I need a pickup truck. Mine died. I want to spend $2000 on a new one. I will use it for dump runs, hauling very heavy stuff, pulling a 20ft boat, and driving around in Rhode Island. My three boys want to come along. For $2000 you get a choice. 4wd with a regular cab or 2wd with the crew. Is 4wd that great or will some sand bags in the winter take care of things?
Where can you buy a new truck for $2,000? For that matter where can you buy a used truck for $2,000?
I’d avoid anything with 4WD in this price range. Besides, you can’t fit four people in a standard cab pickup.
Four winter tires and a few sandbags will work in winter. The tires are the important thing.
Is $2,000 a typo or do you mean $20,000 for a new one?
If you’re looking for a used truck in the $2,000 range I would agree with sticking to 2wd if you don’t need the 4wd. You can get a pretty nice 10-15 year old used 2wd truck for that much-- for example the light green ex-Forest Service trucks everyone drives out here usually go for a little over that.
It’s not impossible to get a 4wd truck for that, but you’ll be looking at more like the 20-year old + age range (which, at least in my opinion, is not a bad thing if you want a simple, easy to service, cheap to maintain full-size truck, but that’s just me).
I would avoid 4WD. Some weight in the back for Winter, and you sound like you won’t be driving it much then anyway, should be OK with good snow tires.
2WD will be cheaper all the way around. It will use less fuel, be cheaper to maintain, and probably cost less to insure.
I believe he means “new”, as opposed to the “old” one he has. new to him.
you can easily find a truck for 2k. usually the people selling them wont put an ad in the paper, because $10 per line is too much for a truck that cheap.
Craigslist is FULL of $2000 trucks. Most are junk. Spend $4000 and get something half-way decent. Rhode Island is an economic waste land so “work trucks” go begging…4WD can be handy getting a 20’ boat up a dicey boat ramp. Other than that you can live without it. On older 4WD trucks, the mechanism that engages the front axle and hubs can be problematic and difficult to repair. Dodges use a Micky-Mouse vacuum servo system you will learn to hate…4WD costs twice as much to own and maintain. Don’t buy it unless you really need it…
Twice as much is a little excessive. My 4WD Bronco doesn’t cost much more to maintain that my Mustang does. As far as schduled maintence all you really have to do it is repack the hubs every other year and grease the yoke every now and then, a 4WD vehicle will use more fuel than a 2WD version of the same vehicle. But twice as much to own and maintain? No way.
“Teachaman” please, we need clarification…I would not trust $2000 to get me anything worth pulling a 20 foot boat in safety unless it’s a gift from a good friend, 2wd/4wd or not. RI does not need 4wd. BTW, even with 4wd in slippery conditions, you should have weight in the back. The ditches up north are lined with 4wd trucks driven by the inexperienced that are poorly balanced and “at-tired” in the winter time.
Also; 4wd has never in 35 years of owning and operating both in business and pleasure, cost me twice as much to own and operate. The only extra cost other than mileage was that incurred doing things that 2wd can’t…like plowing and off road. Why many keep saying this, I’m have no idea. When driven and maintained as any truck, they cost very little, usually in lubricants.
I’m with Dag on this. $2000 doesn’t get much, especially in the size you need to pull a very heavy 20 foot boat, and safety is paramount.
$2K-$4K 4wd trucks tend to need clutches, transmissions, steering knuckles, U-joints axle bearings. They also tend to burn a lot of gas. I stick with my claim they cost twice as much to own, sooner or later…“I clicked the 4WD switch on my dash but nothing happened”…KAaaa-ChinGGGgg…
Depends on your definition of older. I’ve never had any problems with the manual transfer case and hubs on the 4x4’s I’ve owned-- it’s the newer stuff that has the problematic automatic junk.
That’s part of why I think for a full-size truck you’re almost better sticking with an older, simpler one.
I hear you and agree in principle, but ALL of the added expense that my 4wd trucks have incurred were doing things that only they could do. Using them within performance capabilities and good maintenance is the key to my minimal expense argument and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy one used but well treated and maintained.