NAC! pickup question.. ford/toyota advices needed ( T100

[Michael Veglia]

Second on the F150. I prefer the '97-'04 versions, but that ecoboost V6 isn't too unlike an Audi motor and is very tempting (but I am broke and spend all my car dollars on my Audi fleet). I have owned a few pickemups over the years. Four Toyotas, three Fords, and one Jeep Comanchee (really, it wasn't that bad...better, in fact, than the '85 Toyota it replaced).

To preface, I do not much care for Japanese vehicles as a general rule (hence a quarter century of Audi ownership). I had decent luck with a '78 Toyota pickup so I bought a new one in 1985. Miserable POS that I went to third party arbitration with Toyotas over, won, they appealed, I sold it. Took me around 20 years to try another. Got a '92 V6 Toyota extra cab around 9 years ago, drove it a couple years, decided it was too small and replaced it with a T-100 SR5 which I really loved at first, thought it would be the last truck I would ever need. It wasn't exactly a pillar of reliability and parts costs made me, an Audi owner, gasp in pain. Then there was the sudden engine meltdown with virtually no warning (at ~160k miles). Head gasket failed, my wife was driving it, and before she could get it shut off it hydrolocked and bent a rod. Of course I didn't discover that until I had it all torn down to do heads (both of which were cracked beyond repair I might
 add). Sold it as-is and bought a 2001 F150 with a 4.6 V8 and I could not be happier. Best truck I have ever owned by far. Gets very close to the same mileage the T100 did, yet blows it away like an RS4 against an accord. Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but not as much as you might think. Parts costs are vastly lower than the Toy. The 4.6 V8 driveline longevity is legendary (ask any cop or taxi fleet manager). There is nothing the T100 did that the F150 doesn't do better.

I have no experience with Rangers (other than when I test drove a new one years ago I didn't like it much). I have enough experience with Toyotas to confidently say I will never own another.

Good luck in your search!

Mike Veglia