A recent study by iSeeCars.com reveals the most reliable truck engines lasting more than 150,000 miles or more.
Most reliable truck engines
One of the most common questions we get is which truck engines are the most reliable. While this question seems simple enough, it is extremely difficult to answer since there are many variables such as how the truck was used, how the owner maintained it, luck of the draw with every engine that might be a lemon, etc…
Also, reliability studies, like our recent most reliable new full-size trucks with expected lifespan story, never show which engines were in what trucks. Instead, they rank the truck overall for reliability. This frustrates many new or used truck prospective buyers.
This frustration led me to ask iSeeCars.com, an online car listing website with a data collection team, to run a query on trucks they had for sale by engine type and not brand or truck.
They came back with some really interesting information.
Here’s how they conducted the query:
“iSeeCars analyzed over 1 million trucks on the road in 2024 with at least 150,000 miles. It identified the engine brand, displacement, and cylinder configuration for each truck and ranked the top 20 most popular such engine configurations. In many cases, the engine brand was not available, and the engine configuration was defined solely by its displacement and cylinder configuration–such cases are known to include trucks from multiple manufacturers, and could represent engines with different specs from multiple engine brands.”
| Popularity Rank | Engine | Share of Used Trucks with 150k miles+ |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | EcoBoost 3.5L V6 | 15.6% |
| 2 | 5.0L V8 | 12.8% |
| 3 | Power Stroke 6.7L V8 | 11.1% |
| 4 | Triton 5.4L V8 | 7.5% |
| 5 | HEMI 5.7L V8 | 5.2% |
| 6 | EcoTec3 5.3L V8 | 4.5% |
| 7 | Duramax 6.6L V8 | 3.5% |
| 8 | Vortec 5.3L V8 | 3.4% |
| 9 | 4.0L V6 | 3.2% |
| 10 | Cummins 6.7L 6-Cylinder | 2.3% |
| 11 | 5.7L V8 | 2.1% |
| 12 | 6.2L V8 | 1.9% |
| 13 | 4.6L V8 | 1.6% |
| 14 | 4.7L V8 | 1.5% |
| 15 | Power Stroke 6.0L V8 | 1.5% |
| 16 | EcoBoost 2.7L V6 | 1.3% |
| 17 | 3.5L V6 | 1.2% |
| 18 | 6.4L V8 | 1.1% |
| 19 | Cummins 5.9L 6-Cylinder | 1.0% |
| 20 | Vortec 6.0L V8 | 1.0% |
Our take
When I first read this list, the Ford EcoBoost on top surprised me. First, that engine is turbocharged and the feeling online in various forums and social media is small displacement turbocharged engines are junk. The thinking is they won’t make it past 150,000 miles. However, this seems to dispute that idea.
Also, Ford sells a lot of trucks, vans and SUVs with this engine so it makes sense that their engines are on top of the list. That means there is a lot of inventory of those engines on the used market and statistically more inventory should result in more listings. And then there’s the thought to have that much inventory over 150,000 miles for sale is still pretty incredible.
Now, a critical reader of this study is right to point out that we don’t know what repair history has been done to the EcoBoost engine. However, we also don’t know what repair work has been done on the other engines like the 5.0L V8 from Ford or like the EcoTec 5.3L V8 from GM which has had issues with lifter failures. And so on for each engine.
The reality is if you search long enough online, you’ll find a problem with every engine. People tend to post a lot about problems and very little about having no issues. We love to bitch and complain and very rarely praise.
It is practically impossible to go through all one million listings, pull up a CarFax, analyze that report and then restate the study based on engines without work. Even then, I don’t believe skeptics of certain brands and engine types would believe the data.
I do think it is valuable information considering the sheer number of listings researched.
If you’re hitting the road to test one of these trucks yourself, don’t forget to check out a convenient truck stop near me for fuel, food, or rest before your next haul.
What do you think? Is this valuable to you?
