I sold my camper and don't tow. I need a bed, but a ranger would do just fine. I just like the safety and look of the super duties.

Am I the only one who thinks like this here? Just wondering.

 

Personally, I daily drive my 4x4 F250 V10. I don't mind it at all. I have the ability to tow when needed and it gets me from point a to b.

 

 

I sold my travel trailer 3 months ago.. no longer need it.

( 3 ) 1,800 mile trips.. over 2 weeks finish the move.

but there is NO plan to sell the truck... so semi-daily driver...
short travels.. will be by motorcycle or bicycle....

with 167,000 miles.. there's many more to come..

 

What about a half ton? I have 2 f-150s and a Raptor which I use for daily drivers/ weekend warriors. My Super Duty is my designated tow rig for the most part. The half tons ride REALLY nice, handle well, get better mileage, are a little smaller to maneuver and park, and are generally cheaper to maintain. They can tow quite a bit nowadays, too. Food for thought.

 

I tow only on rare occasion. I daily drive a 2016 F-250 CCSB 4WD with the 6.7L Powerstroke. That said, I don't really drive it every day as I work from home, but I did when I bought it. Its fine if that's what you like and you can afford to drive and maintain it.

 

I'm sure this won't be a popular opinion on a truck forum, but if you don't need it, is it worth all the money? It's not just fuel, oil, and tires you're consuming by driving it. You're going to need to replace parts that aren't cheap.

I love driving my truck, but using my 2010 Honda Insight as a DD saves me thousands a year. 45MPG, $30 oil changes, and $250 for a set of tires. Where's the wrong?

 

This probably won't be a popular opinion, but having grown up in the country, I'm one of those people that just gets irked when I see big trucks, with big capabilities, having their life used up doing the same job a Prius could do. My '99 F-250 stays in the garage most of the time and only has 65,000 miles as I use a different vehicle for my daily driver. I'd vote to sell the beast and grab a Ranger, Colorado, Canyon, etc if that'll do the trick for you. They're way easier to maneuver, get way better mileage, parts like tires, and replacing plugs, are cheaper, and they ride much nicer.

I really don't think modern cars are that much less safe than pickups unless you get sandwiched or something. Sure, the car may sustain more damage that the truck, but totaled is totaled and what really matters are the occupants. Car safety has come and awfully long way since the 90's.

 

My truck serves 2 purposes. 1) carrying our in-bed truck camper during the camping season (about 7 months here in Canada for us) and 2) acting as my daily driver when needed (we share our other vehicle when possible). So in my mind, my older, paid for, SD diesel is justified plus ... I like it ... lots. However, if we didn't need it for camping, I'd be inclined to sell it and replace it with a compact pickup ... like a Ranger, Tacoma etc. I still like pickups but wouldn't need a full size one.

 

Don't take this the wrong way but "my 2010 Honda Insight as a DD saves me thousands a year" sounds like hyperbole. You don't replace tires every year on either the car or the truck. Over its lifetime, maintenance may be hundreds if not thousands cheaper, but not on an annual basis. People also tend to overestimate fuel costs. I've seen people go into 10's of thousands of dollars in debt for something cheaper on fuel, but the reality is that the hundreds you may save per year don't equal the debt you incur or the money you spent on an alternative vehicle. Life's also too short to drive something you don't like. Whether or not I need my truck is irrelevant. If I can afford it and that's what I like to drive that should be the end of the discussion.

Granted, I know that's what this thread is about, but on the other side of the coin: "I simply want to" is sufficient reason to buy one of these trucks if your willing to pay for it. The attitude that you need to justify the purchase or to some random people on a forum or anyone else who thinks differently is ludicrous. There is no practical reason to buy muscle cars or exotic sports cars either. So what? America's love of vehicles has never been about practicality. Sure, some people buy vehicles based only on price and designed purpose, but enthusiasts rarely do.

A further thought is that these trucks are built for more than just their towing and hauling capabilities. These trucks double as luxury vehicles. That's why they creep up into the mid to high 80k range.

 

I just did quick maths and, at the current gas price of $2.20/gal, I would save $2,400 a year on gas if I drove something that got 45 mpg over my F-250. If he got a good deal on it, that could easily pay for the car in just a couple years. For wear items, if I'm driving 20,000 miles a year, it's definitely cheaper putting those miles on a $250 set of tires than putting those miles on an $800 set of tires. I'm not saying everyone drop $30k on a new car to save $2,500/yr on fuel, but if you find a decent deal, it may be worth picking one up to save some money in the long run. I don't think anybody was trying to get anybody to 'justify' anything....

 

Great post. I get enjoyment out of driving. Sometimes I will take my V10 out for a drive just for the heck of it. I guess there are some that consider that wasting money. If I get enjoyment out of it why would they care what I do? To be honest, I think the people that are enthusiasts, or people that like to drive, do a much better job maintaining and taking care of things.

I never understood the people that just look at vehicles as a means to get from point A to point B. Life should be fun! Isn't that why we work?

 

My truck is the only vehicle I have and is my DD.

If I had the space (and money) I would have two but it's not in the cards for me. Is it more expensive to drive than a compact car? Yes. Is it more fun to drive than a compact car? Oh yeah.

Speaking of cost, yes it is more expensive in terms of maintenance and upkeep than a car. But if I had a car also (I will always have a truck so a car would be a second vehicle) then I'm paying registration and insurance for it. Even if I wasn't changing fluids and tires as often I'm still maintaining it as things get old and wear out, especially in the SoCal sun.

IMO it's a push: have one vehicle that does it all and is fun to drive or have the added expense of another drivetrain and keep the bigun' for occasional use. I own the truck so there's no upside to selling it other than maintenance and repair costs.

 

I DD a 6.2 powered F-250. When I first bought it the truck was mostly a weekend to but after three years I changed jobs and now drive it every day. I have zero need for a super duty but always wanted one. I complain about the poor mileage Everytime I fill up but since I only put around 10-12,000 miles a year on it I wouldn't save enough money in gas to make the payments on a different vehicle.

 

I DD my V10. Granted it's only about 20 miles a day, but still costs considerably more in fuel than my girlfriend's Kia that she drives about the same distance. Do I care? Not at all. I love my truck and knew what mileage I'd get before I got it (it's not my first one). Granted, when I had my last V10 I worked considerably further away and I did buy a little beater to run back and forth in, but I still drove my truck about once a week simply because I enjoyed it. If you're willing to pay the extra fuel in order to be happy then I don't see what's wrong with it.