Impressions of new Ford F150.

[dodge man]

We just got in 3 new F150's where I work. We do three year leases so they get turned over on a regular basis. The trucks are extended cab(back doors open like suicide doors), 4x4 XLT, 5.0 V8, 3.55 gears, convenience package and trailer tow package. Cloth seats, no leather.

My first impression is very positive. It has a lot more power than the previous Fords we have had with the 4.6 engine. It also has an upgraded interior over the previous models we have had. In our previous Ford the seats just never seemed quite right to me and several people I work with agreed. The new ones seem much better although I can't tell exactly what they improved. I also like the fact is has a 36 gallon fuel tank.

A couple of things I don't like. The turn signal stalk. In the past you flip it up to turn right it hits a detent and it stays up until you finish the turn. Now it doesn't stay up, there is not detenet but returns to the center position even though the signal works like normal. This will take some getting used to. You flip it to turn, it flops back down so you hit it again thinking you didn't flip it up hard enough, this cancels the turn signal, then you remember there is not detent and hit it a third time to make it work correctly.

The dipstick. You had better be 6' tall or taller to check the oil or you will be climbing up on the bumper to reach it. It needs to be extended up higher.

The center console. This really sucks. They tried to engineer the center seat to be better. The console has a head rest built into the front, which looks silly when the console is down, and it also has a shoulder belt. This is all built into the console and takes up half of the interior space. I'm sure this is all safety stuff but I don't know if its required or not.

Sticker shock! This truck stickered for $39,000. Took me by surprise, I wouldn't call it a stripper but its surely not loaded either. I haven't truck shopped in a while and I'm sure this price is competitive with everyone else.

We have had a lot of two wheel drive trucks in the past and I really consider these trucks to be a serious upgrade. I'm looking forward to see how they do over the next three years of our lease.

I've included a photo, the red truck in the background is a coworkers. We will in the near future add logos, phone number, website etc to the side of the trucks.

 

[wmonroe]

$39,000 seems pretty high for a rather basic truck, but then again the price of all trucks is getting ridiculous. I had a 5.0 f150 for a rental for about six weeks last fall and it does run good but sure like its gas. Best mileage I got out of it was 15.3 on the highway driving from PAto AL, back and forth to work in AL it averaged about 12.

 

[dodge man]

We usually have our trucks loaded with quite a bit of weight so I expect it won't do great for mileage.

 

[aczlan]

What, no hideaway amber strobes in the turn signals?
Looks like a nice truck.

Aaron Z

 

[dodge man]

Yeah I'd love to have a nice low profile LED light bar. Serious $$$$ though.

 

[JESSE1]

I know what you mean by the turn signal stalk, I have the same thing on my '12 F-450. Don't know why they designed it to operate this way, I'm used to it now but I don't really like it. If you lightly push the stalk it causes the flashers to flash 3 times for a lane change. Pushing it harder keeps it flashing until you turn and cancel it. When I have a trailer hooked up, the lane change feature will flash 4 times, I guess they program it to do this because of the length of the trailer.

 

[jagyzf]

A couple of things I don't like. The turn signal stalk. In the past you flip it up to turn right it hits a detent and it stays up until you finish the turn. Now it doesn't stay up, there is not detenet but returns to the center position even though the signal works like normal. This will take some getting used to. You flip it to turn, it flops back down so you hit it again thinking you didn't flip it up hard enough, this cancels the turn signal, then you remember there is not detent and hit it a third time to make it work correctly.

The dipstick. You had better be 6' tall or taller to check the oil or you will be climbing up on the bumper to reach it. It needs to be extended up higher.

.

I know what you mean by the turn signal stalk, I have the same thing on my '12 F-450. Don't know why they designed it to operate this way, I'm used to it now but I don't really like it. If you lightly push the stalk it causes the flashers to flash 3 times for a lane change. Pushing it harder keeps it flashing until you turn and cancel it. When I have a trailer hooked up, the lane change feature will flash 4 times, I guess they program it to do this because of the length of the trailer.

The high beam/ low beam is the same way. Really sucks because I am so used to just knowing if I'm on high or low by the location of the signal arm. Don't know why they would go to this system, royal pain in the neck to get used to.

Dip stick is not only down inside but very hard to see the location and no under hood light. I do a lot of night driving for work and it's hard to check your oil unless the sun's out. It would also seem like a location that dirt can easily collect being right on the block.

I do like the truck a lot more than my last overall.

 

[crazyal]

So how does it work if you indicate you are turning but you don't need to turn the steering wheel enough to cancel the indicator? In every vehicle I own you just push it back to center. I really like how Toyota has made it so you can push the lever far enough so the turn signal comes on yet not far enough to hit the detent. By doing so you can set how many times it will flash, 3 to 7. It's nice when changing lanes. I never understood why car companies felt the need to make things that are perfectly fine more complicated.

 

[dodge man]

If you flip the lever up just a little ways it will flash about 3 time for a lane change. If you flip it up far enough the turn signal will flash until you complete a turn but if you hit the lever again it will cancel it.

I drove it a little over a 100 miles today to a job and it got around 17 mpg highway driving at speeds between 60 and 70 mph.

 

[TheGoose]

I agree with you on everything you posted. The blinker deal was annoying for a few weeks but now it's natural. I just wish there was a way to dampen the volume. It's really loud (blinker volume).

Did you notice that you cannot turn on the cargo light without turning on the whole cab lighting? Also, I hate how the tailgate is made with two pieces. Every time you pull something out of the bed it will catch on the tailgate where the pieces mate up.

Other than that I really like my truck. I got it for 34K + TTL with 4x4 and the 3.5L EB. Super Crew XLT similar to the one in your pic except the full crew plus 6.5' bed.