What to get for 5k

Stay away from the Dakota V6, they won't get that kind of mileage and the horsepower is pretty weak. My g/f had a V6 2002 Dak for a few years, almost the same gas mileage as the small v8's, just less power...:violent1: Other than the V6 though we both liked that Dakota. My father has a 2002 Dak, 4WD quad cab with a 5.9 in it. Last time I checked it had over 175k miles on it, it's been a great truck for him and has held up really well.

The Subaru's are nice, but at the $5k mark they'll have a lot of miles, they hold their value pretty well.