
A big part of the problem is that they just don’t make small affordable trucks anymore.
The tiny little Ford ranger of the 90s used to be the cheapest car at a Ford dealership. The current ranger is only a couple inches smaller than the f150 and costs a couple grand less, if you can even find one.
I’ve had a 95 V8 f150 and a 94 4cyl ranger that I consider to be about the perfect expression of the two most useful trucks ever made. There just isn’t anything like them anymore.