2005 f150- Lariat - Great Truck

I previously leased a 2003 F150 SuperCrew. My lease was coming due and the big decision was what to do? Should I get a new truck or buy out the existing lease. With only 30K'S on my current truck and no real problems except for the 6 disc cd giving me problems ( fixed under warranty),I had a difficult choice to make. I never owned ford anything.. except for this last truck. If you are like me and research your product, before buying you are smart; For 2003 this was the best truck on the market. Hey it's my hard earned money and I want the best value for my dollar. I started to research all the competitors including Nissan and Toyota. I also went out and test drove all the trucks. What I learned was that Toyota is a good small truck and not capable of what you would typically buy a truck for, which is to carry and tow heavy items like 1/2 inch crushed rock for building a rock wall. Don't get me wrong I am not a contractor but someone who is a do it yourselfer. I wanted to have the ability to do all these things when the opportunity presented itself.
The Titan is a very good truck and is rated very well.However being the father of a 21 mth old and having attended several fatal collisions in my work related duties, safety is paramount to me. The Titan has side air airbag curtains in addition to the front airbags which are great. None of the domestics , Ford. Dodge or Chevy have this. Kudos to Nissan for doing this.
However, as can clearly be seen in the link, The truth about trucks. Nissan and Chevy have no front core support and structure. What happens in you have a head on, or an offset frontal crash? You are more likely to have the frontal offset crash in a collision as most people would swerve to avoid a full frontal crash. What is between you and your front passenger and the oncoming vehicle? Nothing except for hood and thin fenders, No front frame, except for the bumper, or support in these vehicles.. What about the frame and grade of metal and bolts used in all the the other trucks, the dodge , chevy , Nissan and Toyota as shown in the link; The truth about trucks.. This says a lot to me in terms of how some manufacturers are cutting costs to improve in gas mileage and costs; What are they sacrificing in terms of this? What sold me on the 2005 Ford F150 SuperCrew, Lariat is firstly the materials used in making the truck, How the truck is made and the design a great layout. The quietness of the cabin, the awesome design of the interior and the ride. I've had the truck for one week now and it has met all my expectations. I ordered the truck with the 5.4 L engine and if you are considering this option the gas consumption is more than the 4.8 L but I would say on par, with my 03 SuperCrew. The gas mileage in not horrendous but you will not get the mileage of say a Honda when you buy this vehicle. Everything considered including the price that I purchased it for and the 3.9 % rate that I got, I got an awesome deal for this vehicle.
Do your comparison shopping and driving the vehicle w/o any salesperson talking in your ear and you will make the right decision.

Here is the link. Happy shopping.

http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/f150/truth/index.asp?id=structure