What everyone wants these days from their new vehicle is to have an affordable price, firstly, and to have the lowest long-term operating costs secondly, so that you can actually get the most for the money you put down. In this post, you will see four pickup trucks in four different classes that, according to the experts from the auto-industry research firm Vincentric, offer the lowest five-year ownership expenses in their respective vehicle classes.
What is most important when purchasing a new pickup is to determine which model holds onto its value best, gets the best fuel economy, and boasts the lowest insurance premiums, comparing to the competition models. As you can see, it’s pretty much the same principle you use when choosing a new car. You can also consider some other, although less important, variables like cost of financing, projected maintenance and repair expenses, and state and local registration and fees. To make things easier for yourself, NADAguides.com will have all the Vincentric’s breakdowns of ownership costs for all makes and models included with other new-vehicle pricing data.
What should be actually the most important thing for you is the depreciation costs ( the difference between a vehicle’s initial cost and what it’s expected to be worth at trade-in time). This is the most critical variable especially when it comes to those more expensive pickup trucks that can easily reach and even break the $50,000 price barrier these days. There is also one more factor that can make a huge impact on your decision and it is variances in fuel costs. If you take, for example, Ford F-150 pickup truck (with the 2.7 L turbocharged V6 engine that is EPA-rated at 19/26 mpg with an annual fuel cost of $1,600), and compare it to probably the thirstiest powerplant in the lineup (5.0 L V8 rated at 14/19 mpg with an annual fuel cost of $2,200), it amounts to a $3,000 difference over a five-year ownership period with 15.000 miles driven per year and gas at $2.37 a gallon. When you see it like this, it is actually a substantial sum of cash that pretty much goes down your tailpipe, and there is no way of bringing it back.
Now for the list we promised! Check out which of these pickups are cheapest to own in their respective vehicle classes.
1. Small Pickup class – Toyota Tacoma
Operating costs for the period of 5 years – $33,258.
2. Full-Size ½ Ton Pickup class – Toyota Tundra
Operating costs for the period of 5 years – $39,998.
3. Full-Size ¾-Ton Pickup class – Nissan Titan XD
Operating costs for the period of 5 years – $46,926.
4. Full-Size One-Ton Pickup class – Ford F-350
Operating costs for the period of 5 years – $49,456.
For any additional details regarding these vehicles check out our website and the respective articles.
