I say let somebody else take the hit on the value for the first years. Buy a good used truck, spend the money to have it professionally checked, and buy diesel if you are going to do more than 20,000 miles a year.
Also, depending on what interest rates are available to you, it might better suit you to finance the truck, and let the money work harder for you elsewhere.
I always check ebay, and Used Trucks For Sale at Truck Paper: Freightliner, International Trucks, Kenworth, Peterbilt, Mack trucks, dump trucks, dump trailers, used trailers for sale. for a guage on the market. Don Phelps turned me on to another good source for used trucks, but I've apparently misplaced it.
There is a great deal of good used iron out there in the price range you are talking about.
BTW, if you are going to use this rig as your business truck, I'd definately consider going no lower than 3/4 ton capacity. There are a bunch of super-duty (more than 1-ton) Fords out there not far from 25 grand. They can be a little mile-y, but usually sound.
Sometimes just googling the right search terms will turn up a decent fleet return sale or auction in your area.
Good luck, let us know how your search goes!
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