Hi everyone.. I'm new to the forum but wanted to say hello... I've been looking around here for a while to get ideas for trucks and I finally broke down and got one..

2009 Ford F250 Super Duty Lariat Crew Cab 4x4 in Royal Red Metallic Photo No. 7802312

This link isn't my truck but it's the exact same thing...

--2009 Ford F-250 SD Lariat
--4x4 Off Road
--Royal Red with the medium stone
--Diesel
--All the bells and whistles minus the Nav (I have a garmin)

I waited a long time to buy my first truck. I'm relatively young (26) but when I was in the military I drove an F-150 when I was deployed to the desert and fell in love with it.. When I got back I looked at trucks but it seemed like every truck I liked was either over 56k for the F-250 and around 40k for the F-150... Now I work for General Dynamics and I noticed on their website that they qualified me for the X-Plan So I got my pin and started looking again...

I went to the dealer and asked what incentives they were running and they told me about the 0% for 60 months and 1k cash back on all 09 ford SD's. They happened to have 1 F-250 w/Diesel left so I test drove it... Needless to say I instantly fell in love... I went back and bought it that night... I got the truck, a spray in bed liner and GAP insurance for 867 a month for 59 months all out the door...

I'm not sure if that is a good deal or not but it was the cheapest I could find and I absolutely love the truck so I didn't want to let a good deal get a away...

Mostly I'm going to use the truck to commute back and forth to work and to tow a boat when I get it... I'm also talking to my boss and he's got some towing he needs done as well as some brush removal... Other than that I may have gotten a little too excessive with it but I plan on having it for a long time....

My question is now, what does anyone reccomend as far as accessorizing the vehicle... I saw the chrome kits for the mirrors, door handles and tail gate that I thought were pretty nice... I also wouldn't mind putting a lift kit on it but I'm not sure how high to go ( thinking 4inches)... One thing that I truly need is to find a better bulb for the head lights.. I have bad night blindness but do well with Xenon lights.. Is there anything out there that is easy to swap out the factory bulbs?

Lastly I was reading about the performance chips that can help you add 100 HP and 165 lbs of torque all while adding to your MPGs... Would any of you recommend doing that or is it a scam?

Any info or advice will be taken in stride... Thanks again for reading and helping me find my first truck...!

Regards, J

 

go with a banks or a bully dog system(tuner) yeah they are pricey but so worth it. and congrats on buying a true american truck!

 

about the chip, if you arent worried about loosing your warranty then i would say go for it. as you have probaly seen on here if i were to get a chip it would be an sct with custom tunes. but others will have their opinions to. i also have heard good things about bully dog to.

 

Thanks guys but I can't seem to find the chips for my vehicle.... Are the 2009 chips out yet?

Is there any way around not voiding my warranty if I use them?

 

I'm glad you're happy with your truck, I know I would be. I should point out that the payment is insane! I hope you're well employed with GD.

 

Yes, I am a Computer Engineer for GD...

I'm interested how that price is insane? I'm getting it at below invoice and no interest...? The dealer only makes a transaction fee as far as I've read and possibly 5% (could be wrong)...

That price is actually pretty low compared to all the trucks I looked at... There really isn't too much markup on them--about 5k (they had to show me the invoice for my X-Plan pricing.

My truck was MSRP'd at 57k I got it for 48 and change but taxes and other fees took it up a little...

 

as far as i know no matter what kind of chip you get there will always be a way to see how many time you reflashed the computer.

 

Hmmm... I might have to just say Eff it and get another warranty!

 

WOW, I am so happy that my trucks are old and paid for.

 

Not the price which sounds good but what you put out a month is what I'm guessing he means...867 a month Truck looks great BTW...good luck with it.

 

To the OP, if you are 26 years old and can afford a $48,000 Super Duty, then good for you. My recommendation is to avoid anything like a lift kit or tuner for at least the first year. You don't want to void any portion of that 100K mile warranty until you are confident that all of the potential bugs are fixed. Things like chrome mirrors and handles are fine.

Welcome home and welcome to FTE!

 

Furian is right. Don't tune or mod the engine in any way for a year. In my opinion you should also go to the dealer for oil and filter changes for the first year. When you go in regularly you learn about calibration updates on the engine and any glitch that may show up can be addressed easily.

After a year or so then if you want to void your warranty go with Banks 6-gun or Spartan tunes. The Spartan tunes can gain you 275 hp, for a total of 625. Don't know what the torque numbers would be.

Go to the 6.4 forum section and read the tech folder. Lots of info to look at.

If you decide to tune it right now the consensus on the 6.4 is that Spartan Technologies is the top notch, Banks 6-gun runs well but not quite as extreme as the Spartan. Bully Dog and Edge are typically causing problems on the 6.4.

 

Yeah, I haven't put a lot of this stuff into perspective... Thanks everyone..! I'll probably just mod as needed and not jump into anything...

As far as "affording the vehicle" I've never really thought much about it but I guess I skipped a few tiers of my career by getting my degree while I was in the military... I'm by far the youngest guys that I work with that has 8 years of IT experience, a degree and a Six Sigma Black Belt so that helped me get a god job once I separated... Plus I'm a disabled Vet so the VA takes care of some stuff for me so I'm pretty thankful for that...

Even though that is a lot of money for any vehicle, would you all say that I got a fair price or did I get whamboozled?

 

Ditto on that!

As for his night blindness it should be easy to find whatever bulb he needs, plug and play if they're still the same ole snap in type with socket.

 

You received a good price... now enjoy your new Super Duty!