The Ford F-150 is one of the most popular and iconic pickup trucks in America, but it’s not the only popular pickup truck on the market. Trucks such as the Chevy Silverado and the Ram 1500 are highly competitive with the F-150, and they’re better than the Ford truck in some ways too. In fact, here’s a look at how Ford F-150 owners, on average, have to pay more for their trucks than owners of rival trucks have to pay. 

Here’s how much Ford F-150 owners are paying for their trucks

Ford Authority published an article that talked about just how high the average monthly payment for an F-150 has become. In the first quarter of 2023, the average monthly payment for an F-150 was $986. That nearly $1,000 monthly payment is significantly higher than what owners of rival trucks are paying for their vehicles, and it’s also much higher than the average monthly payment from just a few months ago.

For comparison, the Ram 1500 had an average monthly payment of about $900, while the Silverado had the cheapest average monthly payment among the big three trucks at just $846 a month. That being said, the Chevy’s current average monthly payment is much lower than the F-150’s average monthly payment from late 2022. Back then, the F-150’s average monthly payment came in at $893.

Not only is the Ford’s average monthly payment very high, but a large proportion of F-150 owners are paying a huge amount of money for their car compared to others. 36% of new F-150 owners were paying more than $1,000 a month for their truck back in October 2022, and that’s compared to 14.3% across the whole car market.

There are a few reasons why the Ford F-150 has a higher average monthly payment

Car prices, especially for used cars, have been going down lately, and that might lead some people to assume that monthly payments will get smaller too. However, the F-150’s growing average monthly payment shows that’s not necessarily the case. The main reason why that’s happening is because of interest rates.

Most car shoppers finance their car rather than buy it outright, and higher interest rates make those loans more expensive. Interest rates were at 4.4% last year, and they’re at around 7% this year. That’s largely why the average monthly payment for new cars of any type rose from $656 a month to $730 a month compared to last year. 

On top of that, the F-150 has a lot of options available. While some owners are fine with the cheapest trim possible, others want to splurge with one of the top trims. Truck shoppers looking at the Silverado or the Ram have a similar mentality. That’s why the average transaction price for a pickup truck is about $60,000 right now. When combined with higher interest rates, that high price will mean high monthly payments.

The Ford F-150 continues to be the most popular car in America

Even though the F-150 is significantly more expensive than its rivals as well as most other cars on the market, the iconic truck remains popular. Indeed, it’s been the best-selling car for over 40 years now and counting. Unless a dramatic turn of events happens this year, the F-150 will continue this trend.

That said, these higher interest rates are pinching Americans. Eventually, shoppers could move toward cheaper options. That’s what happened during the Great Recession, but the F-150 still managed to remain on top in those years.