10th Jun 2007, 21:21

Coming from the person who wrote this review, I would agree that the Ranger would be a better idea for a teenager as the F-150 is tremendously difficult to park and is really too big unless towing is part of your needs. The Silverado/Sierra are much more maneuverable and generally easier to live with, although their build quality is not quite on the same level. Trucks are all about trade-offs. Different manufacturers do certain things better than others.

25th Jun 2012, 10:53

Update from original reviewer: 136,000 miles.

After seven years of good service, and not one night spent in a shop or one moment on the side of a road (not even a flat tire, ever!), we traded the F-150 for a new Nissan Frontier Crew Cab SL. Yes, the Frontier is smaller, but it is rated to tow the same amount as the F-150, gets better mileage, is quicker and handles better, and is tremendously easier to park.

Our new Frontier also has way more toys on it than we could touch for the same price if we were buying another new F-150. It seemed weird, but going from the barge that was the F-150 to the smaller Frontier, we now have heated perforated leather electric seats (yes, electric on both sides), leather steering wheel with stereo controls, and a host of modern features like Bluetooth, built-in XM radio, a 10-speaker stereo with powered subwoofer, and all the roof racks, adjustable bed rails, step bars, and spray-on bedliner that the F-150 did not come with for the same money seven years ago.

While the F-150 never broke down or gave us any real misery (other than 20-minute parking endeavors), it was just starting to show a little age, and we've reached a point where we've done the old car thing, and I'm here to tell you they are not much fun when things start going wrong. The driver's door position sensor was haywire and thought the door was closed when it was wide open, so the lights would all shut off and sometimes the automatic door locks would trigger incorrectly, there was an idle surge problem developing (those are always ~fun~ to hunt down!), the plastic fuel door (Nissan has a real metal fuel door, thank you) was forever broken and flopping around, and there was an alarming amount of foam particles showing up on the floor underneath the front seats. It did, however, still look very good and it still drove very well, so it was an ideal time to trade.

If you want an F-150 of this year with the 4.6 V8 and it will fit into your life (it's BIG), I would truly recommend one, as ours took us many miles and never gave us cause for concern. We would still feel very confident about driving it across the country, even with the little faults I mentioned, but I'll be honest and say we just wanted that new Frontier because it turned out to be a better fit for us now that our needs are different.