Why Are High Mileage Trucks So Expensive?

One thing that’s common across most vehicles is the fact that, as their mileage goes up, their price will start to come down. The more any vehicle has been driven over its lifespan, the cheaper you can usually expect to get it. However, as it turns out, this isn’t always the case when it comes to trucks that have been driven a lot. 

Instead, high mileage trucks are actually still fairly expensive even after being driven so much and there are actually lots of reasons why this is the case.

There are three basic reasons why high mileage trucks are still pretty expensive. 

High mileage trucks are expensive because of supply and demand, a long lifespan, and they are more expensive when originally purchased. All three of these combine to keep truck prices high even if they have a lot of miles. 

The first key reason why high mileage trucks can’t usually be found at a bargain is the simple issue of supply and demand. Lots of trucks are primarily used by businesses and, unlike cars at home, these businesses have a tendency to utilize these trucks throughout the entirety of their lifespan until it’s deemed that they’re no longer even worth repairing. Due to this, there are actually very few high mileage trucks available in the used vehicle market to begin with and this is a major factor that drives up their prices and keeps them high. 

Alongside this, it also goes without saying that trucks are meant to have far more longevity than traditional cars. Once a car has been driven past a certain point, say 150,000-200,000 miles, it’s likely going to have issues on a fairly regular basis that’ll require your attention. However, when it comes to trucks, it’s not uncommon to see them hitting numbers like 250,000-300,000 miles driven but still functioning optimally without any major concerns. Since these trucks are meant to be far more durable than cars, their value also drops considerably less even if the miles are much higher. 

The third main reason that trucks stay so expensive even with a lot of miles is simply because they are so expensive to purchase new. Many trucks can run $50,000 or more so it makes sense that if they have around 50% of their likely lifespan used up (say 125k-150k miles) that they will still be selling for 40% or so of the original purchase price. 

People are always looking to save some money and buying a used truck (even if the miles are high) is normally far cheaper than buying a brand new truck in regards to monthly payments and even overall costs. 

These three reasons are the main reasons that truck prices stay high but there are many other smaller reasons such as their desirability (people need them for work and also love their style), their size (some people love driving larger vehicles), and even their utility (can easily be used in a variety of ways such as offroading, driving in snowy weather, or even moving cargo/furniture). 

Is It Worth Buying A High Mileage Truck With 100,000, 150,000, or 200,000 Miles? (Should You?)

If you are in the market for a used truck and have seen trucks that are higher mileage such as 100k-200k you might be wondering whether buying a truck with high miles like that is worth it or not. 

Of course it is really a personal decision as some people always prefer to buy a used truck while others will only want to buy new as they are afraid of buying someone else’s problems. 

Assuming you don’t have that fear and are wanting to buy used, the question remains whether it’s worth buying a truck with that many miles or whether you should actually do it. 

As long as the price of the truck is low enough when compared to trucks with lower miles then buying a used truck with high miles can definitely be worth it. Whether you should buy a used truck with high miles though depends on what you plan on using the truck for. 

If you will be using the truck locally most of the time then high mileage likely won’t be an issue (again, assuming that you get it cheap enough). However, if you are planning to drive cross country with your truck regularly then buying a high mileage used truck might not be the best choice for you. 

Choosing whether it’s worth the cost or even whether you should do it in the first place can vary a lot from person to person but with any high mileage vehicle (whether truck or car) you are taking the risk that it will start to have problems right after you bought it or that the previous seller started having problems and did something to hide the problem from you. 

You will need to make sure to do a careful inspection of any high mileage truck that you are considering and also make sure that you are saving enough on it that it makes buying it worthwhile when compared to a new truck or one with lower miles. 

Personally, I prefer to buy used vehicles that have less than 60,000 miles on them so that way I know they likely have tons of useful life ahead of them before any major repairs will need to be done to them. 

What Is Considered High Mileage For A Truck?

When you are buying a used truck some people will say that you should avoid buying one with “high miles” but what that means can vary from person to person. 

Typically a high mileage for a truck is over 150,000 miles is pretty high mileage. That is because parts tend to start to wear out in that mile range and you can start having to do repairs on little things (or even big things). 

For example, on one of my vehicles at right around 150,000 miles I had to replace multiple hoses that were cracking, replace brakes and tires again, fix the oil pan gasket (that was leaking) etc. Trucks will also start to show their age in other ways at the 150,000 mile mark such as rusting or sun fading (depending on where you are located) which can further cause the prices to drop. 

That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t buy a truck that has higher miles than that but just make sure that you are prepared to put some money into it as many small things can start to wear out at once in that mileage area. 

Conclusion

Trucks that have higher miles (100,000, 150,000, 200,000 etc.) can still be quite expensive when compared to other vehicles with the same miles. This can happen for many different reasons but often prices stay high because of supply and demand, the original cost of the truck, and because of the longevity of most trucks. 

Although I personally don’t prefer buying any vehicle that has over 60,000 miles there are many people who only buy trucks with higher mileage trying to save some money and it works out just fine for them. 

Just make sure that you have some extra money in the bank if you do buy a truck with higher miles as you are likely pretty close to needing some repairs (even if only minor ones).