Most reliable new full-size trucks plus expected lifespan

[testerdahl]

Want to buy one of the most reliable new full-size trucks? Here’s data on which ones are the best as well as how long they are expected to last. Reliable new full-size trucks This list from the team over at iSeeCars.com created this list and ranked each full-size truck by average list price, expected lifespan in years, price per year and compared to average. They “analyzed the prices of over 3.8 million new cars sold in July – December 2024 and the odometer readings of over 368 million used cars from its Longest Lasting Cars Study. The average list price of […] (read full article...)

 

[TheDo114]

Want to buy one of the most reliable new full-size trucks? Here’s data on which ones are the best as well as how long they are expected to last. Reliable new full-size trucks This list from the team over at iSeeCars.com created this list and ranked each full-size truck by average list price, expected lifespan in years, price per year and compared to average. They “analyzed the prices of over 3.8 million new cars sold in July – December 2024 and the odometer readings of over 368 million used cars from its Longest Lasting Cars Study. The average list price of […] (read full article...)

Awesome, thank you for the data!

Could you do the same for mid size and heavy duty truck please?

 

[Fightnfire]

The interesting thing about data like this, specifically looking at RAM trucks is how people often tote how reliable they are and they win lots of reliability awards but also regularly show up dead last in other data like this.

It's weird.

 

[TheDo114]

The interesting thing about data like this, specifically looking at RAM trucks is how people often tote how reliable they are and they win lots of reliability awards but also regularly show up dead last in other data like this.

It's weird.

The RAM paradox. They win initial quality award but never the long term reliability. People are impress when everything works great but when the flaws start showing up later down the road well, that's when the horror stories begin.

 

[testerdahl]

The interesting thing about data like this, specifically looking at RAM trucks is how people often tote how reliable they are and they win lots of reliability awards but also regularly show up dead last in other data like this.

It's weird.

I think it shows the difference between the new Ram truck and the older ones myself.

 

[Dusdaddy]

Data like this is always tough to make sense of. Sure, I get the Tundra on top and the Ram on bottom for total lifespan. I'm more surprised by the average list price between the two. Are the Tundra's truly listed below the Ram pricing? Or is it because Ram makes more higher end models than Toyota so the average is skewed? Or is the Toyota truly priced lower which negates the whole "Toyota Tax" narrative? At a cost difference of $1500 per year, it adds up quick. All the domestics are pretty close though.

Following the link to their website, they do have a chart for the longest lasting trucks by miles with the Ram 3500 listed on top above the Tundra. I'd probably give the credit to Cummins for that. It's a surprisingly wide margin over all other brands. Not surprisingly HD's fill out the top ten with the two Toyotas being the only exceptions. The biggest surprise is the Frontier on the very bottom which is always listed highly everywhere else.

 

[testerdahl]

Data like this is always tough to make sense of. Sure, I get the Tundra on top and the Ram on bottom for total lifespan. I'm more surprised by the average list price between the two. Are the Tundra's truly listed below the Ram pricing? Or is it because Ram makes more higher end models than Toyota so the average is skewed? Or is the Toyota truly priced lower which negates the whole "Toyota Tax" narrative? At a cost difference of $1500 per year, it adds up quick. All the domestics are pretty close though.

Following the link to their website, they do have a chart for the longest lasting trucks by miles with the Ram 3500 listed on top above the Tundra. I'd probably give the credit to Cummins for that. It's a surprisingly wide margin over all other brands. Not surprisingly HD's fill out the top ten with the two Toyotas being the only exceptions. The biggest surprise is the Frontier on the very bottom which is always listed highly everywhere else.

View attachment 863

I was thinking of emailing them today to see if they could do a more detailed search and sort by engine. I think that would pretty interesting to see.

 

[Hilux]

Silly

 

[James-kd2cm]

The interesting thing about data like this, specifically looking at RAM trucks is how people often tote how reliable they are and they win lots of reliability awards but also regularly show up dead last in other data like this.

It's weird.

It was interesting what Tim mentioned in the video that the RAM data includes the bad tranny years before the ZF and some other engine problems they used to have. I found it interesting that for the big 3 the lifespan was within 1.1 years for lifespan. A lot of the statistics for quality and dependability are for varying snapshots in time. From what I have heard Consumer reports also injects some opinions in their ratings…. Not just relying on the numbers. lol, we look at all of this then buy the one we like (for the right price). In 2010 I went looking for a dodge Dakota and came out with a TRX(4) the off-road trim at the time.

 

[James-kd2cm]

I was thinking of emailing them today to see if they could do a more detailed search and sort by engine. I think that would pretty interesting to see.

I also wonder if the Toyota’s also stay on the road a bit longer due to reputation and resale price? You’re more likely to pay to fix a truck that you think is going to keep being reliable(ie: once you fix this one thing). If the resale of an old Toyota is say $5000 but the same year of Ford is $2000 which are you more likely to throw money at to fix?

 

[Fightnfire]

I also wonder if the Toyota’s also stay on the road a bit longer due to reputation and resale price? You’re more likely to pay to fix a truck that you think is going to keep being reliable(ie: once you fix this one thing). If the resale of an old Toyota is say $5000 but the same year of Ford is $2000 which are you more likely to throw money at to fix?

In the past 8 months I've had two boys turn 16, my son and my step son. Both wanted small pickups. We've spent hundreds of hours combing through used trucks for under 10k. Auto trader, Marketplace, cars.com etc. It's really sad what $8,000 gets you in a used vehicle nowadays. (The Ranger was the hands down winner of reliability and quality in the mid 90's-early 2k compact trucks)

The funny thing about resale value is people seem to completely ignore the entry price of the truck. The benefit of a better resale price only really comes into play when the first owner sells and even then it's iffy. The new Tacoma is thousands more than the competitions new similar to similar... it better be worth thousand more down the road. We've already seen the Tundra doesn't work that way. They start out similarly priced to the competition but Tim has done a video on the trade in value of the 3rd gen... it's terrible.

 

[TheDo114]

Data like this is always tough to make sense of. Sure, I get the Tundra on top and the Ram on bottom for total lifespan. I'm more surprised by the average list price between the two. Are the Tundra's truly listed below the Ram pricing? Or is it because Ram makes more higher end models than Toyota so the average is skewed? Or is the Toyota truly priced lower which negates the whole "Toyota Tax" narrative? At a cost difference of $1500 per year, it adds up quick. All the domestics are pretty close though.

Following the link to their website, they do have a chart for the longest lasting trucks by miles with the Ram 3500 listed on top above the Tundra. I'd probably give the credit to Cummins for that. It's a surprisingly wide margin over all other brands. Not surprisingly HD's fill out the top ten with the two Toyotas being the only exceptions. The biggest surprise is the Frontier on the very bottom which is always listed highly everywhere else.

View attachment 863

For the Toyota tax, I think is when you compare feature to feature. I can get an SR5 or an F150XLT, but the SR5 will be at a much higher price than the F150, sometimes the Toyota comes with more standard features, but that's where the perceived Toyota tax comes. I think the segment where this is the most apparent is the mid size truck segment. Toyota is the more expensive truck even at the highest trim levels.

There's also, like you mentioned, the big three used to make trucks with no real equivalent in the Toyota space before the capstone model.

 

[James-kd2cm]

The only vehicle that I have owned that was really ready for the scrap heap was a 1977 Buick Skyhawk, a true piece of junk. My ‘86 F250 I had 23 years before selling it to a firewood cutting company. My 2003 Silverado 2500HD I still own and everything works and drives just fine. This 11 or 12 year lifespan must be influenced by the cars living in the salt belt.

lol, that reminds me of 4 cars that went to the scrap heap for me. 1975 mercury comet(rusted and needed more parts than it was worth), 1975 mercury monarch(same as the comet), 1980 Mazda GLC(post it note colour…yech.. freeway driving and rust killed it), and a 1989 mustang fox body with a 4 banger in it (rusted out and the suspension was done). After that I’ve purchased new and had mostly good luck(but I don’t keep vehicles over 8 years it seems).

 

[testerdahl]

A lot of the domestic cars manufactured in the mid to late ‘70s were junk. That’s when the foreign manufacturers stated to make inroads into the US car market. That competition stirred the domestics into improving their product.

There is a younger guy who was blowing up the Facebook page claiming all new trucks are junk and his granddad’s 1979 Chevy 1-ton dually was a far superior truck. I get the family connection angle, but I don’t think he truly knew what he was talking about.

 

[Hilux]

There is a younger guy who was blowing up the Facebook page claiming all new trucks are junk and his granddad’s 1979 Chevy 1-ton dually was a far superior truck. I get the family connection angle, but I don’t think he truly knew what he was talking about.

I would like to see a real world test of how many things can be disconnected in a new truck to see if it will still run and drive to simulate 20 years from now when much of the electronic stuff will be non functional because its broken or bricked because the manufacturer doesn't support the electronics updates or even sell parts anymore. I am thinking backup cameras, infotainment screens, sonar stuff in taillights and so on.
Maybe I should go rent a new Tahoe from enterprise and get my Guy Fawkes mask on and my tool set and make a YouTube video to see

 

[Fightnfire]

I would like to see a real world test of how many things can be disconnected in a new truck to see if it will still run and drive to simulate 20 years from now when much of the electronic stuff will be non functional because its broken or bricked because the manufacturer doesn't support the electronics updates or even sell parts anymore. I am thinking backup cameras, infotainment screens, sonar stuff in taillights and so on.
Maybe I should go rent a new Tahoe from enterprise and get my Guy Fawkes mask on and my tool set and make a YouTube video to see

Buy the insurance, then send me a link to the video.

 

[Hilux]

There is a younger guy who was blowing up the Facebook page claiming all new trucks are junk and his granddad’s 1979 Chevy 1-ton dually was a far superior truck. I get the family connection angle, but I don’t think he truly knew what he was talking about.

I would put my 1985 Chevy C10 reliability up against any new truck, I could get in it and drive it to New York, I think it would make there and back without much drama even my 2004 Chevy Silverado and my 2006 Nissan Frontier for that matter.
The body on the C10 is rock solid with just surface rust on the cab roof and doors.

 

[Dusdaddy]

For the Toyota tax, I think is when you compare feature to feature. I can get an SR5 or an F150XLT, but the SR5 will be at a much higher price than the F150, sometimes the Toyota comes with more standard features, but that's where the perceived Toyota tax comes. I think the segment where this is the most apparent is the mid size truck segment. Toyota is the more expensive truck even at the highest trim levels.

There's also, like you mentioned, the big three used to make trucks with no real equivalent in the Toyota space before the capstone model.

I thought the same, but is it really? A quick search around me shows most of the XLTs around 65-67K. None below $60k. Well above most of the SR5s and closer to the Limiteds. I know a stripped XLT 4wd crew can be built for $56K but a stripped SR5 is even less. I was very surprised by this.

 

[Fightnfire]

I thought the same, but is it really? A quick search around me shows most of the XLTs around 65-67K. None below $60k. Well above most of the SR5s and closer to the Limiteds. I know a stripped XLT 4wd crew can be built for $56K but a stripped SR5 is even less. I was very surprised by this.

I did the exact same thing but I built one each, I don't have the numbers in front of me but a base Tundra SR5 Crew Cab 4x4 is around 53, the same in the XLT is 55ish. But then I looked at the standard features and the XLT even base had quite a bit more. Surround cameras, zone lighting etc. The XL and STX were closer in standard equipment and a little cheaper 49 and 51.

The XLT can get expensive as you can option it up really far.

 

[Dusdaddy]

I did the exact same thing but I built one each, I don't have the numbers in front of me but a base Tundra SR5 Crew Cab 4x4 is around 53, the same in the XLT is 55ish. But then I looked at the standard features and the XLT even base had quite a bit more. Surround cameras, zone lighting etc. The XL and STX were closer in standard equipment and a little cheaper 49 and 51.

The XLT can get expensive as you can option it up really far.

The camera may be true, but the zone lighting is extra for sure. The Tundra gets standard adaptive cruise, brake controller and powered rear window though. And looking at the XLT, I can't see a heated steering wheel option. That's surprising.