Top Ten TCO: Half-Ton Pickups

Out of 349 full-size, half-ton pickup configurations, which 2024 models rank the best for depreciation, fuel, maintenance, and overall total cost of ownership?

Chris Brown・Associate Publisher

Read Chris's Posts

May 30, 2024

White RAM truck in front of foliage. — Ram Tradesman models took three of the top 10 spots in overall TCO and lowest cost per mile.
Photo: Stellantis

6 min to read

Full-size, half-ton pickups are the workhorses for fleets. These trucks do it all — from hauling building supplies and towing yellow iron to job sites to carrying contractor bodies, racks, and pullout shelves for vocational applications.

And full-size pickups come with more configurations than any other vehicle on the road.

With this in mind, we set out to discover the half-ton pickup models with the lowest total cost of ownership. To get there, we asked the lifecycle cost experts at Vincentric to crunch the numbers on six half-ton pickup models in the 2024 model year.

The analysis covers a total of 349 configurations for these models:

Ram 1500
Ram 1500 DS (Classic)
Ford F-150
Ford F-150 Lightning
GMC Sierra
GMC Sierra Diesel
Chevrolet Silverado 1500
Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Diesel
Chevrolet Silverado EV
Nissan Titan
Nissan Titan XD
Toyota Tundra
Toyota Tundra Hybrid

These vehicle configurations include 77 series designations, 22 engine types, seven cab variants, short and long wheelbases, and two- and four-wheel drive models.

Vincentric calculated its standard eight cost elements: depreciation, financing, fees and taxes, fuel, insurance, maintenance, repairs, and opportunity cost over a five-year period at 15,000 miles a year.

The analysis ranks the 10 models with the lowest expenses in these categories: depreciation, fuel, maintenance, and overall TCO.

TCO Observations

Sorting and evaluating the data in various ways, here’s what we found:

Depreciation and fuel equal about 60% of the lifetime expense of a full-size pickup.
Initial costs (calculated as adjusted invoice, or invoice minus incentives) run from $28,995 for the Ram 1500 DS Tradesman Regular Cab to $89,995 for the Ford F-150 Lightning Platinum.
The average initial cost of all 349 configurations is $50,993. Average depreciation is $30,247.
In addition to the lowest initial cost, the Ram 1500 DS Tradesman Regular Cab has the lowest overall TCO. Six Ram 1500 models made it into the top 10 TCO list, followed by three F-150 models and one Tundra model.
An all-electric model, the Ford F-150 Lightning Pro Supercrew 4WD, has the second-lowest overall TCO, driven by the lowest fuel and maintenance costs and middle-of-the-pack initial cost and depreciation.
However, the other six electric model configurations for the F-150 Lightning and Silverado EV do not fare as well. Their higher overall TCO is due to higher-than-average initial costs and even higher depreciation.
Not surprisingly, all-electric trucks return the lowest fuel/power costs. Hybrid models follow, followed by V-6 twin turbos. Diesel models are middle of the pack, hurt by higher pump prices.
On average, configurations with V-6 engines beat those with V-8s in overall TCO rankings.
On average, gas engines return better overall TCO than configurations than the 78 configurations with diesel engines.
On average, the diesel engine configurations produce the highest maintenance costs.
On average, the higher the initial cost, the higher the depreciation, and the worse the TCO.
44% of the 349 configurations are turbo models.
Over the five-year period, total estimated repair costs for all 349 model configurations have only a $341 variance from best to worst.

Depreciation
Make	Model	Series	Body Style	Engine	Adjusted Invoice	Depreciation	Fuel	Maintenance	Cost Per Mile
Ram	1500 DS	Tradesman	Reg Cab 2WD LWB	3.6L V-6 SMPI DOHC	28,995	20,765	13,841	4,326	0.7895
Ram	1500	Tradesman	Quad Cab 2WD SWB	3.6L V-6 SMPI DOHC	37,843	21,963	12,815	3,806	0.8138
Toyota	Tundra	SR	Crew Max 2WD SWB	3.5L V-6 Direct Injection DOHC Twin turbo	38,864	22,034	13,775	5,366	0.8637
Ram	1500	HFE	Quad Cab 2WD SWB	3.6L V-6 SMPI DOHC	39,337	22,207	12,559	6,699	0.8588
Ford	F-150	XL	Reg Cab 2WD 141	2.7L V-6 Direct Injection OHC Twin turbo	35,210	22,305	12,559	4,980	0.8279
Toyota	Tundra	SR	Dbl Cab 2WD SWB	3.5L V-6 Direct Injection DOHC Twin turbo	36,969	22,514	13,775	5,366	0.8617
Toyota	Tundra	SR	Dbl Cab 4WD SWB	3.5L V-6 Direct Injection DOHC Twin turbo	39,744	22,739	14,473	5,416	0.8874
Toyota	Tundra	SR	Dbl Cab 2WD LWB	3.5L V-6 Direct Injection DOHC Twin turbo	37,273	22,818	13,775	5,366	0.8681
Ford	F-150	XL	Supercrew 2WD 145	2.7L V-6 Direct Injection OHC Twin turbo	41,557	23,002	12,559	4,980	0.8618
Toyota	Tundra	SR	Dbl Cab 4WD LWB	3.5L V-6 Direct Injection DOHC Twin turbo	40,048	23,043	14,473	5,416	0.8937

Fuel
Make	Model	Series	Body Style	Engine	Adjusted Invoice	Depreciation	Fuel	Maintenance	Cost Per Mile
Ford	F-150 Lightning	Pro ER	Supercrew 4WD	Dual Electric Motor	61,495	39,340	5,330	3,030	0.9543
Ford	F-150 Lightning	Pro	Supercrew 4WD	Dual Electric Motor	49,995	32,315	5,445	3,030	0.8130
Ford	F-150 Lightning	XLT	Supercrew 4WD	Dual Electric Motor	57,495	37,365	5,445	3,030	0.9091
Ford	F-150 Lightning	Lariat	Supercrew 4WD	Dual Electric Motor	77,495	54,090	5,445	2,998	1.2191
Ford	F-150 Lightning	Platinum	Supercrew 4WD	Dual Electric Motor	89,995	61,340	5,680	3,046	1.3704
Chevrolet	Silverado EV	3WT	Crew Cab e4WD	Dual 191 kW PMSM	72,905	51,225	6,260	4,849	1.2066
Chevrolet	Silverado EV	4WT	Crew Cab e4WD	Dual 191 kW PMSM	77,905	54,425	6,260	4,849	1.2695
Ford	F-150	XLT 3.5L PowerBoost Hybrid	Supercrew 4WD 157	3.5L V-6 PowerBoost Full Hybrid	52,107	27,827	12,449	4,143	0.9573
Ford	F-150	XLT 3.5L PowerBoost Hybrid	Supercrew 4WD 145	3.5L V-6 PowerBoost Full Hybrid	51,680	28,000	12,449	4,143	0.9563
Ford	F-150	Lariat 3.5L PowerBoost Hybrid	Supercrew 4WD 145	3.5L V-6 PowerBoost Full Hybrid	60,863	31,508	12,449	4,215	1.0427

Maintenance
Make	Model	Series	Body Style	Engine	Adjusted Invoice	Depreciation	Fuel	Maintenance	Cost Per Mile
Ford	F-150 Lightning	Lariat	Supercrew 4WD	Dual Electric Motor	77,495	54,090	5,445	2,998	1.2191
Ford	F-150 Lightning	Pro ER	Supercrew 4WD	Dual Electric Motor	61,495	39,340	5,330	3,030	0.9543
Ford	F-150 Lightning	Pro	Supercrew 4WD	Dual Electric Motor	49,995	32,315	5,445	3,030	0.8130
Ford	F-150 Lightning	XLT	Supercrew 4WD	Dual Electric Motor	57,495	37,365	5,445	3,030	0.9091
Ford	F-150 Lightning	Platinum	Supercrew 4WD	Dual Electric Motor	89,995	61,340	5,680	3,046	1.3704
Ram	1500	Big Horn 5.7L V-8 eTorque	Quad Cab 2WD SWB	5.7L V-8 Hemi MDS VVT eTorque Engine	45,009	26,404	15,886	3,725	0.9521
Ram	1500	Big Horn 5.7L V-8 eTorque	Crew Cab 2WD SWB	5.7L V-8 Hemi MDS VVT eTorque Engine	47,660	27,880	15,886	3,725	0.9834
Ram	1500	Big Horn	Crew Cab 2WD LWB	5.7L V-8 SMPI OHV	47,896	28,116	15,886	3,725	0.9895
Ram	1500	Laramie 5.7L V-8 eTorque	Crew Cab 2WD SWB	5.7L V-8 Hemi MDS VVT eTorque Engine	53,240	28,160	15,886	3,725	1.0124
Ram	1500	Laramie	Crew Cab 2WD LWB	5.7L V-8 SMPI OHV	53,441	28,361	15,886	3,725	1.0173

Overall TCO / Cost Per Mile
Make	Model	Series	Body Style	Engine	Adjusted Invoice	Depreciation	Fuel	Maintenance	Cost Per Mile
Ram	1500 DS	Tradesman	Reg Cab 2WD LWB	3.6L V-6 SMPI DOHC	28,995	20,765	13,841	4,326	0.7895
Ford	F-150 Lightning	Pro	Supercrew 4WD	Dual Electric Motor	49,995	32,315	5,445	3,030	0.8130
Ram	1500	Tradesman	Quad Cab 2WD SWB	3.6L V-6 SMPI DOHC	37,843	21,963	12,815	3,806	0.8138
Ford	F-150	XL	Reg Cab 2WD 141	2.7L V-6 Direct injection OHC Twin turbo	35,210	22,305	12,559	4,980	0.8279
Ram	1500 DS	SLT	Reg Cab 2WD LWB	3.6L V-6 SMPI DOHC	34,421	23,516	13,841	4,326	0.8487
Ram	1500	Big Horn	Quad Cab 2WD SWB	3.6L V-6 SMPI DOHC	42,132	23,527	12,815	3,802	0.8525
Ram	1500	Tradesman	Crew Cab 2WD SWB	3.6L V-6 SMPI DOHC	40,483	24,428	12,815	3,806	0.8578
Ram	1500	HFE	Quad Cab 2WD SWB	3.6L V-6 SMPI DOHC	39,337	22,207	12,559	6,699	0.8588
Ford	F-150	XL	Supercab 2WD 145	2.7L V-6 Direct injection OHC Twin turbo	39,327	23,497	12,559	4,980	0.8611
Toyota	Tundra	SR	Dbl Cab 2WD SWB	3.5L V-6 Direct injection DOHC Twin turbo	36,969	22,514	13,775	5,366	0.8617