Quote Originally Posted by ray1970 View Post
200,000 miles might not be excessive for that engine but keep in mind unless it was well maintained everything else on the truck may be in rough shape.

Also, just food for thought, but if the mileage is correct that means this truck was driven less than 10K miles per year. Diesels in general don?t like a lot of starts and stops and short trips where the engine doesn?t get up to operating temperature.

I?d be less worried about a five year old truck with that kind of mileage because at least you know most of it would be longer trips and highway miles.

Good luck.
I'd agree with your assessment of diesel (or any ICE for that matter) not liking short runs. However, perhaps the 80/20 rule applies here as well with regards to age and mileage.

My 2004.5 has 68K on the clock. Very few "short" trips where it's not up to operating temp for some reasonable time. Most of the miles are minor road trips, probably 3/4 of that towing the camper. Only once has the truck been more than one or two states out. It's not a daily driver.

Oil changes twice a year (time not mileage), small problems get repaired quickly.

Recently, I installed an exhaust brake that helps warm things up quicker at idle too so my wait time for warmup is less. He also stays plugged into an automated outlet when it's going to be cold so the engine block heater runs. If I was ever looking to buy a truck, I'd try to find a similar use case.

No, it's not for sale. Probably gonna be buried in it.