well here is my take..since I do not have a blossoming money tree in my back yard I have to decide where to spend the cash I do have..I have a 24' enclosed which I bought new last fall and of course the big money is in the fed inside. 4 or so years back I needed something to pull my trailer(at that time was running a 3400 pd 55 chevy on a flatbed)but wanted a place to get my spare parts,jacks,fuel,all the trimmings,and have it locked up..well if I got a truck I needed a shell..with a shell you have to empty the back out to get to the front..yuck..I was driving a van for work so I started looking at vans..didn't want to spend a lot of money cause the van is just a transport ride the money spent should be on the toys right..I found a 2001 ford(I am a chevy guy)that had the v8 trition it had a lot of miles but it was a heating/ac contractors so it not only have reg. maintance it also had all the shelving inside..perfect..got it for 1000 bucks..now my local track is only 20 miles away so it doesn't go far but in 4 years I have only put in another grand in it to keep it on the road..replaced two coils and two tires..it is a f250 and for the last year pulls the enclosed as good as any...it was great with the car,golf cart and trailer was about 7500 pds in all..my theary is it is better to spend alittle for repairs then that pesky monthly payment and that ways when things are good I got more to spend on what is really important..things that puts a smile on my face by going fast..I see a lot of vans pulling feds cause they r light so the bulk of your weight is in the trailer not the fed. Well that's my take..I'd love a new pickup but when the payment is due will be cursing it as I did years ago when I had one..buying something that gets you from point a to b then leaving it hooked up is a great way to go..oh,I have got over 15,000 miles I put on that van over 4 years with replacing two tires(when I got it)and two ignition coils(they wear out like anything else)the sting of repairs is less then the payment..A new truck is easy 500 month if you spend say half of that as average a month in repairs do you have more left for the toys?Just my take..good luck..if you do get a new truck don't tell me cause I might be jealous..lol