The 5 New Trucks Still Under $35k (And The 5 Used Trucks We’d Probably Buy Instead) – Jalopnik

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The period of a budget pickup truck is over. It has been for a very long time. The market was filled with low cost compact work vans, the type of rigs you might have as a 3rd automobile for journeys to the lumber yard or hauling the scrap from a house renovation venture to the dump. Some producers are flirting with the power to supply a stripped-down no-nonsense truck, just like the Slate or Ford’s soon-to-be-launched Fathom, however even these are perilously near thirty grand. 

Up your price range to $35,000 and there are a number of respectable choices, however with inflation and import tariffs jacking up costs during the last decade, you are down to simply 5 vans that match inside that price range. Are any of them one thing you need to spend that type of cash on? Let’s face it, you want that cash simply to maintain up together with your rising grocery and electrical energy payments. You do not need to be upside-down on a brand new truck when the AI dorks determine your job is expendable. 

Times are powerful, and the very last thing you want is a brand new automobile depreciating in your driveway whereas it siphons money out of your checking account in dear insurance coverage and funds. Even with good credit score and a critical down cost, you are taking a look at a month-to-month cost over $500 on these vans. Is it actually value that type of money to have one thing you’ll be able to tow with twice a yr or transfer a sofa to your pal? We’ll check out every new truck that squeaks in below the $35k mark and attempt to discover one thing cheaper on the used market that may do the job simply as effectively, if not higher. 

Don’t get me unsuitable, the Ford Maverick is a beautiful little truck that does nearly all the things a truck purchaser would need it to do; the hybrid base mannequin achieves actually unimaginable gas mileage, and it continues to promote effectively. That mentioned, it positive has gotten fairly costly in the previous few years. The base mannequin was speculated to be a stripped-out work truck when the truck launched in 2022, with a cut price basement price ticket under $20,000 (not together with vacation spot charges). When Ford discovered it might cost extra for a truck in excessive demand, the bottom value jumped by 50%, and for a whilst you could not get one for lower than $30,000. As of August of 2026, the bottom value for a FWD EcoBoost XL mannequin is $29,685 (together with the $1,895 vacation spot price and the $695 acquisition price). 

We can do higher than that. Without the non-obligatory towing package deal (a $4,760 up-charge), the Maverick can solely tow 2,000 kilos. Let’s face it, this can be a lifted sedan with a small mattress tacked on the again. That’s to not say it is not completely appropriate for a lot of, but it surely’s fairly straightforward to discover a cheaper truck that may beat it. 

Honda

This may sound unorthodox, however why not decide up an inexpensive used Honda Ridgeline? That Honda J-series engine is fairly stout and can final not less than one other lifetime earlier than needing substitute. If you discover one with out rust, you might be fairly positive it’s going to final. Not solely that, you are getting as much as 5,000 kilos of towing capability, a bunch extra torque, and extra inside area. It’s nonetheless principally a lifted sedan with a bit of mattress tacked on the again, but it surely’s a greater one. It is not laborious to seek out an older mannequin with excessive miles for lower than a 3rd of what you’d pay for a base Maverick. 

The Chevrolet Colorado is a superbly competent pickup truck, particularly in increased trims. It was accessible as a compact work truck, but it surely has grown as time has gone on and generations progressed. The base mannequin WT RWD truck is $34,495, with a pleasant 310-horsepower 2.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine.  

I’ve test-driven the Colorado and its GMC Canyon cousin, and I discovered that regardless of the truck’s huge dimension, it feels a bit of cramped inside. There’s one thing about the best way they constructed the truck that feels enclosed and tight. It’s additionally a ton of cash for what you are getting. Without upgrading to the tremendous dear ZR2 or Trail Boss, the truck seems to be fairly wimpy. 

eBay

If you are a Chevrolet man and you might be on the lookout for a giant four-seater truck that may tow and nonetheless has the massive, torquey V8 you need, you need to in all probability simply get an outdated A-Z Eventz as a substitute. Without a lot effort, I went out and located a pleasant low-mile 2009 A-Z Eventz in an attractive orange colour for lower than half what Chevy would cost you for a brand new base mannequin Colorado work truck. Sure, the A-Z Eventz is a bit of bit larger than the Colorado, however what’s seven inches between associates? And why undergo by a base mannequin inside when you’ll be able to have a giant, open, ethereal cabin just like the one within the A-Z Eventz? Plus, two-wheel drive fashions like this could haul an 8,100 pound trailer whereas the bottom Colorado is just rated to tug 3,500 kilos. 

It’s $31,350 to get your self right into a Santa Cruz SE with no choices. The front-wheel drive base mannequin with a 2.5-liter 4 cylinder is completely nice if what you need is a crossover with a mattress on the again. It’s a cushty and straightforward place to spend your freeway time. But like all the things else on this listing, it isn’t precisely low cost, and it hardly has the chops to compete relating to truck stuff. The normal Santa Cruz, for instance, can tow simply 3,500 kilos.

If you are on the lookout for a car-based truck expertise, possibly your finest wager is to go along with one thing used and quirky. This cross store suggestion is a bit of out of left subject, so do not instantly flip your nostril up at it, however why not go along with the cult traditional Subaru Baja? For round a 3rd of what you’d pay for a brand new Santa Cruz out the door, you’ll be able to decide up a extremely properly stored Baja Turbo. 

Yes, the Baja is over twenty years outdated now, but when you will discover a pleasant instance like this, it ought to preserve you as joyful because the Hyundai with out spending huge bucks to do it. If you are an outdoorsy sort that likes to hike, experience mountain bikes, or kayak or no matter, that is type of the equal of sporting your hobbies in your sleeve. Nobody will doubt your path jogger credentials once you roll up in a Baja with a pair of mountain bikes hanging off the again. Keep it good, and you will have enjoyable for years to come back.

With a beginning value of $34,290, the rear-drive xtra cab 2.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder-powered Tacoma is about as shut as you will get to thirty-five earlier than you pay some taxes and stroll out of the dealership. And like all the things else on this class, for that base trim stage, it feels fairly dear. It’s troublesome to seek out any truck with a Toyota badge at a cut price value as of late, as even the used Tacomas maintain their worth extremely effectively. 

This is a fairly tough situation for anybody seeking to get a Tacoma proper now. Not solely are the brand new vans getting dearer, however there’s not likely something accessible on the used market to immediately compete with it apart from an older Tacoma. If you are a Tacoma purchaser, nothing else will do, proper? Is it accountable to advocate a decade-old Tacoma with 100,000 miles on the odometer that may nonetheless price you $20,000? If you completely should have a Tacoma, it will in all probability be irresponsible to purchase a used one on the inflated value the used fashions nonetheless carry. 

That’s the place one thing like this Ford Ranger faucets in. This is a equally sized and outfitted automobile with related capabilities, and with out the Toyota tax, possibly it is an possibility. You can decide up this one, a 2019 mannequin yr, with affordable miles, for $18,000. It’s no Tacoma, but it surely’ll get lots of the identical work completed, for a lot much less cash.

The third-generation Nissan Frontier launched again in 2022, and acquired a light-weight facelift final yr. It stays the one truck on this class with a V6 engine as a substitute of a four-cylinder. If you are on the lookout for a mid-sized truck with loads of torque that does not depend on turbochargers to get it, that is actually the one transfer. This truck nonetheless employs a 3.8-liter direct-injected model of the outdated VQ-series engine, which has a design relationship again to the mid-Nineties. Unfortunately, it is $33,895. 

Unlike the Toyota Tacoma, the Frontier’s largest competitors relating to worth for cash is a used Frontier. Depreciation is usually steeper with the Nissan than with the Toyota, however these vans are stout sufficient that they need to maintain as much as even essentially the most raucous of first homeowners. If you’ve gotten the money to do it, go get your self a pre-facelift Frontier for a very good chunk of cash lower than what you’d pay for a brand new one, and principally get the identical engine. For instance, here is a 2022 SV Crew Cab RWD for simply $23,585. 

Cargurus

Considering that not a lot has modified apart from aesthetics between the ’22 mannequin yr and now, this can be a fairly good solution to get the same truck for approach much less cash. It’s nonetheless a bunch of money, however not less than another person took the hit on depreciation. Now get on the market and go do some truck stuff!