The truck least likely to hit 250k miles hails from Detroit
I’ll be blunt: modern vehicle powertrains last an incredibly long time. If you’re familiar with the V8s of the 60s and 70s, you may think an engine will need a rebuild by 100k or 150k miles. But an increasing number of vehicles are seeing the 250k mark–without major maintenance. The truck that you are least likely to see still kicking at 250k is the Ram 1500, with just a 11.5% chance of being re-registered with mileage that high. But that’s still 1.3x as likely as your average vehicle of any class. Here’s how pickup trucks stack up.
| Make/Model | % Chance of 250,000 Miles | Compared to Avg Vehicle |
|---|---|---|
| Toyota Tundra | 36.6% | 4.2x |
| Toyota Tacoma | 26.7% | 3.1x |
| Honda Ridgeline | 25.8% | 3.0x |
| Chevrolet Silverado 1500 | 18.8% | 2.2x |
| GMC Sierra 1500 | 16.1% | 1.9x |
| Ford F-150 | 15.8% | 1.8x |
| Nissan Titan | 14.8% | 1.7x |
| Ram 1500 | 11.5% | 1.3x |
This information comes from registration data of over 402 million cars. So all the vehicles weren’t just still running (and passing inspection in states where that’s necessary), but the owners were investing to register them for another year or two. Every truck on this list beat the average for all vehicle classes, which is 8.6%.
“Modern vehicles are getting more durable, with 30 models offering between a 12 and 36 percent chance of reaching a quarter million miles…Many consumers still consider a car’s usable lifespan to end at 100,000 miles. But our latest longest-lasting study confirms that even 200,000 miles isn’t the end of the line for many cars. The top nine cars on this year’s list have a better than 20 percent chance of hitting 250,000 miles.”
iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer
I will say this raw registration data may be a bit misleading if you’re looking for the most durable truck. A Ram 1500 can spend 100,000+ miles towing loads that would snap a Ridgeline in half. So the number of 250k Ridgelines on the road is impressive, but may also reflect how owners use them.
In the case of the Toyota Tacoma, the number of 250k examples on the road may reflect how long the owners expect them to last. Let me explain: there comes a point in every truck’s life where you need to decide between buying a new one or sinking almost the same amount into keeping your old one running. But if you buy a Toyota, with its legendary reputation for reliability, you may be more likely to swap an engine or frame, expecting the rest of the vehicle to last.
Next, read about the best model years for Ram 1500 reliability, or see how a fifth-gen 2018 Ram 1500 is holding up at 240,000 miles in the video below:
