New here, some questions before buying..

Hi there folks! I'm looking at trading up my dodge neon for a truck. Been looking at the mid size trucks. Narrowed it down to between a dodge dakota and a tacoma.

First of all, here's what I'd be looking for. Double cab, 4x4, as many options as possible, not silver(though color is irrelevant to this post)

I have a few questions if you nice folks wouldn't mind answering them..
Looking for a newer truck, when were the last major revisions made that I should look for? For example, the V8 in dakota's was significantly improved in 2008. I'm on a budget so the older the better, but dont want to sacrifice options either.

I keep reading that the ride is somewhat rougher than a lot of trucks.. how bad is it?

Is v6 the only option? If so, does it have plenty of power and get-up-and-go? What is the towing capacity of these things, I need to be able to pull a boat.

All wheel ABS standard? Disks or drums in the rear?

Lastly, how much should I expect to pay for any given year?

Thanks you all.

 

Welcome. To answer a few of your questions. 2005 is when the redesign of the Tacoma occurred. Anything after that has basically been cosmetic. You can get a 4 or 6 cylinder. Towing capacity of a v6 TRD is 6500. Get up and go is just fine. Disc in the front and drum in the rear for brakes. They really are nice trucks. Rated as one of the best mid sized trucks. They do hold their value though. Prices can be higher. Really depends on which submodel you're looking at. Check out autotrader.com . They have quite a few on their site.

 

If you get the SR5 the ride is very smooth compared to a Sport so if you don't want the rough ride, you can find the SR5 with the same options minus the nice seats or buy whatever you want and upgrade the shocks to something like the Bilstein 5100's.