Since I bought it new 17 years ago, my 96 F250 Ford 7.3 diesel has proven to be a very capable truck for my 15,000 pounds of combined towing weight.
No, I don't race with anyone on the highway and am happy to hang back with the heavy truckers up and down the mountain grades.
The 14 mpg average my rig achieves while towing is a match for just about any RV on the road. Good mileage has gotten more important to me in the past few years since the cost of diesel has risen into the $4 per gallon area.
Additionally, exceptional reliability and durability has grown more important to me as shop rates have broken into the $100-per-hour arena and new rigs have exceeded the $50,000 purchase cost and technology has gotten so complicated that I'd be afraid to look under the hood of a new model with a wrench in my hand.
Yep, if nobody wants my old F250 after I'm done, just drain the fuel tanks and bury me in the old gal and let the archaelogists wonder what the heck did he have in mind.
