Trucks

A midsize pickup like the Chevy Colorado, the Ford Ranger or the Toyota Tacoma is a good choice for drivers who want a utility vehicle that's more efficient, more affordable and more maneuverable than a traditional full-size truck. Full-size trucks are the most popular type with the big players being the Chevrolet Silverado, the GMC Sierra, the Ford F-150 and the Ram 1500. These trucks are great for towing and hauling and can even make good family cars when equipped with a quad cab with four doors and five seats. If you need a little more muscle, heavy-duty trucks are often used for commercial purposes, but are great for anyone who needs to do heavy lifting for things like big campers and horse trailers. Popular HD trucks include the HD variants of the Ram and the Silverado and the Super Duty line of the Ford F-Series.

Pros: If you need to tow or haul heavy loads with any regularity, a pickup truck is one of your best options for getting the job done. Whether it's a hunting trip, towing a trailer or pulling out stumps, there are a lot of jobs that a good old-fashioned truck can do better than any other type of vehicle.

Trucks are often available with a wide variety of engine types like an efficient 4-cylinder, a well-rounded V6, a powerful V8 or a torquey turbo-diesel meaning whatever you need to use your truck for, the perfect powertrain configuration for you is out there. The common option of 4WD drive makes trucks great for off-roading and bad road conditions.

Modern pickup trucks have become jacks of all trades that can do just about anything you could ask. With big, roomy cabins available, some of them make excellent family cars without sacrificing their workhorse capabilities. A modern pickup is great for a family trip to the lake with a boat in tow and a bed full of gear without missing a beat.

Pickup trucks depreciate slowly, meaning you can buy a new truck without worrying about losing too much money on resale.

Cons: Pickup trucks have never been famous for their fuel economy and while things have improved over the years, it's still one of the biggest cons of pickup trucks. Even the most efficient pickups on the market have combined mpg ratings in the low 20s.

Pickup trucks have also increased in price. As trucks get more luxurious and move further upmarket, their prices get higher as well, making what is traditionally a working people's vehicle, harder for average working people to afford on the new market.