Ford or...?

goducks10 wrote:
I find it hard to believe that sales guy. The F150 is the best selling 1/2 ton (usually) and the Eco is the top motor when sold. Hmmm.

That's what he said, they last forever and people tend to keep them, so they're hard to find used. Said he.

goducks10 wrote:
I find it hard to believe that sales guy. The F150 is the best selling 1/2 ton (usually) and the Eco is the top motor when sold. Hmmm.

I think the salesman was trying to say that they do not get USED Eco-boost equipped F150s BACK in trade ins. In other words, folks are HOLDING ON TO THE ECO BOOST EQUIPPED F150s.

That makes it a very thin used market.

OP may need to consider ORDERING A NEW 2015 equipped the way they want or at least look at new 2014 ones on the lot (there may be some killer deals to be had on any leftover NOS). With a thin used market the asking prices tend to be higher and often close to the price of a new vehicle.

Ford is currently offering $1,500 trade assist bonus cash offer (PGM# 30060) for 1995 and newer vehicles for trade in, plus there may be an additional customer cash up to $3000 (PGM #12638) which may also apply. These are valid as long as you take delivery by 1/5/15..

I find it hard to believe that sales guy. The F150 is the best selling 1/2 ton (usually) and the Eco is the top motor when sold. Hmmm.

MargaretB wrote:
We just looked at a 2011 F-150 Lariat V6 4x4 with EcoBoost. It rides very comfortably and doesn't have that massive trucky feel we noticed on some others we drove last fall. 6' bed, nice amenities...

...but...

the payload is 1370#. That's only 140# more than the Sequoia. I'm sure it's because of the automatic heated memory seats and all the other stuff on it, all of which are very seductive but not necessary. Per the salesman, they don't often get used EcoBoost vehicles on the lot - that was the only one. A shorter bed would save us about 150#, per the sales guy. But finding one with EcoBoost is not easy.

There in lies the problem and hence the caution I mentioned about payload being all over the map.

I'm thinking you may need to be looking for a F150 which has the HD payload package or the Max Trailer towing package.. Thats going to be a bit like a needle in the haystack..

You can get an idea of the cargo available if you take a look at page 4 of the 2011 F150 towing guide HERE

Page 4 tells you the available cargo for slide in campers for the different configurations which is far more accurate than page 2 of same guide which is where folks see the large towing weight numbers which are pretty much over optimistic.

Unfortunately a 4x4 super cab long bed in this year will have max payload of 1,599 lbs when equipped with HD payload package..

We just looked at a 2011 F-150 Lariat V6 4x4 with EcoBoost. It rides very comfortably and doesn't have that massive trucky feel we noticed on some others we drove last fall. 6' bed, nice amenities...

...but...

the payload is 1370#. That's only 140# more than the Sequoia. I'm sure it's because of the automatic heated memory seats and all the other stuff on it, all of which are very seductive but not necessary. Per the salesman, they don't often get used EcoBoost vehicles on the lot - that was the only one. A shorter bed would save us about 150#, per the sales guy. But finding one with EcoBoost is not easy.

At the present time I suspect the E-Boost has lot to do with it. Good low end torque. But I believe that Ford F-150 simply outsell the competition so you will naturally get more Ford owners on the board.

Despite claims to the contrary, for the average Joe or Josephine any truck that is suitable for the load will do the job regardless of brand.

My F-150 4x4 is rated 1411 lbs. Max cargo; so with the DW, dog, stuff and tongue weight of our 5000 lb. TT when loaded, it is at its cargo limit. But, since most people tow less than two month out of the year and they use the TV for regular day to day driving, the F-150’s 18 to 20 mpg on the highway, lower cost of maintenance than bigger trucks and diesels, add to its appeal.

In answer to your question, also keep in mind that a fair amount of the ½ ton TV are probably towing RV’s that or at or over the recommended limit but the performance is suitable to their owners. A product that meets the owner’s needs, at a cost they can afford, will always sell well.

Boy, did you open a can of worms, just kidding. The answer is mostly whoever is answering the question is towing with the best. We've had 4 trucks over our 51 years - all Fords. Do wish we had our old '57 back, but that's another issue. We had a '98, before towing, and then got an '03, still before towing. We narrowed it down to 2 on the lot. One was a red Lariat model, awesome looking! The other was a charcoal XLT that happened to have a factory tow, which that Lariat did not. DH asked me which one....not to offend, but I'm just not a red truck person, so I said the charcoal one. This was way before we even thought anything about a trailer. I did ask DH why he liked the one with the tow package and he said something like "well, you never know when you might need it". OK, so the charcoal it is. BETWEEN THE TWO WE NARROWED IT DOWN TO.....the main differences between the XLT and the Lariat were bells and whistles. The Lariat had leather interior, the XLT had fabric. The Lariat had more expensive fancy wheels, the XLT had different fancy wheels. The XLT has the 5.4 engine and I can't remember the rear end #s, but anyway it's the big towing package AT THAT TIME. It's been a really good truck, I hate to say no problems that it'll jinx it, but no problems. It's comfortable. We've had good service from it and no complaints. We have an excellent dealer that strongly believes in service after the sale.

Don't think DH has any issues with the GM trucks, but he's not a Chrysler person, in spite of the fact that I drive one...and without any problems. Suggest you talk to friends and family about the dealer they have and how they feel about it. Then start the search without narrowing it down to any one brand and see what you like + what YOUR feeling is about the dealer. And, it's another one of those homework things just like the trailer, just not as complicated. Good luck.

Well, if you happen to be a car thief, Ford is the most popular vehicle of choice in Canada and the US. In Canada, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, 7 out of 10 stolen vehicles in 2014 are Ford F250s & F350s. According to this Yahoo Finance article (taken from the Highway Data Loss Institute), pickup trucks are the 6 out of 10 most stolen vehicle in the US with F250s being at the top of the list. It seems like a lot of stolen pickups get re-VINed and shipped abroad. The top choice of overseas buyers is Ford pickups! In a sinister sort of way, I guess you could say it keeps US autoworkers employed...

In recent times, pickup trucks have morphed into pimped-out SUVs with as much bling as possible. The manufacturers are all trying to out-bling each other. And if it's not more bling, they try to out-towing capacity each other. Around here (and I'm sure everywhere else) there are tons of 1/2T crewcab 4WD trucks with dinky short boxes that just get around town use and are more of a status symbol. Pickups sure have changed a lot over the years and so has the marketing of them.

It used to be that trucks were used as trucks and cowboys were the big buyers. In 1970 there may not have been all the bling like there is today, but you could get a "snazzled up" truck (don't know about the "Dude" designation tho.)


I do like our F250 even with some of the idiosyncracies like poor ergonomically positioned CC buttons on the steering wheel and a few others. Had a Chev pickup once and it just didn't grab me for some reason.

I have a 2011 2500HD GMC, I liked the pushrod V8 for reliability and the drivetrain of the Chevy is solid.

I was recently considering going the diesel possibly dually route and converting to the camper forum (I still would have if I had the $$). I test drove all 3 brands with my order of preference going into it being Chev, Dodge, and Ford.

I found Chevy to be awesome with the duramax, but payload was lacking (the price of an indy front-suspension), the ride was awesome.

The new Ford powerstroke surprised me and the dual turbos and the best get-up-and go, it literally felt like a V8 gasser. The downside to Ford was the interior ergonomics seemed to be designed for people under 6' in height. Everything looked sharp, but was wrong. Felt wrong, in the wrong spot.

Dodge was the biggest surprise between utility and capability. The new interiors rock compared to previous dodge iterations, the crew cab foot well coolers are awesome, and the Ram designers have put storage in every possible place they could get.

At this point in time, I think all 3 make extremely reliable pickups. Test drive all 3 and find which has the best price combined with what "feels" the best for you..