ok so after building parts for these cars for years i am afraid to admit i do not know the longivity of them. i am not a gear head i just get in my car and drive it to the plant for work. I am about to buy my first f150, i finally got around to it after realizing my ranger gets the same gas mileage as the truck i really want. i about to but a 2002 ranging in miles from 70-80k miles for around 9000 dollars, first off is that a good price, also i how many miles am i looking at before major repairs??? it is the 4.2 V6 2wd i am not familiar with the engine or thier track records. any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

Well 9000 is a good starting point not bad depends on options like trim and what engine tranny its got etc but it never hurts to nag them down and for looking at how many miles before major repairs well that depends how the owner took care of it and how many miles it has either low or really miled out so things are starting to wear and need replacing hopefully this helps a bit.......

 

Don't get a v6 unless you're going to get one with a 5 sp. too. My 2002 v6 gets the same mpg with 55K on the clock as my brother's 97 4.6 did before he put the lift on with 140K on the clock. If you drive the truck like a 90 year old man you might see a little bump in mpg, but without several mods, it's still an underpowered engine for a full size pickup. btw, my v6 has dropped at least $6K over the past 4 years and thats ever wth $3K worth of stuff done to it.

 

i agree with the 5speed part. the automatic is ok but it's not quick at all. getting one with the 3.55 rear gears also seems to make it a little more peppy. i have 96000 on mine now and so far so good, no major repairs. knock on wood!i get around 18mpg with mine and my brother has one similar with the 4.6(auto) and gets about 15mpg. not much difference but it's there.