I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to cars and want some opinions on the most reliable 4-wheel drive vehicles out there today. I drove a 1984 Toyota 4x4 long bed pickup in high school and miss it dearly. It had been a primary vehicle since it was new (24 years at the time) and nothing ever went wrong with it as long as you did routine maintenance. It was just a 4-cylinder, but having a decent lift, off road tires, and a louder than modern exhaust made it feel manly. I also liked that it had 2 sticks (one short one for 4wd). We sold it and I got a new civic.

When you scratch an old truck, you don't really notice. When you scratch the bumper of your shiny new car on a parking curb, you start to miss the beat up truck.

Now that I am not a teen, I don't feel the need for speed and have no real need for extensive towing capacity. This is why that 4-cylinder doesn't seem so bad in hindsight.

Is there a truck out there today that could last me 24+ years of constant service without any engine problems? Has built-in obsolescence of new vehicles made trucks like this a thing of the past?

it looked a lot like this: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=1984+toyota+4x4+long+bed&FORM=HDRSC2#view=detail&id=097553224C481AE9BCEE863757FC2D82496F4A07&selectedIndex=6

I still have my first car 1998 forerunner 4x4 and I freaken love it...
And to answer your question my dad has a 2009 Ford f350 that has no issues

Toyotas are still good truck, it's why they are so expensive as a used vehicle. With modern emissions standards requiring 100,000 mile compliance, vehicles today last so much longer than they did just a decade ago. That and the improved rust protection and galvanizing, basically means, any vehicle is pretty good. If your buying used, and the vehicle was not abused by the former owner, then there is no reason why you could not get 20 years out of anything you buy, new or slightly used.

Problem with Pickups these days is they are so dang HUGE. Park an 80's pickup next to anyone from the 2000's and it looks like a scale model. I hate them because the bed sides are so high, that I can't reach anything in the bed unless I climb up in the thing.

Good points. I absolutely agree about the size issue... I don't want to park a bus. My 80's truck was much smaller than today's trucks, but had a longer bed... Go figure.

My lighter truck also tended to not get stuck in deep mud like newer heavy trucks do.

A manual transmission is also a requirement for me. Does anyone happen to know if manual or automatic transmissions have separate lifespans (if both were driven the same)?