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Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The best Ford F350
Let’s get the preliminaries out of the way first: either you “get” Gus and his owner, or you don’t. If you do, you can skip this paragraph. If not, I’m not sure I can change your perspective, but at least give Mike the credit that every aspect of his truck and his life’s work is deliberate. That goes for his precarious-looking load in the back: he’s been at it so long, he knows exactly what it’s doing; hasn’t lost one yet in thirty years. Mike’s hardly some marginal or pathetic character to either pity or wish the hell he’d get his battered eyesore off the road. He’s a successful independent small businessman who’s found a niche that allows him to make a reasonable living while living his passion for recycling. And keeping old things running forever.
Perhaps the biggest physical update to the inner Super Duty is up front, where the seats from the latest F-150 have been carried into the bigger trucks. There’s an immense center console capable of swallowing your pet badger—or at least a couple of laptops. And the dashboard has been redesigned.
And of course there’s a plethora of electronic goodies on offer: stability control; an updated edition of Sync, Ford’s Microsoft-based communications and infotainment system; an optional touch-screen nav system; an LCD for tracking fuel economy, trip time, miles to empty, etc.; a pre-towing checklist; and the Ford Work Solutions feature that includes an in-dash computer and an RFID system to keep track of tools and equipment.
The Bottom Line
When the 2011 Super Duty trucks go on sale in April, pricing for a base two-wheel-drive standard-cab F-250 with the 6.2-liter V-8 will start at $28,975, a noticeable increase over its predecessor, which based at $26,850.
But Super Duty increases aren’t uniform across the board, and there are bright spots, such as the F-250 four-wheel-drive XLT crew cab at $37,940, which is the same as the corresponding 2010 version and includes the new automatic transmission, since the manual transmission has been discontinued. With such a broad lineup of models, heavy-duty pickup prices span a wide range, and that’s true here, from the base truck’s to more than $64,000 for a burly F-450 with all the trimmings.
Given the nature of these beasts, their appeal is limited largely to buyers who need big capabilities. Ford currently owns 46 percent of this total market, 65 percent of which is diesel. A large component of the total market is fleet and commercial users, and Ford claims 60 percent of that. The aim, of course, is to increase share right across the board. Judging by our brief encounter with the lineup, it looks like Ford has the right weapons for the fight.
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