I think I did OK!?
Hello all — new to the thread. Just picked up a ridiculously clean Ruby Red F250 Lariat with only 55k. This is my second long-term truck — my other is a 2020 TRD Pro Tundra, which I found myself absolutely maxing out hauling hardscape materials and project supplies for hobbies. I needed more truck.
First time diesel owner, but I’ve kind of come full circle on Ford. My first car I ever bought with my own money was a used Ruby Red ‘97 Mustang GT (SN95), so the color alone hit me right in the nostalgia.
The purchase story was a little ridiculous.
I found this truck listed at what I thought was a suspiciously good price (about $39,500 OTD), but there were literally no pictures online. None.
A 2015 with only 55k?? At that point I figured the listing probably wasn’t even accurate. The VIN checked out, but you know how that goes. One of the sales guys told me, “it’s a very clean truck”… which of course, that’s what you’d say 😂.
Still, I took the gamble and drove 1.5 hours, 20min north of Baltimore basically sight unseen.
When I got there, the truck was literally sitting on jacks because the Hyundai dealership wasn’t equipped with a heavy-duty lift.
Oh boy… here we go 😂
One of the mechanics, Mike, was super cool and told me he thought he could probably get it done by 6. Sales guy comes back and tells me, “it’ll probably be ready tomorrow.”
I told him, “Man, I’m not leaving here without that truck. I just drove 1.5 hours in traffic — see what you can do.” 😂
At that point I was only able to do a visual inspection, but I told them I was committed barring a clean test drive, so let’s get the paperwork started.
To make sure I got it and didn’t have to make that drive again, I reserved a U-Haul toy hauler same day and planned to use my brand-new F250 — a truck I had literally never driven — to bring the Tundra home. 😂
Of course… even that wasn’t smooth.
After finishing all the paperwork, I realized the ball hitch I had on the Tundra wasn’t rated high enough for the tongue weight, so I had to race to AutoZone about 10 minutes before they closed and grab a properly rated hitch.
Then came loading the truck.
First time loading and strapping down a vehicle by myself, and let’s just say it was a process. I was literally in a shopping center parking lot watching YouTube tie-down videos while working. Took me about an hour because I quadruple-checked every strap and connection. I probably spent about $150 on straps and tie-down gear alone.
Loading a Tundra onto those U-Haul toy hauler rails by yourself is no joke either — got up a little crooked and had to do what felt like a 598-point turn to straighten it out 😂.
Then came the drive home…
The first 20 minutes of that 1.5-hour drive I was nervous as hell. At one point my F250 hit me with a “Trailer Disconnected” warning and my heart absolutely stopped. Jumped out immediately thinking something catastrophic happened, only to realize it was a false alarm. My neighbor has a 2013 F350 and had warned me those alerts can do that, but that didn’t stop the panic.
After about 20 minutes I finally settled in… and then had another mini heart attack because I literally forgot the truck was even back there for a second and hit a rough stretch through DC toward 295 with the trailer bouncing all over those garbage roads 😂.
By the time I got up the next morning I had already spent like 85 hours researching diesel additives, CCV routing , weight loss methods, diesel ownership, and I already have an S&S DPK sitting on the shelf waiting for install.
And honestly… why ain’t nobody tell me about this damn grenade sitting in the valley 😂. All good.
Plans for the truck are pretty much OEM+ reliability and longevity:
- S&S DPK
- Better oil filtration (insane)
- Charge pipes / intake
- Possibly bypass oil filtration
- Better monitoring / gauges (Banks)
- A few tasteful OEM+ touches (nothing crazy)
- Cab lights, have up fitter switches Factory installed
- Apple Car play, thinking a Sony ax6000, but seems old already. I just want something that fits in the factory location not a huge fan of the floating displays.
- Husky Mats
- Backup and work
lights (not sure product or method yet.)
Goal is to keep it reliable, make it tow and haul better, and slowly build it into a long-term truck.
Looking forward to learning from you guys — first diesel, first real Ford truck in a long time.
oh, truck was one owner and serviced at same dealership its entire service. Clean car fax.