The world of pick-up trucks. They can do everything! The popular pick-up segment has a plethora of different options that regular car owners don’t have to worry about. Here are some of the questions to ask yourself. How big do you want your truck-bed? Do you need to haul a large trailer or some other equipment? Does your ego entail that you believe you need a truck this big? I think the biggest question should be: should you get a massive truck if you’re going to use it as a regular vehicle?
Case in point: my test truck for this week. The truck I had barely fit on my driveway which was both comical and slightly annoying. Ford’s F-series are the most popular trucks in the United States, usually the number one cash cow. As you can tell from the extremely long title, I had a Ford F-250. We also have to add SRW, 4X4, Crew Cab, Platinum, 176” WB, Styleside, 6.7-liter Power Stroke V8 Diesel, and 10-speed automatic. Now, I know that my readers know exactly what that all means but just in case, I shall break it down.
I’ll be honest: I had never heard of “SRW” before. Looking it up, this means “Single Rear-Wheel”. This basically means you have one rear-wheel compared to a “DRW”, or dual wheel-wheel (also known as a dually). 4X4 is...four-wheel drive. Glad to point that out. Crew Cab trucks have large four-doors. Platinum is the second-to-highest trim level. The length of the truck is 176”, or almost 15 feet! Styleside is the type of bed which is a flat-sided bed. The last two are the 6.7-liter V8 diesel along with a 10-speed automatic. Understand?
Similar to most commercial trucks, the F-250 has an aggressive front end and is rolling around on 20” Polished Aluminum wheels which look good with the red paint. There’s chrome aplenty throughout the exterior and includes badging for the 6.7-liter V8 diesel and the FX4 off-roading package (which I never used). My favorite thing about the exterior are the automatic running boards which pop out when you open the giant doors. When you walk the 15 feet to the tailgate, you’ll watch it magically lower with a push of a button. Although it doesn’t automatically go up, the damping for the tailgate helps it to unlatch automatically and slowly go down. If you want to go into the truck-bed, you’ll find a helpful step and railing to use.
Open the door, put one foot on the running board, and hop into the F-250. Being the Platinum with a few options, this F-250 was fully-loaded. Almost all of the black leather seats are heated. Front seats are heated, ventilated, and have a massage feature that moves the bolsters back-and-forth. The steering wheel uses an electronic tile/telescope function and there are adjustable pedals. F-250 Platinum trim has an 8” display in the middle of the dials that has all the information for the engine, trailer status, digital speedometer, various temperatures, and more. I bet if you use this for actual towing, that’s really important and quite useful.
Along with other Ford models, the F-250 gets a quite small Sync 3 infotainment with navigation. Dig into the menus and you can find the heated steering wheel and those massage seats. Listening to music comes from a B&O sound system with 10 speakers. Not a surprise, the cabin has plenty of room for anyone to stretch out. The interior does look dated, but a new Super Duty which includes the F-250 should come out in a year or two. Hopefully, a new Super Duty will look similar to the new F-150.
Time for the drive! The first thing you notice is just how big the F-250 is with the optional 8’ bed. If you don’t use the giant mirrors every five seconds, you will not be a happy camper. One saving grace for backing up the F-250 is a back-up camera and 360-degree camera. Handling is exactly how you would think a large truck would act. Bad. I know this isn’t a canyon-carving Mustang, but I didn’t expect it to be so bouncy. Hopefully, Ford can do something about that. It’s what you get when you want a giant-truck. Use the blind-spot monitoring system to really help.
Mash the throttle and you get the roar of that 6.7-liter V8 diesel. It produces 475-horsepower and a whooping 1,050 lb-ft. Combined with the 4X4 and ten-speed automatic, the F-250 gets from 0-60 MPH in around seven seconds. That’s really impressive for a truck that has a gross weight of 9,900 pounds. There is some wheel-spin when you first accelerate but once it hooks up it gets to the speed limit faster than you would think. Driving is easier since this F-250 has adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping alert but it barely fits in the lane. If you want the MPG for the diesel, I got around 14 MPG which sounds correct.
Now we have to get to the dirty topic of money. The F-250 Platinum with the extremely long name starts at $66,000. My F-250 had a few options, one of which is the price of a good used Honda Civic. That great diesel engine doesn’t come cheap. In fact, it’s $10,000. When you add the optional $1,500 moon roof along with some little options, the total cost of the extras cost around $15,000. That brings the price to $81,000. Yes, you can get many vehicles for that price and that’s the problem with the Platinum.
When I think of a Super Duty like an F-250, the Platinum trim isn’t what comes to mind for what it is. If you’re not going to use it for construction, constant towing, or just want something to lord over other drivers, there’s a better option. Going to the Lariat with a smaller 6.5’ bed, 7.3-liter V8, and some creature comforts such as heated and ventilated seats, you can find one for $65,000. This seems like a better value since you’re saving around $16,000 which can be used to buy a boat.
Is the F-250 a good commuter car or suburban transport? No. Not at all. It’s too cumbersome, thirsty, and expensive in Platinum trim. If you look at it as a go-anywhere truck that has a nice interior and high-towing capacity, the F-250 makes sense. Yes, you can get a basic XL for under $40,000 which would be great for actual commercial work. Since Ford is good with their trucks, look at the new F-150. It makes more sense since it’s smaller and more practical for day-to-day use. I bet the F-250 is a great commercial vehicle so if you need something that big, try one out.
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