Kimler Adventure Pages (http://randsco.com)

We just bought a 1993 Ford F-250 4x4 pickup truck. Read all about it and how we've made a deal to get unlimited amount of gasoline, in exchange for the first 20 years of Alex's earnings (once she's graduated from medical school)!

Our boat towing and material hauling problems have been solved. Unfortunately, the solution comes with two problems (which sound like one problem) - a huge appetite for gasoline.

We're now the proud owners of a brand-new-to-us, 1993 Ford F-250 Super-cab 4x4 pickup truck!

In order to spare front-page readers the agony of reading about how excited we are to buy a 12-year old behemoth of a truck and gush about it, as if we'd just driven it off the car lot, in brand new condition ... we require you to hit 'read full story' to carry on. Mind you ... those brave souls who do that, will be rewarded with BIG PICTURES of the big beast!

All About the Beast

Side View of the Beast: Super-cab room for Alex, long-box truck bed for Dad and plenty of amenities for Mom, with the XLT package. A profile of our new, super-long, 1993 Ford F-250 4x4 pickmeup truck!

Besides the large footprint and the voracious consumption of fuel, what's not to love? The super-cab is a necessity with Alex and the back bench has no less than 3 belts, so she'll have her choice of where to sit, as she gets older. (Right now she's kinda in between a child-seat and a booster seat, which has led to some sticky conversations between Mom and Dad. Dad figures that a booster seat is imminent, while Mom thinks a child-seat is required for another year. Rachel tends to fixate on the 40 pounds test, while Scott goes for the height and age test.)

Anyway ... the truck has plenty of room for BOTH!

What else. Oh yeah ... nice full size bed for hauling those sheets of plywood, lumber, pipe and all the other stuff that we've been trying to put on or in our minivan and Honda Accord these past couple of years! Yay for that.

The 'towing the boat' issue has been artfully resolved, as the new 7.5-Liter, Ford F250 460-cubic-inch engine can tow like there's no tomorrow. Mind you ... it eats gas like there's no tomorrow too, but I digress.

To satisfy Scott, the truck's got a front receiver hitch, wide-view mirrors and is 4x4 (Scott grunts a lot when he talks about the off-road capabilities of our new beast). Argh ... Ugh ... Grunt. He's been singing, "I'm a lumberjack and I'm OKAY ... " a lot lately.

Not that the truck doesn't have things for Rachel too! It's the has the XLT trim package (whatever that means - Extra Luxury Trim?). Whatever it is ... there's some prissy (um ... womanly?) features too - like power windows, locks, lumbar support, XM Satellite receiver, CD Player, air conditioning, etc.

Feeding the Beast

On the gas mileage side, we're definitely taking a step (or two) down from our existing automobiles. It's too bad, but we were between a rock and the bank on this one. (It's hard to get towing power AND great gas mileage). I don't think Toyota's making a Prius truck yet?

Gas mileage ratings say 10 miles per gallon in the city and 15 on the highway (actual user reports, but it's from a 1990 F-250 4x4). Not really great mileage, with gas prices over a dollar per liter, but fortunately, most of the driving we'll be doing will be highway miles. (Haven't seen the price to fill up the tanks yet, but I bet it's over $100). OUCH!

EDIT (Apr 2008) - Last fill-up was $140 for both tanks (Gasoline prices are now at about $1.17 per liter).

Front View of the Beast: There's a front receiver hitch, just under the license plate. We can haul, we can tow, we can tug. We sit high and can go anywhere. With this honking big truck, we're now prepared for anything rural life can toss our way!

Parking the Beast

The other detrimental feature about the truck is the long wheel-base and turning radius, which we hadn't really considered, until we drove the vehicle home. It doesn't make it around the circular driveway!

Of course, we're a tad 'new' at driving the thing and maybe it's actually possible to make it around the circular drive, without tearing off the corner of the house or wrapping the truck around the huge Douglas fir tree ... but if it is ... we haven't managed to figure it out yet.

Geez ... and we were only worried about towing and backing in the boat! (Now we're talking about things like ripping out the tall tree, moving the wood shed and providing access to the property from the small (largely abandoned) side road and even making the parking area larger!!

It's too early to say whether it was a good purchase or not. We need about 6-months of driving, in order to say one way or the other. We sure weren't pleased with the purchase of our Chrysler Caravan and are eager to sell it, once we've determined that the truck is reliable.

ICBC Rates and Taxes: What the Heck?

On a side note, purchasing this truck has me wanting to point out two HUGE flaws with British Columbia rules and laws.

Tax shouldn't be paid on used cars and trucks! We had to pay a 7% fee on the purchase price paid for this 15-year-old truck. Why? It's crazy.

Consider two vehicles, both purchased new and tax paid (fair enough). One vehicle never changes hands and the other is sold several times over. Why should tax paid on one vehicle be so much more and the other so much less? Makes no sense.

There should be a discount for auto insurance rates when there are more vehicles in the home than there are drivers!. We now have three vehicles and are required to pay rates as if all three are on the road, at all times. This is a physical impossibility, as there are only two drivers in the home. The probability of having an accident or other driving incident DECREASES in such a situation ... and therefore, so should the premiums. (I asked about this and the ICBC representative said, "There's currently no provision for this. You do get a 'fleet discount' if you own more than five vehicles.")

LOL ... just had to get that off my chest! Bankers, lawyers, insurance, government employees ... ack ... keep me away.

Some FORD Resources

1. WikiCars: Ford F-Series (Where I learned that the 1993 is the 11th generation in the series).
2. CarsDirect: 1993 F-250 (Where I was patted on the back for our "good financial" move!).
3. Ford Truck VIN Decoder (Where I learned that our truck was born at Claycomo, Missouri *GASP* it's a Yank truck!)
4. Ford Truck Enthusiasts (Where I hope I don't have to go to learn how to fix things)
5. My Ford (Where you can register and learn about your Ford, based on VIN number, which spit me out, because it's a Canadian VIN number!)
6. Ford Canada (Where there's nothing for owners, like 'My Ford')