The Search for a Family Hauler

Several months ago, I started peppering my wife with the idea that we needed a bigger family vehicle. She’s used to me telling her that I want another car, so I didn’t really expect it to go anywhere, but we have two kids, and neither of them is getting any smaller. In fact, the amount of stuff that they’re bringing with them just seems to be increasing. It’s a no-brainer that the amount of bickering between the two of them is directly proportionate to the proximity that they are to one another.

We spend a lot of time in cars. We’re an active family, and we try to make the most of our weekends by going somewhere. Whether that’s visiting our parents, or heading to the park, or taking mini-family vacations. We’re just always on the go.

The lack of space in our vehicle became apparent when we took our annual family vacation not too long ago. In order to get everyone to the airport, we had to fill every available nook and cranny with luggage, including the rear footwells, and space in-between the kids in the rear seats. We also had to play a not-so-fun game of “Luggage Tetris” in the trunk.

That joyous experience led to my wife saying some of the sweetest words that she’s ever said to me, “You can get another car”. I wasted no time in presenting her with different ideas. We looked at SUVs but we couldn’t agree on one that we both liked. I tried to sell her on the idea of a European station wagon but that was a non-starter. I’m not giving up on that just yet. We have a verbal agreement with one another that we will not cart ourselves around in the m-word – a minivan.

Introducing the 2018 Ford F-150 XLT Sport 4×4

What we ended up getting was this: a 2018 Ford F-150 XLT Sport 4×4 with the 5.0-liter engine.

Now, I get that some people view buying a truck as a very “‘Murica” thing to do, and it might not be the first vehicle that comes to mind when you’re considering your next vehicle. It wasn’t ours either, but pickup trucks have come a long way from the days of hauling hay and construction equipment. This truck stickered for just around $51,000 and came with the 302A package, navigation, integrated tailgate step, and the power equipment group.

After 3,300 miles, I can tell you that you owe it to yourself to take one for a test drive just to see how far trucks have come. The idea of getting an F-150 came to me after I considered all of the other obvious choices. The Ford F-series is the best-selling pickup truck for 40 years running and it’s also the best-selling vehicle in America for the last 34 years, consistently outselling the Honda Accord and the Toyota Camry.

Anyway, the V-8 won me over. Having never owned a truck, I wanted one with today’s modern benefits but still maintain the V-8 rumble that I so fondly remember from my childhood.

Now let’s get this vehicle on the road, and I’ll tell you about my three favorite and least favorite features of this truck.

The Worst Features of the F-150

Let’s start with the worst features:

1. Halogen Headlights. There’s no other way of saying this: The headlights on this truck are a liability. if I can avoid it, I will not drive this truck at night. I can’t believe that these headlights are actually legal! I’ll be replacing the headlights and fog lights with LEDs ASAP.

2. 10-Speed Transmission. I’m hoping that a visit to the Ford dealership can fix this because the 2018 lariat V-8 that I drove before this truck was absolutely perfect. The one in my truck, however, feels like it’s constantly racing to get to the next gear just to keep the V-8 out of its peak powerband.

3. SYNC 3. I’m genuinely perplexed by the number of positive reviews that this system gets. The graphics are outdated and the system cannot update itself over Wi-Fi despite it telling me that that’s how it did its updates. Initially, it has frozen and crashed on me countless times. I’ve already had bad experiences with SYNC systems in the past. I had high hopes for this; it doesn’t meet them.

The Best Features of the F-150

Now, let’s talk about the best features of this vehicle.

1. Roominess. I said this was a family vehicle and I have to give these top scores for roominess. The interior of this vehicle is downright cavernous, and I’m happy to report that my kids are fighting a lot less.

2. Comfort. We’ve taken a few road trips in the F-150 now and I’m very happy with the composed ride and interior comfort. It rides bigger and stiffer than a car, but it’s not uncomfortable. I’ll probably upgrade the shocks and upgrade the seats to leather in the future just to make things even more comfortable.

3. 5.0L Coyote Engine. My most favorite feature, as you could probably guess by my bias, is the 5.0 Liter engine. Now, I’ve owned two Mustang GTs in the past and have spent my fair share of time in the cab of my dad’s pickup trucks. I just love the sound of a Ford V-8. I know that it’ll sound even better when I upgrade the exhaust at some point in the future.

There are Good Deals Out There

One of the last things that I want to talk about is the price. As I said earlier, my XLT stickered for almost $51,000 and that’s crazy to me, especially considering that the XLT is the second-lowest of the seven trim choices. A fully loaded f-150 can run you a hefty $71,000. That’s a lot of money and opens you up to a lot of other vehicle options! The important thing that you need to remember when you’re buying a pickup truck is that there’s a lot of room for negotiation on the price. In fact, f150forum.com has an incredibly informative thread all about F-150 pricing that helped me to get nearly $14,000 off the sticker price of this truck.

I’ve put together a spreadsheet that I use to keep track of all my negotiations and would be more than happy to share it with you if you’re interested.

The Community of Enthusiasts

Well, that concludes my initial review of my 2018 Ford F-150. If you’re interested in learning more about Ford F-150s then I’d strongly suggest you check out f150forum.com as well as the Facebook group “F150 Nation”. Both are chock full of useful information and have helped me put together a pretty exciting build sheet that I’ll slowly be working my way through in the future.

If you liked this episode, I’d appreciate you giving it a thumbs up on YouTube. If you’re interested in following along as I upgrade this truck you can do so on the TSTDRVR YouTube channel. Just subscribe and click the notification bell to be alerted whenever I post new content. I’m not just going to post videos about my truck though. Over the next several videos, you’ll meet the other vehicles that I own, and also begin doing some car reviews. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time on TSTDRVR.