Thinking about getting a truck

Don’t know anything about trucks, looking for knowledge and recommendations. My younger brother got t-boned tonight in what was my mom’s old mini-van that we had been sharing whenever we need to do any kind of hauling. I’m talking car parts, etc. My parents were still using it to move stuff to - just for the house and whatnot. I’m finishing up school and have my galant as a daily driver, but the van was my brother’s. It’s completely destroyed - definitely going to be totalled. My parents hadn’t signed it over to him yet - we have no idea how much it was actually worth. We’re kind of guessing that they’re gonna get between $2000 and $5000 for it. Kind of a broad range, but we really have no idea. Even if my parents get $5000 for it, there’s a good chance that they’ll give my brother 2-3k instead of all of it.

Well, it’s probably ultimately going to be my brother’s vehicle, but I’ll have some access to whatever he gets…and we’re thinking about getting a truck since that’s what we used the van for anyway - and we would love to be able to tow cars with it. We constantly have project cars (buying them as shells and what have you) and it sucks having to find people to tow them or get them flatbedded. We’re thinking about buying a dolly or something, probably won’t be able to get a trailer, but we would like to be able to tow one.
4wd is a must, and we strongly prefer manual transmissions.

So…what in the broad range of $2000 to $5000 is worth looking at that will be a decent daily driver, good in the snow, and have the ability to tow a car on a trailer? Not sure how manuals compare to automatics when it comes to towing, but we would really like a 5 speed if possible.

You wont find anything good to tow a car on a car hauler for under $5000. I have a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4X4 Auto with the towing package, but it is more for a tow dolly than a car hauler. I could let it go for about $5000, but any sub $5000 tow vehicle is a bad plan in my opinion.

Ok thanks for the input! It wouldn’t mainly be a tow vehicle, and would probably only tow a couple times a month tops. If the situation were to arise where something needed to be hauled on a trailer I would just like the option. We’re also probably going to look at higher-mileage vehicles in hopes of getting something on the cheaper side.

If you’re looking for another van as a quick replacement I’d suggest: http://www.nyspeed.com/showthread.php?166016-1997-Plymouth-Voyager

get AAA + RV coverage, so when your hauler breaks, you can get truck and trailer towed 100 miles +

http://www.nyspeed.com/showthread.php?165348-FEELER-1993-F350-7.3-ID-4x4…&highlight=f-350

If you look in the right places there are PLENTY of good trucks to be had under 5k, I wouldn’t shy away from any of the newer chevy gassers or a nice older diesel 3/4 ton truck at all. Just looking on our local craigslist, I found a couple:

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/2027517262.html

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/2025000461.html

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/1978338723.html

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/1968103929.html

Hell, my super duty has 224k miles on it and I just took it down to texas and back about 2 months ago without worry

http://www.nyspeed.com/showthread.php?166512-1995-dodge-ram