I am getting ready to trade my 2001 F350 for a gas truck - I mostly use my truck for commuting and cant take the fuel costs anymore. I want to figure how much I will actually save in Fuel costs....so what are you driving and what are you actually getting?

I average about 14 in my 350...but diesel is $1 more then gas so I will save a lot right there...

 

Average since I bought it is at 18.6 but I've only had it since 12/26...it's been a lot of cold starts and short trips. On longer trips it gets 19.5-21 even in hilly areas like Jackman,ME which impresses me alot. I'm looking forward to seeing what it will get once it warms up....cold weather kills mpg so it should get quite a bit better. I too went from a Super Duty to a F150 due to mpg and ride quality.

 

How about keeping the 350 as a work horse, and getting a small(er) commuter car? They bottom line cost when doing the transaction would maybe be about the same, but you would now save tons on gas, have two cars at a lower total cost (a backup?), and have basically the best of both worlds (good mileage commuting and a towing beast when needed). 35mpg maybe?
That's what I would do ....

 

+1 ... that *is* what i do.

of course, we have the room ....

but for what it would cost you to trade, you could easily get a small car and probably pay it back in fuel over teh life of the car.

the fusions are supposed to get awesome mileage, if you are looking at fords.

 

I have thought about getting another vehicle but I owe almost 18,000 on the truck...long term it would be ideal to keep my 350 ( took me forever after all to find one with a 7.3) and buy a commuter but short term it might be too much money each month. I think it will be too hard to find a nice commuter though ( will have clients in my vehicle ) for a price that would put me ahead.

 

I'm getting 17.5-19.5 mixed driving, 16 hard city driving and 22+ on exclusive highway driving.

I have the 3.31 axles and have no intentions to pull anything or if I do, it won't be real heavy.

 

Not only will you save money in fuel costs, you will also save in maintenance costs. If you don't need the pulling power of your F350 then your intuition is correct, you will save money in the long run. My 2010 F150 SCREW with the 5.4 averages 13-14 in town and 16-18 on the highway. I live in the Rocky Mountain region so our roads are not flat.

 

I personally wouldn't go beyond a set of 3.55 gears for either 5.0 or Ecoboost. I don't know your specific needs but I have the 3.55, I've read where people say the 3.73 Ecoboost feels like overkills; strange thing is I see a lot of these on lots these days.
There's plenty of discussion about MPG on the forum. Most of what I've seen says the 5.0 and Ecoboost are pretty similar, but the 5.0 has more stable MPG whereas the Ecoboost varys more. My truck stock was around 18 MPG avg mostly all highway. Tires and level kit brought that down to 15 MPG... Still a mile better than what you're in now, and the fuel is less expensive. If I were to do it again I'd go with the configuration Tim has, Ecoboost 4x4 3.31. He's reporting some awesome mileage... If you need the room and can't go to an additional vehicle like a car and keep the 7.3 then it's a good idea. Will take some time though just to make up for the cost of purchase via the fuel savings. But I really like my truck.

 

I forgot to mention my F150 is also a 4X4 Super Cab with Ecoboost and 3.31 gears like Tims setup.

 

i'm not sure what your looking for room wise, but i would think a decent newer 500 or taurus could be had in the 8 to 10 range.

i guess im not seeing the difference between borrowing 10k toward a new truck, and borrowing 10k to have a car. Your payment should go up about the same amount either way ....

maybe i'm not gettin it ... i dunno.

 

I'm assuming he's wanting to go a little longer on his loan....(Ex. instead of paying the remaining 3 or 4 yrs) he's wanting to restart the loan and keep basically the same payment. Not really uncommon.