Miles or Age – Which is More Important When Buying a Used Truck?

We have all grown up learning that mileage is more important than the vehicle’s age. We have heard our fathers and grandfathers speak about odometer readings and what they mean for the internal age of the car and naturally, we tend to search for low-mileage pre-owned trucks for sale near me in Fountain Inn, SC even when the cost of these vehicles is sky-high in used cars terms. But any pickup expert today and he/she will tell you that miles of the truck really does not matter anymore. Times have changed and so have the parameters that we need to look into while buying pickups.

A fairly old, low-mileage pickup truck

Say you are looking at an 8-year-old pickup truck with less than 40,000 miles on it. You may think that’s fantastic. The age must have depreciated the truck’s price enough and just 40,000 miles mean that way more life is still left in the pickup. However, such pickups hide stories you need to care about as the low mileage should be your first warning sign.

An average of 5,000 miles per year means that the pickup has majorly been driven in the city. That means the truck saw frequent starts and stops that must have caused more wear and tear to the power train than normally expected of a low-mileage pickup. Additionally, if the pickup has just seen that many miles in a span of 8 years, you can safely infer that the vehicle spent most of its time sitting idle in one spot. This, again, damages the internal parts that tend to become rusted or brittle, leading to hefty repair costs.

So, keep in mind that a low-mileage fairly old pickup truck is not always the best bet.

A fairly new, high-mileage pickup truck

Let’s flip the above situation. Now say you are standing in front of a 3-year-old vehicle with 120,000 miles on it. The odometer figure might seem quite high but given the modern technology that goes into making present pickup trucks, a total of 120,000 miles on any vehicle is really nothing. If the truck has been maintained properly, it can run you well over 300,000 miles with routine repairs only, following which you might need to go for a few replacements.

Plus, when a fairly new pickup truck picks up this many miles on the odometer, it generally means that the vehicle had majorly mean driven on the highways. That signifies a smooth ride at near-constant speeds and the engine did not have to work too hard. Highway miles are better for any vehicle than city miles. Such trucks face fewer wear and tears as compared to their low-mileage idle counterparts. So, in the best place to buy a truck in Fountain Inn, SC, the high-mileage used pickup truck should be a good bet.

The optimal miles and age of pickup trucks

As a rule of thumb, look for used pickup trucks that have averaged 12,000-15,000 miles per year in the best place to buy used cars in Fountain Inn, SC. Anything higher should not bother you as high mileage on a pickup truck is always a good sign. After all, trucks are built to be on the move and haul loads, and keeping them locked in a garage does not help. A well-maintained high-mileage used truck is the best vehicle you can buy for yourself and the age-old belief that age matters is no longer valid.