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The VIN decoder is trash, there are better tools available. The link 1956MarkII posted can be applied to most any Ford from 2009 and newer and you'll get the original window sticker. For stuff older than that, you can punch the VIN into here:
From what I see the difference in engine prices is minimal in the overall cost of the truck initially so I would think forking over a few extra dollars for a more desirable motor would pay for itself when you sell........someone else tow your trailer
I'd hold off until the new 9-11 speed transmissions come out for the 2017 MY. That 3.5L NA may look a lot better in some cases. Still will have plenty of power and more than enough gears. How often do people really lose any sleep over resale value? If I was in the market for a brand new truck I'd have to flip a coin between the 2.7L EcoBoost and the 3.5L NA engine.
I used to have someone else tow my trailer and it worked out pretty well. Buy what you want obviously, but don't whine that your grand-daddys truck cost less than most cars when the basic trucks still are based on national avg purchase prices, just no one seems to buy them other than businesses.
The only company that comes to mind that does not buy the NA V6 would be Enterprise. All of their trucks which consist of both the Ram 1500 and F150 have the 5.7L Hemi and 5.0L Coyote V8 engines. I doubt companies want to really dink around with turbo gas engines in fleets unless they are turbo diesels. Though a lot are going to gas engines over diesel just because maintenance is a lot cheaper and they don't need to mess with Urea/DEF.
The only company that comes to mind that does not buy the NA V6 would be Enterprise. All of their trucks which consist of both the Ram 1500 and F150 have the 5.7L Hemi and 5.0L Coyote V8 engines. I doubt companies want to really dink around with turbo gas engines in fleets unless they are turbo diesels. Though a lot are going to gas engines over diesel just because maintenance is a lot cheaper and they don't need to mess with Urea/DEF.
They equip those engines because the trucks are alot of times rented out to tow trailers, so they get them for max tow capacity, not MPG, per dollar cost. They would use the Eco if the Eco was the same on the balance sheet, but Eco on either brand is an insanely expensive option for not too many more pounds of tow capacity (or less in the RAMS case).
I wonder if they'll still do that now or just get the EcoBoost? I have no idea since I left my job at working for the company that handled tires and lube for Enterprise a few months ago. And it does make sense since unless they ask how much the person is going to tow or haul, having the larger engine may make sense. And probably would be cheaper than having a mixed fleet of V6 and V8 for different tow caps.