How Old A Used 3/4 or 1 Ton Diesel Pick Up Would You Buy

[jonp]

The thread on buying a truck got me thinking of this as I'm looking around. Found one several years old with 150,000 on it but it is pre Def.

[rancher1913]

i would not own one of the def models. i am restoring a 78 chevy from the ground up, will have a brand new old truck. still have my 2000 f350 with 140k on it. have a 87 chevy with a 454 to restore next

[Handloader109]

Had a f250, sold it with right at 200k miles, no issues, 97 model powerstroke turbo. My brother has a 95 I think, pre turbo and he uses it a good bit. No rust on body, engine runs, should be no problem. With the turbo you have a bit more maintenance

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[Nobade]

I have a 1988 GMC with the 6.2 in it. Not the most powerful but super simple and easy to keep it going. I wouldn't touch any of the new DEF trucks unless I had the money to get rid of all that.

[HWooldridge]

My son does a lot of heavy hauling (mostly cattle) and he always preferred a Dodge 12v or 24v before DEF. He is currently driving a company truck which is a Ford 2019, with DEF. It is a great puller and runs down the road faster than you’d want to go but I doubt he could afford diesel and DEF if the company weren’t paying for it.

I have a 1997 F250 Super Duty with the old 460 v8 and it will do most anything a diesel will, except I pay through the nose for gasoline. Best I can hope for is 12 mpg with no load and it goes down from there but it’s reliable.

[ascast]

what is DEF ? Currently driving a 99 GMC, have a 88 that wont start, Much preferred my "84 Chevy with NO electronic baloney.

[HWooldridge]

what is DEF ? Currently driving a 99 GMC, have a 88 that wont start, Much preferred my "84 Chevy with NO electronic baloney.

Diesel Exhaust Fluid - the newer diesel engines won’t run without it. I think it’s high urea content, which makes combustion hotter and burns up more emissions.

[Hannibal]

Mid 90s is about as old a truck as I personally will consider. I prefer fuel injection on gas engines and turbos on diesels and I find the road noise too high and the ride quality too low on anything older than that. Yes, it is very difficult to find something that old that isn't high mileage and beaten to death and an extensive servicing including changing all fluids in everything along with resealing the air conditioning is a necessity. More trouble than most are willing to go through.

[GregLaROCHE]

I bought a F150 used in the mid eighties. Dove it to over 300K. My son still uses it sometimes to go to the dump. Six cylinder 300 CID. Only problem I can remember is it had that dieseling problem often when you turned it off. Can’t give any advice on trucks, everything has changed so much but before I would have always recommend a six cylinder Ford. You couldn’t kill those things.

[scattershot]

I just sold a 2000 F 250 Superduty with the 7.3 L engine. 135K miles on the clock, and still ran strong. If you can find a 7.3, jump on it. It’s probably the best engine Ford ever put in a truck. Try to avoid early 2000s. Ford was experimenting with engines then, and they were all pretty much problematic.

[HWooldridge]

I missed a really clean Dodge a few years ago. It was a ‘92 12v, 2wd regular cab, long bed. An older man had bought it new and not driven it much - he passed away and his son put it out there for $4000. I think it had about 60k miles. Somebody snapped it up a few days after the listing - you snooze, you lose…

[rbuck351]

About 7 years ago I bought a 98 3500 Dodge Cummins dually with 160,000 miles for $7000. It came with a Fisher plow, an Edge programmer, a guage package, a built tranny , fifth wheel hitch and 4" exhaust. It was a mechanic special as it had tranny issues. The tranny issue turned out to be a ten cent resister needed as part of the tranny build. It gets around 17mpg empty and 13-14 mpg pulling a 10,000lb trailer.

I like the truck but had I not been able to fix it's issues myself, I would not get an older diesel. It now has about 220,000 miles and I have had to replace the torque converter and the injection pump at about $1,000 each.

[jimlj]

My experience with MY older diesel pickups............
I had a 79 F250 that I installed a 12 valve Cummins engine. I loved the truck, but was getting tired of the noise. I had a nice radio that I never listened to because the truck was so noisy. The diesel engine made plenty of noise, but wind and road noise, added to the engine noise made it less than pleasant to drive long distance. All new weather strip and gaskets helped but it was still noisy. I had a '99 F250 Powerstroke diesel that was far better on the wind/road noise, but you could still hear the engine. A 2012 Dodge truck I had was a lot quieter on engine and road noise. My '79 had about 300K miles, both of the others had 250K plus miles when i sold them. The most serious engine problem was a water pump on my '79.

So back to the op's question, how old of a truck would you buy? I'd look for pre def, and a tolerable noise level long before I worried about age or mileage. PS, I don't live in the rust belt so that is not a major concern for me.

[Dio]

I bought a F250 just before the covid pandemic, it's a 2005, had less than 100,000 miles on it.
Good farm truck

[brass410]

I wouldnt buy a diesel for my purposes, but if I did need a truck I wouldnt consider the age as much as the condition theres a lot of really old trucks still running around with very low mileage on them In fact there's a 1961 Fargo (no thats not a typo) sitting here for a service with 42670 miles on it an the body is solid. The wooden side rack is a little shakey but its in really good shape mechanicaly and body wise as well. Guy just bought it for 2500.00 bucks.Oh yeah its a 1ton dually with gasser eng runs like a top.

[Budzilla 19]

3 Dodges in the yard, ‘18,02,97. 02 is a built hot rod, 97 is a work truck, still runs and drives, 18 is my retirement rig. Soon as warranty is up on the 18, it gets deleted. Do my own work for service, and never had an oil or fuel related problem. Old ones, especially the dodges, will need a trans overhaul if they been mistreated, but other than that, not much else is too difficult to do in a diy situation. Every problem on the older diesels has a solution for it. The 18 is my last new diesel. Period.

Do your research, and use common sense, you’ll make the right decision. Old trucks? I’ll buy em.

[danmat]

I have a 96 Dodge Cummins 250,000 miles original auto trans, has a front seal leak on tranny, only problem.
Have a 2006 Ford 150 hast the small v8, 4.6 think, 296,000 miles was my work truck, mostly hwy miles, still runs great.
Wife’s truck is a 2015 Ram with the 5.7 Hemi 106.000 mi. my favorite truck so far, 21mpg hwy unloaded 395 hp 392 posi rear end.
I am ocd about my vehicle maintenance, do my own, that’s the key to finding a good used one.
Like someone posted Ford 7.3 diesel if you can find a nice one.
They bring a hefty premium around here.

[MT Gianni]

I sold a 2015 gas Ram 1500 and bought a new Chevy Traverse. I replaced the truck with an 07 Dodge Ram 2500 5.9. It is only to pull with and do truck stuff.

Figure out why you need a truck and what you need it for. A diesel should not be your daily driver unless you are pulling a load consistently.

[john.k]

What I cant understand is millenials paying huge sums for old trucks (like $30k) ,same as I drove for work in the 1960s and 70s.......I always had an International 2 tonner that I put a Perkins diesel in soon as I got it.....I never paid more than $500 at the Governmnet Auctions for the truck .........even 50 years ago the things were so thirsty they would send you broke if you had to drive long distances ........bench seats and solid backs that would wear the back out of every shirt you had...........i dont want to ever drive one again.

[ebb]

Once you get past a few years old you buy on condition only, the year means nothing if you are going to drive it till the wheels fall off.