Tips on Buying Cars: Toyota Tacoma, tacoma double cab, fleet mgr

Question
My 13 year old truck is starting to fall apart, and I am thinking of buying a brand new truck.  The model I most enjoy is the Toyota Tacoma double cab(although I am open to whatever if there's a better quality/value vehicle).  I have never bought a new car, and I'm worried I'll get taken to the cleaners.  My credit should be decent, but I honestly haven't checked it before.  I can put about 5 grand down on payment, but I am not sure what type of value I can get for a trade in on my banged up Chevy S-10.  Do you have any advice for me?  I live in the Houston area.

Answer
Hello Wes, I'm in Houston as well, You can read some of my other post, I don't care for the brand name Toyota but I think they build one of the best trucks on the market, the Tacoma. If you look at my 2nd to last post it was all about helping someone buy a Tacoma. I have a friend here, who I trust a lot, he has taken care of some of my family, we used to work together and he is the fleet mgr for a major Toyota store here in town. I work for BMW. If interested let me know and the three of us will work this out. Let me know if you want to go in this direction or I will help you with another brand?