Also, isn’t everyone worried about the cost of owning any car when shopping? I just don’t want to spend thousands every year and have it laid up in the shop for weeks on end wait for parts. I do long road trips for a couple of months and need it to work consistently, it’s not going to be used for weekend warrioring. A random mechanic in Durango, Salt Lake or Cheyenne needs to be able to help me. I guess something in the 20,000 is reasonable for these imports, but I just need help getting a third opinion on the mechanicals i think.
A random mechanic anywhere is not going to be able to help you with a 25 year old imported diesel. You need to be looking at Tacomas, 4Runners, or maybe even a 1st gen Tundra. Parts everywhere, mechanics everywhere. Excellent vehicles, cheap to own and operate, checks all your boxes. Tacos and Runners come with manual trannies too.