What to Look For in a Used Pickup Truck

If you are searching for “used trucks near me” online, it is crucial that you know what to look for in a used pickup truck. These vehicles are not just fun to drive but provide utility unlike anything you will find in a sedan or SUV. But there are critical differences between these used trucks, including size, capabilities, and design. You may find an excellent used truck for sale, but then you realize it isn’t going to meet your needs. This is why you should take the time to figure out what you are looking for in a used truck, so you will be ready when the time comes to buy the right one for you. At Orange Coast Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram, we carry an extensive inventory of used trucks, including all popular makes and models. Here are a few things to consider before going for that test drive.

Sizing Things Up

This year, Ford and Hyundai have brought back the seemingly defunct category of compact trucks with the Maverick and Santa Cruz. These combine the fuel economy and handling of a compact sedan with the capability of a small pickup truck. This makes one wonder if Chevy is going to bring back the El Camino? However, for our purposes, you will have a hard time finding a compact truck on the used vehicle market. So you should focus instead on the three main sizes of pickup trucks: midsize, full-size, and heavy-duty.

Midsize trucks are perfect for light-duty use. These used models also make great family vehicles and are where you should start if you have never driven a pickup truck before. They handle more like a sedan or a midsize SUV than a truck. Some top models that you can find on the used market include the Jeep Gladiator, Ford Ranger, Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, and Honda Ridgeline. In addition, some of these automakers build models designed specifically for off-roading, like the 4X4 standard Jeep Gladiator, Chevy Colorado ZR2 and Z71, and Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road.

If you are a little more comfortable driving a truck, then the most diverse and versatile sizes are the full-size trucks. These are also known as half-ton trucks since they historically could haul up to 1,000 pounds. Today’s full-size trucks easily exceed this number, but the name still seems to have stuck.

You are going to find more options and choices with used full-size trucks. Automakers offer more trim levels, engine options, and vehicle design options than any other truck size. That’s why you can find full-size truck trims designed primarily for commercial purposes and other ones that are purpose-built for off-roading. There are even luxury trims on pickup trucks, like the Ram 1500 Limited, Ford F-150 Limited, and Chevy Silverado 1500 High Country. These models push the creature comforts, like leather seats and high-end audio systems.

The most powerful trucks are heavy-duty models. These include such brands as the Chevy Silverado HD, Ford Super Duty, Ram 2500 and 3500, GMC HD, and Nissan Titan XD. These are ideal for folks who need the maximum combination of horsepower and torque for towing and hauling.

Cab Design and Bed Sizes

When you hear talk of cabs and beds regarding pickup trucks, you should remember that we are not talking about taxis and places you sleep. The cab is the passenger compartment on your truck, and the bed is the open payload in the back where you are going to do all of your hauling.

Cab styles can be the most confusing part of picking out a used truck. This is because most automakers can’t agree on what to call these different designs. Sure, they all think that a two-door truck with a single row of seats should be called a Regular Cab. After that, things start getting a little odd.

Most automakers seem to think that a truck with four full-size doors and two full rows of seats for passengers should be called a Crew Cab. This is the one that can seat between 5 and 6 passengers depending on whether the front row is a single bench or a pair of bucket seats. Fortunately, Ram, Jeep, Nissan, Chevy, Honda, and GMC agree that this is a Crew Cab. However, if you are looking to buy a Ford, you need to ask for a SuperCrew. Toyota also has to be different, calling this type the Double Cab, which is also a source of some major confusion.

The one cab style that automakers can’t seem to agree on is the configuration with a shorter rear row of seats, two full-size doors, and two half-size doors. Ram calls this a Quad Cab. Ford calls it a Super Cab, which makes you think it is bigger than the SuperCrew, which it isn’t. Toyota refers to this as an Access Cab, while Nissan has dubbed it a King Cab. Again, this appears to give a false impression about size. Finally, Chevy and GMC have called this cab style an Extended Cab in the past, which would be fine, except they also currently use the term Double Cab, just like Toyota does with the one most everyone else calls a Crew Cab. This is almost like the confusion that ensues when you decide to go to a different shop to buy your morning coffee!

The good news is that bed sizes are generally standard when it comes to names, if not necessarily the lengths themselves. Most pickup trucks offer two or three bed lengths. For the most part, automakers will call the longest bed length a “long” bed, the shortest length a “short” bed, and the length in the middle a “standard” bed. However, if there are only two bed lengths for a particular model, you will sometimes see the shorter bed length referred to as a “standard” bed. Just keep in mind that a long bed is the longest bed length, while a standard is the shortest if there isn’t a third option available.

Towing and Hauling

Every truck maker provides drivers with a guide to the maximum payload and trailering capacity for each of its models. These limits are based on the gross vehicle weight and distribution across the truck itself. You should never exceed these limits as you could make driving your truck under these circumstances extremely hazardous.

When you are shopping for your next pickup truck, you may not have access to the specific capacity numbers provided by the various manufacturers. This is understandable since they come out with them for each model year of each truck. That is truly a great deal of information to compile. But you don’t have to panic. There are a few simple things you can keep in mind to judge which trucks will provide more towing and hauling capacity than others.

First, you need to determine the size of the truck. Basically, the larger the truck, the more it can tow and haul. A full-size truck can outperform a midsize model, while a heavy-duty truck can provide more towing and hauling capacity than the other two. Next, within a truck size class, you should keep in mind that trucks with larger cabs will not be able to haul as much cargo and tow as heavy trailers. So, a full-size truck with a regular cab will have greater capacity than one with either of the other two cab styles, assuming they are the same make, model, and engine.

Third, trucks with four-wheel drive cannot tow as much as ones with rear-wheel drive. This has to do with weight distribution. Finally, trucks with diesel engines will usually outperform ones with conventional gas engines. This is because diesels tend to produce more torque than gas engines. However, you should still check to confirm this, as some full-size trucks with V8 gas engines can provide more trailering capacity than the same model with a V6 diesel engine. Still, following these simple rules can help you determine which used truck will provide more capability than another one.

Make Your Next Used Truck One From Orange Coast

If you want the best selection of used trucks, then you should come down to Orange Coast. We offer all makes and models of all three sizes with multiple choices of engines, trims, cab styles, and bed lengths. Our sales team is constantly adding additional options to our used truck inventory so you can have the best selection to review when buying your next used truck from us.