Actually pickups are the most expensive trucks to buy. Just like tractors the bigger the cheaper. However insurance costs may be what keeps many people from owning anything over a 350 size. Its amazing how cheap 10ton trucks are. Maintenance could be an issue though I'll admit. Those cab overs are dirt cheap. 5K will be a very nice used one that could haul 3xs what a PU can.
Pick-up or van
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Have a few questions on this, MM. I do wrench, but am nowhere near the mechanical level that you are. Basically just 40 years experience driving cars has led me to believe that manual is WAY simpler and less expensive than auto. Lots of failure points with an auto: torque converter, solenoid pack, electronic controller, and the tranny itself. I've always bought manual for myself and had zero clutch/transmission problems. But our 2 family vans did get hit with a couple of the items listed above. It sounds like you're saying that auto trans are better and/or less problematic than sticks. I'm not a truck guy, so maybe what you wrote applies just to this particular truck. But if your transmission comments are generic, I would be interested to hear your perspective on what I wrote.
And, on the van discussion started by the OP; I've been using a 2003 3.3 Dodge Caravan for hauling firewood for the past year. Not a cargo van, but there's lots of room with all the rear seats out. I keep it clean by using a 1/2" plywood floor over a sheet of 4 mil poly, it's been a huge plus for my wood processing. The load is kept under 1500 lbs, but that's still a lot of wood, especially hauling from within an easy 4 mile radius. Not doubting how good a truck is for firewood hauling, but even a non-cargo van such as this can get the job done nicely. I do agree with the comments about the bugs, and give everything the once-over before loading.
Regarding the auto vs. stick debate, manual gearboxes have their failure points (clutch, synchros and bearings are the big ones) and usually have more moving parts in them than autos. They're just better understood. The conventional wisdom is that manuals are less expensive to repair but require you to do so more often and autos are more expensive to repair but seldom require repairs to begin with. I'm going to argue that the manual is more expensive to repair. If you have a failure, removing the trans from the vehicle is almost always necessary with a manual. Clutch disc, pressure plate, pilot bearing, release/throw-out bearing, slave cylinder, syncros and shaft bearings all require the trans be removed from the vehicle to repair. The biggest weakness of a stick shift is the clutch. If you tow near the vehicles rated tow capacity, the wear on a clutch is significantly accellerated. As I'm sure you're aware, the operator is the biggest determining factor of how long a clutch lasts but I've yet to see a dry clutch that outlasts the vehicle or even the transmission.
With an auto, there is no "extra" wear on the torque converter from towing as long as you remain within the ratings and keep up the fluid maintenance. Plus backing and manuevering trailers gets a world easier with the autos. The failure points you mention are real and for some reason I hear about that kind of failure with passenger cars/vans far more often than with truck platforms (including cargo vans). Torque converter failures and actual transmission failures are extremely rare. The other failure points you mention do not require transmission removal to diagnose/repair. Auto transmissions are hydraulic machines and require the same maintenance your tractor or log splitter would. That is, keeping the fluid fresh/clean and the filter changed. Do that and it will often reward you with a lifetime of reliable service.
The manufacturers agree with me as a pickup with a manual box usually gets a few lbs shaved off it's tow capacity and GVWR. Keep the fluid temp down and the fluid itself fresh/clean, it's pretty common for an auto trans to last the lifetime of the vehicle with no other attention. Of course all this really only applies to pickups and other light vehicles since heavier vehicles still run much larger manual boxes and monster sized clutch assemblies. However autos seem to be gaining a lot of traction in the medium duty truck class.
For full disclosure I don't work on cars for a living (thankfully! But there are a few here that do.) but I have run, and broken
, at least a couple examples of each setup. Given the choice, I want a manual in my car and an auto in my truck.Appreciate the info, MM. Again, I'm not up on what's typical for car repairs in general, just the ones I've owned over the years. Based on what you said, I've been lucky to get away having no problem with stick shifts all these years. But I also don't tow, or live in the mountains - not very much stress on my vehicles. Guess I'll continue to drive sticks until the time come when I can't remember what the shifting pattern is 
Appreciate the info, MM. Again, I'm not up on what's typical for car repairs in general, just the ones I've owned over the years. Based on what you said, I've been lucky to get away having no problem with stick shifts all these years. But I also don't tow, or live in the mountains - not very much stress on my vehicles. Guess I'll continue to drive sticks until the time come when I can't remember what the shifting pattern is
Your usage is the key to your success.
Your usage is the key to your success.
And that's the truth. I live in the "endless mountains" region of Pennsylvania. None of our "mountains" are large compared to many places, but the good hills we have are one right after another (thank you glaciers). That said, our local dealerships often struggle with how hard it is for them to get in the manual transmission vehicles that people want in this area, as around here, auto tranny's are often up for failure.
However, a good reason for that failure is not the auto trans itself, but they way it is used. With higher fuel economies so many vehicles have a final drive ratio that is so slow running a vehicle in "Drive" (what used to be listed as overdrive) means the poor trans is shifting all the damn time. I'm willing to bet that if people just dropped it down a gear for their driving in a region like this and reserved the top gear in an auto for the interstate, that a good many of the trans problems could be eliminated.
For me, I'm a bit of an OCD type and record the fuel mileage for every fill up. W/ my last auto truck, it made NO difference in fuel mileage doing my normal driving on these hills consisting of 25mph, 35mph and 45mph roads whether I was in Drive or 3rd gear. That said, I kept the thing in 3rd and did the tranny a favor unless I had to take a drive on the interstate.
The problem with buying a used vehicle is that you don't know what they did in terms of daily operation and / or maintenance in many cases. Sometimes you are lucky (as I was buying my last vehicle in having a ridiculously meticulous service record from the dealership come with it which is why I bought it versus a newer used vehicle) but usually it's a guessing game, which is for me, doing my own service work (including clutches) that I often pick a manual trans over an auto when buying used.
At the end of the day, whether you buy a truck or a van, settle on whatever gives you the best value for your dollar based on your visual analysis of the vehicle and the things you can prove have been done or still are right with the vehicle.
I sold my 04 colorado and was looking for an 04 or newer SUV to replace it with. I wound up with an 01 xterra because I had never seen a service history so complete in my life, the vehicle was 9 years old and traded at the Nissan dealership which told me after owning that they wanted another Nissan, and I knew they wanted to sell it because in 500 miles it was due for a 900 dollar timing belt service which I did myself for about 200 bucks. They were so meticulous that if they kept it, they would have had the job done but decided to spend that on the new vehicle instead. There was nothing wrong with that truck and (knock on wood) in the last 30k miles hasn't given me a bit of a problem, which is much better than I can say for the vehicle I have under warranty yet.
pen
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