If your business runs in and out of Frank Brown Park, you already know the rhythm. Festival weekends jam the Panama City Beach Parkway. Tournament mornings fill the lots before 7 a.m. Your vehicle has to haul gear, shrug off a Florida summer, and still pencil out on a tighter budget.
What do these businesses actually need from a work vehicle? Something that earns its keep without the overhead of a brand-new commercial unit. We work with a lot of small-business buyers from the Panama City Beach area, and the Frank Brown Park corridor throws off a specific, real set of needs. Event vendors, sports equipment haulers, landscaping crews, caterers, and mobile retail operators keep running into the same problem, which is finding a used vehicle that does real work.
Our top pick overall is the Ram ProMaster City, and we'll tell you exactly why. The right call still depends on what you're hauling, though. So read the rankings first.
Our Ranked Picks: Budget Used Vehicles for Frank Brown Park Businesses
| Rank | Vehicle | Best For | Standout Spec |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ram ProMaster City | Event vendors, delivery, caterers | 131.7 cu ft cargo / 1,883 lb payload |
| 2 | Toyota Tacoma | Sports tournament equipment, outdoor services | Up to 6,800 lb towing (V6, 2019-2023) |
| 3 | Ford Ranger | Catering logistics, mid-haul services | 7,500 lb tow / 1,860 lb payload |
| 4 | Kia Soul | Urban vendor runs, tight-parking festival lots | 62.1 cu ft cargo (seats folded) / 28-33 mpg |
| 5 | Chrysler Pacifica | Crew transport, mobile service teams | 8-passenger capacity / 140.5 cu ft cargo |
Rank 1: Ram ProMaster City. Best All-Around Business Van for the Park
The ProMaster City tops this list on one number, 131.7 cubic feet of cargo space from the EPA-certified spec sheet for the cargo van configuration, and that's class-leading for a compact van you can still slot into a standard stall, though it comes without all-wheel drive. Pair it with a rated payload of up to 1,883 pounds and you've got a legitimate work tool, not a grocery getter with commercial aspirations.
A used Ram ProMaster City earns the top spot because it fits the widest range of Frank Brown Park business types. Think vendors setting up at Thunder Beach, caterers running boxes from a commissary on US-98, or mobile retail operators stocking a booth at the festival site. All of them benefit from a van that loads over a low rear floor and parks where they need it. The 2.4-liter four-cylinder pairs with a 9-speed automatic, and the EPA rates fuel economy at 21 city / 28 highway mpg. For daily runs between Panama City and PCB, that number pulls its weight.
The compromises are straightforward. The ProMaster City doesn't offer all-wheel drive, and older model years skip Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. If you need off-pavement access to a remote park maintenance area, this isn't your tool. On paved lots, it's tough to beat.
Rank 2: Toyota Tacoma. Best Pickup for Sports Tournaments and Outdoor Services
The Tacoma is the truck to buy when towing tops your list, and its long-haul durability reputation is well earned, but that same reputation is exactly why it carries the highest used price among the three pickups here. For services that haul real weight, it's still the name people trust.
Frank Brown Park hosts Ironman Florida, national softball championships, soccer tournaments, and a steady rotation of youth sports weekends. The crews that back those events, from equipment suppliers to field prep teams to drink and snack distributors, need a pickup that pulls serious loads. Built from 2019 through 2023, the Toyota Tacoma V6 is rated to tow up to 6,800 pounds when properly equipped, a figure Toyota's own spec documentation confirms. For 2024, the Tacoma shifted to a turbocharged 2.4-liter engine and comes in at 6,500 pounds max towing, still plenty capable and arguably more fuel efficient.
A used Toyota Tacoma also handles the salt-air reality of Panama City Beach better than most pickups in the segment, thanks to a durability reputation that's driven strong resale retention for years. Retention cuts the other way at the register, though. Used Tacomas hold value exceptionally well, so they cost more up front than comparably aged alternatives. If towing capacity is your priority and you want the badge, the Tacoma earns it. If your budget runs tight, the Ranger below closes that gap faster.
Rank 3: Ford Ranger. Best Value for Catering and Mid-Haul Logistics
Value is where the Ranger pulls ahead, with the 2022 and 2023 models rated to tow up to 7,500 pounds, more than the comparable Tacoma V6, even if local used supply runs a bit thinner than the Tacoma's. For mid-haul work, that mix of capacity and price is hard to match.
The 2022 and 2023 Ford Rangers are rated to tow up to 7,500 pounds. That's 700 more than the comparable Tacoma V6 configuration, and they carry a payload of 1,860 pounds on Ford's spec sheet. The 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder makes 270 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque. You get a real truck in a package that threads the Frank Brown Park parking areas more easily than a full-size F-150.
A used Ford Ranger from 2019 through 2023 typically lands at a noticeably lower used price than a Tacoma with similar mileage. The 2023 was the final year of the T6 platform before Ford fully redesigned the Ranger for 2024, so late T6 models often represent strong value (proven mechanicals, updated features, and depreciation that's already done most of its work). Caterers towing a small trailer, landscapers hauling a skid sprayer, equipment vendors pulling a utility trailer to the festival site, the Ranger handles all of it with a tow-rating edge the Tacoma can't match.
Pros and Cons: ProMaster City vs. Tacoma vs. Ranger at a Glance
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ProMaster City: largest cargo volume in the group (131.7 cu ft) | ProMaster City: no AWD, limited modern tech on older trims |
| ProMaster City: front-wheel drive handles fine in Florida flat terrain | ProMaster City: slower on the highway than a pickup |
| Tacoma: outstanding long-term durability track record | Tacoma: highest used price of the three pickups |
| Tacoma: 6,800 lb tow (V6, 2019-2023) handles most trailer needs | Tacoma: less towing headroom than the Ranger |
| Ranger: highest tow rating in the group (7,500 lb) | Ranger: smaller used supply locally than the Tacoma |
| Ranger: 1,860 lb payload, strong for a midsize truck | Ranger: 2024 redesign creates some parts-availability questions for older trims |
Rank 4: Kia Soul. Best for Tight Lots and Urban Vendor Runs
The Kia Soul is the pick for parking fast and loading quick rather than towing, since it folds genuine cargo room into a footprint built for a crowded lot, though it tows nothing at all and left the lineup after 2025. For light delivery work, it slots right in.
Not every Frank Brown Park business is dragging a trailer. Some operators run small-batch supply deliveries, like specialty food, merchandise restocks, and promotional materials, where the work is parking fast, loading quickly, and getting back out. For that, the Soul answers cleanly.
A used Kia Soul from 2020 through 2025 offers 62.1 cubic feet of cargo volume with the rear seats folded, per Kia's published specs. For a vehicle this compact, that's a meaningful number. The EPA rates the standard 2.0-liter Soul at 28 city / 33 highway mpg, the kind of economy that shows up in a monthly operating budget when you're running the US-98 corridor every day. The boxy roofline lets tall items load in without gymnastics. And in a Frank Brown Park festival lot where space gets genuinely tight on a Thunder Beach weekend, the Soul's 34.8-foot turning diameter is a practical advantage.
The Soul comes with limits. It was discontinued after the 2025 model year, and it carries zero towing capacity. Call it a cargo carrier and a commuter, not a hauler. For the right business, though, it's the sharpest tool in the budget segment.
Rank 5: Chrysler Pacifica. Best for Crew Transport and Mobile Service Teams
Crew transport is the Pacifica's lane, since it seats a full crew plus their gear and still swallows more cargo than its minivan badge would ever suggest, even though the fuel economy clearly trails the lighter-duty supply runners elsewhere on this list. For people-moving, it's the quiet overachiever.
A lot of Frank Brown Park's supporting activity is people-moving. Sports tournament coordinators, mobile massage and wellness vendors, large catering operations with staff, and setup crews all need to move 4 to 7 people plus gear in one vehicle. The Pacifica answers that, and it's easy to write off because 'minivan' reads as 'family hauler.' It also works as a flexible, capable work vehicle.
A used Chrysler Pacifica seats up to 8 passengers and folds flat into a maximum cargo setup with the Stow 'n Go seating down, yielding 140.5 cubic feet of cargo space per Chrysler's specs. Impressively, that outruns the ProMaster City on cargo volume. The V6 is rated to tow up to 3,600 pounds when properly equipped. And through a Panama City Beach summer, which runs May through October at sustained high heat and humidity, the Pacifica's tri-zone climate control keeps a full crew functional across the long setup days Frank Brown Park events demand.
Fuel economy is the tradeoff. The Pacifica's 3.6-liter V6 is EPA-rated at 18 city / 28 highway mpg, so it isn't the budget fuel pick. When you're moving a team instead of running solo supply routes, though, the cost-per-person math shifts the whole calculation.
The Bottom Line: Match the Vehicle to the Job
For most Frank Brown Park business types, the Ram ProMaster City is the strongest single pick, with its cargo volume, payload, and fuel economy stacking into a used commercial value that's genuinely tough to argue with, though a towing-heavy operation will still lean toward one of the trucks. The rest of the list sorts out from there.
The Toyota Tacoma wins when towing is the priority and budget comes second. For towing capacity at a more competitive used price, the Ford Ranger takes it. The Kia Soul is the right answer for light delivery and tight lots, and the Chrysler Pacifica is underrated as a crew-and-cargo hybrid for service businesses.
We carry all of these segments in our pre-owned inventory, and we're glad to walk the specs for your specific operation. The right vehicle isn't only about what's on the lot. The deeper question is what your business needs to do every day near that park.
By the Bay Cars Team | October 2026