Bird freak, that truck is simply awesome! Nothing else to say about that!
@fintip, I'm realizing your challenge, now. A big part of which is you must live in a small town area without much selection.
And that, with your budget, means the available pool of vehicles is small and the available pool of good vehicles is almost non-existent.
I've owned, bought and sold ALOT of vehicles compared to most people and the truck in that pic, if it runs good says $1500 to me. While not "always" the case, generally the asthetic care of a vehicle is commensurate with the mechanical care.
And budget wise, buying from any "dealer" is not financially advantageous and also not a good way to judge a vehicles condition by its history.
Not being condescending, as finding a "good" old vehicle is tough.
What area do you live in? NC? Are you close to large urban areas that have more selection? At least you're south of the rust belt.
I'd consider scouring CL by owner in the largest radius you could possibly travel to buy a truck. Example, we just bought an old Tahoe as a winter beater. It was $1k above your budget, but only 108k miles, one owner, essentially and aside from fluids, tuneup, etc, all things that weren't dire immediate repairs, I've only put about $400 in parts for minor stuff.
Again, no offense, but I wouldn't walk across the street for the blue truck.
