These Are The 5 Cheapest New Pickup Trucks You Can Buy This Year

With car manufacturers temporarily absorbing President Trump's tariff costs in a bid to maintain competitive pricing, some foreign-built cars are thankfully yet to cost a whole lot more as feared earlier. But other pressures remain, and considering all of life's financial commitments, it's normal that so many of us are looking for ways to keep expenses down. Spending less in the truck market, though, often involves compromises. Because the cheapest new pickup trucks are typically either small or very bare-bones and utilitarian, picking one up can mean sacrificing a great deal of features and capability that you may not be willing to. 

If, however, you're not obsessed with having the most advanced safety features, the best creature comforts, the most powerful engine possible, or even the most capable full-size truck around, then you should be happy with your new truck. And as you will see in the list below, there's a reasonable number of 'affordable' truck options to help you score what you need for less. Some even start just over the $30,000 mark (including destination and acquisition fees). 

The Mexico-assembled Ford Maverick has had a run of steadily rising prices since the original model arrived in 2022. Back when the model first landed in U.S. showrooms, a budget of around $20,000 could get you access to the entry-level Maverick XL, which had an MSRP of $19,995. Fast-forward to the 2025 model year and the same truck — albeit facelifted — now costs $28,145 before options, destination charges ($1,695), and acquisition fee ($695), thus changing the very definition of 'cheap.' 

However, even with the persistent price increases, the Maverick remains the cheapest new pickup truck to buy this year and still appears good value for money. It's far from being an exceedingly well-equipped truck, but you'll find a decent list of deeply impressive features. This includes a slick 13.2-inch touchscreen display, an 8-inch digital gauge cluster, Wi-Fi hotspot, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, forward collision warning, forward automatic emergency braking, lane keep assist, and automatic high-beam headlights. 

The Maverick combines those desirable amenities with good practicality and a reasonably well laid out cabin, making it, to us, an almost perfect truck. Performance wise, the little truck is nimble and maneuverable with a choice of two engines on offer — one regular gasoline and one hybrid. The hybrid powertrain comes standard and comprises a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and an electric motor, producing 191 total horsepower and 155 lb-ft of torque. Opting for the available 250-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder gas engine adds $125 to the sticker price and swaps out the standard front-wheel drive platform for an all-wheel drive one. Also, the turbo mill connects to an eight-speed automatic transmission instead of the continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) found in hybrid Maverick XL models. 

The Santa Cruz is among the big winners of the Made in America drive, as all the trucks are built at the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) facility in Montgomery, Alabama. On paper, this should save you from tariff costs in the event that automakers later decide to pass them on before you pull the plug. This is because the Santa Cruz is exempt from direct import tariffs on account of its localized production. 

However, the Hyundai Tucson-based truck is still subject to many of the other circumstances that could influence pricing strategies. So there is no guarantee that it will remain as 'cheap' as it is today. After all, it did get more expensive for 2026 after Hyundai hiked the sticker price by $750 compared to the outgone 2025 entry-level model, with cost prices starting from $30,995, including a $1,495 destination charge. 

Given its unibody construction, the most obvious benefit of the Hyundai Santa Cruz is its smooth ride and precise handling on paved surfaces. The compact pickup truck is also fresh-faced thanks to a 2025 facelift that gives it truckier styling touches. Then there's the posh interior, which gets a crisp 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system with user-friendly interfaces and helpful connectivity features like wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. That's even before you consider the fact that towing ability is decent too, with the Santa Cruz able to tow up to 3,500 pounds and carry a maximum payload of 1,411 pounds.

There are many reasons to get excited by the Toyota Tacoma. It's long been a hugely popular choice thanks in part to its reliability and durability, which help ensure that maintenance costs remain low and do not significantly impact long-term ownership costs. According to CarEdge, maintenance and repairs costs on a Toyota Tacoma for 10 years is $6,996, which is better than for the Hyundai Santa Cruz ($9,807) and Ford Maverick ($10,772).

The Tacoma is also one of the cars that suffer from depreciation the least after the first five years. Throw in its fairly budget-friendly starting price of $33,185, and it becomes clear that the Taco is undoubtedly one of the pickup trucks that can help you keep your costs under control. That amount nets you the base spec Tacoma SR, which bundles a 228-hp i-FORCE 2.4-liter inline four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine along with an eight-speed automatic transmission, push-button start, an 8.0-inch display, voice recognition, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and cloth upholstery. It's nothing glamorous, but it's a generous list nonetheless. The Tacoma SR also offers a towing capacity of 3,500 pounds and a 1,460-pound payload.

It's hard to look past something dependable and cheap to run, such as the Toyota Tacoma. However, at $33,595, the Chevrolet Colorado is a seriously compelling option for those for whom power and capability matter more. The truck, as part of changes for the 2025 model year, dropped the 237-hp turbocharged 2.7-liter four-cylinder that previously powered the WT and LT, leaving the more powerful 310-hp version as the lone engine offering. 

This doesn't only mean that the Colorado is the most powerful pickup truck in the list, but also that it is the most capable, with the truck able to tow up to 7,700 pounds when appropriately equipped. You also get an acceptably plush cabin with features such as push-button start, an 11.3-inch touchscreen display, 11-inch digital instrument cluster, as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The list of modern safety isn't bad, too, as there's everything from pedestrian and cyclist detection to lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning, forward collision warning, and forward automatic emergency braking.

The Chevy Colorado isn't the only powerful truck option budget-conscious buyers have, as ensured by the Nissan Frontier, which boasts a naturally aspirated 3.8-liter V6 producing a whopping 310 horsepower, all for $33,845 (including a $1,695 shipping and handling fee). However, at 281 lb-ft, the Frontier has much less torque than the Colorado, given the latter's 430 pounds of twist. Even so, the Nissan truck is plenty capable, with 7,040 pounds of towing capacity in entry-level Frontier S guise.

The Frontier also remains a thoroughly modern-looking pickup truck following a light refresh for the 2025 model year. In addition to the tweaks made to the truck's styling, Nissan added an array of safety features as standard, including adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, and automatic high-beam headlamps. An 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system also comes standard, along with a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, voice recognition, and Wi-Fi hotspot.