Super high mileage questions

[Scottsdale69]

Hello everyone.
New poster and I’m interested in learning what everyones opinion of the following scenario.
I’m interested in a 2019 Limited with about 205k miles. The dealer is listing it at 23k and it’s a pretty well equipped truck (at least for me-hemi and adaptive cruise control). I do not drive much (last year I did 6k miles- I’m an airline pilot that drives about 14 miles to work about 15 times a month- so I don’t really rack up a lot of miles). I do plan on towing our 5k trailer a decent amount- probably once every other month. The truck will sit about 3-4 months a year (we live in Phoenix and bail during the heat to the east coast).

So general questions- what should I look out for when looking at this truck besides the obvious normal stuff like leaks and bad over all care? Is there anything I should look for in the hemi? Tell tale issues that are easy to spot? Can anyone share if they have a decently priced obd scan tool that works well with dodge to get better insight into the truck?
Am I completely stupid for buying such an high mileage truck? Has anyone taken a hemi to such high mileage in a short amount of time? General thoughts on high mileage trucks? And just for reference I do own a high milage truck (don’t laugh too hard- it’s a Honda Ridgeline with 180k on it that’s been flawless)

Thank you and sorry for the poor writing- I’m at the gate about to push and this truck just came up!

 

[Reverse]

Just of the top of my head (we have a 2014 with abt. 235,000 miles and a 2020 with 130,000):
- Carfax to spot accidents etc.
- Make sure previous owner did required maintenance (dealer records?)
- listen for excessive ticking of engine (possible lifter issue or possibly exhaust header cracks)
- by this mileage suspension components may be due for a refresh
- factor in some budget for other wear items that are bound to come up at this mileage

Generally speaking though, if the truck looks and sounds good, you'll probably be OK. Lemons don't usually make it to this mileage. The truck will probably suffer more from sitting for 3-4 months as you plan, than from having been used like it has so far.

 

[Scottsdale69]

Just of the top of my head (we have a 2014 with abt. 235,000 miles and a 2020 with 130,000):
- Carfax to spot accidents etc.
- Make sure previous owner did required maintenance (dealer records?)
- listen for excessive ticking of engine (possible lifter issue or possibly exhaust header cracks)
- by this mileage suspension components may be due for a refresh
- factor in some budget for other wear items that are bound to come up at this mileage

Generally speaking though, if the truck looks and sounds good, you'll probably be OK. Lemons don't usually make it to this mileage. The truck will probably suffer more from sitting for 3-4 months as you plan, than from having been used like it has so far.

Right- all good points. It’s funny you mention the sitting. It always seems like something comes up after it sits.

And I’ll say this- milage doesn’t really scare me- just don’t know what I’m looking for as far as problems.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[PM-Performance]

I would rest assured that if an owner put 205k miles on in 4 years that that probably went above and beyond on maintenance.
Typically higher mileage cars like this are treated better as someone relied on it much more.
Just look for normal common sense stuff and realize you can’t be too picky for the price.

 

[StuartV]

Just know to plan on dealing with the standard Hemi exhaust leak possibly very soon and every roughly 30 - 50K miles thereafter. The exhaust leak is generally either a result of broken header bolts or a cracked manifold.

My '19 Hemi had the first exhaust leak at 40-something thousand miles. When I traded it in at 72K miles, it had just started to sound like the exhaust leak was back again.

My '09 Hemi had 193K miles on it when I traded it for my '19. I owned it from new. I had exhaust leaks repaired on that one approximately 6 times.

 

[Scottsdale69]

Just know to plan on dealing with the standard Hemi exhaust leak possibly very soon and every roughly 30 - 50K miles thereafter. The exhaust leak is generally either a result of broken header bolts or a cracked manifold.

My '19 Hemi had the first exhaust leak at 40-something thousand miles. When I traded it in at 72K miles, it had just started to sound like the exhaust leak was back again.

My '09 Hemi had 193K miles on it when I traded it for my '19. I owned it from new. I had exhaust leaks repaired on that one approximately 6 times.

Hi- can you tel me more about the exhaust leaks?

 

[StuartV]

Search is your friend. There are TONS of posts about the Hemi exhaust leak.

 

[Scottsdale69]

You are very right-

Search is your friend. There are TONS of posts about the Hemi exhaust leak.

you are very right- thanks

 

[kdoublep]

That's a lot of miles man

 

[RAL]

Above is all good advice.

I would reiterate: ask for service records. Any car or truck with any kind of mileage, even much lower mileage, is a pig in a poke without records.
Secondarily, I would also have the truck inspected by a good shop. This way to the extent there are issues coming up, you have a better chance to plan for them.
Finally, at this mileage, financing may not be available. Paying cash is smarter anyway, but just a heads-up.

Fwiw, I think it is smart what you are doing. If you don't drive that much, there is no need to tie up $60k-$80k in a truck that will be driven 6k miles a year unless you have a lot of extra money sitting around. I wish I had been that smart earlier in my working years.

Good luck with it!

 

[firecadet613]

I racked up 178k miles on my 2020 company car in just over 3 years. ZERO issues, just oil changes every 7,500 miles and tires. The carfax should show dealer or quick lube maintenance.

I'd of bought it but they wanted well over book value.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!

 

[Adjutant]

I would invest the $200 on a pre purchase inspection. They will either uncover alot of issues, that you can use to negotiate, or not pursue the deal.

They can also give it a clean bill of health. I did this with a Power Wagon with 109K. It needed lower control arms, but that was just nitpicking.

I promise you, a pre purchase inspection is worth every penny and then some

 

[Paco]

Take it for a drive.
How does it drive???
Like a tired truck or not.???

How are tires, are they dumping the truck with ****ty tires????, If so make a point of telling them and why your knocking $1000:00 off the price.

Being its a Limited, if you can get a good enough deal, it would be possible to drop a New motor in somewhere down the road and still be a Nice truck for under $40,000,00 dollars.
Tranny is pretty bulletproof if not beaten on to much.

They took it in on a trade, so there probably asking about $5 grand more than they gave the guy trading it in.
Its high mileage, so between possible new tires and the mileage I would be asking for a couple grand off the list price.

I wish I could afford a Limited, there really nice trucks.
My 2 cents.

I would ask for a 90 day bumper to bumper warranty just in case.

 

[Scottsdale69]

I racked up 178k miles on my 2020 company car in just over 3 years. ZERO issues, just oil changes every 7,500 miles and tires. The carfax should show dealer or quick lube maintenance.

I'd of bought it but they wanted well over book value.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!

Thank you for your thoughtful response. Yes it’s high mileage but I was actually able to track down the man who did all the service (the oil was changed every 10k miles give or take about 1k miles) and in his words “the guy who owned it had an open checkbook policy- anything it needed do it” The truck was serviced at the same shop since new- pretty rare. He also added this man was an engineer and used it to check on sites. He replaced it with an exact same truck (color and everything) only because his boss gave him a new truck. I was pretty shocked to see that.

 

[CalvinC]

If it was a single owner and the carfax show oil changed at least every 10k miles, and the interior is in decent shape (I look at this as a possible correlation to mechanical care) I bet it’s fine.

I’d be way more worried about a vehicle with multiple owners or hardly any miles (lemon).

To amass that many miles in just a few years requires a lot of highway driving, which is no problem. Way better than 20% of those miles all earned in the city.

Just note since it’s a Limited the air suspension will be expensive to replace and probably due within next 50k miles, if not already. Raise and lower through all positions, then do the normal shock test (push or shake truck to check for rebound). The air system is surprisingly robust, but when the front shocks wear out it requires replacing the whole air strut, even if the air chamber is fine.

 

[CalvinC]

Also this guy hasn’t had many problems in 230k miles with his 2019 Limited.
(Heck you could be looking at this truck…)