In for repairs 27 times -- wow, that is terrible and I feel for you. I am tired of fixing problems with our vacation home and we plan to sell it soon because it's just no fun fixing stuff all the time, and it's expensive. We are not buying another one -- been there...done that.
I do think that you can get a decent truck for part-time use for WAY less than $60-70K though. If the used market is that bad where you live, why not take advantage of it and pick up a 2-3 year old used truck for under $30K? If you don't like things breaking (like me), get the lowest trim level you can find.