Let’s talk about High mileage Ecoboosts

I am truck shopping. 

I found a nice single owner well maintained Platinum Ecoboost at a good price, but it’s got  250K on it. 

That wouldn’t bother me on a diesel, but I am not sure how I feel about it on an Ecoboost. 

Thoughts? 

Don’t you know the rule about posting someone’s name?

Stampie said:

Don’t you know the rule about posting someone’s name?

This.  Unless you’ve come looking to get a truck in the hereafter in which case my condolences and why do you need a truck up there?  I was hoping not to have to keep working.

That’s weird. That’s not what I typed

My thread title was Let’s talk about High mileage Ecoboosts 

In reply to SVreX :

They say the mind isn’t the first thing to go. 

I wouldn’t want to be the guy that finds the limit at which an ecoboost truck needs $10k in drivetrain work

Patrick said:

I wouldn’t want to be the guy that finds the limit at which an ecoboost truck needs $10k in drivetrain work

+1 on this. Even if the engine is good for another 250k that’s a lot of miles on the rest of the package. Wheel bearings, ball joints, diff steering components etc. it would have to literally be half price of comparable vehicles with half the mileage for me to consider it. 

In terms of the engine, I’d listen to the posters with their experience. The posted plug wear is real (and unexpected) but other than that, I’m not aware of other problems. 

As for the rest of the truck, just know that they are all pretty much the same- diesel v gas. So if it lasts on one, it will on the other. Or at least should. 

Patrick said:

I wouldn’t want to be the guy that finds the limit at which an ecoboost truck needs $10k in drivetrain work

Well put  

There are so many out there with less mileage I'd have to be desperate to go THAT high on mileage. I just bought my 2013 with 50k. That was about the lowest I found locally, but there were so many under 100k miles I'd be hard pressed to go higher. Now, if he's giving it to ya, well...

The flip side of that is...its real nice to know they'll run that long when I bought mi e at 50k!

In reply to ultraclyde :

Well, yes the price tag is attractive. $10K. For a Platinum. 

I've put 400K on several Fords. The running gear will take it. The engines I don't know about.

I'd have to check the prices on used and rebuilt engines and turbos. 

Looks like turbochargers are about $500 each. 

Looks like engines are $3k and up used. 

I bought a 3.5L Ecoboost F150 with 144K on it.  It runs fine. The truck is in great shape.  Now at 250K I just don't know if things would be the same?

As many have stated there are plenty of good trucks out there with way fewer miles. I bought my 2013 in spring of 2017 for less than 14K if that helps.

10k for anything gas with 250k is too much IMO

Both the Ecoboost and a diesel are direct injected, turbocharged engines with similar torque curves.  Not sure why the fuel type really impacts an expectation of longevity.

In reply to Antihero :

That’s fair. 

So when does the depreciation curve crash on a truck like this?

Ive looked at 3 identical trucks this week. This one with 250K for $10, one with 110K for $22, and one with 70K for $36. All were rust free, ran perfectly. This truck is about $60K new. 

Whats the sweet spot?

I live in the South- no rust, and trucks maintain their value.  No salt, potholes, windy roads, or mountains,   Mileage is less of a determinant of value in the South than it is in the North.  

STM317 said:

Both the Ecoboost and a diesel are direct injected, turbocharged engines with similar torque curves.  Not sure why the fuel type really impacts an expectation of longevity.

True, but the compression ratios and beefiness of the engine build are completely different. 

If it were me, I'd feel much more comfortable with that kind of mileage on a 5.0 vs an Ecoboost. Usually the larger displacement engines are less stressed than smaller displacement turbo engines. I haven't really heard any issues about carbon buildup on the 3.5 though but with that kind of mileage, there is sure to be at least some buildup.

IMHO, the sweet spot as far as mileage would be about 15k miles per year. Maybe more if the truck was a one owner, highway queen.

I know how you feel though. I just bought a 4 year old van that has 108k miles on it. It was literally half the price but twice the miles of all the vans I was finding around the same model year. Its a difficult decision: risk vs. price.

In reply to stanger_missle :

Good point on the smaller displacement engines. I think you just verbalized how I feel  

All 3 of those trucks were 2012’s. The high mileage one is a one owner truck, and at an average of 35K per year, it’s obviously a highway queen. 

If it's gone 250,000 so far, I think it's got a long way to run. If these engines weren't equal in durability to the V8s, Ford would've been out of business by now.

How difficult is turbo service on one of those?

In the car world, almost anything with a TT will have a crippling bill as soon as some sort of big turbo service comes up.  Expensive parts, but you can stomach that, crazy labor cost.

STM317 said:

Both the Ecoboost and a diesel are direct injected, turbocharged engines with similar torque curves.  Not sure why the fuel type really impacts an expectation of longevity.

Because one of the two essentially runs on a very lightweight lubricating oil, whereas the other one runs on a solvent?

Probably won't affect the rest of the drivetrain that much, but it does affect the longevity of the engine.  That said, with that sort of mileage there is a good chance that the truck was primarily run on longer-distance trips than short hops around town, which should be really beneficial to engine longevity.