Worth buying high mileage trucks?

Katkinson1112 · May 1, 2022

Hello all. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a forum. I don’t do social media anymore so hopefully there’s still a few people lurking around the forums to help a guy out. I usually have diesel trucks, and still have 2 6.0 powerstrokes on the farm, but sold my nice truck a year ago and have been waiting for the right deal on something ever since. As everyone knows used truck prices are completely insane so I haven’t seen too many deals out there on newer diesel trucks. I’ve pretty much decided to hold off on that for a few years and look for a little bit older gas truck just to pull my smaller 5th wheel camper that is roughly 32’ and 9500lbs loaded up. Gas trucks are also stupid expensive so I’m looking at higher mileage trucks because those are the only semi decent deals out there. I’ve got 2 I’m looking at, a 2015 Silverado 2500hd LT z71 with 212,000 miles for $19,000, and a 2015 Sierra 2500hd slt 4x4 with 190,000 miles for $22,000. Both trucks are lower optioned 4x4 6.0 trucks but the Chevy being a z71 has a few more options to it. And the Chevy could probably be had cheaper than 19,000 but the gmc owner is firm at 22,000. To me these should be $10-15,000 trucks but they still book for around $30,000. Is it even worth considering these trucks for this kind of money? I know the 6.0s are pretty reliable but how are the trucks going to be at 200,000? Anything specific to watch out for on these? I will only put 5000 a year on it mostly towing the trailer to Yellowstone and back multiple times a year, around 400 miles round trip. Furthest I’d take it is to the black hills of South Dakota. Roughly 2000 miles round trip by the time we drive around the black hills. Would it be silly to trust a 200,000 mile gasser to reliably do these trips for me? I have a 2020 Silverado 1500 for work that is my daily so the 2500 will be weekends and camping mostly. Though I’m not brand loyal and have owned all three, I usually end up with fords and have never owned a 6.0 Chevy but when I think of a reliable gas truck, a 6.0 Chevy is what comes to mind so any insight or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

KARNUT · May 1, 2022

6 hours ago, Katkinson1112 said:

Hello all. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a forum. I don’t do social media anymore so hopefully there’s still a few people lurking around the forums to help a guy out. I usually have diesel trucks, and still have 2 6.0 powerstrokes on the farm, but sold my nice truck a year ago and have been waiting for the right deal on something ever since. As everyone knows used truck prices are completely insane so I haven’t seen too many deals out there on newer diesel trucks. I’ve pretty much decided to hold off on that for a few years and look for a little bit older gas truck just to pull my smaller 5th wheel camper that is roughly 32’ and 9500lbs loaded up. Gas trucks are also stupid expensive so I’m looking at higher mileage trucks because those are the only semi decent deals out there. I’ve got 2 I’m looking at, a 2015 Silverado 2500hd LT z71 with 212,000 miles for $19,000, and a 2015 Sierra 2500hd slt 4x4 with 190,000 miles for $22,000. Both trucks are lower optioned 4x4 6.0 trucks but the Chevy being a z71 has a few more options to it. And the Chevy could probably be had cheaper than 19,000 but the gmc owner is firm at 22,000. To me these should be $10-15,000 trucks but they still book for around $30,000. Is it even worth considering these trucks for this kind of money? I know the 6.0s are pretty reliable but how are the trucks going to be at 200,000? Anything specific to watch out for on these? I will only put 5000 a year on it mostly towing the trailer to Yellowstone and back multiple times a year, around 400 miles round trip. Furthest I’d take it is to the black hills of South Dakota. Roughly 2000 miles round trip by the time we drive around the black hills. Would it be silly to trust a 200,000 mile gasser to reliably do these trips for me? I have a 2020 Silverado 1500 for work that is my daily so the 2500 will be weekends and camping mostly. Though I’m not brand loyal and have owned all three, I usually end up with fords and have never owned a 6.0 Chevy but when I think of a reliable gas truck, a 6.0 Chevy is what comes to mind so any insight or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Not just no, but hell no. I’m sure people will jump on here and lay claim to 500K trouble free miles. That’s the exception. I have a high mileage old truck, it’s a cream puff. Would I hook to a camper no way. In your situation I’d go to the dealership. I’d look for or order a 3/4 work truck. A new one. Depending on cab size they start a just over 30K. That’s at zero mileage with a warranty. A little over 10K where your looking at now.

Edited May 1, 2022 by KARNUT

diyer2 · May 1, 2022

I wouldn't buy any vehicle with that mileage.

swathdiver · May 1, 2022

At 200K generally speaking they are about due for a suspension overhaul and the 6L90 transmission, while great, either has already been replaced or will soon need to be overhauled as well. If you are OK with that and regular small repairs like AC actuators and window switches and door gaskets wearing out it should serve you well.

Katkinson1112 · May 1, 2022

A single cab 2wd work truck is 38,000. I need a crew cab and 4x4. That starts at 45,000. Heck my 2020 1500 single cab work truck cost 32,000 bought in November of 2020. If you can find a truck on a lot here you’re going to pay msrp + $10-20,000. If you order one you’re paying msrp. No incentives. A few months before they bought my 1500 at work they bought a crew cab Long bed 4x4 sierra 3500 work truck with the 6.6 gas for 41,000. I Looked at ordering a new 3500 LT with the 6.6 gas and a new f350 xlt with the 7.3 gas about 6 months ago. All the dealers I talked to said 4-6 months, which I can handle, but I’d be paying msrp plus dealer fees. I even looked at ordering a work truck and I optioned one out the exact same as the one we paid 41,000 for and that costs almost 51,000 right now. When, or if rather, things ever come back down on price you’re way upside down on that truck. If you’ve personally seen some 3/4 tons for that low of a price the past year let me know where at. At this point I’d pretty much go anywhere in the country to find a dealer that’s selling trucks under msrp.

Grumpy Bear · May 1, 2022

Boy am I glad I have no dog in this fight. They are asking more for well worn units than I paid for mine some years ago with 1,300 miles on it. In no way would do that.

Edited May 1, 2022 by Grumpy Bear

swathdiver · May 1, 2022

2012-2014 2500 Diesels can be had with less than 200K miles in the low $30s asking price.

Extended cabs can be had for less but most for sale are very low mileage with prices all over the place.

Grumpy Bear · May 1, 2022

11 minutes ago, swathdiver said:

2012-2014 2500 Diesels can be had with less than 200K miles in the low $30s asking price.

Extended cabs can be had for less but most for sale are very low mileage with prices all over the place.

I'd be less wary of an "all original" diesel at those miles IF it had a good documented maintenance history.

There is only a toilet paper shortage when people fear one and hoard. Trucks/cars are no different. People heard chip shortage while interest rates were low and sold their first born children for the down payment. Gave up perfectly 'serviceable' vehicles in the process for the illusion of 'a great deal'. And now? We have painted ourselves in a corner paying 2X for stuff the 2 years ago was going to the scrap yard.

Katkinson1112 · May 1, 2022

Im not interested in buying a 10 year old diesel with 200,000 miles for 30,000 plus. That’s why I stopped looking for a diesel right now. Way to expansive to fix. I don’t want to pay 30 for a truck and end up with 10-20,000 in repairs. If something happens to a gas truck you’re way cheaper to fix. The 6.7 powerstroke I had was at 220,000 when I sold it. No issues. Just sold it for a good deal and figured I’d upgrade when the prices came back down. I didn’t think they’d go up in price even more and stay this high this long. Boy was I wrong. I use the old 6.0 powerstroke to pull my tractors and backhoe around the valley and it’s good for that so I can do without a new diesel for a while. It’s been a good truck but it’s showing it’s age and mileage and I don’t trust it for longer trips.

Edited May 1, 2022 by Katkinson1112

swathdiver · May 1, 2022

I get ya, many of the ones I saw in my quick search were under 150K miles.

When looking for your gas truck, check the gears, the 4.10 equipped trucks are rated much higher than the 3.73s.

Katkinson1112 · May 9, 2022

Well to update, I haven’t bought either yet, but did go take the Chevy on a long backroad to interstate test drive and got the dealer way way down on price. Haven’t decided yes or no on it yet so haven’t negotiated the final price but will be less than 50% of book value. He’s been sitting on it for 7 months because no one he’s dealt with can get a loan on it. I don’t need a loan so he knows that I can actually take it off his hands so that probably helped me out with my very low offer. Anyways the outside looks like a 200,000 mile truck. Dings and scratches. One bigger dent in the bed. Nothing crazy. Inside was pleasantly nice. Driver seat still in good shape. Rest of interior looks to be very rarely used. New tires. Drives nice. Has a slight shimmy at 72 and clears up at 75. Probably needs tires rebalanced. Ran well with decent pick up and go. But it did have a little bit of a tick. And when I got back I parked and left it running and every now and again you could almost feel a very small shutter. From what I’ve read both of these things seem common with a 6.0? Also, scanned it before I left. No codes. 30 miles into the test drive the check engine light came on. Still seemed to run and shift fine but maybe that is when that slight shutter at idle started happening. Went another 30 miles or so made it back to the dealer. Scanned it and it was an evap code of some sort. I didn’t write it down. I did some research on the truck as well. It’s a “one owner”. Company truck from Odessa Texas. Actually the company my old man worked for my whole life until he retired 2 years ago. Was a consultants truck where it got the first 150,000 miles put on it in 2.5-3 years. Then got sent to Nevada where it lived until it was bought at auction in October of 2021. Got the car fax and another report. Has maintenance records for everything done to it until 201,000 miles in 2020. Religious services every 5-6,000 miles. Anyways I’m a little more comfortable now with the history and the lower price I’ll get it at. Just a few questions, would that evap code have anything to do with that slight miss/shutter? And do the newer 6.0s have the lifter issues?

JerryFlores · June 3, 2022

On 5/9/2022 at 10:19 PM, Katkinson1112 said:

Well to update, I haven’t bought either yet, but did go take the Chevy on a long backroad to interstate test drive and got the dealer way way down on price. Haven’t decided yes or no on it yet so haven’t negotiated the final price but will be less than 50% of book value. He’s been sitting on it for 7 months because no one he’s dealt with can get a loan on it. I don’t need a loan so he knows that I can actually take it off his hands so that probably helped me out with my very low offer. Anyways the outside looks like a 200,000 mile truck. Dings and scratches. One bigger dent in the bed. Nothing crazy. Inside was pleasantly nice. Driver seat still in good shape. Rest of interior looks to be very rarely used. New tires. Drives nice. Has a slight shimmy at 72 and clears up at 75. Probably needs tires rebalanced. Ran well with decent pick up and go. But it did have a little bit of a tick. And when I got back I parked and left it running and every now and again you could almost feel a very small shutter. From what I’ve read both of these things seem common with a 6.0? Also, scanned it before I left. No codes. 30 miles into the test drive the check engine light came on. Still seemed to run and shift fine but maybe that is when that slight shutter at idle started happening. Went another 30 miles or so made it back to the dealer. Scanned it and it was an evap code of some sort. I didn’t write it down. I did some research on the truck as well. It’s a “one owner”. Company truck from Odessa Texas. Actually the company my old man worked for my whole life until he retired 2 years ago. Was a consultants truck where it got the first 150,000 miles put on it in 2.5-3 years. Then got sent to Nevada where it lived until it was bought at auction in October of 2021. Got the car fax and another report. Has maintenance records for everything done to it until 201,000 miles in 2020. Religious services every 5-6,000 miles. Anyways I’m a little more comfortable now with the history and the lower price I’ll get it at. I found useful information here https://fitmymoney.com/debt-to-income-ratio/ about creditworthiness. It helped me understand whether I will get a loan or not.Just a few questions, would that evap code have anything to do with that slight miss/shutter? And do the newer 6.0s have the lifter issues?

I had an old truck with high mileage. I went to the dealer, did some searching and ordered a work truck. Now I have a new one. It cost me over $30,000. This is at zero mileage with a guarantee.

Edited June 6, 2022 by JerryFlores

white bread · August 15, 2023

It was worth it to me. I just bought a 2015 crew cab 4x4 for a camper tow rig. It was a former county power co. Vehicle. 154k miles for 27,000.00. It's an Lt trim, 4:10 gears, 6.0 gas, has heated seats and Nav, although the Nav is inop for some reason. Has a 12000 lb Warn winch and a huge RKi toolbox. Runs smooth and very quiet. My wife and I love it. I didnt want to pay that much for it but believe it or not that was one of 2 trucks that I found for less than 30k. It seems to be in fine shape. Hopefully the Nav is just an update or something.