prices. Pickups or pretty much cost the same all over America.
Hell i can go just east of downtown and get a house with a $400 mortgage or go 6 miles north to alamo heights and have a $1800 mortgage. But that 2018 loaded f150 will be 53k plus or minus a few almost everywhere.
Its not just cars either, bike market is high also. I believe it is due to the increase in new car costs and extended payment terms (IE 72 and 84 mo).
People used to be paid off and the car didn't owe them anything after a few years. Now they still owe more than 1/2 after 3-4 years of payments.
10 years ago, a truck was 20-30k new and 10k 10yo. Now they are 40k plus and 20k 10yo.
In the south we also see a lot of the smaller trucks in trains heading south of the border. They drive one and flat tow another behind it. I see plates from around the US so it is not just SW trucks leaving further tightening supply.
TJL said:
If i remember right the MSRP my 2012 frontier pro4x was like 35k. The same truck a few years later was over 40k msrp. Not sure whats up but thats a ridiculous price for a smaller truck. Id like to swap up to a 2015 titan(before nissan took the worlds largest ugly stick to the titan) but they still go for more than i want to spend and i dont really see the niceness of the fullsize truck offsetting the annoyance of tighter parking, harder to maneuver and increased insurance and registration costs.
I scratch my head when i see people buying new full size trucks or bigger as friggin commuter cars. Their car payment is more than my house payment.
Must have had a few more cocktails than you thought since then, even a 2018 Frontier Crew Cab Pro-4X with the Premium Package is MSRP 36,895.
And a quick look at the local dealer is advertising all the aformentioned trucks for sale between $3000-6000 OFF MSRP. And they will go even lower. They have a non-premium package one advertised for under $30k
I paid ~$26.5k for mine back in July 2012.
tuna55
MegaDork
8/20/18 8:51 a.m.
Agreed on used prices. I just bought a new minivan because the cost/month was identical to getting a 1-2 year old version and keeping it 1-2 years less. I've never seen that before.
An AWD Astro or full size Savannah has enough clearance for the off road stuff I do if I'm careful. Heck, a Suby Crosstrek has enough clearance, but a unibody car/CUV based thing like a Caravan or other minivan is a no-go.
I will look into those early MPVs. It has been 20 years since I have seen one so I don't have high hopes of finding one.
Going to look at an 04 Taco today with 180k for $5600. If it's not rusty I might pull the trigger.
That's why we're keeping and fixing the wife's Suburban until there's nothing left of it.
It's north of $80k to buy a new one. Yeah the new one is more fuel efficient than an L29 Vortec but I can put a LOT of gas in our '99 for $80k.
I bought a F150 new in 2004 because late model used trucks were just as expensive, so that problem has been around, off and on, for a while.
As for the small trucks, they can’t be bought new, and there’s still a decent amount of demand for them. Until recently (Colorado and upcoming Ranger), it wasn’t worth it to the Big 3 to risk cannibalizing full size sales. And of course, the new smaller trucks are really mid sized. I think the actual small trucks suffer from being worthwhile at used prices, but there isn’t enough of a business case to sell them new, so it drives their resale value up. At some point, enough of them will be worn out that hopefully some company will start selling an actual small pickup again. Even something FWD-based would be nice. I’d like to see one based on the Transit Connect, but I’m not sure how viable that would be.
Other cars see the same problem. First examples I can think of are Evo8/9 and the Subaru Baja.
In reply to Curtis :
If you like the Nissan Frontier, look for a badge twin Suzuki Equator since no one thinks to look for them.
Also Mitsu Raider is badge twin to Dodge small truck. Isuzu also sold a Chevy Colorado
STM317
SuperDork
8/20/18 9:29 a.m.
The internet happened, and more or less removed most of the margin on new vehicles for a dealer. That means they become even more dependent on profiting from used vehicle sales. Trade in offers still tend to be pretty low, so they're padding the price to make money wherever they can. Couple that with tons of cheap money and long loan terms and the buying public has almost quit caring about the actual price of vehicles and focuses solely on the monthly payment. Higher dealer prices have a ripple effect on private party sales too.
Basically, I'm putting these filters into CL in the search bar on the left: 200 miles from my zip, max $8000, 4wd, pickup, truck, (why do they separate pickup and truck?) and Manual transmission. I do unclick the manual selection sometimes just to see what I'm missing. Plenty of trucks, but nothing worth even clicking on.
The big thing is you have to be ready to move on something when you see it. I had been looking for months before I found my ranger for $2500, just happened to be the first person to get to it.
Don't negate county auctions or the every other month state vehicle auction in Hershey, might be a better price than craigslist or face place.
I did that on a Frontier with 77k for $3500. I drove to Baltimore with cash and it was in much worse shape than I expected. Then the power steering line blew while I was test driving it.
I wouldn't say I'm in a rush, but I want to move quickly. I have two backup vehicles, some of which actually run, but they're very old and I wouldn't say they are reliable transportation. One of them is also a motorcycle, so rainy days will suck if the other car breaks.... which it already has.... twice. 
