15 and looking at cars or trucks...

[mx Eli]

As some of you know 15 (just turned) and I have started to look into cars and trucks, I have a decent amount of machanical knowledge, would like somthing cheap and if I have to I can work on it to get into driving condition, cheap becuase most of my money is spent on racing and quads. I'd like to get around 20ish mpg but that depends on how cheap the vehicle is. my budget is around 3500 and lower. I am looking for suggestions on cars or trucks that you would think fit my bill, I am partial to trucks though
:devil:

all opinions welcome and appreciated!

[finsteratv]

4cly 5speed toyota truck or ford ranger. 4x4 ofcouse ;) i'll be in your shoes in a few monthes, but i have a 1996 ford explorer...wooohooo haha

[slightlybent47]

You have the rite idea; just get an old beater that will get you where you want to go.
At your age a nice car will come with a hefty insurance bill so stay with a cheap one.
When you turn 25 and can afford a new one the insurance will be reasonable and it won’t cost you everything you have just to have a nice car. Get an older one that is easer to work on with basic tools.

Good luck!

[Kickstarts-suck]

Ranger, S10, Taco, ect

My dads has had 2 rangers. They are great little trucks.

Drive safe! :)

[250r rider 88]

truck-toyota tacoma

car-honda civic, just dont rice it please

looking back to when i got my first vehicle i wanted a truck and blew alot of money in gas, wish i would have had a car with great mileage

[flyboy1294]

You should be able to afford a late 90's Ranger or S-10 pretty easily for 3.5k. Also may want to look into older Jeep Wranglers.

Also look at the mid 90's Ford F-150s. If you can get one of the inline 6 engines, do it. Those are absolutely bomb-proof. We have one for a work truck that has 345,xxx brutal miles on it and is still going.

[PaRedneckRiders]

i would say find yourself a nice little ford ranger or s10 like was already mentioned.
Idk if your looking for a standard or auto but personally i would go with a 5spd over an auto but thats jmo.

We have a 97 ranger with a 2.5 5spd, its only 2wd but gets awesome mpg and has dam near 200k on it still going really strong with no problems been our work truck for the past 6 years and we just recently took it off the road because we got an extended cab ranger that had power steering and power brakes along with AC lol

[ridehonda400ex]

I'm turning 16 tomorrow so I was in the same situation as you. If you want something that will do good in mud and still get good gas mileage. Get a jeep wrangler with a 4 cylinder, I know its a only a 4 cylinder but get a stick shift and thatll give you gears to play with in the mud or snow so so if high RPM's is what you need then drop it a gear. And a jeep will rarely get stuck bc they are so light, they basically drive on top of mud and snow. Ive never drove one but my dad had 2 of them and they are sooooooooo much fun. Nothing better than the doors and top off on a hot summer day.

Or if you really want a truck then get a ranger, s10, or a toyota pickup. Get the 4 cyl. unless you really just need a 6 cylinder, the 6 cylinder will drink the gas a hell of a lot faster than a 4 cyl.

Now if you want a car-I definetely suggest a Honda Civic. My mom had one, it was an automatic, and It does great on gas, has plently of power. And would flat out **** and get. I loved getting onto the interstate and have to hammer it off the on ramp. My cousin also had one and riced it out completely and I rode with him in it and it was a stick, and we smoked the tires for probably a mile thru every gear on a country road. The speedometer said 96 mph and we were barely moving. And then we got on the highway and did 110mph

[ridehonda400ex]

Btw I ended up getting my dads 2004 f150 with a v8. Its a gas hog but I'm happy as its a very nice truck. I just have to give him my detasseling check so he can buy something cheap for work and then insure me on it for liability as the primary driver then I get to drive my truck

[CJM]

Truck: Tacoma, Toyota pick up or Ranger
Car: Civic, Corolla, Mazda. Pretty much anything 4 cyl will be fine.

You cannot expect to get 20 mpg out of the trucks if you have 4wd. A better guesstimate is 14-17mpg depending on engine choice and stick or automatic.

[mr.muddmotors]

how bout diesel should get u over 20mpgs with plenty of power. tons of cheap easy mods to improve power and economy. theyre out there in your price just have to keep lookin and b patient.

[mx Eli]

If i were to get a truck it would most likely be a ranger 3.0 with a stick, anybody know what the mpg is with something like that? Id like to know if 4x4 hurts the gas mileage that much on the ranger. I would maybe look into a jeep. My dad used to get 17 highway with our 01 5.4 ford f150 but that was highway only. I'd like to have some get up and go. I dont need to hual or tow anything with it Becuase I can borrow my dads or my buddy's cummins when I need to hual.

with insurance I'd like to get something where I wouldnt get replacement insurance.

thanks for all the reply's!

[mx Eli]

thats another thing I was looking at older 12v cummins, somthing with alittle higher miles around 200k is coming down in price alot. seen a couple of them now that say the engine light has come on but still drives fine for 3500. I would love a diesel but would have to get it at the right price

[CJM]

Your not gonna get them to insure you for total replacement if the cars over 5 years old-just isnt gonna happen. Having even collision on a such a vehicle is often pointless.

4x4 doesnt ruin gas mileage but usually it means more drag on the drivetrain vs 2wd, and weight which does drop mpg a bit.

Bottom line:
A 2wd bare bones, small engined truck or car is gonna get excellent mpg. Switch that to a 4wd with some options and it gets lower mpg.

Me, I wont own something without 2wd if its a truck due to the snow and places I tend to go offroad.

[slightlybent47]

Trust me: you want something cheap and easy to work on and gets good millage. If you get something and the do all kinds of mods like fancy tires and wheels, new stereo, engine mods, and so on you defeat the purpose of going cheap.
There will come a day when you will wish you had all that money you wasted on your car/truck.

Having a cheap car and having the extra money for other things is way better then having a nice car and no money to drive it anywhere or do anything.

[finsteratv]

Originally posted by mx Eli
thats another thing I was looking at older 12v cummins, somthing with alittle higher miles around 200k is coming down in price alot. seen a couple of them now that say the engine light has come on but still drives fine for 3500. I would love a diesel but would have to get it at the right price
thats what my grandpa has and by the sound of it i might be lined up for that which would be amazing! i love that truck and with a straight 6 and turbo it moves along just fine. with it being a diesel and 6cyl it gets pretty good milage for a 3/4 ton and the turbo helps alot. cummins 12v turbo with a 5spd. :macho

[Scottt89]

I had a 1996 Mazda Protege with 90k that I put another 130k on. No real problems, sold it to a buddy for a few hundred bucks and he is still driving it around. Probably has 250k on it now. Got great milage and never let me down.

[BlaineKaiser450]

1st gen 12v Cummins. Mine gets 22mpg city and is a 4x4 dually with some work done, and the prices on some more used ones are pretty low. Insurance is what will kill you though, I have A's and B's, no record or anything like that and the cheapest policy is 1200 a year and thats JUST for liability.

[mx Eli]

all I would get is liability insurence its not worth getting collision. If I were to do any mods it would be the basic exhaust & intake. thats on only a truck. car I'd leave it stock, other than that maybe one amp and one sub so its nice to listen to. Another thing is I do live in Wisconsin so weather is brutal.

sounds like I'm gana start looking for a ranger or a civic so far. maybe a cummins if it's right

[CJM]

Be forewarned with any truck: If it looks in the least to be abused run far, far away cause its been beat and sooner or later somethings gonna go.

Try and find the little old mans truck or car. Usually they take good care of it and hardly drove it.

[mr.muddmotors]

insurance for a truck in california might be a little higher than in wisconsin idk but rates vary greatly i dont think that liability on an old diesel 4x4 vs. a ranger or a civic is gonna matter that much to a young driver. its gonna be high no matter what you get! i wouldnt hesitate to look at other diesel trucks besides the cummins. great engine dont get me wrong but any diesel with a manual trans driven properly can be tuned for excellent fuel economy not to mention haul your machines too

[Scottt89]

If you are in WI, have you thought about an older Subi? They are AWD and seem to run forever.

[mx Eli]

I wouldnt have a problem with a 7.3 psd with a Manual trans. I havent looked for one on craigslist lately but will try.

[400exrider707]

I wouldn't buy a diesel to get 20+MPG, it can happen, but more often than not it doesn't. The parts are just going to be a lot of money, and diesel itself is more money right now.

Stick with a smaller 4 cylinder truck, IMO.

My own experience... I had a 1995 ranger 2x4 5spd with the 2.3 motor. Great little truck, ran awesome, never any issues, had ~135k on it when I bought it. Parts are cheaper than on a full size, easier to do everything with and I got 23mpg WORST TANK, driving like a retard. It is a slowwww truck, but you'll be 16 so that will be a good thing. I think I got 87mph once... downhill.

As for winter driving, I had a set of good all seasons put on, and just put some weight in the bed, it really went through just about anything surprisingly. When it got bad out, I'd put my snowmobile in the bed and it was enoug weight I could drive almost anywhere. If it was really bad out, you shouldn't be driving anyways.

[mx Eli]

^^^ haha 87 down hill thats cooking! haha I think for sure I'm gana look for a 3.0 ranger extended cab with a stick shift. Everyone has good luck with them and theres alot of them out there

thanks for all the info and feel free to keep posting it might help some other people

[400exrider707]

If you're going to get a 3.0, might as well just get the 4.0, neither are that great on gas. If you want over 20, get the 4 banger.

Don't worry too much about the 87mph haha, it wasn't too shabby up to about 80 but then it was like it hit a wall. My buddy had an identical truck that was a 97 and his topped that easy, but I've heard a lot of rangers have extremely varying top speeds. Some are limited, some are not, just weird. Check out a ranger forum to verify that!

[mx Eli]

My dad has a 3.0 for work and get 19mpg with an auto trans and around 400 pounds of tools and what not

[mr.muddmotors]

if i had a choice i think the 3.0 is a better engine than the 4.0 slower but last longer. i think you could get a ranger with a 4 cyl diesel back in the mid eighties, you could convert it to run on veggie oil and not worry about fuel economy!

[ProspectorJim]

vw rabbit or caddy diesel.

[kyleschonert]

Originally posted by ridehonda400ex
Btw I ended up getting my dads 2004 f150 with a v8. Its a gas hog but I'm happy as its a very nice truck. I just have to give him my detasseling check so he can buy something cheap for work and then insure me on it for liability as the primary driver then I get to drive my truck


Nothing like a little detasseling in the summer to get the allergies wound up.

God I don't miss doing that at all!!