1987 Ford Bronco or 1993 Dodge Dakota?

Looking to buy my second car and I want it to be one of these two. I'm 17 in highschool and have been driving almost two years and I have $2500. I want to be able to take it into the mountains to go snowboarding and do other things with it along with seat at least 4 people, but no real off-roading or anything. The bronco I've been looking at has 80k miles and a manual transmission which is a must have for me and the Dakota has 160k and a manual. Both have clean titles, no rust, and no body or mechanical work done. Which one tends to be more reliable? I also have no problem doing work on either on my own.

Looking to buy my second car and I want it to be one of these two. I'm 17 in highschool and have been driving almost two years and I have $2500. I want to be able to take it into the mountains to go snowboarding and do other things with it along with seat at least 4 people, but no real off-roading or anything. The bronco I've been looking at has 80k miles and a manual transmission which is a must have for me and the Dakota has 160k and a manual. Both have clean titles, no rust, and no body or mechanical work done. Which one tends to be more reliable? I also have no problem doing work on either on my own. The problem with anything that old is you will have regular failures even assuming the engine & transmission are good.

I recently sold my 94 Buick and I had an unusual repair about once a year over 12 years.

I planned for it and expected it but its to be expected with anything that old.

Alternator, Fuel Pump, Starter, Brakes x2, Battery, and a half dozen other things that escape my mind right not. And god forbid if 2-3 happen to fail in short order which is possible. Ok neither Reliability, when you're talking about vehicles that are 25-30 years old, is more about the condition its in than how good it was decades ago when new. I'd get either checked out by a mechanic, make sure the structure is sound, all that fun stuff, before you spend any money on either. I found some comments regarding used '93 Dakotas:

https://www.edmunds.com/dodge/dakota/1993/review/#crr-pod-anchor

Overall, it looks pretty positive.

I did not do the same for the Bronco, you can do that if you want.

Drove me a '67 Ford F-100 with an Alaskan camper through late high school, college and into the early years of my career. People knew where to go to have a good game of gin rummy, hearts or spades. Good times then, good times now.

Best wishes with your decision.

Neither

Reliability, when you're talking about vehicles that are 25-30 years old, is more about the condition its in than how good it was decades ago when new. I'd get either checked out by a mechanic, make sure the structure is sound, all that fun stuff, before you spend any money on either.

I found some comments regarding used '93 Dakotas:

https://www.edmunds.com/dodge/dakota/1993/review/#crr-pod-anchor

Overall, it looks pretty positive.

I did not do the same for the Bronco, you can do that if you want.

Drove me a '67 Ford F-100 with an Alaskan camper through late high school, college and into the early years of my career. People knew where to go to have a good game of gin rummy, hearts or spades. Good times then, good times now.

Best wishes with your decision.