While all facets of used vehicles have declined in value over the years, pickup trucks seem to have an enduring quality over your standard automobile. In fact, pickup trucks are generally the best value among other vehicles of the same year for a variety of reasons.
- Within the past decade, the blue book price of the average pickup truck has only declined a mere 1% or 2% from their initial sale price. (Compared to the 10% to 15% devaluation of other vehicles from the same year.)
- Pickup trucks are relatively low in supply. The massive influx of cheap trucks up for sale only a few years ago means that there are far fewer trucks parked in dealership lots and a higher value for truck owners due to their high demand.
- Pickup trucks are utility vehicles. Beyond their obvious capabilities to get you from spot A to spot B, a truck is useful for carrying for more cargo than could possibly fit in both the trunk and backseat of a regular car.
- The American housing market is improving. When the housing market improves, so do the construction and landscaping industries. Touching upon the previous point in their favor, pickup trucks are the ideal vehicle for modest home construction and maintenance jobs; they can tow bricks, cement, lumber, hand mowers, seed, sod, any anything else common to jobs which build houses or take care of yards. Further, most prominent construction crews have at least more than one truck, further keeping them from being a common appearance in used car lots.
- Pickup trucks espouse substance over style. Unlike cars, which have features, designs, and functionality which rapidly changes from year to year, pickup trucks are built to last. Part of the enduring value of a pickup truck, compared to a car, comes from the vehicle’s nature. Any vehicle which can be used for the sort of heavy duty activities of hardy professionals such as farmers, masons, carpenters, etc. is bound to be reflected in that vehicle’s price tag. Just taking the undercarriage’s frame into account, a 25 year old truck regularly exposed to rock salt will likely have little to no damage, compared to a decade old car under the same conditions (likely yielding a massively ruined undercarriage).
Photo credit: Gerry Dincher / Foter / CC BY-SA