Everybody arrives at this question the same way. You want a truck, you can see what a new one costs and what a three year old one costs, and the gap is big enough to make you wonder whether the new one is a mistake. The honest answer is that both are right for different buyers, and the thing that decides it is not the price gap at all. It is how long you keep trucks and what a surprise repair would do to you. Our used inventory and our new Ram 1500 inventory sit fifty feet apart on the same lot, and we genuinely do not care which one you walk out with. We care that you picked it for the right reason.

Key Takeaways

• Depreciation is real and trucks handle it better than most vehicles. In the most recent iSeeCars five year depreciation study, the average new vehicle lost 41.8 percent of its value while the pickup segment averaged 34.2 percent.
• The Ram 1500 sits close to its full size rivals. 37.8 percent over five years, against 37.9 for the F-150 and 39.7 for the Silverado. The Tacoma and Tundra hold value better, and that is a real point for the other side.
• A new Ram carries a warranty a used one cannot give you. New 2026 and 2027 Ram trucks bought at retail in Canada come with a 10 year or 160,000 kilometre powertrain limited warranty, and it is non transferable. It belongs to the original retail purchaser and it does not follow the truck.
• That non transferability is the whole argument in one line. Buying used means buying the depreciation discount and giving up the coverage. Buying new means paying the depreciation and keeping the coverage.
• The tie breaker is how long you keep a truck. Keep it a decade and new usually wins. Turn it over every three or four years and used usually wins.

What Depreciation Actually Costs

The number people quote at each other in coffee shops is usually wrong, so here is a sourced one.

The iSeeCars five year depreciation study, which analysed more than 950,000 five year old used vehicles sold between March 2025 and February 2026, found the average new vehicle lost 41.8 percent of its value over five years. Pickups did considerably better than that at 34.2 percent on average, because trucks hold value well and always have.

Within the full size half tons, the study put the Ram 1500 at 37.8 percent over five years, essentially level with the Ford F-150 at 37.9 percent and slightly ahead of the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 at 39.7 percent. The Toyota Tacoma and Tundra were the standouts at 19.9 and 21.2 percent, which is a genuine advantage for Toyota and we are not going to pretend it is not.

Two honest caveats before you build a plan on those figures. That is a United States study, and the Canadian used market runs its own course with its own supply and its own currency. And a segment average is not your truck: trim, kilometres, condition, colour and history all move a real trade number more than a study does. What the study is good for is the shape of the thing, and the shape is clear. A new truck sheds meaningful value in its first years, and a used truck lets somebody else absorb that.

What You Give Up Buying Used

Here is the part most used truck articles skip, and it is the strongest single argument on the new side.

Every new 2026 and 2027 Ram 1500, 2500, 3500, Chassis Cab and ProMaster bought at retail from an authorized Ram dealer in Canada carries a 10 year or 160,000 kilometre powertrain limited warranty, whichever comes first. It covers the engine, transmission, transfer case, driveshafts, differentials and axles. It is not available to fleet customers.

And it is non transferable. It applies only to the original retail purchaser or lessee, except where provincial law requires otherwise.

Read that twice, because it reframes the whole comparison. The used truck on the lot is cheaper partly because the coverage that made it attractive when it was new did not come along for the ride. You are not just buying a truck with kilometres on it. You are buying a truck whose big ticket protection ended with its first owner.

That is not a reason to avoid used trucks. It is a reason to price the risk honestly instead of pretending the only difference is the odometer.

When Used Is Clearly the Smarter Money

You turn trucks over every three or four years. If you are never going to own a truck past year eight, the long warranty is coverage you will never collect on. Let the first owner pay for the steepest part of the curve and buy in after it flattens.

You need more truck than your budget buys new. A three or four year old Laramie for the money of a new base trim is a real trade, and for a lot of buyers it is the right one. More seat, more capability, more of the features that get used every day.

Your use is light. A truck that does school runs, a weekend trailer and a dump run once a month is not stressing anything. The kilometres a previous owner put on are not a threat to that duty cycle.

You are paying cash or borrowing short. Depreciation hurts most when you are financing a big balance against a falling value. Buying used with a short term keeps you the right side of that.

You want a specific configuration that is not being built anymore. Engines, trims and packages come and go. Sometimes the truck you actually want only exists used.

If you land here, our used truck guidance for Winnipeg area buyers and our page on what counts as good mileage on a used truck are the next two things to read. Every used truck we retail carries a CARFAX report, and we will walk you through it line by line rather than handing you a folder.

When New Is Clearly the Smarter Money

You keep trucks a long time. If your last truck lasted eleven years, the 10 year or 160,000 kilometre powertrain coverage is not a brochure line, it is the years you will actually be driving it. That changes the math completely.

You work the truck hard. Heavy towing, commercial use, long loaded runs. A truck that gets worked is a truck where powertrain coverage earns its keep, and where an unknown history is a genuine risk rather than a theoretical one.

A surprise repair would hurt. This is the real question underneath the whole comparison, and it has nothing to do with percentages. If a transmission in year six would be an inconvenience, buy used with confidence. If it would be a crisis, the coverage is worth more to you than the depreciation discount is.

You want the current safety and drivetrain technology. Truck technology has moved quickly. The current Ram 1500 engine lineup, the driver assistance suite and the trailering technology are meaningfully different from a truck of even a few years ago.

Incentives are strong on the configuration you want. Manufacturer programs move monthly, and a good month can close a lot of the new versus used gap on its own. That one is worth asking about rather than assuming, and it is a five minute answer.

There is also a middle path a lot of people miss. A leftover unit from the outgoing model year is brand new, carries the full new vehicle coverage, and has already given up some of the first year value drop before you own it. Our guide on buying a leftover model year truck covers when that works.

How This Actually Plays Out Around Here

Two things about this market shape the answer differently than they would in a city.

Trucks around Portage la Prairie tend to be kept, and they tend to be worked. Farm and trade use, real kilometres, real loads, and owners who keep a truck until it genuinely owes them nothing. That tilts more buyers toward new than a purely financial analysis would, because the long coverage matches how long they actually own.

And our winters are hard on vehicles in a way a depreciation study does not measure. Salt, gravel, cold starts, and eight months of temperature swings. That makes the history of a used truck matter more here than almost anywhere: where it lived, whether it was undercoated, whether it was maintained on schedule. A well kept prairie truck is a great buy. A neglected one is an expensive lesson, and the difference is not always visible in a walk around.

The practical step for either path is the same. Find out what your current vehicle is worth before you shop, so the gap you are comparing is the real gap. Our instant cash offer tool gives you that number without a sales conversation attached, and the trade in value guide for Manitoba explains what actually moves it. Then work out the monthly reality with the finance application, or read our page on how much truck you can afford first if you would rather do the math before you talk to anybody.

FAQs

Is it better to buy a new or used truck?

It depends on how long you keep trucks and how much a surprise repair would hurt. Used wins if you turn vehicles over every few years or want more truck for the money. New wins if you keep a truck a decade, work it hard, or need the certainty of powertrain coverage.

How much does a truck depreciate in five years?

The pickup segment averaged 34.2 percent over five years in the most recent iSeeCars study, against 41.8 percent for the average new vehicle. The Ram 1500 came in at 37.8 percent, close to the F-150 at 37.9 and the Silverado at 39.7.

Does the Ram 10 year powertrain warranty transfer to a second owner?

No. Ram's 10 year or 160,000 kilometre powertrain limited warranty on new 2026 and 2027 retail purchases in Canada is non transferable and applies only to the original retail purchaser or lessee, except where provincial law requires otherwise. That is a key part of the new versus used comparison.

What is the sweet spot age for buying a used truck?

Generally a truck that is past the steepest part of the depreciation curve but still young enough to have life left in every major system. What matters more than the year is the maintenance history and the condition, especially on a prairie truck that has seen salt and gravel.

Should I worry about kilometres on a used truck?

Kilometres matter less than how they were accumulated and how the truck was maintained. Highway kilometres on a serviced truck are easier on it than a lower number of hard short trips with skipped maintenance. Our guide on good mileage for a used truck goes through it properly.

Can I get financing on a used truck?

Yes. Terms and rates differ from new, and the interaction between term length and a falling value is worth thinking through before you sign. Start the finance application and we will lay out both paths side by side.

The Bottom Line

Buying used means buying the discount and accepting the risk. Buying new means paying for the first years and keeping the coverage that comes with them, coverage that will not follow the truck to its next owner. Neither is clever and neither is foolish. The buyer who keeps trucks for a decade and works them should usually buy new. The buyer who turns them over and drives them lightly should usually buy used. Everybody else lands somewhere in between, and that is a conversation, not a formula. Come have it with us. Browse the used inventory, look at the new Ram 1500 inventory, and let us show you the honest math on both.

Tyler Dunn, Dunn Ram Trucks, Portage la Prairie