5 Trucks You Can Still Get for Under $30,000

That was a rather poor performance compared to what came before (especially 2020), but nevertheless impressive in the grand scheme of things. GM, Ford, and Ram led the charts, as usual, but it'll be interesting to see, once the numbers for 2022 get here, how the electric newcomers Rivian R1T and Hummer EV performed.

With such a great appetite for trucks, the American customer base is displaying quite financial prowess. I mean, getting a full-size pickup truck on the American market is not an easy feat, considering prices.

I’ll be honest and tell you that when I started researching this article, the idea was to have a listicle of ten pickups Americans can get for under $30,000. Turns out compiling such a list is impossible, for the simple reason that there aren’t that many American trucks meeting that criteria.

In fact, there are only five of them capable of landing in your driveway for at most thirty big ones. Sure, for the purposes of this text, those make for a respectable list, but still way below what I was thinking when I set out.

I’ll not delay this any longer, and get right into the list of 5 Trucks You Can Still Get Under $30,000, in alphabetical order by manufacturer, so as to not upset anyone.

2023 Chevrolet Colorado

The descendant of a model series born in 2004 as the replacement for the S-10 (and, in the case of its GMC Canyon counterpart, the S-15), the 2023 Chevrolet Colorado presents itself as a respectable choice for the ones in need of work being done with a tool that doesn’t need a subprime loan.

In its 2023 incarnation, the pickup comes in at $29,200 starting MSRP, which is $3,065 over the price of the 2022 model year, and a clear sign that next year when we’ll try to make this list, the Colorado won’t be on it.

The extra money comes with a few extras, though, at least on paper, and among the most important of all is an increase in payload towing capacity from 7,000 to 7,700 pounds (3,175 to 3,492 kg).

The 2023 Chevrolet Colorado is available in five versions, namely ZR2, Z71, Trail Boss, LT, and WT, but the under $30,000 price for the entry-level seems to only apply on the model home page on the Chevy website, as once you move past that, the price jumps, with destination charge and other fees and taxes, to $30,695.

You’ll have to pay that for the crew cab short box Colorado (the only version available across all trims) in one of five stock colors and in two-wheel drive configuration. The pickup is packing the 237-hp 2.7-liter turbo engine tied to an 8-speed automatic transmission, and rides on 17-inch steel wheels. It offers the driver all the modern amenities you’d expect, including push-button start, keyless entry, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

2023 Ford Maverick

Although other carmakers make pickups as well, it seems no other name better fits the segment than Ford’s. Maybe that’s because the Blue Oval’s F-Series has been dominating the sales charts since forever, and it remains without a doubt the most in-your-face family of trucks out there.

Owning an F-Series is not a cheap affair, though, as the most popular of them all, for instance, the F-150, kicks off from $34,445. But there’s another truck that starts well below that threshold, the entry-level in the world of Ford trucks: the Maverick.

The Maverick name has been around over at Ford before, designating in the 1970s a compact car, then in the 1980s and 1990s a rebadged Nissan Patrol Ford was selling Down Under, and it even was Escape in disguise in some places for a while.

Americans now associate the moniker with perhaps the cheapest truck they can get their hands on and still not feel ashamed. It’s also Ford’s smallest pickup truck.

At the time of writing, the Maverick comes in three versions, namely XL, XLT, and Lariat, with the cheapest one being the XL, at $22,195. For this money, one gets the Supercrew variant a choice between two engines, a 2.5-liter hybrid or the 2.0-liter EcoBoost, and only as front-wheel drive.

With only the stock fittings, like say 17-inch wheels and an eight-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, the Maverick too jumps over the estimated MSRP thanks to the destination charge, reaching, in the end, a net price of $23,690. And for that, it’ll only offer 2,000 pounds of towing (907 kg).

2022 GMC Canyon

Chevrolet Colorado’s counterpart in the twisted GM offering of vehicles is called the GMC Canyon. This one does not come in the 2023 model year configuration yet, so it’s a bit less expensive than the bowtie truck, coming in at $28,995. Again, not including destination charge and such.

The sum we mentioned is for the extended cab version with a payload towing capacity of 7,000 pounds (3,175 kg). It does pack a more potent engine than its sibling, namely a gasoline 3.6-liter V6 rated at 308 hp and running an 8-speed automatic as standard.

The engine spins just two wheels for this one as well, but unlike the Chevy, any other exterior color than the stock Summit White will cost extra. Inside, the Canyon comes with a color 7-inch touchscreen, it too capable of supporting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Butt-naked, meaning with nothing but the factory fittings installed, but will the fees and charges applied, the price of the 2022 GMC Canyon jumps to $30,480.

2023 Nissan Frontier

American companies undoubtedly dominate the pickup truck segment in the U.S., but foreign ones, especially Japanese, are competing for a slice of the pie as well.

Nissan has two pickups on the table presently, the Frontier and the Titan, but of concern to us today is the Frontier, because it’s one of few market-wide whose MSRP kicks off at under $30,000 (over if you add the destination charge), namely $29,190.

That much will land you an Asian-badged truck with a 3.8-liter V6 engine under the hood, capable of developing 310 horsepower and allowing for a towing capacity of 6,720 pounds (3,048 kg).

It’s the King Cab variant we’re talking about here (in all, Nissan offers no less than 15 Frontier interpretations), equipped with enough modern tech for you not to feel cheated: emergency braking with pedestrian detection, keyless entry and push-button start, and an 8-inch screen inside with Apple CarPlay integration.

2023 Toyota Tacoma

The other major Japanese carmaker in the business of making pickups is Toyota, which has on the table the Tacoma and Tundra. It’s the latter that’s the cheapest, kicking off at $27,250 (charges not included).

There are seven versions of the truck on the market, namely (from cheapest to most expensive) the SR, SR5, TRD Sport, TRD Off-Road, Limited, Trail Special Edition, and TRD Pro.

The entry-level SR is equipped with a 3.5-liter V6 (or a 2.7-liter four-cylinder) rated at 278 hp and running a six-speed automatic transmission. With this unit on, the truck can tow 3,500 pounds (1,588 kg).

The base Tacoma, which is available as Access Cab or Double Cab, is equipped with 16-inch bronze-finished wheels, a 7-inch touchscreen running Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, and emergency braking with pedestrian detection, among others.

So, there you have it, the only five pickups you can still get for under $30,000 in America. Actually, only one, the Maverick, considering how the MSRPs of the others jump over that threshold once the destination charge is applied.