Looking for a truck post grad but not sure what to get
Good afternoon everyone,
I’m a recent civil engineering grad that is looking for a vehicle upgrade. I’ll be living at home working on saving up money and paying off a small amount of loans for school and have started to look at upgrading my vehicle. Currently drive a 2007 convertible Mustang manual with around 150k on the clock. It’s fine for what it is and I do enjoy the car, but I’ll have a 2hr commute both ways at most twice a week for work (remote with lots of travel) so I want something I am more comfortable in. I also am a very avid outdoorsman and want to be able to pull a small fishing boat as well as haul kayaks and other gear with me on work trips. Finally, being civil most of the time I’ll be in job sites which will require some amount of ride height. I’ve been able to skim by with the mustang but it’s always nerve wracking trying to drive on dirt or even gravel with it.
I’m currently looking at primarily 2020-2023 frontiers, rangers, and colorados with around 50-70k miles on them which puts me under the $20k mark. For a little bit more though I could get something newer like a 2023 Colorado crew cab with only 20k miles on it for 25-26k as well as a factory warranty/ CPO status. My question is that while I would like to stay at around 300 a month on a 4 year loan, would getting something like the 2023 for around 400-450 a month be a good upgrade? I’m looking to keep this truck for a very long time and am just a little nervous about going a little above the 20 (more like 30-40% down in my case)/ 4/ 15 rule. While I can comfortably afford the car, I just can’t fathom spending that much without it being worth it in the long run. I also do my own maintenance on cars. Just wanted some feedback from other people before I start to look more into the trucks themselves. Thanks.