Buying a new truck. Talk me out of buying a F150

Get the F150! You’ll certainly be buying it a wedding ring in no time....once it starts taking your paycheck

 

When I bought my Tundra last July, I was cross shopping the F-150 also. I really wanted a basic truck that could tow a good size trailer up to Sierras from SoCal. The eco boost made sense due to the turbo not loosing as much power at altitude. The interior of the Ford was way more updated and the 3.5L pulled like a locomotive. I couldn't find an ecoboost with the max towing package for under $48k in my area. With the Tundra, all 5.7s came ready from the factory with hitch, trailer brake controller, 4/7 pin connectors, and transmission coolers.

However, reading the forums and looking at the recall history, I had to go with the Toyota. My time is much too valuable to be sitting in a dealership getting something fixed. I know that Ford sells the most, but that doesn't always mean the best. Think McDonald's vs In-n-out.

Having owned Toyotas for the last 21 years, I know that these things take abuse and just keep going. Yes, the Tundra platform and power train are up there in age, but I like to think of them as proven.

No vehicle is perfect. You may get a lemon from Toyota. You may buy the Ford and it could last 500k miles. It's a game of percentages and I put my money on Toyota.

 

I'm thinking it kind of depends on how long you keep your truck and how many miles you plan to put on it. Trade it in at less than 5 years or less than 50k miles or so??? Roll the dice and buy the Ford, it is IMO a nicer truck than the Tundra with more features, better infotainment, the 3.5 Eco-Boost pulls like a train with a ton of torque, they do drive really nice. I mean I'd expect all that, it was redesigned about 2-3 years ago, while we are on year 11 since the current Tundra came out(2014 was just cosmetics, mechanically its the same truck as a 2007).

Planning to keep it a bit longer or pile a bunch of miles on it??? Get the Toyota and sleep better at night knowing its going to last and not give you the headache of huge repair bills once the warranty runs out.

Personally I'm more of a GM man than a Ford man, I'd rather have a Sierra than a F150. I've had several GM cars with their V8(LS1 Camaros, LT1 Cadillac, old 350 Chevy Cadillac), all of them gave me great service. Don't know why their V8 trucks would be any different, but I haven't really researched them for issues. Test drove a few of the 07-14 body style, didn't like them as much as the Tundra and they held their value similar for crew cab trucks.

 

I bought my tundra a couple of months ago. It barely has 2k miles on it. I was working with a broker and trying hard to get a Ford at a good price. I even have X-plan pricing. However, in the end it costs 15k more for the same trim level on a Ford. I driven Ford's all my life trouble free, but will never go back because of how the tundra feels to drive, how comfortable it is, how roomy it is, and did I mention it's cheaper? Also, more electronics means more to go wrong. Just my two cents

 

I'm feeling rather grumpy tonight, so no affirmation from me. That being said, it's your money, time and investment.
Do as you wish.

 

I bought my Tundra BECAUSE of lack of B.S. technology. I wanted a truck in 4x4 crew cab, heated leather, bluetooth radio and nothing else. I found that in my Limited. I always drove late 90s Chevrolet full sized 350 Vortex trucks and I wanted something similar; something I could hop in turn the key and go all while having minimal features.

 

“In alphabetical order....”

 

At the very least buy the F250

 

Took delivery of my 2018 SR5 TRD Off Road 2WD DC one week ago. Third Tundra (2001, 2008, 2018). Test drove F150s, GMC Sierra, and 2019 RAM. QUALITY of Tundra is far above the others. Test drive and get the sales guy to shut up while you take your time and check out the interior, the engine bay, the undercarriage, and the overall truck fit and finish. Yes, the Tundra is lacking a few items and the mpg needs to be better, but overall QUALITY, longevity, and dependability is there. I made the best decision for me. Good luck with your own decision.

 

These threads make me chuckle tbh. You're going to get a very lopsided viewpoint here so it's kinda pointless.

Both trucks have their pros and cons of course. If it were me, and I got the f150, I'd get the 5.0.

I like the f150 it has way more options. A way better navigation system (I am pretty sure Toyota's is the worst I've ever used) tows more, is more comfortable, and to be fair, looks better.

I do like my tundra too. Don't get me wrong. I think it's fair to say that the general consensus is the truck is more reliable but then again, it puts out so many fewer trucks that you'd have to look at percentages to get a real idea of reliability. Many people in this thread are talking about how many issues their colleagues have with their f150s and that's definitely fair, however, everyone I know has been very happy with their Ford's. My family has owned f150s in the past (me included) and none of us have had a single issue. So take that for what it's worth.

If you want an honest opinion, go drive both.

Good luck.

 

I owned a ford..once. After work tonight, i'll type up the reasons my family will never buy a ford again and why ford owning visitors park on the street...

 

I put 270k miles on my '05 Tundra with no issues outside of maintenance and one air injector pump at 160k miles. Just traded and got a 2018 Tundra and still got $7k from the dealership on the trade for a 13 year old truck with HIGH miles! I have 3 friends with F-150's that are all within 3 years old and every one of them have had multiple problems.

 

Not looking too good so far for FORDs................

 

I owned a Ford.....NEVER AGAIN. It was a money pit constantly in the shop. My first vehicle ever was an 87 Toyota pickup truck SR5 I went from that to a Chevy Silverado then to a Ford Expedition and right back to Toyota. I will never own anything but a Toyota product from here on out as long as Toyota keeps the quality of their vehicles the way they are.

 

Resale and reliability

 

what is this oversized paper weight you speak of sir?

 

Biggest factor for me was resale value.

Tundra after 5 years will be worth more than a comparable F-150.
~900K F-150s produced a year compared to ~150K Tundras.
Then there is quality, and all the other factors that us Pro Toyota guys will try to throw in.

I've found being brand loyal only benefits the Manufacture they don't give me anything because I love their products. I'm on my 3rd Toyota and I will always look at them first when looking at a new vehicle bacause they've gained my trust, but I try to consciously test out competitors.

Ultimately buy whatever truck is going to put the biggest smile on your face and is going to make you want to turn around and look at it every time to park and walk into a building.

 

You don’t use a smartphone? Real ETA, live alternate routes around traffic, peer reported accident and speed radar etc.

Too bad there isn’t a Lexus version Tundra with all the tech.

 

smh, another thread where someone needs mommy to make a decision for them. you need to figure out your own personal preference is your decision, not the mobs job.

and those people making threads on picking out a color for them is even worse than a thread like this.

/rant

ive seen plenty of non Toyota's last forever/not have issues, including F150's, Silverado's, gmc's, ram's.

and ive seen plenty of Toyotas Tacoma's and tundra's have issues.

 

If you’re going with a Ford, get a raptor or an F250 and up.

 

I had an F150 with an ecoboost. It was decent for me for the 3 years i had it but i was also super concerned about long term reliability of the turbos. I work in a place that has a TON of ecoboost F150's and we have stopped buying them due to all the maintenance associated with them. That was a huge reason why i went to the Tundra.

 

I think the Raptor is amazing. I’ve loved Fords for a long time. The last one I OWNED was a 1999 F150. When we bought the Tundra I looked at everything and talked to a lot of people. Ended up with the Tundra because of its dated technology. No fuel mileage nannies, no extra crap that looks nice but fails. I will be doing the LED headlights but otherwise thrilled that I don’t have any of the safety (non)sense that seems to be an issue with some of the new Tundras.

If you want bells and whistles, go Ford. If you want greater probability of reliability, go Tundra. It’s still a damn nice truck.

 

I recently sold my 2006 F150 and purchased a 2017 Tundra. In addition to some bigger issues related to duties as a tow vehicle I just got tired of constant little issues on the Ford, stuff that I'd never expect on a ~10 year, ~100k mile Toyota or Honda (fwiw my other car's a 2000 s2000, and my wife drives a 2007 Prius). The F150 wasn't a bad truck overall, but I got tired of the ever growing list of things that needed fixing. Stuff like cracked exhaust manifolds (and exhaust shops telling me they flat out didn't do that job on that truck), a seized caliper, a leaky windshield seal, a broken motor mount, and an AC leak. The interior wasn't the best quality and started falling apart. I tend to own vehicles for a long time, and when it came time to replace my truck (much earlier than I'd intended) I definitely didn't relish the thought of another Ford, doubly so the thought of owning a high strung twin-turbo one for over 100,000 miles.

 

Buy the Ford. Just promise to check back in on this thread every 6 months or so to keep us updated with how it is going. Consider it donating your wallet to science.

 

I also considered both the Tundra and F-150. The Tundra is outdated and heavier on gas; those are the only strikes against it. Reliability trumped that. Ford salesman tried to convince me how good and safe the Ford is. Toyota's salesman did not have to do it because the reputation speaks for itself.

 

I work in Florida, but for a Michigan company - Almost everyone here transferred here from MI, so they are by default in love with the big 3. All Fords, Chevys and a few Rams in our parking lot. All of them are in the shop every now-and-then for 'only' warranty work, as if it is okay to have warranty work done every now-and-then. They think it is normal. At 70,000 miles most of them trade in because they are 'racking up' the miles and don't want to run into 'maintenance repair cost' (in their words).
There is only one other Tundra (a Florida native) and he has 230,000 miles, and have never spent anything on the truck. My previous Toyota was 16 years old without any repairs at all - just regular oil changes, tires, brake pads and wiper blades.
The other guys know that, but they make fun of us for driving Toyotas and go trade in for another Ford or Chevy. Go figure....

 

I do but that shouldn't be an excuse for Toyota to have such a terrible navigation algorithm. If they want to half ass it they should just support Android Auto and Apple Car play.

Also, entune sucks. Maybe it's just me but it has always been pretty terrible and the speaker quality for a $46k truck is abysmal at best.

Either way, I didn't buy the truck for the navigation nor the infotainment system and speakers. I bought it because I wanted a big truck to do shit with. I don't have my tundra, not at all. I just don't love it. Lol.

I would give any other brand a chance to steal me away.

 

I bought my 2017 SR5 in May 2017.
I had never owned a Toyota before.

Like others have said, I crawled the F150 forums, looked at reliability scores and what not... doing research.
From what I remember the EcoBoost engine is getting a major overhaul ever 2-3 years to try and solve some of the issues they've been having with it. By most reports I saw, lots of people were starting to have headaches (non-regular-maintenance shop visits) around 25,000-50,000 mi.
They've got that cool youtube ad series where they try and prove the longevity of the engine buy throwing it on their test machine to test it, then drop it in a truck and try to beat it up. That doesnt seem to model real world use (issues) given what I've seen in the forums.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jCmu6qJXX4

I also looked at Ram 1500, gave up on that after I saw the frequency of transmission issues.
I left out Chevy/GM because they seemed to be way out of my price range for what I could get from the competitors.

As other's have said, Toyota hasnt changed any major components on the tundra for over 10 years. If there were major problems, we'd know about it by now.
There is no comparison between a million mile ford and todays model - where a million mile tundra very likely has the same major components as the current models.

Yes, the electronics "creature comforts" options is severely lacking. But most of that stuff you can add after market (likely for cheaper) if you really want it*. It was a bit of a sticking point for me since I've owned a few "newer" cars with lots of those creature comforts, but honestly, a year later - i dont miss them much. they are truly just "nice to haves."

* you cant really add better MPG, but as the sayings around tundras go - if you want MPG get a Prius. Trucks are for doing Truck stuff. There really isnt a ton of difference between 15mpg and 18mpg.. It's still horrible when you compare it to the 30mpg most (gas) cars seem to have now.
http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/f-150
http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/tundra

You're on a Tundra fan page, so of course we all ended up in a tundra for one reason or another.

If you're primarily concerned with reliability, do your research to see how reliable the vehicles are. I'm sure others can point you to some reputable sites. Look at true cost of ownership.
If you're still on the fence, get a Tundra - with better resale value you can likely get out of it with less of a loss than the other brands.

That's just my 2 cents. I'm sure others will correct me where I'm wrong. Good luck with your decision!