- The Ford F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for more than 40 years, with the Chevy Silverado in the No. 2 position for many of those years.
- The exposed bed of a truck can carry more than any trunk or SUV cargo area.
- Engineers design trucks to withstand years of abuse, which helps them stay strong and capable while holding their value over time.
- Today’s full-size trucks are so high off the ground that they have front blind spots longer than most sedans and SUVs.
Pickup trucks can serve a wide range of transportation needs. There isn’t another vehicle type that’s quite as handy as a pickup. Whether it’s taking the family to the movies or on vacation, hauling bulky cargo, pulling a trailer, or going off-road when equipped with 4-wheel drive (4WD), pickups are engineered to do it all.
With new vehicle prices being what they are, you (and your budget) may determine a used pickup will satisfy your needs. This guide will help you navigate the used truck shopping process. We’ll identify the most popular types of trucks, explain their benefits and downsides, and aid you in sorting through the decision-making process.
- Is a Used Pickup Truck Right for You?
- Pros and Cons of Pickup Trucks
- Picking the Right Type of Truck for You
- What to Consider When Buying a Used Truck
- Where to Find a Used Truck
- Inspect the Used Truck Before Buying
Is a Used Pickup Truck Right for You?
Durability is a key feature of pickup trucks; consequently, they can absorb a lot of abuse and will last a long time when properly maintained. Moreover, they tend to retain their value better than cars and SUVs.
If you’re considering a truck for its 4-wheel-drive off-road prowess or towing capability, you might find an SUV nearly as capable and easier to live with. However, if you also require an exposed bed for hauling cargo, nothing but a pickup will do.
See used pickup trucks in your area.
Pros and Cons of Pickup Trucks
As with cars and SUVs, trucks have pluses and minuses. Let’s take a look at the good and bad of trucks.
Pros of a Pickup Truck
Trucks can do things other vehicles can’t.
- Hauling: The exposed bed of a truck can carry more than any trunk or SUV cargo area. Depending on the configuration, trucks can carry roughly 1,500 to 3,500 pounds of stuff, though you have to count the weight of drivers and passengers against that total (see our payload capacity guide for the math). They also carry it outside the passenger cabin in a space you can hose down, which is a huge convenience if you’re hauling dirt, plants, construction materials, or anything else that leaves a hard-to-clean mess behind.
- Towing: Nothing tows like a truck. Even powerful, V8-equipped full-size SUVs can’t beat the pulling power of a properly equipped pickup. However, “properly equipped” is the key phrase. When manufacturers advertise maximum towing capacities, they usually refer to specially equipped models. The average truck can’t pull what the ads often claim — see our towing guide for details.
- Off-road prowess: With available 4-wheel-drive setups, excellent ground clearance, and often rugged trail tires, trucks can get you to places cars or even SUVs armed with only all-wheel drive (AWD) can’t.
- Resale value: Engineers design trucks to withstand years of abuse, which helps them stay strong and capable while holding their value over time.
Cons of a Pickup Truck
A pickup isn’t the right choice for everyone. Several factors might make you happier with a different type of vehicle.
- Size: A midsize truck is often as big as a large car or a 3-row SUV, and a full-size truck is one of the largest vehicles on the road. They are hard to maneuver in tight spaces, difficult to park, and tough to navigate through urban traffic. In other words, their massive size can be a nightmare.
- Visibility: Today’s full-size trucks are so high off the ground that they have front blind spots longer than most sedans and SUVs. This is problematic if you regularly drive in heavy traffic, or have small children or animals easily lost in those blind spots. A vehicle oriented closer to the ground may be a better fit.
- Fuel economy: Trucks remain among the least fuel-efficient vehicles most manufacturers offer. For example, at $3.10 a gallon, filling up the 36-gallon fuel tank in a newer Ford F-150 Super Cab will set you back more than $111. Hybrid and electric trucks may ease that concern. You can check out the estimated fuel economy of a used truck you are considering at the EPA website.
- Ride comfort: Engineers must tune a truck’s suspension to handle everything from an empty bed to one filled with about a ton of cargo on the rear axle. Therefore, they must make compromises not required for cars and SUVs, which usually means a rougher ride. Manufacturers, though, have improved truck design in the last decade. Some of today’s pickups use more car-like suspension setups. However, even these more advanced suspensions can’t deliver a ride as smooth as a sedan or car-based SUV.
Picking the Right Type of Truck for You
Deciding to buy a used truck is but the first step in your decision-making process.
Manufacturers build trucks in many sizes and for many purposes. The basics — a torquey engine, a roomy cabin, and an exposed bed — are constants for all trucks. But each type of pickup has a singular combination of virtues distinguishing it from the others.
Compact Truck
Small trucks minimize the proportion drawbacks of pickup ownership. They can’t haul or tow as much as the big boys, but many buyers don’t need that. However, small pickups can more easily navigate urban traffic and squeeze into spots in crowded parking situations that are simply inaccessible to full-size trucks.
Small trucks, once common in the U.S. market, eventually fell out of grace as Americans’ appetite for bigger and bigger trucks grew. Consequently, small pickups disappeared for nearly a decade. For example, the Ford Ranger was a compact truck until 2011. When it returned for the 2019 model year, it stepped up a class to midsize. Ranger pickups from the 2011 model year and earlier were genuine compact trucks.
Although it’s hardly been a renaissance, today the compact truck market includes the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz. Thanks to the resilience and durability of pickups, you can still find a few 2011-and-earlier examples in decent condition. However, you’ll want to carefully inspect any older small truck you consider and have a professional mechanic go over the vehicle.
Midsize Truck
The good news: There are far more midsize pickups available on the used market than compact ones. They’re a bit larger and more challenging to handle in traffic than compact trucks. Today’s compact trucks rival the size of full-size trucks from a decade or two ago, but they are still easier to manage day-to-day than the current crop of full-size trucks.
Moreover, a lighter midsize truck usually uses a smaller engine than a full-size model, delivering better fuel economy. Yet, you might be surprised by how much work they can do. For example, the full-size 2022 Chevy Silverado only provides roughly 500 pounds more payload (cargo and passengers) capacity than the midsize 2022 Chevy Colorado pickup. Furthermore, it delivers better fuel economy and, on average, retails for about $5,000 less to purchase. So, if you rarely need the total payload capacity (and towing capability), you might find a Colorado less expensive and easier to live with than a Silverado.
Full-Size Truck
You will find no shortage of used full-sized pickups for sale. Why? Because they are perennial best-sellers as new vehicles. The Ford F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for more than 40 years, with the Chevy Silverado in the No. 2 position for many of those years. The Ram 1500 has ranked in the top 10 sellers for more than a decade.
Versatility, capability, and durability are the primary reasons for the enduring popularity of full-size pickups. Moreover, they offer endless opportunities for customization, and their top trims deliver luxury-sedan amounts of opulence.
When you shop for a used truck, these are the most common vehicles online or on the lot. But they range from bare-bones work trucks with few options to luxury trucks with every creature comfort imaginable.
Heavy-Duty Truck
General Motors, Ford, and Ram take their full-size trucks, stretching and reinforcing the frames to even more immense proportions to create heavy-duty trucks. Nissan also offered a heavier-duty version of its Titan pickup (Titan XD) through the 2024 model year.
These are big work trucks that rarely make sense for most buyers. But, if you plan to tow a fifth-wheel trailer or haul weighty loads routinely, they’re the only option, despite costing more to buy, fuel, and maintain.
Electric Truck
Although you can find a few used examples among dealers’ inventories, electric trucks are relatively newcomers to the pickup market. They range from full electric versions of familiar nameplates like the Ford F-150 Lightning, Chevy Silverado EV, and GMC Sierra EV Denali to purpose-built nameplates like the Tesla Cybertruck, Rivian R1T, and GMC Hummer EV Pickup.
For shoppers, you might consider a used EV truck for the same reasons people buy any EV: save gas and produce zero tailpipe emissions. Likewise, EV truck owners will face the same issues as owners of any EV vehicle. Leading off those concerns is range. In other words, how far an EV pickup travel on a full charge. Toward the bottom of the heap are the F-150 Lightning and Tesla Cybertruck at just over 300 miles, to the Sierra EV and Silverado EV at just under 450 miles.
These are best-case range estimates that are adversely affected by temperature, hilly terrain, towing, and payload weights. The harder any EV works, the greater it affects the vehicle’s range. Because, by definition, trucks are work vehicles, you may be disappointed by your real-world mileage.
Off-Road Truck
An off-road truck is a model outfitted specifically for off-pavement use. It is a subtype, really, of the midsize and full-size pickup classes. Often, it not only provides 4-wheel drive but also additional ground clearance, a special off-road-tuned suspension, all-terrain tires, tow hooks, skid plates, and other unique off-roading features and tech. In other words, these are model variations engineered for enthusiasts determined to go where lesser vehicles fear to tread.
Many truck nameplates offer these specialty ultimate off-road variants. Used examples include the Ford F-150 Raptor and Ranger Raptor, the Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison and Silverado ZR2 Bison, and the Ram 1500 TRX. You can also find less-intense versions of off-road-focused pickups among the major truck lineups. Available as new for 2024, and consequently eventually available on the used market are the Ford Ranger Raptor and the Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter I-Force Max. In addition to off-road versions of standard nameplates, the Jeep Gladiator is a purpose-engineered off-road pickup offering varying degrees of off-pavement prowess.
As you might expect, these highly capable off-road machines cost more than their more mainstream brethren; however, serious off-roaders will find them worth it. It is worth noting, though, extra care should be taken when buying one of these purpose-designed boulder crawlers because previous owners may have taken full advantage of their capabilities.
What to Consider When Buying a Used Truck
Buying a used truck is like purchasing any other type of used vehicle, only with the caution knob turned to 11. That is, you’ll want to follow our standard advice: Get it inspected.
Granted, the previous owner may have only driven it to church on Sundays. However, it is equally as true that they may also have loaded it over its payload capacity more than once, taken it farther off-road than you could ever imagine, and rarely changed the oil. At the very least, ask the seller for a vehicle history report or order it yourself before purchase.
Every reputable mechanic knows how to perform a used car inspection, and most charge up to $200 for the service. Build the expense of getting multiple trucks inspected into your budget.
The cost may seem steep, but it can save you thousands if an inspection identifies problems you couldn’t see without getting the truck on a mechanic’s lift.
Price
Properly cared for, trucks hold their value better than cars and SUVs. After all, engineers design every weld and rivet to take more abuse in a hauler. So how do you know if the used truck you’re considering is overpriced?
Our sister site Kelley Blue Book is the only site with more than 100 years of experience evaluating the value of every car. You can use the Kelley Blue Book car valuation tool to figure out how much you should pay. Moreover, in your research, the Kelley Blue Book Expert Reviews not only reflect the manufacturer’s suggested retail price when new but also the vehicle’s Fair Purchase Price. The Fair Purchase Price is based on the current national average transaction price for the specific model year you are researching.
RELATED: Best Used Trucks on a $20,000 Budget
Fuel Economy
With the volatility of gas prices, the fuel economy of even small trucks can be an issue for those on a budget. As you search for your used truck, locate the original EPA fuel economy estimates for those pickups you’re considering on the EPA website. Also, budgeting for a tuneup on your used truck after your purchase makes good sense. An engine’s fuel economy degrades over time, but most trucks can return to their original fuel economy performance with a few tweaks. A new oxygen sensor and a timing tuneup can pay you significant returns at the pump.
Cargo Bed
Most midsize and full-size trucks are available in short- and long-bed configurations. Often, the short bed is more than enough for the average weekend job-jar errand. They’re also less ungainly to handle in traffic and parking lots. But, if you routinely haul lumber, large furniture, or other long items, the long-bed option may be worth the added driving and parking hassles.
Short beds are usually around 5 feet to 6.5 feet. Long beds can be as long as 8 feet — big enough to lay flat a standard 4’x8’ sheet of plywood or sheetrock.
Some short-bed trucks come with bed extenders that fold out to give you extra length.
Cabin Type
Among the terms you might need to learn to make sense of are the three types of pickup cabs. Different truck makers may use different names to identify each cab type.
- Standard Cab: A 2-door cabin with a single row of seats is a standard or regular cab. Manufacturers build more 2-row than one-row trucks these days, but basic single-row work trucks are still common in this configuration.
- Extended Cab: An extended cab comes with two rows of seats and four doors. The rear doors are not as wide as standard doors and may hinge on the front or rear of the door. The front seats slide forward to give you access to the rear, like in many sports coupes. This configuration works well if you only occasionally need to carry four people, but most adults won’t be comfortable in the second row of an extended cab for long.
- Crew Cab: This configuration offers four standard-size doors and two rows of seats. This cab style is bigger than an extended cab, providing more rear-seat legroom. Therefore, it’s well suited for transporting up to five passengers.
Towing and Payload Capacity
If you’re shopping for a used truck, you probably expect to haul or tow loads regularly. Both are complicated topics. To gain a more thorough understanding, we provide more details in our payload and towing guides.
However, it’s worth clearing up a few common points of confusion here. Remember that most trucks can’t haul or tow the heavy loads you see in advertisements because those figures apply to specially equipped models with tow packages. Also keep in mind that when calculating payload, you must count yourself and the weight of any other passengers and gear in the total. The truck’s payload capacity includes all the weight in the cabin that’s not part of the truck. When loading 2,000 pounds in the bed of a truck with a 2,000-pound payload capacity, you have exceeded the maximum limit by the combined weight of you and any passengers.
Since drivers often misunderstand towing and payload capacity, many owners overload their trucks. A third-party inspection at a dealership or local car repair shop can tell you if the frame or suspension shows weakness from overloading.
Powertrain
The powertrain is all the power-producing and transmitting components, including the engine, transmission, differential, and driveshaft. Manufacturers offer a greater variety of powertrains in trucks than in cars or SUVs. This is particularly true for full-size trucks. For instance, Ford offered five different powertrains in its 2022 F-150, spanning V6, V8, and even a hybrid engine. Five or six engine choices for any model year of a full-size truck is not unusual. Midsize pickups may offer two or three choices, while compact trucks often settle for just one.
However, later-model pickups typically come only with automatic transmissions. Here, the midsize Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, and Jeep Gladiator are outliers, with used models offering manual transmissions. As of 2025, the Toyota Tacoma still offers a stick and 3-pedals.
When choosing a powertrain, think carefully about the work you’ll be asking your truck to do. Many truck buyers overspend on more engine than they need and then continue bleeding cash at the gas pump.
Where to Find a Used Truck
You’ll find used trucks for sale everywhere, from used car dealerships to random offerings on the side of the highway with a handwritten price scrawled across the windshield.
Online
It should be no surprise that we’re big fans of going online when it comes to used truck shopping. Online shopping lets you see hundreds of options near you and easily find the right combination of features and capabilities. Autotrader lists hundreds of thousands of trucks of all makes, models, and sizes for sale in the United States. Besides price, it’s possible to sort the listings by things like distance from you, mileage, cab size, bed length, and more than a dozen other considerations, even color.
Used truck listings comprise both dealerships and our Private Seller Exchange, which reduces the hassle and virtually eliminates the peace-of-mind concerns often clouding peer-to-peer used car transactions.
Dealerships
Many buyers still prefer the hands-on convenience of shopping at a dealership. A dealership can show you several used trucks in your price range in the same afternoon shopping expedition, provide immediate test drives, and establish a one-on-one business relationship with you in a way that online shopping (with dealers or through the Private Seller Exchange) doesn’t.
Moreover, going to a dealership gives you access to Certified Pre-Owned trucks. CPO trucks combine the low price of a used truck and the peace of mind of a truck typically under warranty.
Inspect the Used Truck Before Buying
Let us offer some expert advice here about professional inspections: They are vital when used car shopping and even more so when used truck shopping. Moreover, before any serious, time-consuming discussion regarding purchasing a used truck, you should first obtain the vehicle history report that we emphasized earlier. Even with a history report, you should ask the seller for the truck’s maintenance records.
After you’ve reviewed the vehicle history report and taken a test drive, invest the time and money to have a third-party mechanic inspect any truck you’re considering. A trained professional will be aware of the key components to examine.
Expert tip: A professional inspection isn’t a guarantee that a used truck is problem-free. There are still issues that could be lurking in hidden areas; however, the inspection should reveal most common problems.
Among other things, a mechanic should check the condition of the:
- Air conditioning
- Alternator
- Axles, including checking for the presence of towing enhancements
- Brake systems
- Emissions, including the state of the catalytic converter — an expensive replacement on many trucks
- Engine
- Frame, looking for signs of misuse or overloading
- Fuel injection system
- Fuel pump
- Radiator
- Steering system, including checking the quality of any modifications
- Suspension
- Transmission
- Water pump
