I am giving thought to buying a used 2004 F-250 with 120,000 miles on it. I drive my dad's Chevy Silverado 1500 but a F-250 is a bigger truck. My question is: 1) With this many miles, depending on how it's been maintained and how I maintain it, how many more miles is it capable of going? Also mechanicaly is a larger truck more inclined to have problems?

Thanks for any info

I think you will find that the 5.4 in a 250 is a dog and the gas mileage will stink.

well here is some 1st hand knowledge on maint. if it is the 3 valve eng the spark plugs will break in cyl. head and requires a special tool and about a hour to 1.5 hrs to remove each if u dont mess the head up.

0 - 100, problem with these engines is you never know. I would not touch one with a ten foot pole.

Good to know....looks like i not be buying one of those...

thanks for the help guys!

I've got a 2003 that just turned 100K miles. I bought it new. For me, it's been a great truck. I've been very good about maintenance.

I get about 14MPG around town so, I agree the mileage is not the best. When I had the plugs changed, they cautioned me about the possibility of the plugs breaking, but it went fine.

For me, it's been a solid truck. Haven't had a single problem with it. Heck, I'm still on my first set of brakes.

Eventually, I'd like to get a diesel and get the itch every so often. Then, I look at the prices and get over it. For now, I'll keep driving what I've got.

It's been paid off for nearly four years, so I figure I can live with the MPG and maintenance instead of a big monthly payment for a new one.

I should have added the Ford Truck Forum is a good source of info. You can go there and form your own opinion. I heard that Consumers Report put out a warning on the 5.4s and really killed the resale values. I sold mine in April but I thought I got a good price for it. Might have been a fluke that I just matched up with the right buyer.

Being the Service Manager for my company one of the duties I have is managing our fleet of company vehicles. Since this company only started technically in 2000 their fleet has not been very large. The most we've had at any one time has been 10 vehicles 6 of them have been E250 vans with the 5.4L one E250 with a 4.6L one F250 with a 5.4L One chevy van and another chevy 1500 pickup. The ONLY van we had ANY issues with was the 2002 one and that was because the dealership that tuned it up did not follow the TSB stating to not use antiseize on the plug threads and torque them to 28ft/lbs. It spit two plugs, we took it to another dealership and had the heads removed and repaired. Of all of the rest of the vehicles there have been NO mechanical issues, this same van had 280K miles on it last month and met it's demise when it was t-boned. The insurance totalled it. The oldest one we have now is a 2003 with 270K on it the newest of the 5.4's is a 2008 with 90k. For a service vehicle the E250 with a 5.4L has served very well. Now the E250 with the 4.6L is a different story it won't get out of it's own way. The F250 even loaded down in the bed and pulling a 16 ft enclosed trailer has served well. True it is maxed and doesn't get good gas mileage it still pulls it. Could it be better YES with the V-10 or Diesel. The company I worked for prior to this one used the same type of vans with the 5.4L the only mechanical failure any of them had with the engine was the last one I had and that was because the cat colapsed and stopped up the muffler when it only had a 1000 miles on it then about a month later develope a coolant leak and the intake had to be replaced because the back pressure on the engine caused it to warp before it was broken in. One of my trucks the 97 I purchased new and the dealership told me when I bought it that was the fifth 5.4L sold in Dallas County. I had only one problem right after I bought it and the dealership put a recorder on it and I drove it for a week and they sent it to Ford and the engineer came down with new o2 sensors and fixed my truck along with four others doing the same thing as they were defective. That is the only problem this vehicle has ever had. It has 130K on it and is my drive back and fourth to work vehicle. Sorry this got long winded but it just erks me to no end when someone starts whinning about a lemon the ended up with, understand it freaking happens with all manufactuers. The 5.4L has been very good in my experience. So much that I didn't hesitate a bit when I bought the 2006. Rant over.

Good rant with good points.

I always chuckle when folks think 80k or 100k miles is high.

Yea, and I forgot to mention when our Operations Manager bought a new 2010 F150 (with a 5.4L) he passed his 2005 to his son in college and at the time it had 325K now I think it's at around 350K. It's been tuned up three times and never a broken plug. I believe he's pretty confident in them also, especially when he has to sign the check when I buy a new vehicle.

Hey fordnut,

I am not whining just stating facts. Most of the many problems with my truck were not related to the 5.4 but some were. I am just glad as heck to be rid of it. In some ways it is sad that Ford and one of their dealers treated me the way they did. Sometimes I am glad they did because it forced me to explore other options.

Like anything else the Dealerships are independant of the manufacturer and are as sucessful as the leadership in charge of them. Like I mentioned in the rant before there is a Ford dealership we will never use again. My wife worked for a dealership as their customer relations manager for a little over six years and the first two years she was there it was great they were the highest volumn dealership in north texas until the General Manager decided it was time to move on to other ventures. After that they went through four GM's in less than four years, now they are one of the worst and there is only one guy left there that we know. Something I have learned in the business I'm in, a customer is easy to get the first time but takes alot of constant effort to retain. I have a sign on my desk that the guys gave me one Chrismas that says "It takes months to find a good customer, but only seconds to lose one".

You are absolutely correct and I am a good example. I have owned at least 10 Ford trucks or Broncos and most all were good. All it took was one very bad one and a bad dealer experience to make me jump ship. The way I look at the 5.4 was it was a poor design and terrible engineering. Kind of like the old 352 and 360 (I believe). I understand an occasional lemon but to me when the problems are designed in they are a much bigger problem.

If you are wanting a f250 i would get a 00-02 with the 7.3 powerstroke diesel. These engines are amazing. With the proper maintenance these trucks can go 500,000+ and get better mpg's with a diesel.