Whelp, my awesome 2008 F-150 reached the 200K mile marker, and while still very sound, there were a lot of little things starting to pop up with it that I could fix, and a few hints that major repairs would be in the works soon. The wife encouraged me to buy a new truck, so I did, a very nice 2020 Ford F-150 in red (of course).
I'm going to cover the things that matter to me or are remarkable.
The Truck:
It's a six cylinder engine, ten speed automatic transmission, extended cab (suicide rear doors) truck with the 6 1/2 foot bed. It's the Sport XLT package, meaning it has fancier wheels, a fancier black interior with cloth seats, and the base model of the Sync 3 system. It also has the base tow package, running boards, and rubber mats on the floor (yea!). It also has the Old Guy step built into the tailgate.
The Good.
Fit and finish is excellent.
With a fully (8 way) adjustable seat, visibility is much better than my old truck, as I can raise the seat. The steering wheel also telescopes as well as tilts. It is very comfortable, with one exception (to be discussed later).
The transmission and engine are responsive in "Normal Driving Mode," and handling is excellent for a full sized pickup truck. I don't have hard numbers, of course, but pulling out and merging with traffic is no problem at all - it's got some oomph to it. Downright "peppy." The suspension hits the sweet spot between stiff truck and luxurious Land Yacht.
Gas mileage is without complaint. To get the 26 mpg Highway, one has to drive 65 mph, which isn't happening for me. At 70 mph, it's a solid 25, at 75 mph, 24. There's clearly a curve going on. The advertised 22 City is understated, as I'm getting 23 mpg in Suburbia, which has far more stop and start traffic and stupid people driving inconsistently for my liking.
It's quiet, with just a whisper of road noise, even on our sometimes crappy roads.
Layout of the cabin is well thought out, with everything reasonably placed; the 1/8th inch tray on top of the dash of my old truck has been replaced with a one inch deep one, which is much appreciated, as crap won't be hopping out and sliding all over in a turn as an example. The cup holders are just the right size to hold a reasonably sized cup without being swallowed up, and deep enough to where they're not going to fly out.
The auto headlight feature was retained, so it's set it once and that's it. It will also automatically go to high beams and back to low beams based on lighting conditions (such as a car coming) - which kind of shocked me the first time it happened.
The Okay:
The Sync 3 is a 8.5 inch screen in the center of the dash, where one selects music sources, set preferences, displays a backup camera view when in reverse, and other crap that I don't care about. Notably, mine is without built-in navigation, but that's not really a problem, as one can use the Map function on a smart phone.
Once paired, one's smart phone need never be opened; taking and making calls is easy, hands free, and the microphone is very good - so good that my wife told me that I don't have to yell at her. To use apps on an android phone, one must plug it into a USB connection. I know this is old tech at this point, but new to me (as is a smart phone).
The shifter for the transmission is on the center console, not on the steering column. Not good or bad, but I'm still grabbing at the air to the right of the steering wheel in the morning sometimes.
There's a weird hole on the driver's side of the dash, low down and molded in - a two inch wide, one inch tall rectangular hole that is deeeeppp. I have no idea what one would put in that.
It came with a year's worth of Sirus radio, which will lapse in time and never be re-subscribed to. The speakers play music pretty good - I'm far from an audiophile, mind you.
The backup camera is okay. I prefer to use mirrors and looking back. I think it's a distraction that could lead to tunnel vision; eyes up!
The Weird:
Start/Stop technology. So if one is at a red light for awhile, the engine will stop. Let off the brake, and the engine starts. It's pretty quick, but weird. I can't help but think that the starter is going to wear out, regardless of the claims of "heavy duty" ascribed to it. One can easily turn it off with the press of an easy to see and push button. This is neither good nor bad for me, as I live in Alabama, USA, and since it never activates when the Air Conditioning is running, there's only a four month out of a year window for it to have a chance. Indeed, it doesn't turn off if the heater is running past the first two fan speed settings.
The Internet of Things is in high mode here - while one can turn it off in the settings, the truck talks to Ford, and will update it's software when connected to WiFi or a mobile phone by USB. One can check the tire pressure and other things from an app on one's phone, program it to start at pre-determined times, and other things I haven't dove into.
One can't change a playlist on a connected iPod if there isn't someone in the passenger's seat or stopped and in Park. This is an oddly specific constraint, I think. The volume and song selection button on the steering wheel is kinda cool, though.
The center screen on the instrument panel is a feature without a good use. It defaults to a speedometer, but I already have one. One can select it to show a trip odometer with average gas mileage (which I set it at), real time gas mileage (so much for getting away from distractions), and tire pressure monitoring. Ford is really keen on tire pressure, I reckon. Nowhere is there a volt meter; since I have the tow package, I think they swapped it out for a transmission temp gauge, and there isn't a display for it in the center screen.
Supposedly there's some lane assist and crash avoidance stuff in there, but apparently I'm too good a driver to make it activate.
Drive modes! So one can set driving profiles to match what one is doing. There's Normal, Sport, Ice/Wet, Eco, and Tow/Haul. Normal is normal. Sport keeps one in lower gears longer and crashes to the next higher one; not a fan. Ice/Wet restricts initial acceleration to keep from spinning and allegedly increases stability at higher speeds; again, not a fan. Eco mode "This mode provides the best fuel economy while trading-off overall performance and comfort," says the Ford website, so that's a no from me, as I don't want my truck nerfed or the AC hobbled. I don't plan on much towing, so Tow/Haul mode is meh. This is weird stuff, IMHO, as one should be able to drive a truck competently without computer profiles.
My Sync 3 is a weird version with everything BUT navigation. One can plug in a smart phone and use it's map function, but it completely takes over the screen. Not bad, but just an odd thing.
The Bad:
The head rest on the seat is tilted forward, and I can't find a way to adjust it to tilt back even a little. With the seat otherwise adjusted perfectly to my liking the darned headrest is pushing against my head. I'm going to dig into the manual some more to see if I'm not missing something.
The owner's manual (and accompanying pamphlets) are poorly laid out, inscrutable in descriptions of how things actually work, and likes to refer one to other parts of the manual that then refer one back to where one was to begin with. Maybe I'm one of the few that actually reads them, but they really did a poor job of it. Hell, the manual said I had an undersized spare - which thankfully I do not - and some research showed that all trucks have a full sized spare. They cut and pasted that crap from a Ford Fiesta, no doubt.
No cigarette lighter. One can order it as an option, of course, but it's 100 bucks for it and an ashtray that fits into a cup holder. Sigh.
Summary:
I'm very pleased with the truck, and hope it will last as long and serve as well as my old one.