If it was me....

and if I'm understanding the purpose for which you intend to use the pickup.... I'd look into a classic... something from the 60's, 70's. They are built like tanks... but that's not the best part.. the best part is that there is NOTHING on them you can't fix at home with a hammer, a pair of pliers, some duct tape, a little baling wire... and some inventiveness.

I currently drive a 2006 Ford F-150... it's been good. I wrote about this. I haven't bought a new one because I want to be that 'old time farmer' who drives his 'last' pickup until we both croak. The problem is... it's too damn modern! It doesn't really 'look' much different from the new models coming out today... and it's got FAR too many electronic gizmo's on it than anyone actually needs. And so:

I've considered selling it and going OLDER. Or actually.. NOT selling it, (I have to have a 4X4 which it is), and just getting another for getting around here at home and the occasional shopping expedition where I need a 'bed' and the store isn't on top of a dirt road access mountain.

Now here's where my advice may not be for you, (along with a zillion other reasons)... what you consider 'comfort'. The first car I bought for myself was 4 years ago.. a Jag... that is, the first since my '65 GTO of long ago. So I drove pickups my entire life... and I was only about month into owning this current Jag when I realized... I like driving a pickup better. And when I say 'better' I mean a LOT better. What I'm getting at is that what I consider comfort you may consider hell.

So, I wasn't any help at all was I? Making it worse... I've never owned anything but a full-sized pickup so I know very little about small and mid-sized pickups other than we owned several for the farm and our employees used them... they weren't 'tough', BUT, we abused the living hell out of them. - JamesJM