Today, you can spend upwards of $70,000 on a new truck. Fortunately, you don’t have to. There are still plenty of affordable trucks on the market, with some priced just above $20,000. If you’re looking for a no-frills workhorse, keep reading to learn about the cheapest pickup trucks for 2020.
2020 Ram 1500: $33,590
We love the refined interior and supple air suspension of the Ram 1500 Limited, but you’ll have to spend more than $50,000 for this top-trim model. If you opt for the base Tradesman Quad Cab, you’re still getting a great truck, just without the fancy features. In our review of the Ram 1500 Tradesman, we said it feels more refined than the bare-bones truck that it is. It has a quiet, spacious, and comfortable cabin, and its ride quality and steering resemble those of an SUV. Few affordable trucks offer more. The 2020 Ram [...]
MotorTrend’s 2019 SUV of the Year is roughly halfway through its yearlong stay with us, and it’s settled nicely into its day-to-day life of commuting during the week and exploring on the weekends. Since our last update, where we went off-roading on the beaches on California’s central coast, we’ve ordered a handful of Mopar accessories for our Wrangler. We’ve also finally tested it at the track and on our fuel economy loop.
Test DayJeeps—or at least Wranglers—are hardly known for lightning performance, but our Wrangler Rubicon nevertheless performed admirably at the test track. Sporting an eTorque 2.0-liter mild hybrid turbocharged I-4 with 270 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque and an eight-speed automatic, it ran from 0 to 60 mph in 7.6 seconds and through the quarter mile in 16.0 seconds at 83.1 mph. That makes it about four-tenths of a second quicker to 60 mph and two-tenths of a second quicker in the [...]
There was no question the 2016 Nissan Titan was a monumental improvement over the 12 year-old truck it replaced, but it was the truck Nissan should’ve released five years earlier and it showed. Four years later, the refreshed 2020 Nissan Titan boasts a handful of improvements that bring it much closer to competing with segment leaders from Ford, Ram, and Chevrolet.
You’ll notice the updated styling first, which takes a refreshing step away from aping the Ford F-150 in front and establishes a better identity for the Titan. Unfortunately, that’s balanced with a new tailgate trim piece that looks like it was pried off the back of an F-150 last week. Three times on our drive I mistook the rear of an F-150 for one of the Titans in our convoy.
Nevermind the new look, because the real news is hiding under the skin. The star of the show is a new JATCO 9-speed automatic [...]
The Toyota Avalon has always been something of a stealthy, value-priced luxo-barge. But it’s never been a vehicle with the means to confidently take on wet or slick conditions—until now. That’s thanks to the new availability of all-wheel drive on this previously front-drive-only flagship sedan.
The addition of Toyota’s Dynamic Torque Control AWD system promises to improve stability and confidence when driving through rain or snow. The Toyota Avalon AWD system can send up to 50 percent of the engine’s power to the rear wheels, balancing traction if the front wheels start to slip, or smoothing departures from a stop. Dynamic Torque Control has an electromagnetic coupling ahead of the rear axle, allowing it to engage or disengage as required by conditions, benefiting fuel economy.
While the standard, front-wheel-drive Avalon is equipped with a 3.5-liter V-6 engine producing 301 hp, all-wheel-drive models get a different engine. It’s a 2.5-liter four-cylinder that produces 205 hp, linked [...]
- Powerful turbo-four engine
- Great value
- Towing performance
- Old architecture
- Poor interior space
- Aging design
The Ford Ranger came back to the U.S. market after an eight-year hiatus, during which it spent time overseas instead of filling the midsize truck gap in the automaker’s North American lineup. Rising popularity of the Toyota Tacoma and Chevrolet Colorado forced Ford’s hand, but instead of developing a truck specifically for North America, Ford simply brought the existing Ranger here. And those secondary-market roots show.
By making changes to the chassis to comply with U.S. safety standards, the Ranger arrived at the end of 2018 with one engine option: a 2.3-liter turbo-four that’s good for 270 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque.
Read about Car, SUV, and Truck of the Year contenders and finalists HERE.
That said, one of the Ranger’s best traits is its powertrain. The 10-speed transmission does a great job with [...]
