2022 F250 rental

[mclasser]

I drove a '22 F250 XLT with ~32k miles on the clock for 1 week. My original selection was a Jetta or equivalent but this small Enterprise location ran out and this beast was all that was left. Overall, I hated driving this thing. I'm not sure if my poor experience was from the truck being an abused / neglected rental or if it really just sucks.

Pro:

- King of the road feel from sitting up so high.

Cons:
- Weird herky-jerky driving experience. IDK if it was from the engine, transmission or both but even under mild acceleration, the entire truck would noticeably jerk / shudder. Was really annoying and I had to keep a finger or two on my drink in the cupholder to keep it from spilling. The transmission also had rough shifts, especially when cold.
- 6.2L V8 felt underpowered lugging around all this mass.
- Ticking noise from the engine bay; sounded like a possible exhaust manifold leak.
- Column shifter wasn't smooth when changing between gears.
- Size. I've driven trucks before but not one this large. I can understand a contractor owning one for the huge bed space but for the rest of us, it's just excessive and unnecessary. The fact that so many bros schlep these around the suburbs just to get to The Cheescake Factory is laughable.
- Stumbling idle.
- Weird overboosted brakes that still required decent pedal pressure to come to a stop.
- Horrendous fuel economy. I hand-calculated 13 MPG on mainly flat highway driving going 75 mph.
- Rough suspension. When hitting bumps, the front end would squirm and the steering wheel would wander all over the place. Had to keep a firm grip on the wheel to keep things under control. The rear end didn't like bumps but that's kind of to be expected with an empty bed.
- Just couldn't get the mirrors adjusted to my liking.
- Inside glass loved to fog up. I thought it was from a poor windshield replacement job but all the glass appeared to be factory Ford so IDK what was up there.
- Dim halogen headlights, even with the quad lights setup.

 

[Chris142]

Ya the 6.2 sucks. Had one at my last job and when It got to a hill it would downshift, scream and still slow down

 

[bdcardinal]

The 6.2 is a dog in a Super Duty, they were fantastic in the Raptors when people didn't scatter the bottom ends while jumping dunes. Exhaust manifold leaks are not uncommon.

The cupholders in my F-350 are all the wrong sizes, at least the pop out one on the dash has magic spring fingers to keep them somewhat in place.

A good set of shocks really makes a Super Duty ride better. I went with Bilstein 5160 remote reservoir ones, and it rides so much better except for the Fallujah inspired roads that run through UCSB.

For headlights you basically have to choose between driving with dim candles, or LEDs that can signal neighboring galaxies, nothing inbetween.

 

[dnewton3]

I disagree; the 6.2L is a great engine.

It is very oversquare; it needs to rev to make good power and torque. Torque peak (430 ft-lb) is at 3800rpm and HP peak (385 hp) at 5800rpm; a fairly wide powerband. For its size, it's been the most powerful gas engine in a SD in decades. It is actually more power-dense than the 7.3L which replaced it. Lugging the 6.2L like it's a diesel won't get you anywhere. It's perfectly OK to wring this engine out; make her sing.

The reliability of the 6.2L is excellent overall. Other than some valve spring issues in early models, they are pretty much indestructible. The Hurricane/Boss engine has had far fewer problems in 10 years than the Godzilla has had in just a few.

Many of the SD F250s were equipped with 3.73 gears; those don't favor the 6.2L. With a set of 4.30 factory cogs, they really run quite well. But let's be realistic here; these aren't made to drag race. They are work horses meant to run for a long time. Also, the 6.2L paired with the 6 spd trans was programmed to keep the rpms low under light loads; this was admittedly annoying. But if you use tow/haul and get the adaptive learning to modify it's programming, it actually works well. Or you can manually shift it and let the engine spin; works well!

The aftermarket never really embraced it as a performance engine; the demand just wasn't there; it had the potential, but no one including Ford ever put effort into it. Unlike the Godzilla, which has already been tweaked by all manner of aftermarket companies and Ford Performance.

The reason they got rid of it was cost and packaging. The OHV design is cheaper to make and also easier to fit into the E-series van chassis.

 

[dishdude]

This is a tool designed to tow/haul and I think a lot of your cons reflect that.

 

[carviewsonic]

I had an F-250 4x4 supercab (work truck) for five years with the 6.2 and 6 speed auto. I thought it was a decent powertrain, reliable and moved that heavy truck along pretty good. No shuddering during acceleration like the OP experienced (previous rental abuse?). My only complaint was the rough ride from the rear suspension. I carried 800 lbs of gear, maybe needed another 1000 lbs or more to help smooth the ride.

 

[fantastic]

Rentals are not long term commitments so I'm not sure it's a big deal. It's a tool to get you around when you have no primary option. Now, if you needed it to tow something or you were moving and needed to use the bed to haul stuff it should have been more of an appropriate tool. It's no Volkswagen but that doesn't mean this is not a solid machine in its own right. But since they had no other rentals for you did that ruin this experience out of the gate since you were expecting a Jetta?

Guy here in the RV park has one of these & he said the other day that he gets 14 MPG w/a smile. He seemed quite happy with his but he bought his new.

 

[hemitom]

Friend at work has and older f150 think 2013 ? It's got a 6.2 ! that truck is a beast and drinks more juice than the town drunk.

 

[dishdude]

I rent a lot and I have never seen an F-250 or 2500 GM/Ram on the rental car lots. That's wild, didn't even know they offered such a beast.

 

[meep]

Not that I’ve driven many, but in my limited experience there is a substantial difference between driving an F150, vs a 250 or 350 variant. My f150 right now shows a 1000 mile average mpg of 20.1. It is comfortable to ride in, and the way it’s set up is wonderful to handle. I really like this vehicle. (My mpg is down since disabling BCM functions including AS/S. That makes a not-small difference).

The 250/350 are heavy, wander around in the lane, have heavier steering and presumably hydro boost brakes, which take away responsiveness and brake feel. They can pull boulders out of the ground and down the highway all day long, which is what they are for. As much as I would love to own a real diesel truck while they can still be had, I not only can’t justify the expense and complexity - I also don’t find them fun to drive.

 

[CheezWhiz]

love cheesecake factory, but prefer to take my Peterbilt.

 

[ATex7239]

I had two F250s with the 6.2L for work trucks and liked them both. It is supposed to be a duty truck not a commuter vehicle. The 6.2L has plenty of power. You just gotta give it the beans.

 

[wpod]

My wife has a 2018 F350 with the 6.2 engine . The wife and my daughter tow around their horses with the truck etc . Before that we had a 2002 Ford with the 7.3 diesel my wife likes the 2018 much better that the 2002 but then she liked the 2002. The F250s and F350s are more capable when doing heavy stuff and the F150 are nicer for lighter work. My wife loves driving the F350 better than the 2015 F150

 

[meep]

love cheesecake factory, but prefer to take my Peterbilt.

True chuckle. … Hey I bought 200’ of cable today and a bundle of conduit. It might be too much for the f150… maybe I should upgrade?

 

[svtrit]

I rent a lot and I have never seen an F-250 or 2500 GM/Ram on the rental car lots. That's wild, didn't even know they offered such a beast.

Our local Enterprise here in Ames IA has them. Lots of Ag and construction companies rent them.

 

[Torrid]

Not that I’ve driven many, but in my limited experience there is a substantial difference between driving an F150, vs a 250 or 350 variant. My f150 right now shows a 1000 mile average mpg of 20.1. It is comfortable to ride in, and the way it’s set up is wonderful to handle. I really like this vehicle. (My mpg is down since disabling BCM functions including AS/S. That makes a not-small difference).

The 250/350 are heavy, wander around in the lane, have heavier steering and presumably hydro boost brakes, which take away responsiveness and brake feel. They can pull boulders out of the ground and down the highway all day long, which is what they are for. As much as I would love to own a real diesel truck while they can still be had, I not only can’t justify the expense and complexity - I also don’t find them fun to drive.

The front suspension design and axle setup of the F150 makes it a lot more livable. I logged many highway miles in my previous 2017 and I can’t say I could complain about the ride. My wife didn’t care for it and said it was bouncy but maybe I was used to it. I’ve driven F250s/350s, but they were all fitted with railroad hi-rail equipment which likely drastically changed the driving dynamics. I don’t think I could consider an F250 or above. If I had a need for a truck still I could see another F150 if I could get past my local dealer’s abysmal service center.

 

[meep]

@Torrid, much respect.