GMC Sierra 1500
A half-ton work truck from the generation widely considered the most durable of its era.
$16,495 View details →
Used truck inventory
Used trucks for sale in Wantagh, NY
A pickup gives you an open bed you can load from three sides, a separate ladder frame, and a tow rating no crossover matches. Nothing else carries wet, dirty, or oversized cargo as easily. The cost is fuel, parking, and a ride that stays firm when the bed is empty.
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Used trucks at Cherrywood Auto
Used inventory turns over. Call 516-785-9378 to confirm a vehicle before you travel to Wantagh.
Vehicle details are based on dealership records. Pricing, mileage, equipment, and availability should be confirmed with Cherrywood Auto before making a trip or a purchase decision. Vehicles listed without a price are quoted by phone.
The short answer
What the bed and the frame actually do
The open bed is the entire argument for a pickup. You can drop mulch, sheets of plywood, a broken water heater, or a pair of soaked kayaks into it without protecting an interior, folding a seat, or worrying about what the load smells like on Monday. Every enclosed vehicle asks you to think about that. A truck does not.
Underneath, a half-ton pickup is built body-on-frame, which is why its tow ratings sit so far above a unibody crossover. If you launch a boat at a Nassau County marina, move a landscape trailer, or help a relative move twice a year, the frame and the factory receiver are doing work no crossover hitch is rated for.
Going deeper
Half-ton, cab style, and bed length
Nearly every used truck a homeowner should consider is a half-ton: a Sierra 1500, an F-150, a Ram 1500, a Silverado 1500. Three-quarter-ton and one-ton trucks exist for people who tow heavy every week, and they ride and steer accordingly. Buying more truck than the job needs is the most common and most expensive mistake in this category.
Cab and bed combinations matter more than most buyers expect. A crew cab with a five-and-a-half-foot bed seats four adults properly but will not take eight-foot lumber flat. An extended cab with a longer bed reverses that. Measure your driveway before you decide, because a crew cab long bed is close to twenty feet and does not turn well on a narrow village street.
The trade-off
The trade-off you live with every day
Fuel economy in the mid to high teens is normal for a used V8 half-ton, and the bill arrives whether the bed is loaded or empty. Parking is the other daily tax. A full-size pickup does not fit comfortably in many Wantagh village spaces or in the tighter rows at the LIRR station lot, and backing one into a suburban garage takes practice.
Ride quality is the third item. Leaf-sprung rear suspension is tuned to carry weight, so an unloaded truck rides firmly over broken pavement. None of this is a reason to avoid a pickup. It is a reason to be honest about how often you will use the bed, because a truck bought for four weekends a year is an expensive way to own a vehicle. If the trucks listed here do not match what you need, use the car finder to tell us the configuration you are after and we will keep an eye out.
Before the test drive
What to check on a used pickup
Category-specific checks. Bring this list, or ask us to walk through it with you on the lot.
- ✓Get under the truck and look at the frame rails, crossmembers, and spring hangers for flaking or scaling rust rather than surface discoloration
- ✓Lift the bed mat or liner and inspect the bed floor and seams underneath, where trapped salt and water do their damage out of sight
- ✓Check the receiver hitch for elongated pin holes, a bent drop bar, or wiring splices, all of which suggest the truck has towed regularly
- ✓Shift into four-wheel high and four-wheel low on the test drive and confirm the transfer case engages without grinding and releases cleanly
- ✓Inspect the rear leaf springs, U-bolts, and shackles, and look for a sagging or uneven ride height that points to a hard-worked suspension
Useful answers
Questions about used trucks
How much rust is too much on a used truck frame?
Surface rust on a fifteen-year-old Long Island truck is normal and not disqualifying. What matters is whether the metal is still solid. Flaking layers, scaling that leaves a rough crust, holes, or soft spots near the spring hangers and body mounts are structural and should end the conversation. Bring it to a shop and have it put on a lift.
Can a half-ton pickup tow a boat?
A properly equipped half-ton generally tows in the range of 5,000 to 9,500 pounds depending on engine, axle ratio, and cab configuration, which covers most trailerable boats used off Long Island. The specific number is on the door jamb sticker or in the build data, so confirm it for the individual truck rather than the model.
Do I need four-wheel drive on a pickup here?
An empty pickup bed leaves very little weight over the rear driven wheels, so a two-wheel-drive truck is noticeably worse in snow than a front-wheel-drive car. If you drive year round and park on a street that is plowed late, four-wheel drive on a pickup is more worthwhile than it is on most SUVs.
Is a used truck practical as a daily driver?
It can be, provided your parking situation cooperates. The seating position and visibility are excellent and the cab is comfortable on the parkway. The friction points are fuel cost, garage clearance, and tight lots. Many owners find a truck easy to live with everywhere except the last hundred feet of the trip.
Not seeing it?
Tell us what should pull into the lot next.
Describe the make, model, body style, budget, and the features that actually matter. A clear brief is a better search than a broad one.