Truck Search

I have seen a couple of Ford F-150 trucks show up online recently, so I wanted to go sit in one and make sure I didn't find the truck incredibly uncomfortable, so I decided to go to the Ford dealer in town and sit in a few before I had one shipped up from somewhere just to find out that my knees were in the dash.

The first one was their "courtesy" vehicle.  It wasn't bad, it was reasonably comfortable.  The seats were softer than my Toyota, which might be a good thing (my Toyota feels great when you get in, but a few hours later you are in misery).  The steering wheel isn't in a great location, but it is an improvement over the Toyota.

This was the only thing that bothered me.  I don't understand the reasoning for it either.  I am hardly the only person that rests their arm on the window sill, and doing that in this truck is obnoxious.  I think I would get used to it, it was more obnoxious than uncomfortable, but this is still a really silly design decision.

I sat in a couple different ones, since Ford has at least a dozen different configurations.  This one wasn't bad either.

The second one I sat in was even the same year as the ones I saw online.

I looked at another one that was a slightly higher trim level and was surprised to see that it didn't have a bench seat in it.  It felt like I was sitting in a compact car, so bench seat is a requirement too it appears.

Just out of curiosity, I went and "measured" the usable length of a "standard" bed these days.  They have gotten shorter again.  Either that or my wingspan is longer than I thought (I think it is just over 6', maybe 6'1").  I was too lazy to rummage around and get the tape measure out of my truck since it wasn't really important, 8' box is a requirement.

Much to my surprise, I actually saw a truck on their lot that was configured the way that I want it, other than I don't need the plow. 

It had an extended cab, 8' box, 4x4, 5.0L V8.  It was a 2019, so it wasn't too old or anything.  It had a tow package of some sort on it.

The mirrors on it were kind of small.  

I tried to look inside, and at least confirmed it was a bench seat. 

Unfortunately though, I went and looked up the price this morning, and they want more for that truck than a brand new one.  Add in the fact that Monadnock Ford has a very bad reputation, and I think I will pass.  

Just because they had one unlocked, I also went and sat in one of those $80k trucks (a fully loaded F150 Lariet), and it was surprisingly uncomfortable.  It almost felt like the seat wasn't level, and it was too constricted, just like the other non-bench truck I sat in.

For completeness' sake, I also went and looked at the GMC dealer which didn't have anything unlocked, and also looked at the Dodge dealer.  I only found one Chevy unlocked.  It was awful.  The middle seat dug into my leg because it was fixed, it didn't move with the driver's seat.  

I didn't get a picture apparently, but the Dodge I sat in wasn't very good, it was notably inferior to the F150.  It looks like Ford is the frontrunner for the next truck.  Assuming I can find one. 

At this point, I probably won't post for the rest of the year since my traveling begins this weekend.  Merry Christmas everyone.