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Fourkidletts's avatar
Fourkidletts
Explorer
Feb 27, 2016

OMG!!! Thank you friends for my education.

I have been researching TV's and TT's since 2014. You guys have done a great job making me realize what an important number payload is, since we have 6 of us in our family. Getting that number from anyone is like pulling a tooth!

After going through 2 truck salesmen that both told us strange numbers (f250 has payload of 6,000 lbs. HUH?) and confused about towing specs, I showed him my charts I had printed out. He was annoyed with me the entire time, because I kept wanting to "See the numbers". Long story short, and several requests later, his numbers were no where close to my charts. He said he would get the owner (of an VERY large Ford dealership) to "explain things to us".
I listened to what he had to say. Here's how it went down.

Owner (O): so, here's the thing. Payload and towing capacity are 2 different things.
Me: Yes, I understand this.
O: What are you trying to tow?
Me: We are still trying to figure that out, that's why we are looking at F 150s and 250s and looking at payload numbers. We have 6 of us, and so payload is important.
O: Well, your passengers have nothing to do with payload. Only the weight of the cargo and tongue weight. But tongue weight counts, only if it's a fifth wheel, because that sits in the bed of the truck.

With mouth hanging open, I calmly took my papers from his hand and said "That is completely untrue, we are leaving." He continued to try to explain to me how passengers don't matter, and my husband gently and lovingly guided my pissed off self out to the car.

Owner follows us to the car saying something, and I tell my husband "Show him the picture". He shows him the picture of the tire and loading sticker info in a truck we looked at and it says, very clearly, "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed 1978lbs." Owner says "Well, we may need to talk about an F 250 then. I said "WE are leaving, I don't trust buying a truck from you. This isn't ok, you just telling people things that aren't true just to buy a vehicle!" Owner: "If you don't trust me, we are done." I was HOT. Then we left.

I don't like feeling misled, when dealing with a possible 50k dollar purchase. It felt like they were hiding numbers from me. They were trying to talk about finance information before I even got a single, solitary towing spec. He told me they had a vehicle with "all my requests" at another site, so I couldn't see it in person. I...just...want...towing...specs!!!!

Am I missing something? Were we talking apples and oranges somehow?

Thank you kind people on this site for your willingness to educate newbies like myself. I refuse to back down and make a stupid purchase. Is it possible to find people who know what they are talking about, or do I just accept this as reality? My expectations were too high, weren't they? LOL

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