Reliability rankings tend to flatter the badge, yet running costs and complaint files tell a blunter story. Maintenance projections and owner reports put some familiar pickups, vans and minivans under a harsh light. Here are ten trucks and vans that make long-term ownership an expensive habit for the people who hold them.
1. Ram ProMaster: Cargo Van Bills
Motor1’s maintenance ranking lists the ProMaster City and Cargo Van at a ten-year cost estimate of $19,870 to $20,061. The same table has annual upkeep reaching $3,845 by year ten, a figure that grows steadily as the van ages.
For a small business or a delivery fleet, that trajectory matters more than the sticker price. A work van is expected to earn its keep every day, so repair bills that rise with mileage eat directly into margins. Buyers pricing a used example should budget for the later years rather than the first warranty-covered ones.
2. Mercedes-Benz Sprinter: Upkeep That Climbs
The Sprinter van appears in the same Motor1 table with a ten-year maintenance cost of $18,634. Annual upkeep is shown reaching $3,513 by year ten, which puts the Mercedes-Benz van just behind the ProMaster in the listing.
Premium-brand commercial vans tend to carry premium service pricing, and the ranking reflects that pattern. Owners planning to keep a Sprinter well past the warranty period should treat roughly that annual figure as a realistic late-life allowance. Tradespeople who rack up heavy mileage may find the real total sits even higher.
3. Ram 1500: Pickup Costs Add Up
The Ram 1500 earns its place in the Motor1 maintenance list, at a ten-year total of $17,677. Yearly upkeep starts modestly at $567 in year one, then climbs to $3,362 by year ten.
That sixfold rise is the real lesson for anyone shopping for a full-size truck. Early ownership feels cheap because little wears out, which can lull buyers into underestimating what comes later. A prospective owner planning a decade with the truck should expect the second half to cost far more than the first.
4. Dodge Grand Caravan: Complaint Pile-Up
CarComplaints logs 3,426 complaints against the Dodge Grand Caravan, a large pile for a family hauler that was sold in huge numbers for years. The site collects owner reports and sorts them by model, year and problem type.
A raw complaint count partly reflects how many vans were sold, so it works best as a prompt for deeper checking rather than a verdict. Still, a total this size justifies pulling the specific model-year pages before buying. Shoppers should look for repeating failure patterns and compare repair costs with the asking price.
5. Honda Odyssey: Minivan Grievances
Honda’s minivan draws 2,964 owner complaints on CarComplaints, a notable tally for a nameplate with a reputation for dependability. The reports cover the Odyssey across its production run, and the site groups them by year and by type of fault.
The number is a reminder that a strong badge does not make every model-year trouble-free. Sales volume inflates counts, so a high total is not proof of a bad van on its own. Buyers get more value from reading which years attract the complaints and whether the faults were fixed in later versions.
6. Chevrolet Silverado 1500: Surging Repair Bills
CarComplaints singles out the 2017 Silverado 1500 for a problem it calls “Surges And Jerks”. That fault averages $4,100 to repair, and it tends to appear at an average of 22,000 miles.
Showing up at 22,000 miles means the failure can arrive while a truck is young and sometimes close to the end of its basic coverage. A repair bill of that size would be a hard hit on a vehicle still being paid off. Used buyers should ask for service records showing the issue was addressed.
7. Toyota Tacoma: Quiet Complaint Count
CarComplaints records 1,174 owner complaints against the Tacoma on its Toyota page. That is a far smaller pile than the minivans and full-size trucks above, yet it still marks the mid-size pickup as a model with documented grievances.
The Tacoma is often assumed to be bulletproof, and the strong resale prices reflect that belief. A complaint file is a useful corrective, since it shows owners do report problems. Buyers paying a premium for the reputation should still inspect the exact year and confirm any known faults were resolved.
8. Nissan Frontier: Frontier Fault Lines
The Frontier collects 1,070 complaints on CarComplaints, filed under the Nissan page that lists reports by model and year. The count is modest next to the biggest sellers but sizable for a mid-size pickup with a long production run.
A long production run gives a model many chances to pick up repeat faults, so age matters when judging a used Frontier. Owners and shoppers should check which years draw the most reports and avoid assuming the whole run is equal. A pre-purchase inspection is cheap insurance against joining the tally.
9. Ford Ranger: Ranger Reports
CarComplaints lists 854 owner complaints against the Ford Ranger. The figure is the lowest of the pickups in the complaint-based group here, though it still represents hundreds of owners who took the time to report a fault.
A smaller total can reflect fewer sales as much as fewer failures, which complicates any comparison across models. The Ranger therefore suits a cautious reading rather than a simple ranking. Buyers can use the site to see which specific years and systems generate the reports before settling on a particular truck.
10. Dodge Dakota: Dakota Legacy
The Dakota has 921 complaints on file at CarComplaints’ Dodge page, a notable number for a mid-size pickup that Dodge no longer sells. The reports accumulate over its many years of production and remain searchable by model year.
Because the Dakota is now an older truck, any example on the used market has years of wear behind it. Owners are more likely to face repairs on a vehicle of that age regardless of the complaint count. Shoppers should weigh condition and maintenance history above the nameplate when assessing a candidate.
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