Truck, first vehicle for daughter

[EKing]

It is finally time for my daughter to get her first vehicle and she wants a truck but we are having a tough time finding one in our price range.

My deal with all my kids is that I will match them dollar for dollar on their first vehicle. It encourages them to work and save their money and gives them some pride in ownership and all that. She's now saved over $1,000 and still going.

Here's the interesting part; she wants an older truck with "character". She saw an awful looking beater POS online at a dealer in Norman and fell in love. We went to look at it and it was worse than pictured so we passed on it but she was not deterred from wanting something older. She keeps seeing 80's and early 90's model single cab trucks that catch her eye. She wants a "little" truck. Any truck with a single cab and short bed is "little" in her eyes.

We're going out to Shawnee this week, there's a place with a few used trucks in our ($2,000 - $4,000) price range. Does anybody know where else in the OKC area I should be looking?

 

[NikatKimber]

Well too bad for the short part. I’ve got a ‘90 F150 that I just got back on the road that would be in your price range. But it’s a super cab long bed. Best of luck in the search. Auto or manual? Is she wanting 4x4?

 

[EKing]

4x4 not needed. Auto or manual transmission doesn't matter. I wanted to teach all my kids to drive a manual but really, it's less of a benefit these days than it was when I was a teen. So few vehicles have manual transmission anymore.

 

[dlbleak]

The reg cab SB can really hold their value. Guys like to fix them up, lower them down, do LS motor swaps etc. can make finding a decent one for a good price kinda tough. I’ll keep an eye out.

 

[SMS]

My daughter was interested in a truck as well but finding one in her price range that was reliable enough to trust getting her home from the high school at midnight after an away football game, or that we’d wouldn’t have to be wrenching on every weekend was a challenge.

All I can add is stick to private sellers. At that low end end you aren’t going to get much of a deal from a dealer.

 

[TedKennedy]

Might try to convince her to get a van instead. Trucks are overpriced.

 

[EKing]

I guess by short bed, what I mean is any bed shorter than 8'. Sort of like a standard capacity magazine vs. restricted capacity. I know the 8 foot bed is no longer the standard, but I still think of it that way.

 

[O4L]

A decent cheap pickup may be hard to find.

They usually are anyway but between tax refunds and stimulus checks they may have been all grabbed up recently.

Good luck in your search.

 

[Okie4570]

Mostly in town driving, highway or both?

 

[Okie4570]

And be prepared to look out of state, OK is a terrible place to find a good deal on a used truck of any size.