I finally found a truck I like and I bought it. It's the first truck I've bought in 20 years.

It's not new, it's a 2017, but it has only 10K miles on it. It was originally leased to an Air Force base in Alberta and apparently it spent a lot of time just sitting around.

The idea is to use it in retirement to pull the trailer all over the country. I can't wait!

Nice. It looks sturdy.

Looks great! And that second seat will fit all sorts of dogs/grandkids.

A real find, Steve! Congratulations!

My idea of an ideal new vehicle purchase is a nearly new one (wouldn't have thought 2017 qualified, but given the mileage and use, it sure does).

All the depreciation is gone and its just pure benefit for you. There may even still be time left on its warrantee.

Looks nice - hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

What are the specs? We're thinking we may to upgrade to a bigger truck.

quote:

Originally posted by piqué:
What are the specs? We're thinking we may to upgrade to a bigger truck.

Ford F-250 4x4 short bed. 6.2 liter gas engine, 385 HP. 6 speed automatic - newer models have a 10 speed. I went with gas because the diesel option adds about $8K to the cost and maintenance costs are higher. Rated to tow about 13K pounds, which is more than adequate for our 7500 pound trailer. Short bed because it makes parking the trailer in a campground much easier.

I don’t know what horse trailers weigh, but I did look at an F350 with a diesel. 440 horsepower and a remarkable amount of raw grunt (torque). Rated 15K pounds towing a conventional trailer and a whopping 30K pounds with a fifth wheel setup. Ride, surprisingly, wasn’t much worse than the truck I bought, but price was higher and the truck was total overkill for our purposes.

Starting in 2017, Ford trucks have aluminum bodies and I can feel how light it is when I drive it. Lower weight means better mileage and I was pleased to find I’m getting an average of 15 MPG compared to the 10 MPG my older trucks get. “Flex Fuel” means I can run E-85 in it but I understand power and mileage drop.

$45K with 10K miles. That sounds absurd but the equivalent new truck rocks in at some $65K. Add some options and the price skyrockets - I saw one new truck with all of the options for $120K!

HD trucks of any type are in short supply right now and you may have search a while.

Today I discovered that the whole back seat area converts to the ultimate dog hauler. I had no idea.

I’ll post pictures tomorrow.

I like it. That should handle your trailer well.
The dogs will like that back seat.
Enjoy.

That’s great. I love my truck. Hope your retirement trips will come through Montana at some point!

Congrats!

quote:

HD trucks of any type are in short supply right now and you may have search a while.

I read something about new cars in general being in short supply, so that's probably impacting used car availability as well.

Normally the back seat looks like this:



Lifting the seat bottoms exposes a storage box under the seat. Looks handy.



Pull a lever and the box folds down, leaving a fairly large flat area. My friend puts two dog beds back there and travels all over the place.

Slick!



Meanwhile, I was surprised to find this cord and plug coming through the bumper. I found out what is is for and I have never seen one. I'll bet some of you know.

Too bad we don't have a spoiler feature. Here's my DIY version
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Engine heater. My in-laws had one on their minivan; they lived in northern Wisconsin and it came in *really* handy.

quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Engine heater.

Yup. I doubt I will ever need it, even in Ohio.

I may leave it connected just in case.