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Which Used Pickups Offer the Best Year-End Deals?
By Nick Kurczewski
The good news for used-truck shoppers is that the beginning of the new year is an ideal time for money-saving bargains. But these same truck buyers had better take note, because finding a sweet deal on hot-selling used pickup trucks can require plenty of patience.
That's according to the results of a recent survey conducted by automotive data and research firm iSeeCars.com. In the study, which analyzed more than 2.4 million used vehicles for sale in December 2018, the marketplace for used sedans and SUVs — all ranging from 1 to 5 years old — offered a higher percentage of available deals, at least compared to the number of deals offered on trucks.
Luckily, this doesn't mean you're out of luck when it comes to used-truck shopping.
"Due to their high demand, pickup trucks are the vehicles with the lowest percentage of deals," explained iSeeCars CEO Phong Ly in the study's results. "However, deals do exist on certain models and can be found if the shopper is willing to look around."
The iSeeCars report found buyers looking at a used Nissan Frontier, Ford F-150 and GMC Sierra 1500 had an above-average chance of finding a money-saving deal. The long-running and soon-to-be-updated Frontier led the truck pack with 9.7 percent more deals than average. On sale in basically the same format for more than a decade now, the next-generation Frontier could debut at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show in February. Notable for its low starting price — in base King Cab S trim and rear-wheel-drive format, the 2019 Frontier rings in at roughly $20,000 — this no-frills Nissan is a solid choice for anyone looking for a low-cost work truck.
Next up was America's best-selling truck for more than four decades, the Ford F-150, which was found to have 5.6 percent more deals than average. It was followed by the GMC Sierra 1500 at 2.6 percent.
As defined by iSeeCars, a "deal" constitutes a cost savings of at least 5 percent off a vehicle's fair market value. To tabulate the more than 2 million vehicles in the survey, the percentage of cars or trucks that were considered deals had to be compared to the overall average of all available deals.
A spokesperson for iSeeCars told PickupTrucks.com differences could be attributable to pickup truck owners holding onto their vehicle for longer periods of time. This would limit the amount of 1-to-5-year-old used trucks available and make truck sellers less willing to offer a sizable discount on the asking price.
On the flipside to trucks offering a greater percentage of deals were models with notably less chance of delivering a bargain. Of these, the iSeeCars survey found the Toyota Tundra led the way by having 10.9 percent fewer deals than average.
Like the Nissan Frontier, the full-size Tundra has been around the block and hasn't received a major overhaul in years. In the case of the Toyota, however, this doesn't translate into a bevy of bargains being offered on the Tundra: A strong record for long-term reliability most certainly helps maintain this Toyota truck's resale value.
Following in its big brother's footsteps, the Toyota Tacoma registered 8.1 percent fewer deals than average. Next in line, both the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (3.6 percent fewer deals) and Ram 1500 (0.6 percent) could also pose challenges to bargain-hunting used-truck buyers.
