WTB compact pickup

I am shopping for a smaller pickup for <$2500. I am in Mich and plan on goin' south to purchase for rust reasons. Ranger-S10-Nissan-Toyota etc. Any leads or recommendations appreciated. Thanks for any help

Atlanta CL. That is all.

I live south of Atlanta (northern Fl.) and in my "neck of the woods" Rangers seem to be for sale at all kinds of prices and in all kinds of condition. S10? A little less so, or maybe I just prefer Fords and look for them. Toyotas are slightly edging Nissans in this area, but of those 4 brands...the Toyota ALWAYS seems to be the most expensive.

Right now, for a few hundred more than your budget, you can get a decent '96 S10 extended cab with a V6/auto combo. There's also a small used car dealership in my area that has a newer regular cab S10 equipped the same for about the same money.

I don't really know Rangers or S10s mechanically, but it seems (I'm overusing that word?) that the automatic on Rangers doesn't last as long between rebuilds as the Chevy. Several Rangers in my area are being sold with tranny problems. After about '92 there are fewer rust issues on these trucks, at least with the body....don't know about the chassis. For your budget, it's almost as easy to pick up a late '80s to mid '90s full-size truck.

S-10 with a V6 is your best bet.

integraguy wrote: I live south of Atlanta (northern Fl.) and in my "neck of the woods" Rangers seem to be for sale at all kinds of prices and in all kinds of condition. S10? A little less so, or maybe I just prefer Fords and look for them. Toyotas are slightly edging Nissans in this area, but of those 4 brands...the Toyota ALWAYS seems to be the most expensive. Right now, for a few hundred more than your budget, you can get a decent '96 S10 extended cab with a V6/auto combo. There's also a small used car dealership in my area that has a newer regular cab S10 equipped the same for about the same money. I don't really know Rangers or S10s mechanically, but it seems (I'm overusing that word?) that the automatic on Rangers doesn't last as long between rebuilds as the Chevy. Several Rangers in my area are being sold with tranny problems. After about '92 there are fewer rust issues on these trucks, at least with the body....don't know about the chassis. For your budget, it's almost as easy to pick up a late '80s to mid '90s full-size truck.

The 4L60 in the S10's are downsized V8 based transmissions, the Rangers are "upgraded" 4 cylinder units. One of the big downfalls in the Ranger trans is they are very poorly calibrated, IMO. Once you fix some of the downfalls, especially BEFORE it breaks, it is a decent trans.

Mechanically, S10's still eat front end and steering components like a kid with Halloween candy. Rangers are woefully underpowered, IMO, but dang near bulletproof.

Even living here in KY, where winter is about one month long, S10's suffer HORRIBLE rust in the rockers, cab corners, and rear wheelwell arches, still. Rangers rust away rear leaf spring shackles and hangers. The fronts can rust away too.

I don't see many Nissans around here, but no way would I own or even look at a Toyota with the frame rustout problems of the past and still currently having now.