Buying a Used Lightning with High Mileage - Need Some Input

[sunnydazed]

Hi folks, appreciate all the good stuff on these forums and hoping you can provide some input. I've been looking at used Lightnings for a while and finally it seems like prices are starting to enter in my affordability range.

Looking at mostly 2022 Lariats ERs in high $30K-low $40k. The downside of this is that most, if not all, are well over 50k miles, some approaching highs 80s and beyond. With my ICE trucks high mileage never bothered me if I could validate that it has been taken care of. Heck my daily driver is 350k currently. But it's a different deal with EVs, obviously.

Given the factory warranty is capped at 100k miles on the batteries and it seems near impossible to find an extended warranty that is affordable and covers beyond the factory warranty.

So curious as to how others feel about getting close to the 100k cutoff for the factory battery warranty? My current thought is to find a Lightning that balances price and miles, so pay a little more and have more time to get to 100k miles.

Thanks--would love to hear if and how others approa

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[RickLightning]

There are no warranties that extend coverage on the high voltage battery and components, to my knowledge, at any cost.

I wouldn't buy a vehicle if I knew I would exceed that warranty during at least the first few years of ownership, if at all.

 

[sunnydazed]

@RickLightning thanks, pretty much sums up my current mindset. I don't drive a ton of miles annually anymore but I need a buffer of 25-30k miles before the warranty is depleted.

 

[sotek2345]

What area of the country are you in?

 

[sunnydazed]

What area of the country are you in?

Southeastern US - NC

 

[Brent@ANParts]

Smart to stay aware of that battery warranty! Definitely consider how long you want to keep your truck. If it's just a few years maybe a lease could be a good idea then you have zero concerns. I previously had a Rivian, bought used, and got burned by additional depreciation. Would have been cheaper to lease something new!

 

[ElectrifyingMe25]

Be careful. It's nice to have a safety net on this new technology. I consider myself a beta tester, and I have a low mileage '23. However, I love my truck and I'm willing to put up with a few hiccups. Battery packs don't last forever. But, some last a very long time.

 

[rp1723]

I just got a 22 ER Lariat for 38900 with 49k miles on it. There’s definitely decent deals. It was certified pre owned so I got a year bumper to bumper and the ford EV certified warranty on some other components and the battery after the first year

 

[ElectrifyingMe25]

Great deal. I'm happy for you.

 

[RLXXI]

I wouldn't worry about the hvb, it'll outlast the rest of the truck. It's also repairable so one bad cell doesn't kill the entire battery, just the bad cell pack can be replaced at a discount compared to an entire new pack.

 

[Tfarrell73]

I'd be more worried about the other components besides the HVB. The screen or cooling components seem more likely to be a problem. Someone recently reported a 100k lightning still had over 90% capacity on HVB

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Personally, I wouldn’t worry about high mileage on a BEV. As long as the mechanicals are working I have no concerns about battery life.

 

[Yellow Buddy]

Hi folks, appreciate all the good stuff on these forums and hoping you can provide some input. I've been looking at used Lightnings for a while and finally it seems like prices are starting to enter in my affordability range.

Looking at mostly 2022 Lariats ERs in high $30K-low $40k. The downside of this is that most, if not all, are well over 50k miles, some approaching highs 80s and beyond. With my ICE trucks high mileage never bothered me if I could validate that it has been taken care of. Heck my daily driver is 350k currently. But it's a different deal with EVs, obviously.

Given the factory warranty is capped at 100k miles on the batteries and it seems near impossible to find an extended warranty that is affordable and covers beyond the factory warranty.

So curious as to how others feel about getting close to the 100k cutoff for the factory battery warranty? My current thought is to find a Lightning that balances price and miles, so pay a little more and have more time to get to 100k miles.

Thanks--would love to hear if and how others approa

Unfortunately, mileage isn’t going to tell you much about the truck. You can put cycles on the batteries without ever putting a mile on this truck. You can also stress the batteries more on a lower mileage truck with poor charging habits vs a higher mileage truck with good charging habits.

If the HVB is your main concern you have to be aware that issues do exist on these trucks, especially the 2022. Luckily they’ve been covered by recalls/warranty.

That aside, in general HVB is less of a concern for me than say the general electronics or the motors - not Lightning specific just buying a used EV.

Here’s one article that may help with your concerns. It’s not a Lightning, but it should be a loose indication:

https://insideevs.com/news/766834/ford-mustang-mach-e-battery-degradation/

 

[WXman]

I would never remotely consider driving this truck without warranty on the battery pack, motors, charge system, etc.

If you go over to the Super Duty diesel forums, guys over there say the same thing. "AHH...it's fine. Don't worry about it. Just drive the truck and enjoy it." I guess those guys have deep pockets, because I certainly don't keep cash laying around for $15,000 vehicle repairs every so often.

 

[earlyadopt]

Hi folks, appreciate all the good stuff on these forums and hoping you can provide some input. I've been looking at used Lightnings for a while and finally it seems like prices are starting to enter in my affordability range.

Looking at mostly 2022 Lariats ERs in high $30K-low $40k. The downside of this is that most, if not all, are well over 50k miles, some approaching highs 80s and beyond. With my ICE trucks high mileage never bothered me if I could validate that it has been taken care of. Heck my daily driver is 350k currently. But it's a different deal with EVs, obviously.

Given the factory warranty is capped at 100k miles on the batteries and it seems near impossible to find an extended warranty that is affordable and covers beyond the factory warranty.

So curious as to how others feel about getting close to the 100k cutoff for the factory battery warranty? My current thought is to find a Lightning that balances price and miles, so pay a little more and have more time to get to 100k miles.

Thanks--would love to hear if and how others approa

The battery packs are lasting a lot longer than what the manufactures had spec them for. With any electric truck, I would try to get an idea as to what the state of the battery is. There should be a way to do this. I have used a plug in dongle that estimates the battery health, additional when fully charged the guest o meter on the truck should give you some idea of the range.
Another threat mentioned that fact that these battery packs are made up of small individual lithium batteries arranged in serial and parallel connects. So if you have some bad cells, they are replaced. A total battery may have to be replaced if in an accident or some sort of total melt down of the electrical system. (this is above my pay grade) No different than an ICE car but the amount of maintenance on these vehicles are much less. Breaks last, no oil changes. I have the Lightning and MachE for over a yr, tire rotations and general checks on breaks when the tires get swopped for winter. Yes we have that nasty stuff. All good so far.

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