A very solid truck

I had originally planned on getting a Toyota Tundra before purchasing this truck. After three very disappointing test drives on three different Toyotas, and after doing a lot of research on the Tundra model, I decided that they were not for me.

In all honesty, I had absolutely no plans on buying a Ford truck. After about a month of researching and test driving several different GM, Toyota, Dodge, and Chevy full-sized trucks, I finally decided to see what this F-150 was all about. I think everyone has heard the "Found On Road Dead" acronym for Ford vehicles and, of course, the usual poor mechanical stories of Ford vehicles. Fact of the matter is, I just did not want to own a Ford product. I went to the local dealer, informed the salesperson that I had no plans to buy that day and that I just wanted to take an F-150 for a test drive. Salesman was cool about it, took a photocopy of my dl, and off I went in this used 2002 dark blue XLT Supercab with 40,000 miles on it.

First impression (visual) - nicely laid out interior and VERY comfortable seats; All controls and lights worked fine; Engine looked and sounded excellent; body was free of any dents, scratches; tires had plenty of tread life left in them; no rust on underbody. The truck had passed the visual inspection with flying colors.

First impression (test drive) - I did the obligatory transmission test (Park to drive, drive to reverse, reverse to neutral, neutral to reverse, etc...) about 10 times to insure that the tranny was shifting as it should; Checked the engine idle, ac/heat, suspension etc.. Off the lot we go... Pickup was decent, initial ride quality felt excellent, truck handled excellent at highway speeds, and the braking was excellent. The word "solid" kept leaking out of my mouth the longer I spent checking out this truck. Remember, I had no plans to buy a Ford truck!

A test drive for me is never the usual 10-15 minute ride around the neighborhood. When I test drive/inspect a vehicle, it lasts until I can find something that I find unacceptable. That could be 30 minutes or literally 4 hours, as was the case with this truck. If I test drive a vehicle and it only lasts 30 minutes, then I guarantee I will not buy it. Salespeople hate me for this. It got to the point that I now just tell a salesperson that they can plan on spending the whole afternoon with me before I will even commit to making any offer on a vehicle.

As much as I hated to admit it, I could not find anything wrong with this truck. It literally drove like a brand new truck. I gave the dealer a refundable deposit of $1000 with the agreement that I would take the truck for 2 days and have it checked out with a mechanic, and if it passed I would make an offer.

I can not stress enough just how important it is to drive a vehicle you plan on purchasing for a few days before you commit to buying it, and especially getting it checked out with a reputable mechanic. It is worth the $100, sometimes many times over. I'd rather lose $100 or so to find out not to buy a vehicle than losing $17,000 on a lemon because I was too lazy/cheap to pay for this service.

So off to a mechanic I go....
I offered my mechanic $150 to find something wrong with this truck. Notice I said "find something wrong." I told him I wanted a FULL diagnostic and a FULL inspection; figure approx $60 for the engine diagnostic and $90 for 90 minutes of the mechanic's time, and yes it does take 90 minutes for a mechanic to properly inspect a vehicle. All tires come off and brakes/lines are thoroughly inspected, exhaust is inspected, vacuum hoses, battery, air induction, filters, you get the point....the works!!!!
Results: Nothing wrong. Truck was solid (errr... there goes that "solid" word again, lol)

I returned to the dealership and bought the truck. One year later, and I do not regret that purchase. The truck has close to 50,000 miles on it, and so far has needed nothing except gas.

The only "negative" thing I can say about this truck is the gas mileage is not the greatest. Then again, anyone looking for a full-sized truck should already be aware that there is no such thing as a full-sized truck that gets good gas mileage, lol. If gas mileage is your concern, get a little pickup or a 4cyl sedan or something.

Say what you will about Ford, but based on my experience, they make one hell of a full sized truck. The 4.6L engine provides ample power, the transmission shifts excellent, the braking is great, the ride comfort is comparable to a sedan, and the interior is nicely laid out.

I highly recommend the 2002 F-150 to anyone in the market for a full-sized pickup truck