Is It Better To Lease Or Buy That Full-Size Pickup Truck?

We are usually full-throated advocates of new vehicle leasing in just about every situation. But there may be exceptions, and some of them might apply to full-size pickup trucks. In most cases, you are better off leasing. We will start out here with all the reasons that these pickups are such great vehicles. We will then cover the case for leasing, and wrap it up with the specific situations where you might be better off buying.

Full-Size Pickups Are Unique And Versatile

Full-size pickup trucks are uniquely American vehicles. They are big and they are strong. They can carry large and heavy loads, they can tow trailers on the highway, and they can conquer rough, unpaved off-road trails. Pickup trucks are some of the most capable vehicles available anywhere.

Today’s full-size pickups don’t skimp on the luxury features, either. You can get leather seats, a sunroof, high-end audio systems, touchscreen infotainment systems, Wi-Fi hotspots, and much more. Advanced semi-autonomous driver assistance technologies are also being added to these vehicles.

And just because they are big, that doesn’t mean that pickup trucks don’t care about fuel-efficiency. Pickups offer smaller engines with turbochargers that add extra power, aluminum bodies that save weight, start/stop systems that save gas when you stop in traffic, even diesel engines that produce great highway mileage. The pickup trucks of today do care about the environment.

Pickup Trucks Are Great For Work Or For Play

Whether you need a vehicle for work, play, or both, a pickup truck can handle your needs. On the job site, a pickup truck lets you use the pickup bed for the dirty parts of the job, while the interior stays clean for your personal use. When the workday is done, just hose out the bed and it’s good as new!

At home, a pickup can function just like a family car, with loads of room inside when you get the four-door cab. The bed gives you a huge amount of “trunk” space, and you can add a cover or a cap to make it weatherproof and secure. Add four-wheel drive, and getting to that remote hunting cabin in the mountains is a breeze.

Leasing A Pickup Truck Is A Great Deal

Another great benefit of pickup trucks is the incredible way that they hold their value. In leasing terms, this means that pickup trucks have high residual values. And as we have said here before, high residual values mean low monthly payments!

Full-size pickup trucks are produced in very high volumes. These pickups are among the most profitable vehicles for the manufacturers, so keeping the production lines running at full speed is very important to them. As a result, there are usually excellent sales incentives on full-size pickups at all times.

Between the high residual values and large amounts of “cash on the hood,” you should be able to get an exceptional lease deal on the full-size pickup truck of your choice.

Is Buying Your Full-Size Pickup Better In Specific Situations?

Are there some scenarios where you could be better off buying your full-size pickup truck instead of leasing it? Here are a few you might think of:

• You will be using your truck for work in a very rough setting, and you are concerned about excess wear-and-tear charges when you return it at lease end
• You want to get a special high-performance model like a Ford F-150 Raptor, and you plan on keeping it for a long time

This might have made sense at one time, but things have changed – read on:

Wear And Tear Warranties Cover You For Rough Usage

If your leased truck has to work hard for a living, there are some strategies for dealing with the consequences. A Wear And Tear Warranty will cover you for up to $5,000 to $10,000 of damage to your truck. Ask about it when you set up your pickup truck lease.

There’s another easy solution to bed damage during your lease: Get an impact-resistant bedliner when the truck is new, and then replace it with a new one when you turn the truck in. The cost of doing this will be much less than repairing a damaged pickup bed. Best of all, you get to start a new lease with a brand new truck that’s raring to go!

Leasing That Raptor May Be A Better Idea Than Buying It

It may seem like a nice idea to buy that high-performance Raptor for the long haul. But if you will be seriously zooming around in it off-road, you may wish you had warranty coverage after the three-year bumper-to-bumper and the five-year powertrain warranties run out.

Why not lease a new one every few years, have uninterrupted warranty coverage, and get the latest performance upgrades? That Wear And Tear Warranty might also be a worthy addition to a Raptor lease. Better safe than sorry!

Your Full-Size Pickup Shopping List

Here is a list of all the full-size pickup truck brands and models. These are just the light-duty models, which are suitable for most purposes. If you need a medium or heavy-duty pickup for tough jobs or serious towing, those are also available. Here they are, ranked in order of their August 2017 US sales, from top to bottom:

• Ford F-150
• Chevrolet Silverado 1500
• Ram 1500
• GMC Sierra
• Toyota Tundra
• Nissan Titan

Go For A Test Drive And See Which One You Like Best

As you shop for a full-size pickup, compare how they drive and how they are equipped, and also check out their current lease deals. Take a look at our other articles about leasing, then go out and get yourself a great lease deal on the full-size pickup of your choice!