flb_78 wrote:I would not get a V6 in a full size truck. A buddy of mine has a Dakota with the V6 and it gets horrible gas mileage for the lack of power it has. We're talking around 15-17 MPG. Another fella I worked with bought a 1500 with the 3.8L V6 and he was getting only 17-19MPG with no power. The V8's do the same mileage and have decent mileage.
I wouldn't call a full size V6 truck with no options a great buy at 12grand, It's priced about where it should be in a normal market about 6-7 years ago right when trucks started to boom. I remember looking at a reg cab Dakota with a 5.2L and 5 speed and could of had it for less then 13grand OTD.
Don't buy a V6 full size truck, you will regret it. The gas mileage is the same as the bigger V8 but you don't get any of the power benefits. Basically you will end up running the engine at 80-100% all the time which kills your mileage and makes it wear out quicker.