New Mid-Sized
There are no small/compact body-on-frame pickups being made. Smallest you can get are mid-sized: Toyo Taco, Nissan Fronty, Chevy Colorado, Ford Ranger.
Mid-sized pickups will cost less than a full-sized half-ton, about 2/3 the cost all else kept constant. Fuel economy for mid-sized pickups and full-sized half ton pickups will be about the same. The auto makers have invested a lot of money in half ton V-8 engines & trannies.
I own a basic 2013 Nissan Frontier, 4-door, 4.0 V6, 2WD, auto trans. Have 140k miles on it. Done basic maint as well as beefed up the front & rear springs a bit. Only thing I don't like about it is that I was in such a tight spot, I could not find one with a manual transmission when buying. The Nissan Fronty is the oldest (debut 2005) mid-sized pickup being built and generally you can get it for much less than the competition. Bang/buck winner.
The Toyota Tacomoa is the standard by which all mid-sized trucks are judged. Period.
Don;t know or care about the Chevy or Ford mid-sized. I always thought the Chevy small & mid sized pickups were rolling POS and the Rangers not much better. Maybe that has changed.
New Full-Sized
Full sized trucks have bloated over the years. Wheelbase is not much different, but it is like they were allergic to bees and got stung all over and are puffed out in every direction. Makes it harder to use them. Things like grabbing up items in the front of the truck bed, you gotta be an NBA forward with orangutan arms to reach over the newer full-sized trucks. The regular cab short beds are the smallest of them.
F-150 is the standard. Nissan & Toyo still don't know how to get it right, or as right as Ford. Chevy is iffy and Dodge is a joke. Except for the Cummins. A 3/4-1ton Dodge with a Cummins is a diamond set in a pot metal ring.
Older Small Pickups
Ford kept the Ranger in production longer then other small pickup truck makers. But they are Ford Rangers and their longevity makes them rarer or in worse condition than small Toyos and Nissans.
Again, Nissan is the best bang for the buck. Their last small pickup was built from 1985 1/2 to 2003 or 2004. Up to 1997 it was the Hard Body sheet metal. Nissans lose out to Toyo small pickups in interior quality and resale. Meaning, you can pick them up much more cheaply and lose nothing in the realm of basic pickup functionality. I owned the last Hard Body, built in 1997. Extended cab, 4-cy, 5sp manual. What a great little pickup. Drove it 185k miles until an old lady ran into me and totaled the 14YO workhorse.
Again, Toyo is the standard.
Transmissions
Manuals are the most trouble-free. Toyota has strong automatics, but the rest all leave something to be desired.
