If he is really set on a pickup truck, how about a Chevy Avalanche? I know that some people retch over the styling, but I used to own one. Has decent road manners for a big-butt truck (much better than the average standard pickup truck), you have the covered storage which is nice in the snow belt, a back seat when needed, and you can open it up to haul big stuff. It also tows well. I used to get 15-16mpg avg on the highway, around 13 in town. That is the down side, though it runs on the 87 octane stuff. I sold mine with 30,000 miles on it (was using the Touring more), and it had zero problems in the almost 3 years I had it.

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2004 330xi, 2002 K1200RS