I've always had a dream, one that most people take for granted. You see, for whatever reason, I've always managed to own automobiles that had manual transmissions. Since I was 16 (and while I'm not an AARP member, yet), I've just never had the pleasure of owning an automatic. So you can imagine what happened one day in the fall of 2006 I went in for an oil change at my local Ford dealer (at the time, I had owned a 2000 F150 with a manual transmission), and came out about $24,000 lighter. Yep, I finally pulled the trigger and got my "dream vehicle". Too bad the love affair was short lived.

Honestly, if you've never driven a 4x4 that is really, well, big, you are missing out. It is like you are king (or in my case, queen) of the road. You don't get cut off, people almost always give you the right of way, and with the power that the F150 has, you always can get out of the way if a swift traffic move is needed.

Okay, so what did you actually get? So glad you asked. My particular F150 was a 4x4, Triton V8, 5.4 liter, Super Crew ( producing a whopping 300 horsepower at 5000 rpm and 365 lbs of foot torque at 3750 rpm), with an automatic transmission. Yep, in just a few hours, I became one of "those people" who felt they owned the road. Keep in mind, that Ford offers several models in this category, including the Lariat Edition (which is basically a much nicer interior along with a few more eye pleasing luxuries) and the FX4 Edition (offering a more beefier stance as well as a better performing four wheel drive package). In 2004, Ford redesigned the F150, so I was really excited to have one with the new body style.

The actual ride -For just about a year, I was in love with my F150. Smooth, quick acceleration, lots of interior room and I was constantly receiving complements that it did not "feel" like a truck: passengers loved riding my my F150, it just felt like a large, comfortable car. The bed was a bit small, at just five and a half feet, but I was still able to haul just about anything I needed.

The good, bad and the ugly - The good? Easily was the power, ride and room that the F150 affords. The bad? The gas mileage, or rather, lack of. I found that my combined city and highway mileage was about 12 mpg. For straight highway driving, it was about 16 mpg. So basically, yes, I owned a gas hog, that eventually owned me (more on that later). The ugly? At 40k, at about 4k after the warranty had run out, I noticed a noise in the right rear wheel. After a few hours at the dealership, it was diagnosed at the rear differential needed to be rebuilt. Yep, I know what you are thinking.... "what the heck??", well, so was I. Luckily, I was able to get an "out of warranty service" for this, so I was only stuck with a $568.00 bill, rather than the $4,000 that it actually cost to repair.

As for upgrades, aftermarket parts and goodies, the skies the limit. There are hundreds of options, parts and just things you can do to the F150 if you want to "pimp your ride". With the addition of an upper and lower billet grill, the front of my F150 was given a more custom look in just an afternoon.

I should also mention a bit about the towing and payload capacities. For towing, the F150 is rated at 9,500 pounds, while payload capacity is rated at 2,900 pounds. I easily towed a 3,000 pound Coleman tent trailer, and the overdrive option worked great going up higher grades of roads and hills. The only issue I had with payload, was that when I hauled a load of gravel for my yard, I was only able to physically fit more than tow cubic yards in the bed, as it bed is not physically big enough to get more than two yards (the size of the bed is about five and a half feet).

The love affair that ended - With the rising cost of fuel and the fact that I really didn't need so much truck, I knew that I had to trade my beloved F150 in for something more economical. The issues with the rear differential left me thinking, "what else could go wrong?", and just didn't do much to instill my confidence in Ford's craftsmanship. That, and the fact that my monthly gas bill was costing me more than the actual payment. Basically, my beloved F150 was starting to own me. So with that, I just could not afford to keep it, and had to once again, trade it it (I did so for a 2007 Subaru Outback Wagon). Fortunately, I was able to get out of the truck without being upside down, as the F150's do hold their value quite well, especially with all the extras that my particular model had.


Overall, this was a nice truck. It just wasn't for me. Would I recommend it to someone else? Most likely not. Surprisingly, the F250's and F350's get BETTER gas mileage than the F150's (even the non-diesel models), despite their larger size. For me, this was really more truck than I actually needed, as I sold my tent trailer late last winter, so I didn't have the need for towing any longer. That said, the biggest issue with this truck was the horrible gas mileage and once gas went up this spring to $3.40 a gallon, the cost for fuel per month greatly exceeded my actual payment. I was literally thanking God that I had gotten rid of this truck when gas peaked at about $4.60 this summer that I no longer had this truck. However, if you are looking for a truck that rides and tows well, don't need a large bed, and don't care about the price of gas, then this might be the truck for you. For me, this just wasn't the dream vehicle that I thought it was going to be.

Amount Paid (US$): 24,000
Condition: Used
Model Year: 2004
Model and Options: 5.4 liter, XLT model, 4x4