Well, it appears another quarter has flown by, so it’s time for another update on my 2011 Ford F-150 pickup truck. It was a mostly uneventful quarter, until the very end, when an errant move by another driver caused over $2,500 worth of damage and 11 days in the body shop. Continue reading for more details about what my truck has been up to in the last 3 months.
Stats:
Time Period: 10/19/2012 – 1/18/2013
Miles Driven: 2,005 / 12,716 (this update / total) (2,423 in the last update)
Average MPG: 16.4 mpg (reported by on-board computer) (before accident, avg. mpg was 16.6, and mileage was at 12,705)
Costs:
Maintenance Costs: $0.00
Total Cost (non-fuel): $60.00
Services Performed:
none
Summary:
While I mentioned above that the quarter was mostly uneventful, that’s a good thing. I hauled a few more loads of firewood, some furniture, and of course took the F-150 on a 600-mile road trip. I’ve continued refilling with premium fuel, and seen the MPGs stay higher than last fall/winter, when I first had the truck. The true test will be next winter, however, as last winter, the truck was being broken in, and vehicles don’t generally get to their peak performance and MPGs until somewhere between 10,000-15,000 miles.
Flash forward to January 3rd, 2013, and my F-150 was involved in an accident. While driving up to a red light in the left turn lane, an errant motorist decided she also wanted to turn left, and sideswiped the passenger side of my truck from the front wheel to the rear wheel. Over $2,500 in repairs later, mostly paintwork, and the truck is as good as new! The Ford running boards took 99% of the damage, preventing any of the truck’s sheet metal from being dented. The running boards also caused quite a bit of damage to the 2000 Toyota Celica that hit me, ripping up the fender, front bumper and headlight. While the truck was in the body shop, I decided I’d get the “Twin Turbo No Bailout Edition” decals from OfficialMarks, and the body shop applied them for me when they arrived, shortly after I picked up the truck.
The body shop pulled the truck into one of their bays, cleaned each bed side, peeled off the backing paper, lined up the decals, and stuck them on. After pushing out any air bubbles and letting the adhesive set, the clear front was removed, leaving only the decal’s letters applied to the truck. They look nice, and while not a perfect match for the Pale Adobe color of my stock “4×4” decals, is close, and in my opinion, a nice accent color.
Also, while in the body shop, the truck was idled more than usual, and as a result, my average MPGs for the quarter went from 16.6 to 16.4.
Dated Notes:
- 1/3/2013 – 12,692 miles – Truck was sideswiped by an errant driver. In body shop from 1/8/2013 to 1/18/2013. Average MPG dropped from 16.6 to 16.4. Miles in: 12,705; Miles out: 12,713.
- Thank goodness for tubular running boards! They took the brunt of the accident, preventing a lot of sheetmetal damage to the passenger side of my truck.
by John Suit