If you’re a painter, and you work for someone else, chances are you don’t care all that much about what you drive, as long as it gets you to and from work reliably. On the other hand, if you are self-employed, you probably need to haul around quite a bit of gear – paint, brushes and rollers at the very least, and possibly sprayers and ladders as well. That means you need a vehicle that can hold all of these things and get you to and from your job sites safely.
Eliminating small cars and sedans, your best bet on transportation would be with a truck or SUV. We have evaluated several used vehicles, and our five top picks for painters are the Ford F-150, Toyota Tacoma, Chevy Silverado, Ford Flex, and Chevy Traverse.
Ford F-150: The F-150 has been Ford’s most popular truck for half a century, and with good reason. It’s reliable, solid, available as a V6 or V8 and also has an optional 4x4 package. It will haul everything you need to your job site, and get you to and from work in comfort.
Toyota Tacoma: This is a great small truck for the residential painter. It is available in 4x4, except for the X-Runner model, which is rear-wheel drive only. It can handle light towing if needed.
Chevy Silverado: Back to full-size rigs, the Silverado is another highly reliable vehicle, and is available in V8 and V6, rear-wheel and four-wheel drive. It can handle all the gear needed by most painting contractors, and is a good solid work truck.
Ford Flex: If it’s important to you that your supplies not get wet, but you don’t like the idea of a pickup with a cap, this SUV could be ideal. The seats fold away to give you more than enough cargo capacity, and the low floor and large doors make for easy loading.
Chevrolet Traverse: This spacious SUV is built to seat eight people, so you know that once the seats are folded down (or removed) you’ll have more than enough room for equipment and supplies. We like the extra mirrors, which make for enhanced maneuverability.
We highly recommend any of these used vehicles for painters in terms of reliability and cargo space.
