F-150 Picks Up Another Kelley Blue Book Award

2018 Ford F-150 nabs Best Buy Award for fourth straight year.

The F-150 has been picking up awards like stones in an aggressive tire tread. But when it comes to accolades, a Kelley Blue Book’s Best Buy Award truly means something, and now Ford now has its fourth in a row for the F-150.

A lot of companies like to show off about their awards (Yes. We’re looking directly at you Chevy). However, it’s worth noting that some are worth more than others. Some are entirely meaningless to actual vehicle buyers, and others are very relevant indeed. For example, the often-quoted J.D Power bases its awards on customer surveys. That sounds fine, but what does the average joe actually know? It’s also worth noting that truck owners tend to be particularly brand-loyal. To that end, we can’t be confident that survey-based awards can be objective enough to trust.

An F-150 Lariat costs $47,376, whereas the Chevy 1500 Crew Cab LT costs $48,996. If having to drive a Chevy truck wasn’t punishment enough, that’s an extra $1,620 for the first five years of ownership.

Kelley Blue Book (KBB) is an old and trusted source that doesn’t operate on surveys. Every year, they professionally test and evaluate hundreds of vehicles. They take all that data into consideration for the overall results and then top-load the resale value and their five-year cost-to-own calculations. The end result is a list of cars, trucks, and SUVs that bring the most value for money. And again, Chevy didn’t even get a look in.

KBB likes that Ford switched from steel to aluminum to the point that KBB describes the move as “prescient.” The outlet also likes the versatility of the range and the strong powertrain options. KBB also stressed that Ford is consistently innovating and improving the F-150, and that in all it’s guises, the F-150 is great to drive.

Cost of ownership matters

KBB bases its five-year projections on doing 15,000 miles per year, a 3.19% APR for 60 months with a down payment of $4,058.50. If you look at their 2017 cost-to- own model projections (2018 aren’t available yet) you’ll see that in the mid-range, a 2017 Ford F-150 SuperCrew Cab Lariat Pickup is six cents per mile cheaper to run than the nearest Chevy competitor. Including depreciation, an F-150 Lariat costs $47,376, whereas the comparable Chevy 1500 Crew Cab LT costs a total of $48,996.

If having to drive a Chevy truck wasn’t punishment enough, that’s an extra $1,620 for the first five years of ownership.

Ian Wright

Ian Wright has been a professional automotive writer for over two years and is a regular contributor to Corvette Forum, Jaguar Forums, and 6SpeedOnline, among other popular auto sites.

Ian's obsession with cars started young and has left him stranded miles off-road in Land Rovers, being lost far from home in hot hatches, going sideways in rallycross cars, being propelled forward in supercars and, more sensibly, standing in fields staring at classic cars. His first job was as a mechanic, then he trained as a driving instructor before going into media production.

The automotive itch never left though, and he realized writing about cars is his true calling. However, that doesn’t stop Wright from also hosting the Both Hand Drive podcast.

Ian can be reached at bothhanddrive@gmail.com