Is The Ford F150 A Financially Responsible Car to Buy?

Is the Ford F150 a financially responsible car to buy? The correct answer is, it depends. As someone who currently drives a Nissan Altima in the great Sunshine state of Florida, and as someone who is looking to possibly take a job in tax up in the great state of Ohio in the North Eastern area, I have been starting to think that in the northern states, where rust is a huge factor, that buying a Truck is among the best financial decisions that you can make. My Nissan Altima is likely to last another 10+ years if I drive it in Florida, and maybe as much as 15 sans transmission problems. Give me a Ford F150 however, year 2021 in Ohio, and it can probably last the same length of time, whereas my little Nissan Altima would barely make it another 5 years in such harsh conditions. Driving hurdles like dealing with salt on the roads, cold weather, driving in freeze and snow, and the like, can easily cause a very difficult rust problem that can render the car DOA. With all this in mind, let’s look at when it makes financial sense to drive a Ford F150, and when you should stick with a used car or a Sedan.

Other Auto Financing topics we will cover in this category include:

When a car loan makes sense

Why Leasing a car is a terrible financial decision

When it makes sense to buy new

Why you should almost never buy a car new until you have a net worth of $1,000,000.00

What a good interest rate on a car loan is

Why using debt for a car is stupid

Why you should typically only buy the car you can pay cash for

Why Trading up for an F150 Truck makes sense in the winter north areas

And much more. Read on or subscribe to our blog for additional details and information.

Is The Ford F150 A Financially Responsible Car to Buy? A Multi-Part Analysis On Why This Is a Fantastic Automobile

I want to use multiple examples of why this is a good car to buy, in terms of driving ability, safety features, cost, duration, MPG, durability and rust factor, car maintenance, price of oil changes, and price of gas. Adding in one final one, I’ll call this Kelly Bluebook Sustainability, for how the car sustains its value over time.

So Just how Fiscally responsible is a Ford F150? For Living up North, VERY

Overall Cost

I actually give the vehicle low marks for this one particular trait, in that it is extremely expensive to buy. A brand new Ford F150 is going to run you around $75,000+ for the 2021 model, with the rust factor and premium safety features etc. This is an extremely expensive price tag, even in our extreme inflationary environment and current prices of cars, in that you would need to drive this car for like 20 or 30 years straight in order to make up that cost. You can easily get a car at $15,000 to $20,000 that is decent even in this environment, and even a used F150 runs you $47,000 to $50,000+. I give this car a 3/10 on price.

Safety Features

On the newer models the safety features are actually as good as you can get, and for you personally it is actually safer than driving a car. Probably one of the safest cars you can drive on the road with automatic stopping, side and front airbags, durability and size, you can’t get much better than a Ford F150 in terms of safety. 10/10.

Driving Ability

Drives very smoothly, and handling on it is actually pretty easy. 10/10.

Duration and How Far It Goes In Terms of Mileage

Duration and how far it will go is not bad at all. Typical Ford F150 is going to get you something like 175,000 to 200,000 miles+ before it craps out on you. This is on par with typically durable cars like the Nissan Altima, Honda Odyssey, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Prius. It will go as far as the majority of other automobiles will. 7.10 here.

MPG and How Much It Holds In a Tank

20mpg is the average here, with 22mpg highway and 19 mpg city. Now that’s not the greatest gas mileage especially with how high we have prices right now across the United States. My car gets 28mpg city/39mpg highway right now, which is fantastic for long drives, it’s like my gas tank never ends! I can also get 600+ miles on a single tank, versus the Ford F150 getting nearly 675-700 miles on a single tank, which is a fantastic range here. For the size of the car and with the storage space and trailer pulling ability that it gets you, I give it a 7/10 for gas mileage.

Rust Factor

This is the primary reason I am looking at buying the car, and I give the vehicle a 9/10 on this one. If I drive something like my 2020 Nissan Altima up to Ohio for my new job next year, that thing is going to be fully rusted in 2 years tops, and even with proper maintenance is likely only going to last another 5-10 years, ten being a stretch goal, even though it only has 84,500 miles on it right now. My best bet looks to be trading this in for a Ford F150 relatively soon after moving over to Ohio, in that the Ford F150 can withstand rust almost to the point of you not even noticing it, sans some spray maintenance. Aluminum bottom is the name of the game here, and even the 2016 models and up work like a charm here. 10/10.

Car Maintenance

Should be no more or less than any other automobile. Scratch that cost is around 800 per year, with around $10,200 total for the first ten years of the vehicle in total maintenance costs. For comparison, my Nissan Altima only costs around $400 per year to maintain. That’s a nice little hit they don’t tell you about at the dealership. Between the cost, this expense, and the gas mileage, this is not necessarily a car that you buy in order to save money, it’s a car you buy to feel like a man, if you are rich, or if you have to live somewhere where it snows and you don’t want the bottom of your car rusting through.

Price of Oil Changes

Slightly above average, always need 100% synthetic oil here, included in the increased maintenance costs. 6/10

Price of Gas

Surprisingly, gas on this is not bad. The slightly lower gas mileage due to just the size of your truck is the only real issue here, regular gas it taken. 8/10 for price of gas.

Kelly Bluebook Sustainability (Store of Value)

I’ll include this in with maintenance costs to some degree. In terms of storing its value, Kelly Bluebook on these tends to stay high. There is always a market for the Ford F150 and it is something that actually holds value very well over time. 10/10 for store of value.

Final Thoughts On Is The Ford F150 A Financially Responsible Car to Buy?

If you buy used and you are purchasing because you are heading up for a new job in a winter area like I am, then yes if you can pay cash after the cost on the trade in and not get hosed, it is not that bad of a deal. Expect increased maintenance costs however to the tune of almost $75 per month for the life of the car, excluding increased gas prices due to low MPG and higher oil changes due to the truck only taking synthetic oil. Overall however, if you can pay cash for it it is not the worst decision in the world or avoiding rust. As a cash saver car however? Move on to something else, there are better cost effective trucks for the winter as well, like probably a Tacoma or even a RAM. Hope you enjoyed reading, subscribe for more details on all things finance!

 

Cheers!

 

*Inflation Hedging.com

Sources:

https://www.bankrate.com/banking/cds/cd-rates/

https://money.cnn.com/data/markets/

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