Used pickup trucks by body style

Picking the right cab

The body-style decision shapes everything else about a pickup. A regular cab trades back-seat space for the longest possible bed at the shortest possible overall length. It is the truck a working tradesperson buys when they need to fit a full sheet of plywood without bending the tailgate down, when they are paying by the foot for a parking space, or when seating two adults total is plenty. Regular cabs have the simplest bodies, which means lower repair costs and fewer rust traps, and the lowest initial price point of any configuration in the same trim level.

An extended cab (also marketed as SuperCab, Double Cab, Quad Cab, or Access Cab depending on the manufacturer) splits the difference. You get a small back seat — usable for kids, dogs, and tools you do not want exposed to weather — and you keep most of the bed length. Rear-hinged "suicide" doors on many extended cabs make loading the back row easy when nobody is in the front, which is ideal for occasional passengers and constant gear haulers. This is the most underrated configuration on the used market.

A crew cab is a four-door pickup with a full back seat that adults can spend hours in. It is the body style for families, for ride-share-eligible weekends, and for anyone who actually uses a pickup as their primary vehicle. The bed shortens to compensate — usually 5 to 6.5 feet on a half-ton — but for most buyers the trade-off is worth it. Crew cabs hold their value better than regular cabs and command the highest used prices in nearly every model line.