Best Used Pickup Trucks Under $5,000

You don't have to break the bank to buy a decent pickup truck.

Year after year, Americans buy hundreds of thousands of pickups – foreign and Domestic – and that means there are lots of used models available for good prices on the used market. We searched high and low for relatively nice trucks, and this is what we found.

Click on the image above for 10 great used pickup truck bargains for $5,000 or less.

The Ford F-Series has been the best-selling vehicle for as long as many of us have been alive. If you play your cards right, you can find a pretty nice V8-powered truck in good condition for less than $5,000... as long as you don't mind driving a vehicle that's several generations old, like the 2003 model you see above.

Click here for more used Ford pickup trucks for $5,000 or less.

Even if you need something heavy-duty, you can score a decent used vehicle for $5,000. A little bit of searching will score a buyer a Ram powered by a Cummins diesel engine. These powerplants are durable and are known to rack up hundreds of thousands of miles without needing major repairs.

Click here for more used Dodge pickup trucks for $5,000 or less.

The Dodge Dakota, offered from 1987 through 2011, was the largest so-called midsize pickup truck over the course of its life. Though it's no longer offered for sale, there are always plenty of Dakotas available on the used market, such as this V8-powered model from 2005.

Click here for more used Dodge pickup trucks for $5,000 or less.

With so many Ford Rangers sold over the life of the truck – it was available between 1982 and 2012 in North America – just a little sleuthing ought to turn up a nice model well under our self-imposed $5,000 limit. The Ranger got its last meaningful update way back in 1998, so any truck from that year or newer ought to be a reasonable choice.

Click here for more used Ford pickup trucks for $5,000 or less.

There's a brand-new Chevy Colorado filling the large vacant midsize-truck-size hole in the US market for 2015, but if you don't need such a new pickup, late-model Work Truck examples can be had for cheap. If you can find them, the locking side compartments are a nice touch.

Click here for more used Chevy pickup trucks for $5,000 or less.

It's not quite as easy to find Japanese pickup trucks in decent condition with relatively low mileage as it is something from a Domestic automaker, but if you look hard enough, deals can be found. Keep your eyes open for a Titan model with a V8 engine with fewer than 150,000 miles.

Click here for more used Nissan pickup trucks for $5,000 or less.

If you want any pickup truck from Toyota, you're going to have to look pretty hard to fit under our $5,000 price limit. We located a few decent-looking Tundra (fullsize) and Tacoma (midsize) models for sale, but you may need to accept higher mileage or be willing to travel to find your perfect used truck.

Click here for more used Toyota pickup trucks for $5,000 or less.

In the market for something completely different? We like your style. Perhaps you should take a look at a vintage option, like the early 1980s Volkswagen Rabbit Pickup truck seen here. With a tiny little four-cylinder engine, you won't get anywhere fast, but you ought to be able to find a decent example pretty cheap, and it's not likely to depreciate any further than what you paid.

Click here for more used VW pickup trucks for $5,000 or less.