So, Jeremy Clarkson had a few things to say about the F-150 a few years back.
First, we see him enjoying the power of it’s 380 HP supercharged engine. Pretty spiffy. And the UK edition has some nice amenities like the seats. But then, at 6:52, he lays down the law. “It’s rubbish”.
His criticisms :
It’s clearly designed like a work vehicle, yet it is not appropriate for offroad use as it does not have 4 wheel drive, and it’s too expensive to risk scratching the paint.
It guzzles fuel - it’s a thirsty machine. This is absolutely true - you’re talking 15-18 mpg, or the vehicles own cost or more in fuel over it’s lifespan, and the vehicle costs 35,000 USD or even more for the import model.
The interior is crap. 35k, and you get this cheap plastic dash and interior, with gaping holes everywhere? You have to settle for the relatively lousy factory CD player and vacuum valve based climate controls?
You don’t need that vast space in the cargo bed almost all of the time. Everyone I see driving a truck in the USA virtually never uses anywhere close to the available space - the one time they actually need the truck bed, they could have rented a cargo van for a lot less than the depreciation and upkeep on a truck.
The bed of the truck is an invitation for thieves to steal your stuff.
All the power comes out the rear wheels, yet there’s just this empty metal truck bed over them. Who engineered that?
There’s a lot of play in the steering and it doesn’t handle very well.
Not mentioned in the video, but a truck like that has suspension that is intended to be loaded. It does not use compressed air or computer controlled hydraulics or some other method of adapting the suspension performance to when the bed is empty, so it means a crappier ride for 95% of the vehicles actual usage.
It doesn’t meet car safety standards - not only do heavy vehicles like that kill occupants of smaller cars, but they don’t necessarily save the lives of their drivers from a statistical basis because of increased rollover risk and sloppy safety gear.
Basically, he’s dead on. F-150s are crap for their cost and as an engineering solution for their actual drivers. There are people out there who need a heavy work vehicle, but they aren’t really optimized for that task either (they lack 4 wheel drive, etc - making an F-150 into a work vehicle requires heavy modifications in many cases)
Why is America buying so many of them? Why is it the best-selling vehicle and the preferred car of millionaires? Are we the slovenly idiots that Clarkson thinks we are (we also prefer hamburgers over healthier fare and are nearly all fat) or is he missing something?
Actually, if you had said that Clarkson was a twat, then you’d be correct. But saying he isn’t an authority on what makes a vehicle good or bad is not correct. He actually does know his vehicles, having reported on them for years.
This isn’t meant to be a thread on Jeremy Clarkson. It’s meant to be why he is right or wrong about the F-150. All his criticisms appear to be factually true - what positive qualities overcome all the definite negatives?
Some of his points are a little skewed, in that in the video he was reviewing the SVT Lightning version of the F-150. That’s why it is $35,000, becasue it’s basically a racing engine stuffed into a pick-up.
That’s not the model that makes it the best selling vehicle, the base model, which is what they sell to your average carpenter, is less that $20,000
Other than that, he is basically spot on. It is a pretty crappy product. So why is it a huge seller? Because 'Merica that’s why. We do have this cowboy/frontiersman thing that only a truck seems to fill.
Well, that and fleet sales. I think a pretty large percentage of F150 sales are fleet sales.
I actually have a hand in physically building the things. See 600/700 driven off the end of the assembly line daily. I wonder that everyday, but I keep my mouth shut.
I was under the impression that the models most people buy were north of 30k USD, and that the cut rate el-cheapo pickups were not common. People don’t pay for the racing engine/bucket seats, but they want air conditioning, automatic transmission, crew cab, etc.
A quick visit to the website says the lowest MSRP is 26k, and I would assume that the base model is missing critical features needed for a vehicle you’d even consider buying…
Isn’t the truck bed the entire point? People buy these things as work trucks. They know that if they need to run off to the lumberyard for plywood or drywall sheets that they’ll be able to. If they had to rent a cargo van every time such a need arose, they’d be wasting a lot of time. As for security, that’s why I see those lockboxes in the truckbeds.
This. It’s also why people pay as much as $40,000 to buy the Jeep Wrangler – which on pavement is possibly the worst automobile on the market – and never take them offroad.
Fashion? Think of it as an entry-level truck; that’s about what it has been made for. As around-town-and-maybe-camping-once-a-year light duty trucks they aren’t totally crap and they are fairly cheap and easy to work on. If you use public transit during the week and want something to look OK going fishing at the lake, fair choice. If you need something you can bet your life and safety on, look elsewhere.
The only thing Clarkson is an authority on is his own opinion. A car/truck isn’t crap just because Jezza doesn’t like it. It just means he doesn’t like it. He is not the arbiter of what makes a car good or bad.
This is the worst thing about Top Gear. a bunch of know-nothings watch it and think it makes them knowledgeable about cars.
oh wait, OP is getting his opinion from Clarkson on the F-150 based on a model which went out of production 12 years ago? This thread is beyond worthless. you realize there have been two complete re-designs (2004 and 2015) and one significant refresh (2009) of the F-150 since the last SVT Lightning model was offered, right? If you get into a 2015 F-150 and think it’s a piece of crap then I think you need your head checked.
I’ve yet to really figure it out either, but at my local bank branch, they had cute little papers covered with the teller’s likes and dislikes, all to make them friendlier…whatever.
One I saw said, “Why drive a car when you can drive a truck?” I figure that’s the mentality, but have no idea why beyond that.
So, uh, about these redesigns. I just did a little browsing. I could buy a King Ranch Edition F-150 for $58,000. I didn’t see anything with a decent setup for under $43k. (crew cab, automatic transmission, safety features, etc)
The “eco boost” engine models were 20 mpg combined. Yeah, that’s real economical, buddy.
Contrast this with the “car of the year”, a Volkswagen Golf. Brand new it’s 29.5k or so for the TDI model and all the useful fixings. (the middle model with the driver assistance and the higher end headlights) 30-45 mpg. So it’s going to cost half the money to buy, and half the money for fuel.
Not that I would buy either vehicle new. Browsing Craigslist, I was able to find F-150 Platinums for about 24k, with 100k miles (so half the vehicle life remaining), or TDI Golfs for 16k and about 40k miles on them (so a lot more than half the vehicle life remaining). A no brainer to go used, get it detailed and cleaned up and it’ll smell and drive like a new one but hit the wallet half as hard.
Of course, the real no brainer when I did some more browsing was a recent Toyota Camry. Can get one about 5 years old for 11k and under 50k miles, the deluxe model with most of the features, and the Camry is 4.5/5 for reliability on Edmunds. (the Golf is 3/5 : Japanese cars are generally more reliable than German)
With saving 50k + on transportation, that leaves you a lot of scratch to rent a van that one time you actually need a truck…
I’ve found it to be a good farm vehicle. Good for hauling animal feed, building material, etc. But I neither bought it nor compared it to other vehicles. Maybe there are similar light trucks that are better. But i don’t understand some of the arguments. We certainly don’t need a heavier truck, and 4WD is unnecessary. If we did, we’d get a heavier pickup.
Clarkson forgets that not all of America needs 4WD in a work vehicle. My Floridian brother has used a standard Ford F150 as his work vehicle for years. He can throw his tools and building supplies into the back, then drive himself and a couple other folks to the site. There’s no need for 4WD since he’s doing suburban construction, not mudding in the Everglades.
I assume this is the same for many people who want a work vehicle.
Afraid to scratch the paint? Hang on while I LMAO. That’s for people who buy the things new. Buy it after a suburban dad has driven it to work and back for a couple of years, then trades it in. Then you don’t care since you’re paying almost $20K less than new. (I did a really fast comparison of a new F150 and a 2012 F150 for those SWAG numbers. YMMV, as appropriate in an auto thread.)
what the fuck are you talking about? there is no manual transmission offered at all on the F-150. Every single F-150 built has an automatic transmission. and what “Safety features” is it lacking? please be specific and don’t just regurgitate what Jeremy Clarkson tells you to think.
no shit. listening to a Brit talk about what makes a good car when they themselves could never make a good car is the height of stupidity. People like Clarkson because he’s entertaining. not because he knows what he’s talking about. unfortunately these people think he knows what he’s talking about.
I haven’t driven any thing other than a ford truck for over 25 years. Of course I’m a contractor and live in Minnesota, so the 4WD is handy half the year.
I think my trucks are awesome, and I wouldn’t be caught dead in a VW Golf. I’m a chick, and even I have bigger balls than a Golf could handle. I’ve owned better go carts.
