Saving for a small truck

[MYellowRose]

I'm saving for a small truck so if I have to move again I can do it without having to rent a truck.
I'm open to suggestions as to make and model and year. At one time I drove a '95 Toyota Tacoma which I absolutely loved! I'd like to find something comparable. It need to be an automatic and have good a/c and heat, and must have power steering and brakes. I'd also like cruise control but would be more than content with manual door locks and windows. I don't see any need for all the fancy electronic stuff on them.
Anyone here drive a small truck that they would recommend?

[WileyCoyote]

have a Toyota Tundra that I love, deeply. (They don't make them without air!) The heat is the fastest responding I've ever owned. They all come with P/S and antilock power brakes. Mine doesn't have all that fancy electronic stuff on it either; I think that having it on a pickup is a waste. I am very short legged and the seat scoots up pretty far, which gives me extra storage behind the seat! ;D

My brother lives in ID and he swears that all anyone drives up there is Toyotas. They are tough little things, and you can't kill them. His is 20 years old and he just put it up on blocks and dropped a 4WD transmission into it. He actually at one time, in an emergency, loaded his horse into the bed of the truck and hauled it to the vet!

Mine is a long-bed because when I haul stuff, I haul a LOT of stuff. We are talking about trading it in for their new 4WD utility truck, so we can have not only the 4WD for the snow and hauling a horse trailer, but boxes for hubby's tools. He drives a Highlander for its comfort. If you can find a used one, get it; although they don't lose a lot in resale value compared to other small pickups!

[MYellowRose]

Thanks Wiley. I'll probably have to save the whole time I'm waiting to move so that I have enough to buy one. TX is truck country though most people prefer the full size trucks to the smaller ones.

[NowKnowYe]

I just bought a 2005 Toyota Tacoma (Toyota's small truck). I will own nothing else. ;)

[MYellowRose]

Guess I made the right decision then to get another one.

[livinlite]

What's the best year for the Toyota smaller trucks? Should I try to find a non-fuel-injected version? Anything specific to look for on 1980's Toyo trucks when buying one used?

[MYellowRose]

* The only one I owned was a '95 and it was fuel injected. *In the '80's my brother had an older seventy something model Toyota, don't think it had a name like the Tacoma, but it was a stick shift and I couldn't drive it. *He loved it but it had an aluminum block and wound up with the head warped and we didn't have the money to replace it. *That's about all I know about the older trucks. Oh yes, it was even smaller than a Tacoma, a tiny little thing, would be nice to have one that size this day in age if it had a good engine and got good mileage.

[machinemaker]

I had a 94 toyota and loved it. Ran and ran for years, 222000 miles one clutch and some brake pads. Looked like he**, but it just never stopped, until I puntured the radiator on the freeway over heated it instantly, warped the head. I had a replacement radiator that I dropped into it and drove it somemore with a blown head gasket before retiring it last year, it still ran decently with that oil/water mix after the blown gasket. built a lumber rack for it and it could haul a 1000 Lbs of 24' steel tubing on it, no problems. A real work truck. Messed up the drivers side body when I slid off our drive way down a hill and into the pine trees, winched our with our larger shop truck, but it was old enough that I could not justify the body work. Dang I miss it.
kent