i need a 4wd pickup.. best mpg options?

[laack]

I'm currently driving a 94 civic dx (56mpg avg as my daily driver to and from work. My second vehicle is a 94 ranger (winter-27mpg avg recently with an aerocap). The ranger is getting to the point of nickle and diming me with repairs which i do myself, but the time and money has about reached its breaking point. I only drive it about 300 miles a month, but with summer coming around the corner, that number will increase with camping/biking/etc trips.


requirements for a replacement:
-considering i dont want to drive it alot, my budget is pretty low at 5-6000.
-larger rear seats in the cab than the ranger (which has the sideways seats)
-4wd
-reliable

its tough to swallow such low mpg numbers compared to my civic, but its really only good for 1 purpose.. hauling me around with out much room for my toys.

[Milwaukee]

SMALLEST F150 you can find with 4wd and manual.

Why not Explorer with V6 they get 16-25 mpg.

[darcane]

Chevy S10, Toyota Tacoma, and Nissan Frontier came with crew cabs.

[laack]

I need the open bed for hauling. a small suv would do the trick for about 90% of what I need it for. the versatility of a pickup just out weighs the expenses. an unfortunate necessity. That said, I dont need a ton of power, a 4 cyl. would probably be sufficient.

[Milwaukee]

Geo tracker with 4wd 5 speed get you 30 mpg.


I know what you talk about. I think it best is buy geo tracker with 5 speed and buy small trailer for carry. they only rated 1500 pound tow.


S10 crewcab 4wd only come with V6 4.3L they don't do good on gas. 15 in city 20-24 hwy.

[Ryland]

Why do you need the 4 wheel drive?
How about a Toyota Matrix with 4 wheel drive, Mini Cooper all4 or even a Jeep Wranger with a trailer hitch would almost get ok mileage but with more ground clearance and would impress your friends more.
take a look at the EPA MPG Power Search and you can select vehicle age, drive train, body style and so on, then it will give you a list of vehicles that match and their epa rated mileage.

[Milwaukee]

Originally Posted by Ryland

Why do you need the 4 wheel drive?
How about a Toyota Matrix with 4 wheel drive, Mini Cooper all4 or even a Jeep Wranger with a trailer hitch would almost get ok mileage but with more ground clearance and would impress your friends more.
take a look at the EPA MPG Power Search and you can select vehicle age, drive train, body style and so on, then it will give you a list of vehicles that match and their epa rated mileage.

Michigan winter

[Clev]

I too have a Ranger 4WD of the same vintage. It only sees a couple thousand miles a year when I'm using it for hauling or need it to get around in the snow.

$5,000-6,000 would buy you a lot of nickel-and-dime repairs. If you don't plan on using it all that much, it might be worth keeping it.

[nj trucker]

You could get a diesel pickup. I've seen a few guys on here that get good mileage with them.

[laack]

milwaukee has it right with that photo. Winter camping trips make 4wd a must. back roads in the middle of winter arent a good place to get stuck.

my list of repairs waiting for warmer weather had grown just short of 1000 in parts alone. the under-body is rusted which makes repairs a pain and i just dont trust it anymore for longer road trips which is where the summer miles come from.

any recommendations for which diesel in that price range?

thanks for the tip ryland, ill do some digging