Longest Lasting Trucks On The Road
Want to see 200,000 miles? These pickups are more than likely to get you there.
Pickups are such an American staple that they should be discussed in the same breath as apple pie and bald eagles. Chances are if there's not a pickup in your driveway, there surely is in the neighbors'. Along with popularity, the price of pickups has also been on a steady rise, with prices of half-ton trucks easily reaching into the $60,000 range and heavy-duty pickups brushing six figures. Because of this, folks often seek out not only the truck will best fit their needs but also the truck that will last the longest.
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Automotive research firmanalyzed nearly 11.8 million used car sales in 2020 and was able to drill down the pickups most likely to reach the 200,000-mile mark based on the percentage sold that had already done so. The study excluded vehicles that didn't have a 2020 model year or were considered to be low volume.
Of the pickups surveyed, the average number of any particular model to reach the 200,000-mile mark was 2.6 percent. For light-duty trucks, that number drops to 1.9 percent and increases to an average of 5.4 percent for heavy-duty pickups.
With that said, let's take a look at the pickups most likely to reach 200,000 miles!
Longest Lasting Midsize Trucks
The midsize truck class really came into being around 2004. It was around that time that traditional mini trucks like the Chevrolet S10 were phased out, and renewed models of old favorites such as the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier grew in size. With that change, the midsize class was born.
This is an anomaly that we can't explain, other than to figure Colorado and Canyon owners simply don't drive as much as other midsize pickup owners do. GM sells more of these midsize trucks than Honda does the Ridgeline, and they launched in about the same year (2004 for Colorado and 2005 for Ridgeline). Our best guess revolves around the desirability of the first generation's inline five-cylinder engine. But that's only a guess.
A new addition to the list for 2020 is the Nissan Frontier. Nissan is finally bringing a new Frontier to the market for the 2022 model year, and we're hopeful that they can continue the climb up the ladder of longest-lasting trucks.
Tacoma is easily the king of the midsize pickup class, with more sales each year than any other manufacturer. It also comes as no surprise that these trucks often make it well beyond 200,000 miles.
Yes, for the sake of this study, the Honda Ridgeline is considered a truck. And Honda has more of these vehicles reaching the 200,000-mile mark than any other auto manufacturer, by percentage sold in 2020, anyway.
Longest-Lasting Half-Ton Trucks
The best-selling vehicle in the United States for more than three decades has been a half-ton truck. And given how much Americans love their trucks—and just how expensive they have gotten, overall—it should be no surprise that many are keeping these trucks in the family as long as possible.
This one has left us a bit perplexed. In our research, Ram 2500 and 3500 Heavy Duty pickups are the most likely to hit 1 million miles. So then, why is the Ram 1500 so unlikely to crest 200,000 miles? We've got our theories but none sound enough to elaborate on quite yet.
On the flip side, the GMC Sierra 1500 is often viewed as more of a luxury truck than the Silverado or F-150, meaning it's found in fleets and on jobsites far less frequently. Owners use them more for recreation or lifestyle, racking up fewer miles during their life span.
The Ford F-150 has been the best-selling pickup in America for more than four decades. Similar to our theory on the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, the Ford F-150 is a mainstay of service fleets nationwide. It's not surprising, then, to see these trucks crest into the 200,000-mile realm.
Chevrolet's Silverado 1500 outranks its mechanically similar GMC Sierra 1500 cousin by a fair margin. This could be attributed to the fact that Silverado pickups are more often found on the jobsite and in use by tradesmen who run their trucks for a long time.
Another new addition to the list for 2020 is the Nissan Titan. Nissan first introduced the Titan in 2004, then gave the pickup a full refresh for 2016. As these trucks continue to age, we expect the percentage still on the road to only increase.
At 3.7 percent, Toyota's Tundra makes a big leap to the top of not only the half-ton class but pickups in general. Toyota has been a brand known for reliability, and this proves once again that its trucks are no exception.
Longest-Lasting Heavy-Duty Trucks
Ford presumably sells fewer F-450 Super Duty pickups than any of the other heavy-duty pickups, so it's not surprising that there are fewer over 200,000 miles being traded.
The GMC Sierra 3500HD falling this low on the list has to be purely due to sales volume. While we don't know specifics, it's likely GMC sells fewer Sierra 3500HD pickups than any of the other 1-tons.
While the Chevy Silverado 2500 HD lands in the second spot, the 3500HD drops quite a bit. Since there haven't been any reliability issues that we know of, this is either a result of selling fewer or people holding onto the trucks longer.
The first GMC Sierra HD lands quite a way down the list. Much like the half-ton trucks, the bigger Sierra pickups tend to be more luxurious, and fewer are found in fleets. So are they not reaching 200,000 miles? Or are owners just not parting with them?
It's a pretty big drop down the list from the top Ram 3500 to the Ram 2500, and we really can't figure why other than owners are just keeping the trucks longer. These Ram 2500s are outfitted with the same reliable Cummins diesel engines as their larger counterparts, so the mystery remains.
Building on what we said about the F-350 Super Duty, we're curious what will happen with these numbers in the future. Early Ford Super Duty pickups equipped with the 7.3L Power Stroke diesel engine were very reliable. However, the subsequent 6.0L and 6.4L Power Stroke engines, well, left a bit to be desired. Will we see these numbers drop as fewer 7.3L trucks are sold? Time will tell.
Ford sells more F-150 pickups than any other brand. And, while they don't specifically break out Super Duty sales, we figure Ford outsells the rest in this area as well. That said, it's not surprising to see a bunch of these trucks still on the road after 200,000 miles.
This one surprised us a bit, and not for any reason other than the fact that more of the half-ton versions of the Chevy Silverado HD hit the 200,000-mile mark than the 1-ton version.
The fact that the Ram 3500 Heavy Duty lands at the top of the list does not surprise us at all. We have frequently seen these trucks go more than a million miles, thanks mostly to their legendary Cummins diesel engines.
Source: iSeeCars.com
Longest Lasting Midsize Trucks
Chevrolet Colorado - 0.8 percent & GMC Canyon - 0.7 percent
Nissan Frontier - 1.1 percent
Toyota Tacoma - 2.8 percent
Honda Ridgeline - 3.4 percent
Longest-Lasting Half-Ton Trucks
GMC Sierra 1500 - 1.8 percent
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 - 2.1 percent
Toyota Tundra - 3.7 percent
GMC Sierra 3500HD - 2.1 percent
GMC Sierra 2500HD - 4.5 percent
Ford F-250 Super Duty - 5.2 percent
Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD - 6.7 percent
Jason Gonderman was born and raised in sunny Southern California and grew up with subscriptions to 4-Wheel & Off-Road, Four Wheeler, and many other off-road magazines. The off-road bug bit hard after a summer building up a Baja Bug with friends to drive in the sand dunes of Glamis (Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area). After that it was over and he bought his first 4wd vehicle, a 1999 Ford Ranger that eventually transformed into a capable desert pre-runner and back-country adventurer. Jason has logged thousands of miles off-road in many different terrains and vehicles. He has raced the Baja 1000, participated in the Ultimate Adventure, and covered Top Truck Challenge, Diesel Power Challenge, Real Truck Club Challenge, and many other big name events. When not behind the computer Jason can be found fabricating truck parts, shooting short-course off-road races, riding dirt bikes with his wife, or participating in any sort of other 'extreme' activity.
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