Here is an article from Ford magazine.
My Ford Owner Magazine | THE EXTRAORDINARY ECOBOOST®

2 Things to note:
1) The 3.5 EcoBoost replaces the 5.4.
2) The EcoBoost is about doing more with less.

Since this article is from Ford Magazine one can assume the information is accurate. There is no mention that the EcoBoost is a cheap replacement for a diesel. That appears to be some made up urban myth.

 

The "myth" to which you refer is a reality I support "If you want to tow like a diesel, buy a diesel and if you bought the ecoboost to save money (also known as "cheap"), you could be wise and instead of buying the Platinum f150, buy the XL F250 power stroke, load it up with options and still have money left over.

I think the person that said the ecoboost is designed to replace the 5.4l is only partly correct. The entire quote looks like this:

Even more impressive is the 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 fitted to the top-of-the-line F-150. It replaces the venerable 5.4-liter V-8 as the premium option and does so in stellar fashion. The V-6 has always been the compromise of volume-selling engines—not quite as frugal as an in-line four but not as powerful as a V-8. Adding a pair of water-cooled turbochargers, direct injection and an air-to-air intercooler is exactly the kind of upgrade that redefines a premium truck engine.

The way I read it is that ecoboost, heavily promoted by Ford is taken the role of there "premium" engine. Try being reasonable and understand that the 5.0 replaced the 5.4 and the ecoboost is still a wanna-be V8.

 

That's if you want to save a ton of money while towing and if you tow a lot. Otherwise you could just get the same mileage and go with the 6.2L V8 in the XL F250 and still be under $40K since the PowerStroke is an $8000 extra over the gas V8. But in most cases a Super Duty is just way more truck than what most even need.

 

I had a diesel once and want no part of that mess again, I'm sticking with gas. F250's are cool and all but I would much rather drive the F150 every day.

 

Ford really shot themselves in the foot with the 6.0L and 6.4L diesels. Seeing how long the 7.3L lasted for with very few problems, people were expecting the 6.0 and 6.4 to live up to the same high expectations in longevity and problem free (mostly). They area all having issues with emissions on them even the new 6.7L PSD is having issues just not as bad as the last 2. But if I ever go diesel it'll be a Cummins. Mechanical injection with only 1 or 3 wires, unless I want to mess with an early 24 valve.

I'm seeing both gas and diesel going back up in price around here and I really am wishing I had the dough to get something better fuel economy wise, dang mileage is eating my ammo, food and play money hardcore. If a 4 banger is in the works better get 30mpg or better to be worth it. Might as well bring back the Ranger at this point. EcoBoost would really wake those trucks right up.

 

"I wish I had the dough..." We go back and forth and round and round. The MSRP on my 5.0 was 28,190. I bought it for 20,744.

All I am saying is if you tow occasionally, 5.0 or ecoboost will be just fine. If you tow often and heavy, the diesel is still the way to go. I choose 5.0 because I consider the ecoboost a high-performance engine with the issues that always come with it.

The F150 is Ford's number one vehicle to sell for over 50K. I can't figure out why people whine about the money that it cost for a diesel. I can tell you why Ford loves the ecoboost. They make a lot more money on that engine than the diesel.

 

Too much money for me right now. Kind of in the case of in-between occupations at this moment in time. Besides I'd rather buy a used rig over brand new, depreciation is already in the value.

 

Because the 6.7L diesel costs $8480 more than the 6.2 in the Super Duty...and the 3.2L diesel in the Transit costs $7780 more than the 3.5 Ecoboost in the Transit.