I need a truck....or do I?

Ok, we finally got rid of the horrific Odyssey minivan and replaced it with a Outback wagon. My DD is a Mini Cooper S. I used the odyssey as a truck to some extent, so now I'm left needing to occasionally haul large things, or long things, or large long things.

Naturally I think it's time to get a truck for the occasional, but not rare times I need to haul things.  Time to sell the Mini to buy a truck, as much as that pains me.  That leads me to the question of what to buy.  ($6K budget)

I could buy a compact pickup.  

I could buy a full sized pickup.

I could buy a Dakota (mid sized pickup).

I could buy a full sized van.

I'm ruling out the full sized options because I just don't need that much vehicle and don't want to pay the fuel and parking penalties every day for capability I'll never use.

In a nutshell, the compact truck offers decent fuel economy, but a small bed. The midsize is the sweet spot because of potentially larger bed, but the fuel economy drops a few mpg. 

Then I thought......I could buy a minivan. The fuel economy would be about the same as the compact trucks, possibly better. More power, can fit full 4X8 sheets inside, under cover. I'll lose some towing capacity and possibly payload capacity.  And since I'd only buy a Chrysler/Dodge/who ever owns them this week minivan I'd have stow and go and could use it for more than 2-4 people.  

Am I crazy? Am I missing something?

How about a utility trailer to tow with the Outback?  They are really handy when you have one, cheap to own, dont take up much space, etc. A 5x10' easily fits just about anything a typical homeowner would need. 

In reply to Sonic :

I've thought about that a while ago, to be pulled by the odyssey. Totally forgot about that. Hmmmm, I'll have to add that into the mix.

What Sonic said:  get a utility trailer.

I've been a home owner for over 20 years and have yet to own a pick up truck.  A utility trailer will gets it done 99% of the time.  For that other 1%, rent or borrow something. 

Not that either is necessarily the best option, but you could get a pretty sweet square s10 or early ranger... either are pretty much bulletproof and do truck things well. I prefer a truck over a trailer because I have a habit of picking things up without much forethought. Wife might call and need me to pick up a bookshelf after work (5:30) but the seller has to leave for dinner appt by 6:00. No time to run home and get a trailer, but the truck bed is already attached and parked here with me. 
A pretty specific example, but there it is. Also, way cooler. The S10s just look the business when dropped aggressively, and a 2.3 ranger with a hair dryer is more fun than most folks realize. 

Keep the Mini, rent a cargo van the 4 times a year you need it for really big stuff, small trailer for the rest. U-Haul cargo vans are $20 a day.

There are only two kinds of people in this world: Those who know they need a truck, and those who are fooling themselves into thinking they don't.

I've done the u-haul trailer rental a number of times in the last two years, and would have a few more but it ends up being a hassle by the time it's all said and done.
It always seems to take at least 30 minutes to pick it up and another 30 to drop it off, there's an hour minimum. The last one I had to repair the wiring in the parking lot because it was the last one they had. Laying on an asphalt lot in the southwest Florida sun in the summer repairing wiring is NOT fun.  

In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :

That's one of the two strikes against a trailer. I also will need the utility on short notice so renting a trailer can be a pain. The other thing is I have to store the trailer, mow and trim around the trailer. I like the idea of the trailer, but I think renting one isn't as awesome as it sounds when you need it more than twice a year and with less than a few days notice. Last time I rented a cargo van I had to drive 45 minutes to the nearest location that had one, and those tires were balder than I was LOL.  

1988RedT2 said:

There are only two kinds of people in this world: Those who know they need a truck, and those who are fooling themselves into thinking they don't.

Apparently there are actually 3 kinds of people:  those who don't know that a minivan will do 90% of the work of a truck, with added comfort and efficiency, for far less cost.

Those same people apparently don't understand that the people who are "fooling themselves" can rent a truck pretty cheaply on the rare occasions that they genuinely need one.

Menards and Home Depot both rent full sized pickup trucks.  That is my 'go to' whenever I really need to use one.  Lots cheaper than actually having one, but that doesn't stop me from thinking about buying a used one now and again, if I'm completely honest.

I recently spent $500 on a rented 10' box truck from U-Haul for a one-way run of 250 miles.  Granted, it was a nice truck with only 12000 miles on it, and the whole experience went very smoothly, but cheap it wasn't.  I only half-jokingly sent a CL ad to the wife for a used box truck around $6000.  I'm almost crazy enough to buy one.  One truck is good.  Two is better. 

In reply to Duke :

I've owned minivans (always simultaneously with owning a truck), and you're right, they're fantastic.  But they aren't good at hauling mulch, towing boats, or carrying really large or heavy things.

In reply to 1988RedT2 :

That's the one drawback of the minivan as a truck (I'm still leaning that way though). Not being able to haul messy or dirty things. I don't do that much. One big plus is being able to have things away from thieving eyes, and out of the weather. With the flash storms common here in Florida, having stuff out of the weather is a really nice thing.  The towing capacity is much lower, but I can't remember the last time I towed something more than a 3.8L Caravan can tow.

In reply to DrBoost :

I must have missed the tale. What was horrific about the Honda Odyssey ?

I have the canopy from an old E-Zup that I throw in the back of my minivan when I need to haul something messy.  It makes a great liner for the rear seat well, with enough left over to extend up and over the rear seat..

I would not want to tow my Miata with it, but I wouldn't hesitate to tow a small boat.

Well, storing the trailer...  they make folding trailers. 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DK2-1450-lbs-Capacity-4-ft-x-8-ft-Multi-Purpose-Folding-Utility-Trailer-Kit-MFT4X8/315689095

Harbor Freight has some, but at least this shows how it folds.   Also, Maine trailer tags are an easy button if local stuff sucks. 

Yes, you trade some time/convenience, but it lets you compromise to a smaller DD that is either more fun to drive, or gets better fuel economy. 

Don't rule out a full sized van, either.  Conversion vans often have low-ish miles and they tank in value since they're a niche market.  Get one with the extended height top, strip out the interior, and most of them have at least 12' from the doghouse to the back doors.  Same footprint as a shortbed truck, but twice the cargo space.  These photos are misleading because the truck is a crew cab, but it demonstrates how much more lockable, dry storage space there is in the van.  Trucks waste so much of their real estate on a hood.

If you're not worried about dry/lockable, I find one of the most useful vehicles ever to be a compact truck with a flatbed.  Easy access to cargo, loadable with a forklift if it has fold-down sides, and a flatbed is easy to fab.  Find a Frontier, Taco, S10, Ranger, whatever with a rusty/smashed/dented bed, buy it cheap, yeet the bed, and build yourself a flatbed.

Duke said:

1988RedT2 said:

There are only two kinds of people in this world: Those who know they need a truck, and those who are fooling themselves into thinking they don't.

Apparently there are actually 3 kinds of people:  those who don't know that a minivan will do 90% of the work of a truck, with added comfort and efficiency, for far less cost.

Those same people apparently don't understand that the people who are "fooling themselves" can rent a truck pretty cheaply on the rare occasions that they genuinely need one.

 

Apparently there is a 4th kind. Especially if it's coming from a big box store. Just have them deliver it. We recently redid a big portion of our flower beds out front. Had HD deliver a pallet of mulch and about a 1/4-1/3 pallet of the stones to go around the flower beds to replace the crummy green, metal edging. We used her Mazda 3 to get all the plants. It took a 2nd run so I could get the two 6' Arizona Spruce's, but it's only about 5 minutes from the house. 

I'm only 41, but the older I get the more willing I am to pay for convenience. Having those two pallets delivered to the driveway was a far superior option. 

In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :

The reliability was a little better than a BiTurbo and the ergonomics were very sub par. I could go on, but I won't. Some of my disdain toward the vehicle might have been the way Honda USA treated us when we purchased it (used), reneging on an an agreement we had related to them repairing a known issue.
First and last honda I'll every buy, except maybe a small engine......maybe.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

I know! I full-sized van is tempting because of the sheer space vs the rock bottom price. I just don't know if I want to DD something that big. I have before, so I cold do it again. The fuel economy is scary too. But it is tempting. I also like the idea of a flatbed.  

Speaking of a flatbed, I'd be tempted to get a Kei truck, but the prices are pretty nuts.

Get what you want or what you need now. The truck wars in the last week have gone from an interesting debate to highly divisive. 

I used to like cars, they fit my needs, my budget and my driving style. Right now I am in a "suburban" stage, I had a suburban and then got an Escalade. It fits my needs and my budget and my driving style. When my kids get older and my FIL is no longer living with me and I don't have a camper to tow or I stop working from home I will change to what fits my needs at the time. 

All of them have advantages and disadvantages and I think most people on this forum know what they are with towing capacity, or mileage, interior or exterior space. Just be honest with yourself about what your needs are and you will arrive at a good option, heck they are all good options for something.

In reply to DrBoost :

That S10 I pictured above would be able to tow 3500 lbs with the 4.3L.

The hard truth is that if you're getting something that can truly put in the work you want it to do, the MPG will be proportional to it.  I daily an Express with the 5.3L and I'm happy if I get 16... hence why I bought a car for days when I don't need the van for van things.

That's a plus for a trailer... you can tow it with a 25 mpg vehicle and it drops to 20 mpg while you're towing it... as opposed to having a 20 mpg Astro that gets 20 mpg every day.  The downside I can offer for a trailer is that it needs to be pretty big if you're hauling something that won't fit in an Odyssey or Astro, and securing loads on a trailer is remarkably time-consuming.

Get the truck - that's my plan.  

So if you need a minivan, why did you replace it with not-a-minivan?