95 Ranger 4x2, stickshift, 5 speed, regular cab. Bought it used with 36 thousand miles in 99 and had it for most of college and about a year after. It only knew how to drive sideways in snow and it didn't have air or power anything so it wasn't a particularly comfortable vehicle. Expecially in the summer. To make it super-ugly I had walmart paint touchups and found a used aluminum white contractor's cap complete with ladder rack that I threw on the back. The 'system' consisted of a JVC tape deck/12 disk changer. Some of my friends were embarassed to have me park in front of their houses. But it was rock solid and was still getting the job done when I traded it at 107K. If it were a proper grownup's vehicle with a backseat, air conditioning, and power windows I'd probably still have it.
04 Dakota Quad Cab, 4.7 liter V8, 4x4 bought 10/03. About a year later the ball joint fiasco came to a head. It was still a fun to drive truck with good interior space for its size. It sounded like hell on earth with a Dynomax SI/DO muffler with tips exiting to the sides behind the mudflaps and an aftermarket intake. I set off the car alarm on the vehicle parked at the corner of our street almost every day. The guy must have cursed me constantly. I threw step bars, grill guard, extra lights, tonneau, tint, and a bunch of different stereo stuff in at various times as I was just starting to experiment with that stuff. Traded it earlier this year because everything in the front end just kept wearing out over and over again including 2 new sets of ball joints and I got tired of dealing with it. The deal breaker that made me swear off buying another Dodge was when a Chrysler exec at first tried to say ball joint failure was not a safety defect because peoples' wheels were only falling off in parking lots and not at speed on the highway.
Now own an 09 Tundra Crewmax 4x4 with the 5.7. It looks sexy, packs more punch when you floor it than anything this size has a right to, and the rearseat is more spacious than the first couch I ever bought. The only thing that bothers me is I can barely hear the engine unless Im floorin it. Don't really like that in a truck. Hoping this one lives up to the Toyota quality rep otherwise I'm done with brand new vehicles and will go used from here on in. The most reliable vehicle I ever owned was nearly 5 years old at time of purchase. Why pay 30K for something that might or might not fall apart at 80 thousand miles when I can pay 20-25 for something that might or might not fall apart at 80 thousand miles.
