The pandemic and shortages in the automotive industry wreaked havoc on new and used vehicle shopping. Due to this, Inflation began to set in, which pushed new and used vehicle prices through the roof, especially pickup trucks like the Ford F-150. Many consumers are struggling to afford the payments, which are much higher than just a few years ago. How high are the Ford truck payments, and what do you get for the Ford F-150 price?

What is the average monthly payment for the Ford F-150?

The price of brand-new pickup trucks has shot up over the years compared to what we used to pay just a few decades ago. There are a few different reasons for this, as explained by The Fast Lane Truck in this YouTube video. 

Points discussed included government regulations concerning safety. Crash tests are getting harder to pass, which causes automakers to implement higher quality materials to provide a safer ride. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. Other reasons include more sophisticated software, more expensive parts like higher-performance engines and electric vehicle components, and inflation. For this article, we’ll focus on inflation.

According to the automaker, the Ford F-150 price begins at $33,835 for the base model, but how many consumers will stick with that? Most are likely to go for a higher trim with more features that they want. This model can go as high as $76,775 for the top-tier version without extras added. The Ford Authority reports that average monthly payments as of Q2 are $983, which is actually down a couple of bucks from the first quarter. 

When it comes to inflation, how have the payments gotten so high that many can hardly afford it?

How inflation affects new vehicle prices

It began a few years ago when the pandemic occurred. This is when we started to experience shortages in not only vehicles but parts as well. While the production of vehicles slowed down to a crawl in many cases, consumers weren’t exactly letting up. 

They still wanted to buy, so most turned to the used car market, which created a demand that many dealers weren’t able to fill. This resulted in higher prices for both new and used vehicles, which ultimately trickled into inflation because wages, in most cases, weren’t increasing. 

The vehicles that were available for purchase rose significantly in price, and some people were willing to pay the over-the-top prices to get what they wanted. Dealerships were asking exorbitant amounts of money in a few cases. The Ford F-150 price is just one example of this idea.

What do you get for the high Ford F-150 price tag?

For the almost $1,000 a month payment for the Ford F-150, we’ll look at the Lariat trim to determine what you would get for that amount of money. Powering it up is a 2.7-liter V6 engine that produces 325 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque. Paired with it is an electronic 10-speed automatic transmission. 

This combination allows the truck to get approximately 20 mpg in the city and 26 mpg on the highway. You’ll also get up to 14,000 lbs of towing capacity and 3,315 lbs of payload capacity with this trim. 

For the exterior, you get 18-inch Chrome-like PVD wheels, all-season tires for the 4X2 drivetrain, automatic headlamps, remote tailgate release, chrome front and rear bumpers, LED tail lights, fog lamps, and heated side mirrors. 

For the interior, you can expect carpeted flooring, dual-zone automatic climate control, a 12-inch productivity screen, front heated and ventilated seats, and push-button start. As for safety and driver assistance features, you get pre-collision assist, post-collision braking, and lane-keeping assist.

The Ford F-150 certainly is a popular pickup on the market today and has plenty to offer any consumer. However, don’t be surprised if you end up paying almost $1,000 a month when you finance a brand-new one. The Ford F-150’s price is just the cost of admission these days.