Park an F-150 next to an F-350 and most people cannot tell them apart at twenty feet. Same grille family, same badge, same silhouette. Then you look at what they cost used, and it is the price difference between a Corolla and a Corvette.
| Truck | Listings | Average price | Average mileage | Share diesel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ford F-150 | 11,312 | 126,238 | 0.2% | |
| Ford F-250 | 5,571 | 136,114 | 42.2% | |
| Ford F-350 | 4,490 | 110,785 | 63.6% |
$19,500 separates the average F-150 from the average F-350. And look at the last column, because that is where most of it lives.
You are not buying a bigger truck. You are buying a diesel.
Almost no F-150s are diesel — two in a thousand. Four in ten F-250s are. Nearly two thirds of F-350s are. The heavy-duty trucks are not just heavier; they are a different drivetrain market wearing the same sheet metal.
Isolate it on a single model and the size of that option becomes obvious. Same truck, same badge, one difference:
| Ford F-250 | Listings | Average price | Average mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diesel | 1,728 | 149,406 | |
| Gas | 1,965 | 131,511 |
The diesel F-250 asks $10,987 more than the gas one — while carrying 18,000 more miles. Normally extra miles push a price down. Here the engine overwhelms them completely.
That is not a Ford quirk. Across the whole market, used diesel vehicles average $35,851 against $13,958 for gas — two and a half times the money. Diesel buyers are towing, working, or planning to keep the truck to 300,000 miles, and the resale market prices that in from day one.
The trap in the middle
Here is where people lose money. The F-250 is the truck most often bought for reasons that do not need it.
An F-150 handles roughly 13,000 lb of towing in the right configuration — the boat, the camper, the two-horse trailer, the utility trailer full of tools. That covers what most buyers actually do. Stepping to a diesel F-250 costs eleven thousand dollars up front and brings a maintenance schedule that does not care how you use it: fuel filters in pairs, DEF, expensive oil in large quantities, glow plugs, and injectors that cost more than a used Civic when they eventually go.
The heavy-duty truck earns that back if you are pulling 15,000 lb regularly, or need the payload, or genuinely intend to drive it for a quarter of a million miles. If you tow a boat eight weekends a year, you bought a work tool and are paying its salary in the off season.
What to check before you sign
On any used diesel, mileage means less than history. A 200,000-mile truck with documented service is a better bet than a 90,000-mile one that sat, because the emissions hardware — EGR, DPF, DEF system — fails from neglect and short trips more than from distance. Ask specifically whether the emissions system is intact; a deleted truck is cheaper for a reason and can fail inspection or become uninsurable.
Then run the VIN. Heavy-duty trucks carry their own recall campaigns, and work trucks are exactly the vehicles whose recall letters went to a fleet address three owners ago — a free VIN check shows what is still open. The original window sticker is worth pulling too, because on an F-250 it is the only proof of which engine, axle ratio and tow package you are actually buying.
If you are cross-shopping outside the F-Series, the F-150 against the Silverado is the comparison most buyers should be having first.
Frequently asked questions
How much more does an F-250 or F-350 cost than an F-150?
In our listings the F-150 averages $19,916, the F-250 $27,231 and the F-350 $39,407 — a $19,491 spread from the lightest to the heaviest.
Why are heavy-duty F-Series trucks so much more expensive?
Mostly the engine. Only 0.2% of F-150s are diesel against 42.2% of F-250s and 63.6% of F-350s. Inside the F-250 alone, the diesel version averages $31,569 versus $20,582 for gas.
Is a diesel truck worth the premium?
Only if you use it. The roughly $11,000 premium plus diesel-specific maintenance pays off for regular heavy towing, high payload or very high mileage plans. For occasional towing, an F-150 covers most of what buyers actually do.
What should I check on a used diesel truck?
Service history over odometer reading, and whether the emissions system is intact. A deleted truck can fail inspection or be difficult to insure. Run the VIN for open recalls, which often went unclaimed on fleet-owned work trucks.
Denis Kataev is a serial solopreneur and the founder of ForCar. With 15+ years in software engineering and 10 years in SEO, he builds data-driven products end to end — backed by a sharp eye for design. At ForCar he mines proprietary vehicle datasets, turning raw numbers into buying advice you can actually trust.
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