FJ Cruiser..now F150

[Kem Poyner]

Well, I was in the market for an FJ Cruiser stormchase truck. Instead I stumbled upon a 2006 Ford F150 4x4 with only 8,500 miles on it. Its a white 4 door with a 2 1/2 inch lift. It has 33" Xtreme all terrain tires. PERFECT condition for $17,000. He paid nearly $37,000 for it and it still smells new. I bought it!
I put a shell/cap on the back. I love this truck! It seems it was made for my equipment and lots of room to move around. I can sleep in the back if I get too tired to hunt for a motel.
Over the past 15 years chasing, I have been stuck in the mud or had to give up a chase because of poor roads way too many times. Since my chase style is fairly aggressive compaired to most, I wanted a unstoppable urban assault type vehicle.
Looking over all the past threads about chase vehicles, it seems gas mileage is the number one factor. ...for me, don't care. I work my butt off all year and save up for my chase vacation. People buy motorhomes that get 9 miles to the gallon for vacations, the trade off is worth it to some people.
If I see fellow chasers with the little imports stuck in the mud on a Kansas farm road, I will give you a tow....I bought a tow strap too! Kem

 

[Justin Teague]

I hate to state the obvious, but little domestics get stuck in the mud too....

But seriously...with only 8,500 miles, it sounds like you got a pretty good deal on it. For most people, the F-150 would be a more practical choice for chasing than the FJ.

 

[Greg Campbell]

Better check the VIN before you go throwing stones at the "little imports."
It would be embarrassing to be caught driving a Canadian or Mexican truck.
http://www.fordf150.net/howto/decodevin.php

Also, a lot of those 'imports' are actually built in the US. Honda and Toyota assemble a substantial number of vehicles in the US.

 

[Kem Poyner]

F 150

As much as it hurts me to say this, I would be afraid to pull a small domestic from the mud..It might rip the whole front off! But your right, my luck I will be the first one stuck.

 

[Jason Foster]

After asking around, the FJ really would have been the way to go, as those are super reliable. However, aftermarket components and service is expensive on those. Everyone in the world is familiar with an F-150....and it's American. I'm looking forward to the upcoming 2010 SVT F150 Raptor (photos are in another thread, but I can post them here if folks want). I like the crew cabs too...that certainly is the best bet.

One piece of advice on the F150...what that front end...they tend to ware out fast. Even with the low miles.

What motor does it have in it? And how about some photo?

 

[Steve Miller]

Yeah, if I'm broke down in the middle of nowhere Kansas, a domestic vehicle is definitely what I want to be in. Some would argue I would not be broke down in the middle of nowhere in an import... Yes I would, eventually - and it would suck in a major way.

 

[Kem Poyner]

F 150

Better check the VIN before you go throwing stones at the "little imports."

Ok..Ok..I will install mud flaps.

 

[Jeff Smith]

Trust me, from a Ford parts salesman. If you take care of it & don't abuse it, you'll get many years of trouble free chasing enjoyment.....then, when you do need parts.....come see me

 

[Carey Walton]

F 150s RULE!

My '98 5.4L (bought new in June of '97) is at 429,000 mi. and going strong. Only significant failure was a fuel pump about a 100K ago. It can still top 20mpg and even looks good as long as you don't look to hard at some hail dents.

Also, keep the universal joints well greased.

 

[Adam Lucio]

Ford owns the truck department hands down. I think the reason they werent in as much trouble as the other "big 2" is because of the F-150. I just bought an 06 Expedition [basically an F-150 with a hatchback and 3rd row seating] and cant wait to hit the plains with it this year.

I will also be carrying tow straps to lend a helping hand if needed because Ive been in that situation before and know how frustrating it can be. Currently Ive ordered a bunch of parts for it to get it geared up for spring. Grille guard, taillight gaurds, window shades...the works.

Im also having a blast with the 4x4 especially with the above normal snowfall were getting this season, now big unplowed mall parking lots can provide a few mintues of semi-foolish entertainment

You made a good choice my friend, hopefully that VIN checks out good. I got a VIN report for mine and it scored 94 out of 100.

 

[Brian Hurst]

I would recommend getting an edge power programer It really opens the 5.4 up and if something goes wrong it has a code reader so you can fix somethings yourself. It has a display with mpg,batt voltage and just about anything else.

 

[Mark Farnik]

Kem, I think you really got one helluva deal on that truck. Perfect case in point why it makes absolutely no sense to buy a vehicle brand new...

My dad used to have a 1997 Ford F-150 4x4 extended cab - it was a phenomenal truck. He bought it with 56k in January of 2000 and we sold it in July 2007 with 138k, and the only reason we sold it is dad replaced it with a lower miled 2002 GMC Sierra 4x4 Z71 extended cab (which I don't like as well as I liked the Ford, to be perfectly honest).
The only problem I remember it having is it went through 3 ignition coils the last year and a half we owned it - otherwise, it never gave us any trouble. And it averaged around 16 mpg and got up to 19 mpg on long road trips, so you couldn't complain too much about it.

If gas hadn't gone through the roof, and even though it would have been massively impractical to drive in the city, I would have kept it as my personal vehicle - I loved that truck. Someday, I'll have another one...

 

[Dustin Wilcox]

Kem, I think you really got one helluva deal on that truck. Perfect case in point why it makes absolutely no sense to buy a vehicle brand new...

How do ya figure? Right now you can practically steal trucks off the lot, my old man just purchased a New FULLY loaded 4 door 150 with chrome package and all, list around 38K walked away with it for under 24K, in fact closer to 23, sure its $6000 more, however its not 3 years old, doesn't have 8500 (who knows miles) and I bet if you have to finance it you can damn near make up that $6K thanks to the lower financing rates on new vehicles. I was car shopping a few months back and ended up going with a brand new car. Despite the opinions of some, IMO given the current market New cars are better than "newer used" Sure I could have bought a car similar to the new one I bought with 20K miles for $15K or so, but I would have likely got stuck with a 6% (or likely higher) interest rate, or I could buy my new one for $21K and get 0% financing, when one considers the difference you'll pay due to the financing charges, the fact that you have the car that is under warranty for a longer period, and the fact that you control how the car is treated from day 1, the fact that if you want to sell in 3 years it will have a little more value, all that plus other factors really start chipping away at that additional $6K. IMO it makes more sense to buy new rather than "newer used"

 

[Kem Poyner]

f 150

I cannot argue the fact that you can get incredible deals on new vehicles right now. And zero % money should be taken advantage of. However in my case, I had saved up $17,000 to spend on a chase vehicle, I did not want payments. I paid cash. I will post a picture of the truck here tomorrow and you tell me if I made the wrong decision.

 

[Kem Poyner]

f5 150

This is my new 4x4 chase truck. I really like it.