confused and looking for advice

i am looking to purchase a used 4x4 in the spring and i was wondering what a good would be a good truck to buy. i am looking for a 4x4 S10 balzer or pickup. the reason why i am looking at a chevy product is the avalibility of parts. i am a college student and i need a truck that will give me good traction in the winter and not be to bad on gas milage. any advice would be very helpful.  

buy a jeep  

any specific model jeep?  

IF YOUR LOOKING AT S10 GET THE 93-94 MODEL FOR THEIR VORTEC 4.3, GOOD RELIABLE POWER AND PARTS ARE ALWAYS AVAILABLE...I WAS JUST RECENTLY LOOKING AT AN S10 FOR ME TO WHEEL WITH THE FAM UNTIL I FOUND A 79 JEEP CHEROKEE FOR $600, BIGGER THAN THE S10 BUT PARTS ARE STILL AVAIL FOR THESE RIGS TO...IF ITS JUST YOU AND NO FAM THE A CJ MODEL JEEP WEHTER A CJ5 OR CJ7 JUST DEPENDS ON HOW MUCH STUFF YOU WANT TO BRING W/YOU ON YOUR TREKS...  

an s10 is pretty cool when you put 31"tires on it and some flares.saw one w/ micky thompson S/S street tires at N-50-15S,big fat wide bulldog stance!  

hate to say it... but a toyota... great fuel economy... good traction/4x4 system... or get an xj... i've seen some pretty nice setups on the xj and zj (cherokee & Grand cherokee)  but they're good family haulers and good all around vehicles...  

thnaks for all the help. just wanted to give some more info. i am looking to spend 2,000-3,000 dollars and i would like to get around 12 mpg.  

i will be the only one using the truck so a truck with 2 doors or room for or less passengers is all i will need.  

91blazer:
thnaks for all the help. just wanted to give some more info. i am looking to spend 2,000-3,000 dollars and i would like to get around 12 mpg.

You can get well over 12 MPG in a Suburban.  I once had a 1996 S-10 Blazer 4-door and consistantly got 26 MPG on the HWY.  The 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ) that I bought about 2 months ago gets about 17 -19 MPG on the HWY.  Even my 1 ton crew cabs (one Chevy, one GMC) get 14-15 MPG on the HWY.  Driving style plays a mojor roll in what you get for fuel mileage.

Good luck in what you choose.  

thanks for the advice GM1tonOfFun. is it possible to find a suburban with under 100,000 mi. for $2,000-$4,000 and with out lots of rust? would you recamend any other brand for the same price range and miles? again thanks for the help.  

also which truck has replacement parts that can be bought for a resonable price at a junkyard or form another source?  

also are there any specific model years (from any brand) that has issues with rust or maintaince problems?  

Most trucks made in the 90's and newer are pretty rust free, depending on where they're from.  Toyotas and other foreigners seem to be a little worse than the American vehicles in the early 90's.  For better than 12mpg, you could buy just about anything.  My 87 Toy gets about twice that, is tough as nails and its super cheap to fix but thats pretty rare.  It sucks in the mountains ( I live in CO) but other than that its awesome.  And I got it for less than a grand.  

will it be easy for to find the right vehicle with a automatic trans, most of the trucks i have looked at have had to many miles or were stick shifts.  

It will be difficult to find a decent vehical with less than 100,000 miles for $2000 - $3000 of any brand.  The vehicals with the lowest cost to maintain or fix would be the full size Chevy 1973 - 1987 (up to 91 for K5 Blazer, Suburban, and crew cab.  Most of the vehicals you are going to find will be about 140,000 miles and up.  Keep looking and be patient.  Be sure to check out the vehical very carefully.  For a small vehical I would lean towards a 91 - 98 Jeep Cherokee with the 4.0L or if an independent front is ok for you a 95 or newer S-10 Chevy.