Interested in a Tacoma for daily/winter car

I am interested in picking up a used SUV or truck to use as a daily driver/winter vehicle. My current vehicle is an 08 Infiniti G37 that is lowered quite a bit and has a good amount of performance modifications, and with a new job and college it is becoming impractical to drive around all the time, especially in the winter. Then it's impossible to drive. I also have a new Chocolate lab and fitting him in the G37 is getting quite difficult.

I've been looking around at Tacomas/4Runners, Pathfinders etc and right now am really fond of the Tacoma. I really don't want to spend more than 5-6000 on something and at least be a 2000 or newer, if that's even possible.

If I were able to find something in that price range (which I haven't yet) what could I expect out of it? The biggest reason I'm looking at Toyota is the history for reliability, compared to something american. Does this hold true for these trucks? I don't want something that will be a maintenance/money pit.

Lastly, I know this is a tacoma forum so I expect some biased answers, but are there any other comparable vehicles anyone would recommend for me to look at?

Thanks for any help!

Here's a pic of my current ride just for fun.

 

Oh and I have been reading over this thread and it has been quite helpful in learning about the different years, options etc.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/156943-1st-gen-tacoma-buyers-guide.html

 

Welcome to TW from Sparks, NV

 

I SO FEEL YOU about the Infiniti. I've had an '07 G35 Coupe, a '09 G37 Sedan S, an '09 G37 coupe, and now I have a 2012 G37 Couple IPL Edition in Malbec Black. They are HORRIBLE in the snow!! I don't even take my Infiniti out if its just flurrying outside! Tacoma's are awesome in the snow. Every Toyota I have owned has been awesome in the snow. Last week it snowed here and the main roads were covered. I also live in the mountains so there were alot of steep hills to go up and down and I didn't slide once, even in 2WD.

 

Seems like it is a tough price point to get into a decent taco, they hold there value cause you have to pry them out of our cold dead fingers!

 

Our other car is an '04 G35 coupe, and having the Taco as the other vehicle works perfect. As far as pricing goes, it might be tough to get to $5-6k on 2000 or newer but they're out there. Depends on your patience.

 

Welcome from SoCal! 5K-6K is indeed a tough price point. I was there for a long time and couldn't find much. I bumped it up to 10K and scored my last Taco (05 Prerunner RIP).