I am seriously considering buying a 03 Lightning, doesn’t mean it is a done deal because I am still working on some numbers (myself no dealer involved until I feel I can do it). Some things going on at work and have to see how they play out.

Anyway, my question is this. What type of cost do you run into for maintenance for a Lightning over and above a regular F150? I wouldn’t think it would really be much of a cost difference but I have never owned a high performance vehicle. If I am able to buy a Lightning I would also be getting a beater car for winter and to keep the miles down on the Lightning.

Summer it most likely would be a daily driver type vehicle but stored in my garage during winter, or rainy days.

My dealer has 8 of them and they were advertised for $29,995. I really would like to buy the sonic blue and since winter is nearing I might be able to work a little better deal with them as far as my 01 trade in as far as what they may give me for it.

Sorry for a long post but basically looking for advice on what I should expect with owning a Lightning that may be different then a regular F150. The other thing I would mention is I would plan on keeping it stock. Of course if I did get one a few of you that go the FFW in Epping New Hampshire would probably try to convince me to NOT leave it stock…

I would love to post here in a few months as a new Lightning owner but time will tell it is not yet a done deal it all depends on how things go this month. Thank you in advance…

 

from what i hear, tires and gas and mods are the big expenses.

 

01 XLT Sport

The Lightning is a great performance vehicle with multi use.
I use mine for anything from a Wedding to a Funeral, to Home Depot runs to the Drag Strip, and it performs like a King in each and every category (a little weight restriction on hauling)

Other than the usual routine fuel filter/ oil + filter changes,
there is no maintenance. Now a days you can go yrs on stock brakes, yrs on stock plugs, and even yrs on the F-1's if you keep the smokey's to a minimum
IT'S ALL GOOD

BTW
For the 1st 15 months I owned mine, I drove it 24/7,
including rain snow snow and snow
(we had the winter from hell in NY last yr)
Now I have a POS Jeep that I use for parking lots, work, and crappy days. That could have been my KB and then some but I
agree with you on preserving the mileage and condition of the L

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR DECISION

As for Gas Mileage
THERE IS NONE

 

Bingo!

Tank of gas every three days

Set of rear tires every 5-10K miles

Dozen of grins per day

 

I have had no maintenance issues as of yet, but fuel is a large expense. It says 16 mpg highway, and 12 city. I get like 8 city because of my size 15 shoe weighing down the gas pedal. Tires are another. They say you can get 18,000 miles on a set of f1's. At 300 each, (my dealer quoted this but they may be cheaper elsewhere) a set of tires each year could get pricey.

 

I should have mentioned I basically knew the mileage was not good but really don’t give a crap about that…

So, Rob you drove yours in the snow? I would think they would really suck in the snow. Not knocking the Lightning at all, but just figured anything with performance would not do well in the snow and more so because of the F1’s.

Thanks for the advice and glad to see this post could call out a good friend Fast Gator. Don’t see him around much but damn good to see him. Hope things are going well for you Gator…

 

Yup, that about sums it up!!

 

You must use at least 91 octane gas and the L sucks it down big time. A tank of gas at over $30 every few days is norm... Tires are well over $200 each so of course another large expense.. A great truck though and worth it in my eyes. Of course I have a very good income..

 

Fuel is probably the biggest espense.
If you don't spin the tires and corner hard, tires can actually last 30,000 + miles. It all depends on your driving style.

 

Tt best, 20000 miles on the first set of Goodyear tires. If you play with the loud pedel too much 10000 miles may be closer for the first set. Then go to Toyo tires when the newness wears off $1000 per set and 40000 miles per set. Plan on 12 MPG if driven fairly easy, at best in city/highway driving to work. About 18 on the highway at 75 MPH This is all assuming you can leave it stock HEHE If you keep the tongue weight down, you can tow almost anything in reason. (about 8000 lbs at 8MPG) try that in a Vett of rice car.

Hope this helps

Andy

 

Since you live in NH I would wait till spring.

The L's suck in the snow, and also waiting till spring you can save up some more money.

These trucks are very reliable, and if you don't do a lot of burnouts the care can last about 30,000 miles. The Millage isn't really any different than a regular 5.4 F150

 

One thing that seems to go out on L's sooner and more frequently than on NA 5.4's is the trannys. The 4R100 is just about at its desing limits with a stock engine.

But you can get a brand new Monster Box (much stronger than OEM) for about $2,000 + shipping and installation, so it's not really the end of the world.

Other than that, I think it's about the same as a standard F150 from a maintenance perspective.

 

I figured it would suck in snow. If things work out I was figuring I might be able to get a little better on my trade in on my truck towards the Lightning. Especially since the dealer has either 6 or 8 of them on the lot. I would first have to find a somewhat decent beater, decent as far as passing inspection before I would buy a Lightning anyway.

It is still up in the air but hope is a good thing. I haven’t had any kind of a performance vehicle since my 79 Camaro Z28 that had a built 400 small block with approx. 340 rwhp and that was a fun car. That was about 14 years ago. It drank about the same I was lucky to get about 12 – 15mph on the highway.

I have wanted a Lightning from the first time I seen one which I think was in 93 or 94, when they first began to make them but it was not possible at the time, married and young kids etc.

Anyway I do appreciate all the responses. I didn’t think there would be much difference in upkeep as compared to regular F150’s but I am not motorhead by a long shot so I wanted to ask. I did price tires on I believe tirerack and they were $278.99 I talked with my insurance agent a few days back and was real surprised that it wouldn’t cost me more then about $15 a month for insurance. I had her check it twice to make sure she was looking up a SVT Lightning F150 (LOL) and she was sure.

Thanks again…