I am looking at 2010 XLT 4x4 crew cabs. I will driving nearly 90% highway miles and my company pays for gas at 20mpg. The 4.6 3v claims 20 on the sticker is this what anyone is getting? I usually have the cruise set at 73. Also I am planning on putting 300k miles on the truck before I get rid of it. Any thoughts on 5.4 vs 4.6?

Thanks in advance for the thoughts.

 

Wait until the fall and pick up a 2011. The Ecoboost is supposed to get 23 on the highway and have more power than the 4.6 and the 5.4.

 

brand new engines are not my idea of a wise purchase this is even more true with a TT Truck. I would wait, a year or get the 5.4. Honestly I drive pretty hard and I manage to avg 16 -17 mpg city/hwy, FX4 3.75, 5.4. Just my Two cents. The added TQ of the 5.4 will be greatly noticable. Do you tow? Off road? what will you use the truck for, just commuting I would not get a truck.

 

Well i love my 4.6L 3Valve. I get over 20 highway and 14-15 city. basically what the sticker says!

 

I have the 4.6l 3valve 3.55 and get about 20-22 mpg hyw. I also use this truck to tow my 30` TT at just about 5,500lbs with no issues. There is no doubt that the 5.4 delivers more power then the 4.6, and hyw milage is about the same, and your company pays for your fuel. Whats the discusion here?

 

It's not a "Brand New" engine. It's been out for a year already in 3 different vehicles and I haven't heard of any issues with them to date. All they are doing is putting a RWD tranny on them and dropping them into the F150. Only thing they will change is the programming and possible the cams and intake manifold to make it more torque biased, but it won't be a "new" engine. They also make peak torque from 1500 RPM on up close to redline and they are supposed to be rated at 400/400.

 

neither was the new 6spd tranny in the 09+ F150 and they still have a few problems and they have been in the expedition for a couple of years before 2008 when the F150s rolled off the assembly line. It is BRAND NEW for the F150. Also I am just concerned about the engine being in BOOST all of the time. Also I have not seen an actuall dyno chart for the new engine soooo, I will wait till I see one of those, and acutal independent tests with the new engine.

 

I was going to wait for the 2011 EcoBoost engine for the fuel economy, but here are my reasons for not waiting and recently taking delivery on a special order 2010 King Ranch with all the options I wanted (skid plates, bed extender, tailgate step, Sony DVD navigation, sunroof/moonroof):

1. My purchase timeline was needed new truck before October. Research suggests you will not be driving a 2011 until around Thanksgiving, and that is if everything goes well with the initial quality testing on the first ones off the line.

2. Right now the 2010 F-150 has some incredible rebate incentives and dealer pricing them to sell. Even with my special order I was >$10,000 under MSRP, and many others are getting similar deals.

3. They will likely not offer special rebates or incentives on 2011's when they first are available to order, and the EcoBoost engine will be an option that may cost an extra $2,000 over the 5.0L V8 Coyote engine that is replacing the 5.4L V8 Triton as the new standard. I have no basis for the $2,000 estimate, just a wild guess. The 2011 model year itself will likely base MSRP $750-1,500 higher then the 2010 model year.

4. The 2009 F-150 expected reliability is .5 red dots higher then 2009 Tundra! Take that Toyota!, and I am a 2002 Tacoma owner and that has been a great truck for me. Essentially, the 2009-2010 F-150 looks very high in expected reliability--can't say the same yet for the 2011 with new engines and tranny adjustments to match the new engines.

5. Considering #2 & #3 above, I figured I would be paying $5,000-$7,000 more for a 2011 with EcoBoost then the deal I got on my 2010 KR. At $3/gallon, that's 2,333 gallons of gas at 17mpg = 39,666 miles I can drive the 2010 for the initial out the door cash outlay difference. I have heard at least 23mpg highway for the EcoBoost. If you average 20,000 miles/yr...23mpg = 870 gallons * $3/gal = $2,610 fuel cost. For the Triton at 18mpg = 1,111 gallons * $3/gal = $3,333 fuel cost. $3,333 - $2,610 = $723/yr...so if the 2011 costs $7,000 more you will need to drive it like 9yrs to pay for that EcoBoost engine. I know I jumped the Triton from 17-18mpg, but just making a point is all.

Now, having said all that...

I rationalized to jump into a great deal right now on a 2010. Enjoy the ride! After a few years and all the kinks with EcoBoost into F-150 are worked out, and when they are at that time willing to give out the big incentives (~10k off MSRP), and Consumer Reports has the expected and proven reliability rating very high--at that time I may consider driving the new engine F-150.

Just thought I'd share the decision making I went through recently. Absolutely LOVING my 2010 King Ranch! Best truck I have ever owned.

Hope this post helps all those out there on the fence of waiting for the 2011's or buying 2010 which I was struggling with for a while.

Kevin

 

Well was trying to buy a 4.6 but the dealer was having a hard time finding the truck I wanted. So ended up with a 5.4 and few extra options for the same price. They were willing to work a lot harder on something they had in inventory. Ended up with nearly $9k off MSRP not including ford financing and $1k more on my trade than anyone else was offering. They even gave a case of steaks and a mountain bike how could I go wrong

4x4 SuperCrew XLT Sterling Grey
3.55LS
Chrome steps
Sync
Trailer Tow
Convenience
Drivers package
keyless entry
Two-Tone