How Many Miles are Ok for a Used Pickup Truck?

With the average price of a new truck becoming more and more outside of the range of even the middle class, more and more people are jumping on used truck deals or using their own trucks for as long as humanely possible before giving it up.

The general rule of thumb is less than 100,000 miles for a used gasoline truck and less than 200,000 miles for a used diesel. If you’re purchasing a used truck and its approaching 100,000 miles, you may want to consider if there is enough value left in the purchase before you hand over your credit card.

Almost every year, Toyotas, most especially Tacomas, stand atop the list of the most reliable vehicles on the road today. The brand isn’t everything but in some instances, it can be. If you are looking at a truck with a lot of mileage, the kind of truck you’re looking at takes on a whole new meaning.

What Mile Range Does a Truck Function Well Within?

This is where the 100,000-mile and 200,000-mile conversations come in for gasoline engines and diesel engines respectively. While there are many out there that swear up and down on “old-reliable” with 325,000 miles on it, there is still what we would term an “effective” range.

That effective range is 100,000 miles for a gasoline engine. Inside of 100k miles, you’re going to get the best that the truck has to offer with very little concern about sudden, crippling breakdowns and major repairs.

That’s not to say that some simple problems won’t crop up from time to time, such as a worn-out alternator, bad battery, bad radiator, or leaks in some of your radiator hoses. These things happen and, for the most part, they’re also DIY projects that are quick and easy in your own garage.

The same can be said of diesel engines except you’re adding another 100k miles because diesel is not as combustive as gasoline, so the wear and tear on your engine parts in a diesel-powered vehicle is not on the same level.

Super High-Mileage Trucks

For whatever reason, some years and models of trucks just hit that sweet spot. It’s like all of the manufacturers that year decided that they were only going to work on Tuesdays through Thursdays and got everything right. These trucks will just go forever.

• 2013 Ford F-450
• 2001 GMC Sierra Tow Truck
• 1999 Chevy Silverado
• 2005 GMC Sierra 2500 HD
• 2011 Toyota Tacoma
• 2001 Ford F-350

You can see the list of trucks here but the number of miles these bad boys racked up is on a staggering level, especially the F-350 with 872,000 miles. Odds are, if you purchased one of these models in these years, you probably had a much better shot of owning a super high mileage vehicle.

Now, of course, these trucks didn’t accomplish this stupendous amount of mileage all on their own, which leads us to our very next category.

How to Keep Your Truck at a High-Performance Level with High Mileage

You’ve probably heard the old saying (probably from some old-timer who repaired cars back when everything ran with four-barrel carburetors and got roughly 4 miles per gallon) “keep the oil changed on time and she’ll run forever.”

Regardless of what you may think, those “old-timers” knew their stuff and their sayings are almost always a lot more accurate than you think. Keeping a truck up and running its best with loads of mileage boils down to regular and preventative maintenance.

Nothing can stop the wear and tear of age, however, you can minimize it. Change the oil regularly and on time. Keep your fluids up. Fluids like anti-freeze, oil, water, brake, and transmission, are the lifeblood of a vehicle. Just like you need your blood to run smoothly through your veins to live, likewise for your old truck.

Keep an eye on everything. Replace the gaskets when they leak. Filter and drop your transmission fluid when its mileage is up. Never flush it under pressure. On and on the list goes.

What it Takes to Truly Make a Truck Last

Change when you need to but stay on top of your vehicle’s maintenance needs and preventative maintenance issues. Open up your vehicle’s manual and you will find the life cycle for almost everything under the hood that you need to bother with.

If you know that the alternator is as old as the Egyptian pyramids, have a brand shiny new one, sitting neatly in a box, waiting. You might think that it’s a cost you can’t bear right now but you can be assured that it will cost you a whole lot more to get your vehicle towed and have a new one installed while you are 200 miles from home.

There’s nothing more humiliating and bank-breaking than paying a mechanic $75 an hour to do a 15-minute alternator installation. The point is, actively determine what your truck will need and stay on top of what you know it needs on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.

Cost to Mileage Ratio

The value of a car drops most significantly immediately after it’s driven off of the buyer’s lot. Knowing the CPM (Cost Per Mile) of the vehicle you are looking at buying can give you an idea of that car’s value.

Of course, you also lower your cost per mile by squeezing every last drop out of your used car by really racking up the mileage before you trade it in. Vehicles that have a history of longevity will generally have a much lower CPM than vehicles that are known to be far less reliable.

It’s a good calculation ratio to have in mind before you commit so you can pick a truck that’s going to be with you for a very long time. Plus, always multiply 12,000 by its age. If you see a car that is 5 years old, that comes to 60,000 miles. If the car has 75,000 on it, move on.

All Things Considered

A well-maintained and well-treated truck is generally going to last you for a long time. There are always bad eggs in every basket, but preventative maintenance and keeping up with what it needs are established methods for having a reliable truck that will last you a long time.