Actually, I don't blame him. I shot him a VIN for my F250 and told him 'get me that truck.' He did exactly what I asked.

Overall, I wish Ford would be more forthcoming regarding the very BIG differences in towing capacities of these trucks and the very LITTLE differences in price to get them. But I don't blame the sales guy... he's just acting the way he was trained.

I think he was trying to help me save a lot of money by discouraging me from trading my F250 for an F350. I didn't tell him they are the same truck. He told me that. I'm sure he'd be happy to take my money so I could buy the same truck with a higher sticker, overload leaf, 400# more capacity on the front springs, and +20psi air in the exact same tires... but he was trying to save me from myself and I thanked him for that.

I fired off a text with the question on the F450. I'm interested to see what he comes back with.

As a side note, I can't find the used value of my truck online. The closest thing I find is the 2016 version of it, and that is $60k at the top end.

 

One more thought, Robert. Your next truck won't change price, except maybe go up a bit for job 2. Your current truck is depreciating quickly. While you've taken a hit by driving off the lot, it's worth more today than it will be next month or next year. Therefore, the difference in price is only going to grow the longer you wait. We do know that vehicles depreciate the most in the first year, second most the second year, and then still quite a bit the third....after which it is less substantial.

It's your truck and I certainly don't care which way you go. But, in my mind, the sooner you trade (if that's your decision), the less of a hit you will take.

 

Sorry to tell you this but an F450 is WAY more truck than an F250. I personally owned several of each, no comparison. Frame is WAY heavier and robust, ALL suspension components, ALL axle components, including hubs, bearings and brakes are WAY heavier duty. Heck, the empty weight difference between an F350 and F450 is more than 500 lbs, you think Ford added 500 lbs of eggshells just for fun? And the wide track front axle is the magic sauce that dreams are made of!

Now for towing ****:

 

Stalwart. I agree with you.

 

OK, I got the price back. 10,000 if it is perfect, 15,000 if there are any noticeable wear marks, scratches, water spots, whatever.

So I'm not gonna do anything until the end of this year, see what kind of year I have, and then make a decision. Luckily, I have some options. I have a high level employee, driving a 2001 Dodge ram 1500. It's a solid truck, because we have rebuilt from the ground up. But I'm sure he wouldn't mind moving up to my F250, as I move to a F450.

lesson learned I guess.

 

Now may well be better than later. First of all, rebates haven't increased yet, and while when they do you'll get the new one cheaper, the old one will be worth less, and it's older. Right now everyone treats it nearly like a new truck. IDK if you've made modifications already to your truck, sounds like you might have. You'll want to change everything back to stock prior to trading in. That's the other side of your consideration, everything you do to make your stock truck "better" makes it worth quite a bit less to the market. You could do a factory order too and in the mean time try to sell your truck for more on your own, and if it doesn't work, take the trade figure. The F450 is significantly "more truck" than just DRW, but I'd bet adding DRW to your truck would actually hurt it's value by nearly the $10k hit youre already looking at taking. Ford lets your build and price your own, and each truck is built to hit weight class standards, its not so much about price but about the right trucks for the right jobs. An F150 and an F250 aren't all that different in price, but they do entirely different things. You could have gotten a nice Shelby instead too.

 

Frantz, I agree with you too. Buying one of these trucks, is not for dummies. You don't just walk onto a lot and find one, you pretty much have to order it, and then wait a long, long time. I'm sure somebody will jump in tell me how I'm wrong, but that's what I've seen time and time again on these forums. To get a 450 optioned how you want it, it is a long process.

at the end of the day, there's very little difference between the 350 and the 250. For all who misunderstood my 1st post about the difference in the 350 and the 450, there ARE very significant differences in the two trucks. But not in the prices of the 250 versus the 450. One of two things is happening: either, ford is really ripping off people who buy 250s, or they're making very little profit on those who buy 450s.

or maybe it's just, when you delete my expensive polished aluminum wheels, putting heavy duty steel wheels on a 450 is not that much more expensive. Maybe when you take my leaf springs off, it's not a lot more money to put different ones on.

maybe, when you take my Sterling axle off, it's not a lot more money to put a Dana on.

but I'll tell you what is expensive, believing the towing charts and their sales literature, and then finding you need a bigger truck.

 

Stalwart, what are you taking about? A crew cab long bed f250 has the identical frame as a 450 does. The front axles are both Dana Super 60s. The 450 basically has more rear leafs that are stiffer, and a larger rear axle. Engines, transmissions, transfer cases, driveshafts...same as a 250.

 

Personally, I think Frantz is completely correct. If your employee is getting the 250, FOR SURE, then waiting costs you nothing. Waiting the year out will be putting you into the 2018 truck year and you are going to take a much bigger bath. It is your money and decision after all. Best of luck, either way you choose.

Have you driven an F450? They have a few drawbacks you know, like the ride when empty, they do ride pretty rough, thats part of the reason I have the much bigger tires on mine. Now the steering, that is something special. My wife would always take my 450 to the covered multi-story mall parking lots because she could maneuver the 450 better than her super crew F150 short bed Raptor.

 

Well, maybe this will make you feel better:
Last year, my neighbor had an older F250 and went out and bought a huge new 5er. His truck wasn't up for the work, so then he went and picked up a loaded F350 DRW to pull it. That was right before the new SD came out. Now he has buyers remorse. He went back to the dealer to see if he could get near trading even on the new SD. The dealer said there was no way to even get close, mostly because of the body style change. I'm sure it was also because he'd had his truck several months by then and they were heavily discounting the 2016s at that point.

In any case, you're in a much better situation than he was.

 

Theres a place for a 250 and 350 srw... Not everyone needs a 450. I personally would never buy a 450, or the if i did, it would just be for the looks. If i dont feel comfortable towing it with my 3500 DRW 6.7 Cummins, i doubt a 450 would make me feel anymore at ease. Anything my 3500 cant handle just gets handed to the peterbuilt...

Dont get me wrong, i actually like the look of the 450 better than an SRW. However, majority of my driving is in the city and it sucks having a dually to park. I bought a 250 because i need a nice truck for clients etc, i hardly ever tow with my personal as i dont like working out of them. But i will be towing a gooseneck with some of the following loads two jeeps, 100hp Deere tractor, skid steer, or cattle on the weekends at the ranch. And the 250 will handle all those loads no problem... I am in no way advising you to exceed your legal weight limit... But some of these guys that are so obsessed about the sticker hardly even tow anything heavy, i think they just like to look at the sticker.

I too after reading some of these posts on here, regretted my 250 purchase, thinking i should have got a 350 SRW. Then I realized that there is nothing about a 350 SRW that would make me feel anymore comfortable towing a load vs my 250.

As a consumer, i would never buy a truck that some guy had converted to a dually. That would definitely drop the resale...

There was an interesting thread on here where a hotshot driver who hauled campers actually preferred a 250/2500.

 

Not what Ford said, so your saying that they are all equal, where did that extra 500 lbs of weight come from? Not from just a couple of extra leafs, wait the axles on 350 and 450, the M300 are identical, I bet they have the same springs too, hence the lower payload on the F450.

I remember seeing the frame and other components discussed in detail when they were telling (tempting) us all about it in their Youtube commercials.

 

Yes. I don't mind that a truck rides like a truck, although if everything else is equal, smoother is better. I've heard some people put 300# or more in the bed to smooth the ride, and it turns out that's how much the high-end 5ver hitches with air weigh. I leave my hitch in most of the time so I was hoping that would smooth things out a little but if not, it's not a deal breaker.

Also, thanks for the bigger tires tip. The bigger they are the better they look to me anyway.

As for parking, I'm already parking way out, and either backing in or pulling through. I don't see it as a huge deal.

I rarely go through drive-throughs that have curbs on both sides, and even less through bank tellers.

But thanks for bringing this up because I'm sure some day when I have one I'll be complaining about those things.

As for steering, if I have one complaint about driving my F250, it's the turning radius. It would be pretty awesome to make a tight u-turn, and/or circle a cul-de-sac without backing up.

 

Thanks. I've found my mission on this forum. For anybody who asks 'how much truck should I buy' hopefully they read these threads and if there's anything in their blood that says, "some day I want to tow heavy" they will either learn to read the towing charts accurately, or just buy the biggest truck they can afford... which it turns out is the F450 if they are buying a top end F250.

 

Thank you for this post. We are of like mind (except I would drive an F450 in second), brother. And yes, I wouldn't buy a used F250 that had a DRW conversion either.