Up to this year, I've been towing with my old 1998 GMC K2500 6.5 Turbo Diesel:
It gets it done without any real fuss out on the road and all the numbers work out, but you can tell it's working pretty hard to do it and we have to be careful with our loading.
I've had to put one new engine in it and it's also been a constant stream of those little things breaking in all those little ways that older vehicles do that just pee-s you off.
Final straw was last week when the wiper drive popped off it's linkage down in the wiper cowl and the driver wiper stopped halfway up while the passenger side merrily attempted to beat itself to death on the stopped wiper. Then, with no warning the driver wiper whipped up and off the window, flopping over the drivers door frame and jamming me inside. Well, one major pee fit and and bent to crap wiper arm later I had finally had enough of the old thing.
It was now past my pain tolerance, both in my peace of mind and in my pocket book.
The truck had to go!
Now I'm military (RCAF) and being forced retired as my body is just too beat up to do SAR any longer. Can't complain, it's been a long rewarding career and the benefits package is very generous. Between benefits and my own pension, I'm basically pensioned off at 90% of my current wage. I can basically retire at just over 50 and not have to work unless I want/am able to. I'm probably so busted up that I won't be able to work anyways.
I wanted a good vehicle I could be comfortable in, be happy with and keep for another 10-20 years. Probably be my last vehicle as I might not even be able/allowed to drive in 20 years the way my body is going!
I wanted to go back to a Ford and I've been pretty impressed with my friends who drive EcoBoost trucks. They must have some kind of black magic or made a deal with the devil the way that V6 tows!
We started looking for a used one, something 3-5 years old or so. Everything was either not optioned the way we wanted it, a piece of crap or badly overpriced for what it was.
So we started looking at new. We came across a 2016 model that was used as a demonstrator. IOW: it was the new car sales managers vehicle.
They had loaded it up for the purpose of using as a demo at car showings and PR events. It was perfect, just what I wanted:
2016 F-150, 3.5 EcoBoost 6 speed. SuperCrew, 6.5' box. 4x4 (with select-able AWD). Lariat (502A). Sport trim. Max Trailer tow option (11,600 lb trailer). Panoramic sunroof, Spray in bedliner, 36 gallon tank, Pro Trailer backup assist, bed step, backup cameras, power folding mirrors, heated/cooled leather seats, Sync 3 (with navigation), etc, etc....you'd have to go to the "Platinum" King Ranch or "Limited" levels to get more. Even then, you wouldn't get much more. A few do-dads, different colors and/or some badging.
It was also the last one anywhere east of Montreal with all the options I wanted, unless I wanted to step up to a 2017. No thanks, they're too rich for my blood and nothing in the way of rebates.
I wanted "Magnetic" (silver/gray/metallic color) or black. This one is shadow black so it fit the bill. Black is a "B" to keep clean, so I'll just have to wash and wax it a lot I guess...
We haggled it down pretty good and there were several year end incentives. I bartered in a Ford hard tonneau cover and we took the 8 year/150,000 Platinum extended warranty (all at very haggled prices). I played two dealers off against each other and then I even played off the "sections" in the dealer itself (IE: had sales trying for reduced prices, the business manager trying to slash prices and same with parts and accessories). The wife and I also played the "I want it/I don't game" so they knew we had a 50/50 chance of walking away.
We had them squeezed pretty good and then I tried for one more thing once they seemed stonewalled: I told the business manager I would take the reduced price ESP and the maintenance package and finish the deal if they threw in the Ford accessories mud flaps. She squirted out of the office to check, eager to seal the deal.
About 10 minutes later the owner walked in with the business manager. She looked a little sheepish. He stuck out his hand and I stood up and gave him a firm grip (I know him somewhat casually from the local car scene). As he shook my hand He smiled at me and said "Just wanted to shake the hand of the man who got my sales team to offer him a truck and accessories for 1300 less than what it cost me and tell him I can't do mudflaps".
Seems I had gotten parts to commit to below cost on the bedcover and the molded floor mats, Salesman had come in under what they needed on the truck to cover cost and the ESP/Maint package was just under what they needed to sell it for. The owner caught wind of it when they were looking a the mudflap prices and when he asked to see the "haggled" prices knew he owed more on the combined deal than they were offering it to me for.
Now, whether or not that was true of just an attempt to close the deal I have no idea. But we were happy with what we were getting and it was clear they had hit rock bottom, whether they were loosing money or not. I wouldn't be too surprised if they actually weer loosing a little bit as the owner is known for making deals and loosing money to maintain customer satisfaction and for his local reputation.
I also had a sizable amount to put down on it (settlement money from a lifetime of injuries) so the finance amount is more than manageable.
So we signed the papers 6 days before xmas and picked it up 3 days before xmas (they had to do undercoating and treatments and there was a weekend in there too).
Drove off the lot with this and a very big smile:
Damn thing goes "like a bat out of heck" and is averaging 18 mpg even with winter driving and extended warm ups. I can't believe this thing is a V6...just unreal.
towing numbers work out fine, everything well under capacity (GCWR 17,100, max allowable trailer 11,600). Except for the actual truck payload sticker of 1700 lbs: with generous loading (ie: hitch head, dogs and lots of cra...errr, stuff), we're still about 150-300 lbs under max, depending on how we are set up to roll out. Just me and the wife and we only come in just over 350 lbs, so we save lots of weight in passengers and that our saving grace in payload.
Seats are great on my busted up old back. Lots of people complain about the lumbar in the 2015+ seats, but it's just right for me. Gives me lots of support in my lumbar curve where I need it do to rupture L5/S1. The heat is very welcome on my ruptured discs/muscles and the cooling will be great in summer. Seat, pedals and column are all power adjustable in multiple ways so finding just the right position for me to be comfortable on any given day is a piece of cake.
And, call me vain but; it actually makes me feel better to be driving a nice new vehicle.