What did you cross shop with when buying your F-150 and why did you go with the F-150 over the competition? Do you have an regrets with your decision?

I liked reading these when I was shopping for my truck. There was a good discussion over on the Ranger forum I figured I’d start one here.

I looked at pretty much everything. I actually wasn’t even set on a full-size truck. I initially thought I wanted a Chevy Colorado or GMC Canyon but a buddy of mine that works for GM advised against that. I looked at the Rams but not seriously we had two Chrysler vehicles when I was younger and they weren’t reliable at all. That basically left me between a Silverado, Tacoma, F150, and the Ranger.

I was really tempted by the Silverado. For the same price you could get a double cab with more goodies like power heated seats but the few things that drove me away from GM were their reliability, lack of dual injection, DI is nice for power and fuel economy but I worried about carbon build up on the injectors, and their pricing games. They would advertise a truck for 33k but you had to qualify for that price and I did not it didn’t make it as good of a deal as I wanted it to be.

I had a 2002 Tundra previously so I had a soft spot for the Tacoma. I test drove them and they just seemed slow. They also felt like they were trying to be a big truck but the interior was cramped. If the 19’s would have had a power seat, and Apple CarPlay I probably would have overlooked those things but it didn’t.

I actually expected to hate the Ranger when I went to look at it. I was impressed with the way it drove. However I wasn’t a fan of the dashboard and the back seat drove me nuts. It couldn’t flip up far enough to get out of the way and it didn’t fold down flat. I knew that would eventually drive me insane. Plus it seemed overpriced to me when I could get an F150 with only a few less options for a better deal. Plus after the mess I’ve had with my 2011 Subaru Forester I’ve vowed to never buy the first model year of anything.

That was the first Subaru to get the FB25. It was originally my moms car I bought that after my little sister totaled my truck. She bought it back in Dec. of 2010 and since then the valve cover gaskets have been replaced 5 times only to find it’s burning oil because of a piston ring issue. They finally agreed to replace the short block around 92,000 miles and so far the only issue is some blow by but at least it only burns 1/2-3/4 of a quart in 5,000 miles.

That finally left me with the F-150. I got a crew cab STX with the 2.7L ecoboost for less than the xlt crew cab ranger I was looking at. I was a little concerned with the 10 speed being so new but I figured I’d be waiting forever for the “perfect” truck.

I’ve had it for about a month and put just over 1,000 miles on it and I’m pleased with my decision. The 2.7L has plenty of power and it’s fairly efficient. I average 18.5 mpg driving too and from work. For reference I was only getting 20 mpg in the Forester.

 

My only decision was another SuperDuty or the F150, don't really care for the other brands. I've had heavy duty trucks forever and now I have other vehicles (giant vans) for my business so I figured I'd go for the ride over the capability. I don't have a boat right now and will probably be without for a few more years so I don't have tow worries, the F150 definitely will NOT be able to tow my next boat so maybe I was dumb to get it instead of the SuperDuty but I'll worry about that when the time comes. For now I'll enjoy the ride.

I have no regrets, but wished the turning radius was less than galactic. I will for sure get a lift and bigger shoes, just can't take the "low rider" stance of this truck.

 

In a long runup: Another Tacoma. We drove a 3.5 6 speed 4x4 Access Cab. Touch the gas and it downshifted 2 or 3 gears. (My neighbor bought one earlier this year and notes the same issue--"shifty") Tried to find a 4x4 with a manual transmission. I would usually find one at a distant dealer, black on black. I pretty much gave up on another Taco--that and the little woman pressing the point on why buy the same thing. (Like a V6 4x4 is the same as a 2.7 Prerunner….)

Chevy Colorado--looked only, no local dealer. GMC Canyon. Drove a LBDC with all bells and whistles. More than I eventually paid for the F150, no dealing period.

GMC Sierra--look only. Don't like the full back doors for a Super Cab truck. Call me silly.

Forgot the Nissan Frontier Pro 4X King Cab. Plenty of beans, decent ride, many if not all bells and whistles including a Dana 44 rear axle. It was a new 2016 in July of 2017. They wanted $5000 over sticker. I told them it should be $5000 under, "...It's not like you're selling a Raptor..." They did come down, and they the wife says "..but we have to go drive a Ford!". They offered another $800 as we walked out the door.

Finally found a 4x4 Supercab, paid a little too much (as it turns out) but am pleased with performance, am running an overall average of about 18.7 MPG, and the little woman likes it. Roomy and smooth too... and Sport seats. That and once we drove it the wife says "No (blanking) way" we are buying the Frontier. I could go on, but I won't.

 

I was trading in my 2012 RAM/Cummins 2500 because it was out of warranty and I don't tow heavy any more. I drove every make of HD and light-duty pickup. Narrowed it down to a gas 6.4L RAM 2500 vs an HDPP F-150 w/3.5L ecoboost.

Went with the F-150, couldn't find an HDPP and had a $3000 private cash coupon so couldn't wait on an order. In the end I couldn't give up the turbo after driving a diesel I didn't want to listen to an NA downshift and rev going over every little rise or accelleration.

I still miss having an HD truck and the RAM with factory air ride is pretty sweet. I never had any complaints about my 2012, put 30K miles on it the first year towing a 5th wheel all over America. The Laramie interiors are superior to Ford's Lariat IMO.

But the Ecoboost is nice, not as great an interior but superior transmission tech and electronics, and it gets much better MPG than the HD trucks. Plus I have no worries that I'm abusing it as a daily driver on short runs like I worried about with the diesel. The only thing I regret is that I didn't work out the HDPP.

 

Indydog that’s funny you mention the turning radius. It’s pretty good compared to the turning radius on the 02 Tundra.

I really wanted to like the Tacoma but that transmission just didn’t do it justice. Idk if it was trying to make the 3.5 feel like it had more power or why it was tuned like that.

 

I thought the 6-banger in the Tacoma was 4L? Maybe I am misremembering.

 

It was up until the 3rd generation. The 3.5 is a anemic turd, and that's being polite. I got stuck with a 18 as a rental and I am pretty sure a Prius goes faster. If you look at the specs the engine is not suited to a truck at all, it makes peak HP at 6000rpm and peak torque is above 4500rpm. It's also rated for a dismal 278HP/265TQ.

 

Which transmission did you have in the RAM? I thought the Aisin transmissions were supposed to be pretty good. I’m not sure what years those were an option though.

 

I had it narrowed down to the F150 or another Megacab.

My old Megacab was 100% trouble free and a real treat on the highway. However, it sucked gas and the 5.7 Hemi was too small for it. So, the one I was looking at was a Cummins Megacab 2500 with the sport package. Frankly, I knew I’d be happy with it.

So, why not go with it? I knew they were about to change the body style in a year or two and it was time to try something different. I keep vehicles about 6 years, regardless of the miles on them. I was lured to the F150 to get LED headlights, the Ecoboost motor, and a more contemporarily styled truck. I wasn’t going to wait a year or two for the new Ram body style.

I don’t have any regrets. I do wish the F150 had some factory made option for storing stuff. My old Megacab had space behind the rear seats and they reclined. Besides the space behind the rear seats, there were storage bins below that area. Currently, I have totes that I have to keep under my F150 rear seats to keep stuff in. It’s not a big deal, but it Would be nice if they could figure out something better. The Super Duty has a neat cargo bin that is mounted below the rear seats. I looked to put one in my truck, but’s not plug and play.

 

Now I remember. The "new" V6 is an Atkinson cycle engine. The displacement is a bit "squishy" because of the Atkinson cycle. I wondered about that when it came out, and that was one of the factors that dissuaded us from getting a Tacoma.

 

I looked at the Silverado and that's it. Prices were decent but chose Ford because I've always had good luck with them vs GM products. Corrosion seems very bad with Chevy's up here in snow country and the paint ain't great either. I keep a rig 10 years on average and can't handle rust on a 6-8 year old vehicle. I do not regret my decision especially after listening to my inlaws with GM's complaints.

 

I had the 68RFE. Don't get me wrong - it's a good transmission. But it's 1st gear to 2nd gear difference isn't great for a gas engine, and it shifts a little firmly some times, and it doesn't have 'M' (manual) mode - it just has high range lockouts. It's perfectly reliable and serviceable. The Aisin doesn't bring any better features to the table, it's just built heavier - like, weighs 200 lbs more. The Aisin also needs much more frequent service/changes/

The Ford 6R140, and the 10R100 in my ecoboost F-150 are just nicer, feature-wise. I don't think they're necessarily any more reliable though.

 

The ideal combo would be one from Column A, B, and C................

A - Toyota Reliability
B - Ford Chassis / Truck
C - Cummins Diesel

 

My 2012 F150 5.0 had the ticking noise and my dealer wouldn't/couldn't find it so off I went to the GMC dealer. (2017) Drove the Canyon, too small and boring performance, then found a Sierra with the 6.2 and decided to order one.
But first had to at least compare pricing to a comparable F150. My Ford dealer annihilated the GMC dealer on the trade in value so I'm enjoying my 2017 F150 XLT 5.0 that has no ticking!

 

I started out telling myself I was going to be open minded and consider everything- but really, I never seriously considered Chevy/GMC because I'm not a GM guy, would have considered Dodge but too leery of reliability on them. Kinda came down to Tundra and F150, but used Tundras were too damn expensive and I kept coming back to the Ford anyway. I only looked at one truck in person- this one, and I bought it because V8 supercabs are so damn hard to find. No ragrets, I love this truck.