Trucks and pick-ups

A pickup truck is a vehicle with an enclosed cabin and open bed. Trucks like the Chevrolet Silverado and Ford F-150 use body-on-frame construction, which provides greater hauling and towing capability. Some small and midsize trucks like the Ford Maverick and Honda Ridgeline use unibody construction, like a modern car or SUV, while still adhering to the closed-cab, open-bed formula.

A regular cab truck comes with two doors and two or three seats, with no rear seat at all. An extended cab has a second row of seats with relatively little legroom and usually comes with a small door for access, sometimes hinged at the rear.

Crew cabs and extended crew cabs have two rows of seats with more second-row room and four standard front-hinged doors. You can find out more from Carmax’s guide to truck cab styles. 

According to RepairPal data, the Toyota Tacoma is the most reliable pickup truck. On the whole, midsize trucks tend to have better reliability ratings than full size or heavy duty trucks. Check out CarMax’s list of the most reliable trucks to learn more.

Diesel engines usually generate more torque than similarly-sized gasoline engines, and tend to be more fuel efficient as well. That fuel efficiency extends to towing, where they don’t take as big a hit as a gasoline engine. However, modern gasoline engines can offer impressively high towing capacities, and turbocharged engines or hybrid electric powertrains can make a lot of torque with smaller displacement. 

Most full-size and heavy-duty trucks offer 8-foot beds. Full size trucks that offer 8-foot beds, like the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado 1500, will only offer them with regular cabs or sometimes extended cabs. In order to get a crew cab and 8-foot bed, you’ll need to look at heavy duty trucks, like the Ram 2500.