Comments on: Ford Reveals F-150: The Truth About Trucks?

By: ppellico

ppellico — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:09:11 +0000

Horse people.
Dog people.
Cat people.
Tree people…whatever.
There is just something really out of wack when you can’t get into your truck without removing your muddy shoes.
What next, plastic on the seat cushions like my Italian relative’s couch?
Look…I can say that.
I resemble the remark!

By: davey49

davey49 — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:59:18 +0000

Don’t worry, playing dress up in fancy pickups will come back. At least for me it will. I’m too poor to even buy a toy truck these days but if I can manage to raise my income the next thing I’ll get is a fancy pickup or SUV. A big truck and a nice RV is my aspirational purchase. (much like sports cars or big luxury sedans for some people here)
And if you don’t think there are people who both want a truck with high style and high capability you need to meet horse people.

By: no_slushbox

no_slushbox — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 01:35:14 +0000

Ford was really smart to bring the Transit Connect over; with high gas prices and erased home equity the days of suburbanites playing dress up in pick-ups are over.

By: ppellico

ppellico — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:36:35 +0000

davey49
If I were Ford and the other Big 1.5, I most likely would have built as many as anybody would buy.
That’s really good business.
But keep the R&D hot in car development.

The public has a short concentration period.
Shorter than my window of opportunity when my wife drinks…about ten minutes.

But in the beginning…trucks built their base loyalties by being trucks…not decorative 50K for drive to the country club.

I knew we had trouble when Ford started bragging about its LEXUS interiors.
Oh, My God! NO! Please don’t try to be a Lexus!
It got my high income pilot friends buyin’ em.
They got the gas fear and now have a Lexus and Acuras or Audi in their driveway.
So much for the macho suburban male loyalty.

Keep building trucks!
Keep building cars.
And don’t let them get them confused with each other.

By: RedStapler

RedStapler — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:23:41 +0000

The 3 pedal V6 1/2 tons are out there. Try a dealer that does a lot of fleet business.

I have a cousin who picked up a Ram few years back when they were having their overproduction fire sale of 2006.

Even a lot of the working folks and vocational users are evaluating their need for a full size vehicle after getting burnt by the recent run up of fuel costs. Some companies now use a mix of smaller wagon vehicles like a Fit or xB, leaving the 1/2 ton+ parked unless they need to bring a bunch of tools & materials.

By: davey49

davey49 — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:19:21 +0000

ppellico- I do remember a quite attractive young girl being really excited about her ‘98 F150. She drove it from Texas to upstate NY to go to school.
There are worse customer bases than pretty cowgirls.

I guess we’ll find out if the experiment by Dodge with the new mellow Ram beats the old fashioned “bigger numbers are better” salesmanship by Ford.

By: 86er

86er — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:42:06 +0000

@ Orangutan:

You’re right, those grilles have changed since the unveil. The XLT grille is all too busy, while the higher trim levels are still gaudy but a little easier on the eyes.

That’s too bad. XLT must be their top-selling trim level.

By: gman37

gman37 — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:17:58 +0000

If your Adjustable Rate Mortgage is not affordable anymore, you could always buy a new F-150 and live in it. Pretty soon the interior space will be listed in square feet.

By: Facebook User

Facebook User — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:12:17 +0000

“You are all nuts.
This is not a truck that is supposed to look nice.
That’s the whole problem in the recent past.
They started designing trucks for all you fake, pretend wannabe truckers.
Now, finally, they are back with a design only the everyday hard working crews need.
They don’t give a damn about pretty.
They want hard body, heavy duty trucks.
Even ugly is good.
If you want the girly, I am a very pretty and good looking cowboy/cowgirl in a truck…get the old versions.”

Do everyday people NEED an F-150 platnium? or SYNC?

No.

————

Anyway, I think this F-150 has some MAJOR problems.

1. It is too damn big. You shouldn’t need stairs to access the bed. There is no reason why a truck needs to be that big.

2. 3000+ pound bed capacity? This a 1/2 tone right? Has Ford forgotten they make a F-250, F-350, and F-450?

3. It is Ugly. The new Ram looks MUCH better

4. The interior is an ergonomic nightmare. All of those buttons…that has to be safe.

5. The SFE model uses the same amount of gas as the GM XFE Silverado with the 5.3. So with the GM you have a 15% bigger engine that uses the same amount of gas as the (smaller) boat anchor 4.6 from Ford.

By: Liger

Liger — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:53:26 +0000

In the brochure you can get a V8 RAM with a manual transmission (HEMI excluded). But, good luck EVER finding a manual transmission RAM on the lot of a Dodge dealership. They’re just not ordered, nobody ever buys them. I worked at a big Dodge dealership for 4 years, and saw almost no manual transmission RAM’s. And those were stripper V6 models.

By: ihatetrees

ihatetrees — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:36:44 +0000

Anyway, with F-150 models ranging from $21,320 (good luck finding a stripper) to $44,860 (what are you nuts?) and a lot of standard kit vs, the competition, Ford can legitimately claim to offer “the most pickup for the money.”

Mostly true. But why you can’t get a V8 with 3 pedals unless you buy a Ram? Are Ram’s customer’s demographic that much different than Ford’s/GM’s?

By: ppellico

ppellico — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:13:59 +0000

You are all nuts.
This is not a truck that is supposed to look nice.
That’s the whole problem in the recent past.
They started designing trucks for all you fake, pretend wannabe truckers.
Now, finally, they are back with a design only the everyday hard working crews need.
They don’t give a damn about pretty.
They want hard body, heavy duty trucks.
Even ugly is good.
If you want the girly, I am a very pretty and good looking cowboy/cowgirl in a truck…get the old versions.

By: Mark MacInnis

Mark MacInnis — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:12:24 +0000

Looks like it was designed by Rubbermaid for the “Little Tikes” line of toys….I think it actually achieves the dubious goal of making the Ranger look like automotive sculpture in comparison….

By: yankinwaoz

yankinwaoz — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:03:46 +0000

I hope that Ford fixed the seating in the F150’s. My best friend has one (2002 model). We are both 6-3 and neither of us can see out the windscreen without having to remove the visors. The seats are too high, so our eyeballs are right about the top of the screen. Drives us nuts. It’s like driving while sitting on a stack of phone books.

So Ford… either lower the seat 5 inches or raise the windscreen.

By: tdoyle

tdoyle — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:47:57 +0000

Even though the new F150 isn’t much more than a new front end, trim levels and new tailights and interior pieces, (underneath really hasn’t changed THAT much) I think it really goes to show how superior the 2004 F150 was when it first arrived in late 2003.

My 2005 R/C V6 5-speed 2WD does a superior job with everything I ask it to do and it gets decent mileage (over 20) as well at 80+mph daily commutes too.

By: Orangutan

Orangutan — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:38:35 +0000

86er: That’s not a Platinum model, at least according to Ford’s photography. Take a look at the F-150 website and click the “models” button.

http://www.fordvehicles.com/2009f150/

The Platinum actually uses a dark chrome mesh grille with a single horizontal slat in the middle instead of the Mach3 razorblade design. The XL, STX, and FX4 have black plastic Mach3 grilles while the XLT uses the all-chrome, all-shaving design. The Lariat and King Ranch use a two-blade design with recessed chrome mesh.

According to FreeP (I know), the SFE package will only be available on XL and XLT models.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080919/BUSINESS01/809190351

“The SFE package, meanwhile, is available only on the 4×2 versions of the XL and XLT models. The SFE package will be a no-cost option on the XLT SuperCrew pickups with the chrome package, but it will cost $1,095 when ordered on XL SuperCrew pickups with the décor package.”

In one of their photos they show what seems to be this pickup and describe it as an XLT.

By: RogerB34

RogerB34 — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:51:12 +0000

Dubya was given a 2001 Ford F250 with Bi-Phase Technologies liquid propane fuel injection system. He is known for VIP trips around the ranch. Putin and family one. Accused of being a windshield cowboy. Makes more sense than Reagan riding a horse. Nancy P drives a PC Prius. The market for non work purpose large PU’s will shrink. Ford will adapt.

By: 86er

86er — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:31:20 +0000

That photo is of the “Platinum” trim level, above the Lariat and meant to replace the ill-advised Mark LT. It will be the only trim level with that over-the-top faux chrome grille.

Contrary to what BostonTeaParty has said, this is not merely a facelift but a heavy MCE with interior revisions and many under the skin improvements (where it really counts with trucks). Whenever RobertSD gets here I’m sure he can provide technical details.

I agree with AG, though; half-ton trucks are getting way too big and silly. Ironically, the Ram, which started it all, has now come out with a subdued version of the Big Rig style and I hope other manufacturers follow with a little more minimalism of their own.

By: AG

AG — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:16:45 +0000

My first thought was “what’s that Tundra doing with a Ford logo on it?”

By: BostonTeaParty

BostonTeaParty — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:07:32 +0000

This truck actually shows us more of how Ford is in deeper doo-doo than we imagine. The new design if you can call it that is basically a new front clip with everything else carried over. Its a facelift of a design that is years old. If they can’t pretty up their cash cow, even in a diminishing market, doesnt that say more about the state the company is in? At least the Ram was given a good going over even if the design is debatable. The same can be said of the “new” mustang too.

By: kericf

kericf — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:00:36 +0000

Of all the domestics I have a soft spot for Ford. The cars I have owned have performed well enough in my opinion for what I paid for them.

This F-150, is the ugliest version yet. I get it is supposed to bridge the gap between the super duty, but holy crap is that hideous. The new Ram is a stunner sitting next to this thing.

By: NickR

NickR — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:53:28 +0000

There is tolerable garish and hideous garish. The new Ram is the former, the new Ford is the latter.

good luck finding a stripper

I know a great pla…oh, that’s not what you meant

By: Guzzi

Guzzi — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:36:42 +0000

How long before Ford sues you for cybersquatting the TTAC domain?

By: shaker

shaker — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:36:35 +0000

Cartoonishly large grille?

Check.

Prius-driver head crushing bumper height?

Check

One more MPG?

Check.

Mission Accomplished.

By: Orangutan

Orangutan — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:17:53 +0000

I’m not seeing how it really improves the mileage considering the non-”SFE” model achieves 15/20. All they can squeeze out is an extra mile a gallon on the highway? Chevy will get the same mileage out of their larger 5.3 V8 in “XFE” form.