Ah, the Ford F-series. I know, I know. This is the most niche of all automotive journalizing, but I am here to speak the truth! OK. Yes, everyone knows the F-series is the highest-selling vehicles year after year. The secret is out, and the momentum is gaining to an unstoppable force. The F-150 is one of the most popular of the series. People buy them by the millions every year. The bigger brother, the Ford F-250, is right there with it, but why? An F-250 is a big truck – like, big big. So, why do so many people buy them? They must be great to drive and easy to handle – wrong. 

The Ford F-250 crosses further into the work-truck category than the F-150. It has always only been focused on towing and hauling as much as possible with a complete disregard for nearly any other aspect of driving. Although in 2017, Ford redesigned the F-250 to be lighter and more refined, it’s still a clunky beast that has a one-track mind; haul stuff. 

The Ford F-250 has forgone all other aspects of driving, and according to Consumer Reports, the results are a handful of major flaws that plague the day-to-day drivers of the 2020 Ford F-250. Even though these major flaws are undeniable, they seem to not matter to most F-250 buyers. 

The 2020 Ford F-250 handling 

While most folks aren’t buying a heavy-duty pickup truck for tight and balanced cornering, Consumer Reports called the 2020 Ford F-250 “probably the clumsiest handling vehicle we’ve ever tested.” The test by CR tells that body roll is pretty minor, but the steering is so sloppy and vague that to turn the F-250, the driver needs to do some serious arm flailing to get the truck to move.

For a vehicle this massive, steering is extra important. CR found that if you need to call upon any sort of emergency steering maneuvers, the 2020 Ford F-250 will likely let you down. The steering is slow and vague, making quick actions of any kind very difficult. 

Steering isn’t the only handling problem for the beefy F-250

CR found, similarly to the steering, the brakes are heavy and inefficient. In fact, CR calls the brakes “extremely poor, with very long stopping distances on both dry and wet surfaces.” To be fair, this is a common problem with most HD trucks, but the F-series outsells every other truck in the world even with these dramatic problems. It starts to show that people don’t really care about the flaws as much as they care about owning a Ford F-250.

The 2020 F-250 isn’t exactly cheap, so why is the ride so rough?

These heavy-duty trucks are expensive and often well-equipped with cabin features to make them comfortable, but the ride is still rough. The F-250, as tested by CR, cost around $70,000. Because the trucks are meant to tow and haul heavy loads, they have to be equipped with extra heavy-duty shocks and suspension. This is great while hauling a load of gravel, but for daily use without a load, that heavy suspension turns into a jarring and harsh ride. 

This problem can’t really be fixed. If you want to haul heavyweight, you have to have stiff shocks. Again, the question becomes, why do so many people keep buying them for daily use if they are hard to drive and uncomfortable? 

The 2020 Ford F-250 is mighty thirsty 

CR found that most buyers got the 6.7-liter turbodiesel V8 that puts out 440 hp and 925 lb-ft of torque. Although diesel engines are better on fuel than their gasoline counterparts, the Ford F-250 turbodiesel gets worse fuel economy than almost any of its competitors. The 2020 Ford F-250 with the 6.7-liter turbodiesel V8 gets 10 mpg in town, 20 mpg on the highway, and a combined 15 mpg. That is pretty rough, especially for a diesel. 

The Ford F-250 still sells like hot cakes

All of these massive flaws and poor performance numbers seem to not really matter. Usually, a vehicle that can’t steer, won’t stop, is uncomfortable, and drinks fuel like a fish is viewed as a colossal failure. That is not the case for the F-250. It’s still big and powerful and says ford on the front. Those things matter more than stopping, apparently.