I am new to the forum. I am looking for a truck for my kid who starts driving soon. In order to find something in his budget I have had to consider a question often:

All other things equal (trim, condition, options) would you rather buy a later model used truck with high miles or an older used truck with unusually low miles? i.e. 2007 with 95000 or 2004 with 60000 miles...

 

Where are you located? In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with the older vehicle but you need to watch out for corrosion if you are in or near the "rust belt". That said, nothing wrong with the higher miles either since these trucks are pretty bullet proof up to 150K and beyond if the maintenance is performed properly.

I took the best (or worst) of both worlds, and just recently bought my 2004 with 97K miles. It is very clean though, and inspection of wear indicates it was babied, garaged, and really never even hauled anything. It had no rust or dings, zero marks in the bed liner, and the hitch receiver had never been used.

 

Old with less miles. Insurance will be a bit lower. And cost will be lower. Usually.

 

if your looking for ford i would get a base model (XL) with limited options... ie power by armstrong windows, no power locks, etc. you should be able to find a cheap newer 4x2 with the XL package.

what kind of budget are we talking about here?


my first newer truck was (in 2000) a 99 f150 xl with the 4.2l v6 4x2 that had very few options, it was approx 9k and was a great starter truck as it had no power options and there was less to go mechanically wrong in the comfort dept. and that was to be honest a life saver or perhaps a checking account saver.

 

Great point.^^ and im 90% sure he wiring is there for most extra options, so all you have to do is swap out manual for power.

 

I got a 02 4.2 XL with 67K miles on it for $5000 in 08. There isn't a lot of difference between a 04 or 07 model (same body and for the most part same engine). I had a lot of problems with mine before it hit 100K miles (i.e. cracked lower intake manifold, throwout bearing, slave cylinder, electronic gremlins) but they have all been pretty uncommon but pretty limited to the 4.2's with the 5 speed when they do happen. Just throwing this out there, for the price of some of the used halfs today you can get good used diesels with nearly the same mileage that get better fuel economy. Had I had the money to buy one when I was truck shopping...well I wouldn't have my F150 that only gets 16 mpg on a good day and doubled the mileage on it.

 

Thanks for all the replies.

I appreciate the thoughts on the base models. Gonna buy xlt at the least. I always try to buy with resale in mind. It may or may not be smart, but its worked for me.

What I have found is that a 2004 with extraordinally low miles sells for about the same as a 2007 with high miles. I just sold a 2004 with 153000 on it. He did not want Tundra, so I told him I would sell and he can use money to buy Ford. Thats how we got to this point.

For some reason I have still not gotten to the point that I trust a 100000+ mile Ford as much as the same Tundra...so that makes me lean to older low mile. But I am open to my mind being changed if those with more Ford experience are comfortable with your truck once they exceed 100000 miles.

 

Jump on the low mileage one. Chances are to have extremely low miles it was driven by grandpa joe to go to the store three blocks down.

 

The 04 is about 8 years old. So its seen roughly 7500 miles a year. While the 07 saw about 19,000 miles a year. When I got mine, I wasn't expected to see 100,000 miles on it by the time I graduated college. Well I'm in my sophomore year and it has 130K miles on it. My Ford has literally been more reliable with over 100K on it than it was with under. Overall, good truck with a engine that belongs in a car and not a truck. If your going XLT, I'd recommend staying away from the 4.2 but that's because it's not a great engine for what I use the truck for.

 

Leaning towards the 04. It is spotless on the paint and leather is in excellent shape. Only problem is it is too nice for the kid I might have to keep it and drive myself.

Other was an 07 avalanche with 90000 miles. Both are more than what I want him in for first truck...