troutspinner

Was MPG a deciding factor for you buying an F150 over any other manufacturer's comparable truck? Let me qualify this, not "part of the reason", "the reason". would you have bought the competitor's truck if the MPG was better than the F150?

The reason I ask is so many threads turn into a MPG debate. Is everyone just bored? Is this just another way for Eco's and 5.0's to debate?

I understand the economy we are in and the abuse on gas prices but we have one thing in common, we are buying $40k++ trucks! I would think we could afford the gas and not have to worry about a few mpg's.

I bought my truck to tow a trailer, go hunting and fishing. Whether it gets 12, 15, 22 or even 100 MPG was not a factor in my decision to buy an F150. I bought the best vehicle on the market that met my needs and suited my budget.

BourbonCowboy

This sums it up for me. I had a '98 F-150 SCab, and loved it. But the mileage was piling up. I also had a '00 Taurus that a friend wanted to buy for his kid's first car. I don't like the look of the Chevys, and a Dodge is...well...a Dodge. Not for me. I did a lot of research into the truck I wanted, and found one at the price I was willing to pay. Everything seemed to fall into place, so I sold the car and traded the truck.

And BTW...my new 5.0 SCab gets about 18 MPG - which is exactly what my '98 (with the 4.6) got. I'm satisfied.

GatorMedic

The only factor I considered? Of course not. A factor that I did consider, along with others? Definitely. I would think those two answers would be the standard response of ANY vehicle buyer, to include cars, trucks, and SUVs. If a competitor had offered much better gas mileage, I'd immediately give it serious thought.

To answer, the thread title question: yes, gas mileage is important. While a truck's main advantages and function is not getting great gas mileage, truck companies paying attention to and trying to improve gas mileage is a GOOD thing. So even if you're the type that doesn't care how much money you shell out for gas, at least fake it to companies so they'll improve it.

Interesting way to look at it: I plan on keeping my truck for approx 10 years or 200k. I realize not everyone is planning on keeping their truck for that long. But in my situation if I got 16 mpg over the life of the truck instead of 14 mpg, I'd save over $7,000. Put that into perspective. That's 20% of my truck's final price (not MSRP). If you deduct my trade, that gas difference amounts to over 40% of what I paid for my truck. If I'm paying $17k out of pocket for my truck, shelling out an extra $7k in gas difference is a big deal IMO

SchuLace

When I bought my 04, I knew what I was buying. I hate it when people buy a truck and complain about the mileage. It is a truck and you knew it when you bought it. Trucks don't get great mileage.

MadocHandyman

I didn't even look at any other brands.
The mpg did influence my decision to buy a new one rather than put money into my 99 250.

NewTwoFord

I too bought my F150 for towing. We camp quite a bit during the summer. It has the best towing capacity for what I need. Are MPG's important, yes but no truck is as good as a car obviously so I went with what suited me best. Before this truck, I owned 3 Silverados, so I kept my options open.

jumpseat82

I bought my 2010 5.4L because I loved the look of it and I'm a big fan of Ford trucks. Never considered the gas mileage even though it gets 13 mpg.

clpeller

I couldn't care less about MPG. If I did I would have bought a Fiesta. lol

BlackXTR

This is my last truck,more than likely.I loaded up the all options I could afford.Gas consumption really was not a concern.I chose the middle of the road and got the 5.0,could have gone with the eco but I did need that much and I could not find a loaded 3.7.
Started out with a black XTR ,deal fell through.Got a

Race Red Luxury pack FX4 ,guess I will have to change my name to Little Red

Jetta03

You always have to consider the cost of operating the vehicle. Fuel will only go up in the long term, and you do risk taking a massive depreciation hit on that $40000 lump of iron in your driveway if oil prices go crazy again.

For myself I bought my 2010 to tow our camper. At this point between using our other vehicles and public transit I'm putting less than 15000 km a year on the truck and most of that is towing. I like driving it, it's great at what I need it to do, but if we stopped towing it would be gonzo tomorrow.

Truth is a diesel volkswagen and a utility trailer can do everything this truck can do (short of towing) for a small fraction of the cost. If cost of fuel doesn't matter then you're either much richer or much dumber than I