The Ford F-150 Lightning EV Is The Ultimate Used Truck Bargain

The electric vehicle market is in a strange place right now. With the federal tax credits gone, some automakers are marching forward, while others are shifting their strategy. Ford has decided to discontinue its all-electric F-150 Lightning and replace it with a model that combines an EV powerplant and a gas range extender. While Ford could no longer make a business case for a new Lightning, buyers should know that used ones are a fantastic deal.

The Lighting on paper was (and still is) a great truck. However, the starting price and shorter usable range when towing turned a lot of buyers away. For the vast majority of truck buyers who just need a local daily driver with some capacity to do "truck stuff" the Lightning was an excellent choice. You could even power your home with it during an outage.  When the tax credits were in play, buyers were able to score Lightings with super cheap leases. Now that many of those trucks are making their way into the used fleet, buyers can snatch up what might be the best used truck bargain on the market. 

To put things into perspective, if you price out a gas-powered, two-door, base-model F-150 XL with two-wheel drive, a V8 motor, and no additional options, you are looking at a truck that retails for about $42,000 before incentives. This is a very basic rig, and not one that you would typically find on most dealer lots.

Ford.com

According to Autotrader.com there are over 600 used F-150 Lightnings for sale in the entire country and about 216 of those units are retailing for under $42,000. While a chunk of these trucks have some miles on them, you can find some with reasonable usage and a lot of value.

Here is a 2023 Ford Certified Lightning XLT with 23,000 miles for $36,403.

Autotrader.com

Original MSRP on this truck was about $58,000. You can keep over $20,000 in your pocket and save money on fuel, and get way more features compared to that base-model XL.

Of course, using a base-spec gas F-150 is not the best pricing benchmark since almost no one would buy a truck that basic. A more realistic comparison would be a "mid-level" XLT, 4x4 with a 3.5 EcoBoost and some common packages. Even that "modest" truck with common features will set you back almost $60,000. Move the used truck budget up to $50,000, and you can score a fully loaded Lightning Platinum. Here is a 2023 unit with 31,000 miles for just under $49,000. 

Autotrader.com

Original MSRP on this rig is an incredible $97,529.'

That's almost $50,000 in savings, and there aren't many opportunities in the gas-powered truck market to score a 3-year-old model with plenty of warranty remaining and practically half-price. I should note that when shopping for these used Lightnings, be aware that some of the inventory on the cheaper end of the market are often manufacturer buy-backs or "Lemon Law" vehicles. While the savings might be tempting, these might not be worth the risk. However, some careful digging and a willingness to shop outside your market will get you more truck than you need for less than you expect. 

Tom McParland is a contributing writer for Jalopnik and runs AutomatchConsulting.com. He takes the hassle out of buying or leasing a car. Got a car buying question? Send it to Tom@AutomatchConsulting.com