[Isaac Zachary]

My experience with vehicles that old is that I buy one, a day later the check engine light shows up and starts flashing, and turns out I need a new engine, transmission, brakes, and everything else, and I can't get parts for them that last more than a month or two.

I usually go for way older vehicles, something that costs next to nothing and is cheaper to repair. These vehicles have also "proven themselves" to a certain degree meaning that if they made it this far they probably can keep going for many more years with a little TLC. You can probably purchace and rebuild the engine and transmission on a 40 year-old vehicle for the price of a 20 year-old vehcile that needs a rebuilt engine and transmission.

Or I'd go for something a few years old with low mileage, except with vehicles that are a few years old there's the problem right now of high prices, prices so high you might as well as get a new one.

Unless you're doing 2,000 miles a month or more, I'd stick with the big truck you already have.

Reminds me of a friend who had a 10 cylinder pickup, he traded it for an 8 cylinder pickup and got the same fuel mileage. He then traded that for a 6 cylinder and still got the same fuel mileage.

If you want good fuel mileage in a 4x4 pickup you'd have to do some drastic mods. Or get a little diesel one (or an EV if you can afford one).

For the money, if I were looking for a great fuel mileage truck, I'd try to get a brand new Ford Maverick hybrid. Yes, they cost over $20,000 and have something like a two year waiting list. (I'm also not sure if the hybrid comes in AWD.)

But from there I wouldn't consider anything else, except maybe a Chevy Colorado (GMC Canyon) 4 cylinder diesel. But expect to pay $20,000 for one with 150,000 miles on it.

From there I would go back to a 1980's pickup. The VW non-turbo diesel pickup would be my first choice as I owned a 1985 VW Golf non-turbo diesel. The thing was gutless as all getout, but it got as much as 60mpg on long trips. It is also immortal and just won't die, but just keeps going. But those pickups are FWD and do not have a crew cab.