Manual transmissions are becoming a lot harder to find.  



When it comes to decent size and reasonable mileage general motors full size half ton, or light duty half ton if there is a hd version, generally does it best.  Suburbans can probably get the mileage you are after.



My wrangler usually gets the mileage you want.



the 4.0 has been a good engine for jeep but they had some specific head issues with certain castings and some people have issues because they either got a lemon or don't let the straight 6 be a straight 6.  



I keep getting told I drive my straight 6 gassers like a diesel.  I don't rev em to the limiter, I also don't lug em.  But I use low rpms and let the torque do its thing.



If you stumble into a tj I could see getting one perhaps, but they are usually going to be rode hard and put away wet.



The cucv stuff can be read about over on steel soldiers.  It is what it is.  And what it is would be a friggen old vehicle.  I know one fella sold one when he checked the price for a starter, he said it was 400 bucks.  I don't know, never looked it up myself.  I like the full size blazer but I would not get one of these unless you wanted it as a hobby.



Depending on the ford exploder, is that the year or years where the firestone tires were being seriously underinflated?  Some stuff can feel really tippy because low tire pressure is letting the tire roll around on the sidewall.



If looking at the grand cherokees read up on what transfer case it has.  Apparently there are some that cause issues, I think it was an awd version and either hard to get parts for or something.  Fella was swapping in a different one when I was reading about it.

I see posts here by FJCruiser owners claiming the same mpg I got with that red Chevy pickup I used to have.  My pickup was a half ton with a V8.

Less than 100,000 miles and under $6,100.00 may be a challenge to do in this post 2008 economy and after cash-for-clunkers.

Manual transmission...Look around...maybe you find one.

As others have pointed out in this thread, think about the total ownership cost.
Fuel, oil changes, insurance, and license fees will be expenses that happen in a year.
Tires, brakes, starter, alternator, battery, water pump and many other long lasting but wear components will also need to be maintained.

You may want to optimize the vehicle you pick by balancing the capabilities of the vehicle against the annual fuel+insurance+fees costs.

You also may want to consider the ease of replacing some components that often need replacing during a vehicles middle years.  Replacing the alt, starter, water pump and even ball joints on a GM pickup has not been much drama to me.  Replacing the water pump on a mid sized crossover suv with a sideways mounted V6 about made me cry

I'm not sure you are going to find any of those as a decent vehicle with 100K miles, except for a 2WD Ranger in that price range.  It would be great if you did.

Rangers are decent vehicles, but mine is 2WD and get very poor traction on any surface other than the road or very dry dirt.  I can load down the back to help some but it is not like 4WD.  Rangers do not keep their value, but that is OK if you are going to use it a lot.   Craigslist has a load of them in my area.  Most of them are 2000ish for about 2500, a few 4x4s but they are pricey for the mileage.

Tacos are great trucks, but disproportionately pricey b/c of demand.  However, great trucks and will last and keep great retail value if you want to fork out for one.

CRVs are the same as Tacos.  Great vehicles but pricey.  

Along those lines, I've seen good older CRVs or RAV4s that run very  well.  In fact, I had a 97 Rav4, AWD, drove it daily for a while, gave it to my sister, she still has it as a daily driver.  Rather capable off road even with regular tires, I bet would do really well with more off road oriented tires.  Decent room on the inside also.  I have been very impressed with it.  No major problems.  I'd take a look at these especially if you are looking at 15ish year old vehicles.  The older Toyotas are really hard to beat.  

Best wishes

Damn near any vehicle will suffice in most circumstances. People drive what they want to drive because of factors not relevant to survival...color, nice lines, rebates, cost...

If it was a bov thread, I'd still say chevy truck, due to the sheer volume produced, parts availability, affordability, ease of repair, interchangable parts, etc.

Put your kid in a safe vehicle and not a crappy tin box designed to get an extra 5 mpg.

This really isn't a survival thread, just a shopping thread.

Good luck.

forest, you know my thoughts on diesels.  As far as maintenance on the old 6.2, there isn't much to go wrong.  Age wise the CUCV is gonna be a challenge due to rust.  Mine still runs after 7 years of plowing snow if we can keep the body from falling off the frame.  FWIW my 04 Dodge diesel 4x4 will get 21 mpg highway.  Tough to beat for a full sized 3/4 ton 4x4 that will drag the world behind it.  Stay away from the 98.5 thru 02 rams the vp44 injection pump eats shit.   Auto trans is good for about 150k.   the driveline will outlast the truck.  Yes it is a big beast, they are tough as a tank.

FWIW Gabe has plans to restore the old Blazer.  in 300k miles it NEVER made us walk home.

Ops

My friend's dad had a 6.2 that had close to 600k on it and that was with minor repairs. I think rust finally killed it.  Stay away from the 6.5 though. I own one and there are too many problems with it. Injection pump & PMD being the biggest. I still say go above 100k miles and get a Tacoma with a good rust free frame. Those things are bullet proof, the 4 cyl doesn't even have a timing belt to worry about. I wish I still had mine. My GM is always leaking or breaking down. It's a 96 with 190k so I expect some failure but I've done a lot of repair work in the 3 years I've owned it and looking at the prior owner's repair history, I bet he put 15k in repairs into it not counting a lot of warranty work. On the bright side it's made me a better mechanic (but that's not saying a lot)







 

I recently had to buy two used cars for my wife and I. This site was informative for finding problem years and common failures. I had almost bought a nice Pathfinder until reading about the transmission problems.



http://www.carcomplaints.com/



This one was great for finding good prices.



http://www.cargurus.com/
 

My last S10 had the 4.3 V6, 700 R4 transmission, and IFS 4x4.  Well the S10 has had IFS 4x4 since the beginning of the S10.  That V6 was a 5.7 V8 with 2 cylinders removed, but it weighed the same as the V8 it was copied from.  MPG was better than V8 when the truck had little load, and worse than V8 when loaded.  Hauling a load through the hills of MD and VA with that V6...BTDT...if ya can't say anything nice then don't say anything...You say your son is going to haul his things to and from college you say???

Forrest, I'll share my coffee and beer with ya...
I cannot recommend a 2wd pickup in clear conscience...In fact if you select a pickup or suv I must strongly recommend 4x4 for the added safety in wet and slippery weather.

What about a Corolla to DD and rent a truck on move days?

Agreed. A kid should not need to take a truckload of stuff to college anyhow.

I think the OP would be wise to give some consideration to something like an Outback. Plenty of room to carry things, easy to drive/maneuver/park, reasonable fuel economy, fairly non-descript/inconspicuous, outstanding AWD.

Very practical.

Pay attention to any of the s10 stuff if you go that way.



My family had a couple of the rounded body style s10/jimmy/bravada things.



The first s10 was early in the change to the rounded body style and it used front pads way too fast.  Rear drums would be adjusted up but it used the front pads for most of the braking and wore them out in 25K miles or so.  



Bravada had 4 wheel disc brakes and I was eventually impressed by it when it was handed down to me to destroy.  At that time parents would give stuff to a younger sister and when she bought herself something else she gave me the bravada.  I complained about it, but it overall was not that bad a vehicle.



An uncle also had one of these rounded s10/jimmy/bravada vehicles and his did the best and went well over 200k miles before I sold it for over a thousand bucks.



Something happened to my uncle's rear hatch and it took a while to get the part in and get back to where he could open up the back of his suv.



I always felt the turning radius sucked on these things but it was explained to me that I am spoiled by jeeps and their tight turning radius, so I still feel the turning radius sucks.



I am greatly amused by people taking the awd transfer case out of the bravada or astro mini van and installing the one from the s10/jimmy vehicles to get 4wd high and low.



The 4.3 had some changes, I think at some point they felt it needed a balance shaft and eventually did away with it or something.  I like the concept of it being a v8 with 2 cylinders missing but that is soso now adays with lots of power out of engines.



If I ever get something with the 4.3 I would probably put a v8 in it but doing so would probably cause me to break other things in the driveline.



In today's world if he takes his vehicle to college make sure he pays close attention to all rules if he gets a parking pass.  I don't know what colleges do about searching vehicles and what not but in today's world it could be a huge headache.



I would just about take one just to be able to have a lockage secure area far away from stupid room mates and everyone else who has a "master" key to the room or can go pull one if they have a good excuse.



And it is not always about valuable items, just your work or ideas in college are a huge deal if someone else gets them turned in as their work before you turn in your work.



Then again I am paranoid.



One thing I will say is my family went from I think a jimmy and then a bravada to a 2k or so model year tahoe with the 5.3 v8.  The tahoe got the same mileage the smaller vehicles got and it was a lot roomier and towed better and had more power.



The tahoe and burbans tend to get about the same mileage as the 4.3 stuff.



My dad would go to work in snow no matter the weather but he hardly ever went off roading.  So he would buy the michelin tires that look like street tires but do well in snow and what not.



That helped the mileage out a lot as well.



I eventually had mud tires on the bravada and even though the awd was not to be used off road it did alright on some property I owned since I did not take it off roading all day long.  It was a property vehicle for getting around on clay.



Once the mud tires were on the bravada and the michelins on the tahoe I think there was a 2mpg difference between the 2 and the tahoe won.

Dont leave out a chevy Colorado. Great gas mileage.  Arent terribly priced. Spend a little more and get 4 wheel drive.  I have one for going back and for to work.  
Ultimately though it ain't a Tacoma which is always ideal

Amen Preach It Brother

ETA
biere, your whole post is good.

Spam

Eh, they stopped making the 3/4 ton burban or I would be back to that again.



I would also have to say the tahoe and s10 variations have similar turning radi but someone else can look that up.



With the direction stuff is headed today I guess I am working on getting a fleet of older stuff together and when one gets in a wreck I will upgrade from rarely driving something to making it the daily driver.



Hard on vehicles but today's stuff is giving me a headache.



Had to explain there are posts in the engine bay to jump the vehicle even if buick did decide the battery was a good item to store under the backseat or some other stupid place.

I had a '95 GC with the 318 V-8. It was a salvage title car, looked like shit, but that damned thing just kept running. One of my better automotive purchases, for sure. Sold it at 245K, the SO said that with my new job I needed a better looking vehicle. Bought a 2000 GC with the 4.0, and 82K miles. At 106K it lost oil pressure and lunched the engine. I wish I'd spent a couple of thousand on the '95 for new paint and upholstery instead.  

Driving an older Suburban now. Maybe my second or third best automotive decision.

Between those two, you want the 2.7/4WD/Manual.  It fills your desired criteria nicely.
They just don't quit, and parts are common.  The engine is easy to work on.

I can't speak for the Tacomas, as mine only has 14K on it...but my 1986 Toyota 4X4s with manual trannies and 4 cyl (22RE) motors went 340K and 300K and were both driven to Ecuador from Southern California after I sold them.  I baby my daily drivers...the '86 with 300K went the last 100k with no maintenance other than brakes, tires, and fluids.  Not even a clutch.

I bought a new 4x4 tacoma in 99 with 2.7 and auto transmission. It was a great little truck. In the 8 years of owning I only had to replace the water pump just before selling it. That was a easy couple hour driveway repair.

I always tell people to look a little further outside of the local areas . This would be my first suggestion . I see Rangers here in your price point with 4 wd .

Lol, Tacomas and Carollas.  I've never been able to wear either one out.  The first Carolla had 220,000+ and the wife totaled it.  The second had 125,000 and the wife totaled it too (not her fault that time).  My first Tacoma had 275,000 when I gave it to my friends son for graduating high school (rusted and banged up, but still a runner).  Currently I have a 2003 that's getting ready to turn 100,000.  She's been run hard (I don't spend much time on the interstate, been rear ended a couple times),  but maintained well, and I have no doubt she'll do 200+.  I'm partial to the 2.7L for older Tacomas.  

Bah,

Locate a good rig in one of the non rust states. Fly Southwest to the deal. Meet n greet SFers. Get ride. Have epic road trip home with son.

Profit.

I suggest you review the movies Smokey & the Bandit, and Gumball Rally for driving instructions

Suburban is the same length as a single cab pickup with an 8 ft bed.  It will turn just like that size pickup.

That's a good truck.  My brother in Ellicott City is getting ready to replace his 2004 Crew Cab Frontier 4x4 with 225,000+ miles.  The only negative thing I've heard him say is the factory skid plate makes it a pain in the ass to change the oil.  My brother is hard on vehicles, and I can assure you those were 225,000 tough miles.

[]All Ya gotta do now is lift it with a 42" kit, so you can roll on 87s...'N' add an 87K winch.[/]

Cool
I hope this works very well for y'all.

However...I had hope that you would get an all wheel drive Vibe, and just rent a truck the 2 times a year that he would be moving.

Since you'll do it yourself, it's no big deal.  The problem is when you pay to have it done, and the minimum wage dropout doesn't feel like messing with the skid plate (doesn't change the filter).  Or when you're on the outer loop, and the replacement for the fired minimum wage dropout didn't put two of the bolts back on the skid plate, and you wonder what that terrible racket is (skit plate dragging on asphalt)  From then on, he changed his own oil...

It's a good excuse to tell the wife that you need a cordless impact driver.  I think you chose well.    

Good 'nuff, but you know I had to give you a little sass so that you knew we still wuv you.

DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT buy a Liberty.  They are built like Crap. I have one and so does a friend and they are both Crap   flipped 100k and started falling apart and leaks everywhere.

Silverado or Tahoe.  My Tahoe will almost get 20 mpg on the interstate if I drive it decently.  Parts are dirt cheap.  5.3L engines are about as bulletproof as can be reasonably expected - Bought mine with 120k miles, its now at nearly 280k and still running fine.  Biggest repairs to date have been a used transmission a couple months ago, one alternator and a set of intake gaskets.

I had a 97 Dakota with a 318.  Very fun to drive, but terrible fuel mileage.  Averaged about 12 mpg on the interstate.