'03 Ford F-250 with V-10 gas engine
Hello fine people: Tomorrow I go to look at a 2003 F-250 for sale. It has the 6.8 ltr V-10 gas engine with 425 lb ft torque and 165,000 miles. It is 4wd and has many options that look attracti...
Forum Discussion
I own two of these trucks - an '00 F-350 and an '03 F-350. The '00 is a crew truck, the '03 is my daily driver and trailer-hauler.
The '00 has 310K miles on it. It popped a spark plug at about 120K, owing to my ill-advised decision to let a lube and tune place replace the plugs. The repair ran about $600 and we've had no problems since.
And when I say no problems, I mean NO problems. Not a single repair. I finally had the serpentine belt replaced a few months back just because it seemed like something that should be done on a truck with 300K miles. Tires - fluids - brakes - batteries - wiper blades. Not bad for a truck that runs every day loaded to about 10K pounds, although it is starting to burn a quart of oil in about 2K miles.
My '03 has been slightly less reliable in that I had to replace the air conditioning compressor at 190K miles. It also has started using oil at the rate of 1 qt. per 2K miles. The drivers seat tore at about 200K miles and the compass has never worked right but that has been the extent of repairs. Mine also weighs in at about 10K pounds without the trailer which makes everything work harder.
Fuel economy is not the best - figure 10 MPG loaded, slightly less towing. A diesel might return better fuel economy but the repair bills will kill you.
My next truck will be a 2010 Ford - the last year to the V-10. Being as I wait for a truck to start costing me money it may be several years before I get one.
The '00 has 310K miles on it. It popped a spark plug at about 120K, owing to my ill-advised decision to let a lube and tune place replace the plugs. The repair ran about $600 and we've had no problems since.
And when I say no problems, I mean NO problems. Not a single repair. I finally had the serpentine belt replaced a few months back just because it seemed like something that should be done on a truck with 300K miles. Tires - fluids - brakes - batteries - wiper blades. Not bad for a truck that runs every day loaded to about 10K pounds, although it is starting to burn a quart of oil in about 2K miles.
My '03 has been slightly less reliable in that I had to replace the air conditioning compressor at 190K miles. It also has started using oil at the rate of 1 qt. per 2K miles. The drivers seat tore at about 200K miles and the compass has never worked right but that has been the extent of repairs. Mine also weighs in at about 10K pounds without the trailer which makes everything work harder.
Fuel economy is not the best - figure 10 MPG loaded, slightly less towing. A diesel might return better fuel economy but the repair bills will kill you.
My next truck will be a 2010 Ford - the last year to the V-10. Being as I wait for a truck to start costing me money it may be several years before I get one.
