It wasn’t terribly long ago when we could buy a brand new, full-size truck for less than $20k. It may seem hard to believe today, but that was certainly the case less than two decades ago, and of course, the further you go back, the cheaper trucks got. Today, that has changed drastically as most consider the Ford Maverick and its sub-$20k starting price to be a marvelous bargain, while full-size trucks have reached levels we once never thought possible. However, it is worth noting that there are two new full-size pickups on sale today that still start out at close to $30k – the 2022 Ford F-150 and the 2022 Ram 1500 Classic.
Of course, $30k isn’t going to get you many luxuries in today’s world of full-size trucks, but $30,495 (minus destination and delivery charges) will get you a brand new 2022 Ford F-150 XL regular cab, two-wheel drive pickup. You’ll be rolling on basic 17-inch steel wheels, operating crank windows, and sitting on cloth seats with vinyl floors beneath your feet, but there are actually some pretty surprising amenities present here that one may not expect to see in a bare bones model.
For starters, the 2022 Ford F-150 comes standard with an 8-inch touchscreen and SYNC 4, which is a massive upgrade from the old 4.2-inch unit present in older pickups. Power comes from Ford’s base 3.3-liter V6, but it provides a decent output of 290 horsepower and 265 pound-feet of torque and is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission, which sends power back to a non-limited slip differential with 3.55 gears.
Yes, the 2022 F-150 XL is about as basic as today’s trucks get, but for many, that isn’t such a bad thing. And since you can easily spent three times as much on a loaded Limited, that price seems pretty palatable, no? But there’s one other thing worth considering here – the other $30k full-size pickup on the market, the Ram 1500 Classic, is actually the last-gen model. Interestingly, Stellantis continues to sell its old Ram 1500 in an effort to provide buyers with a cheaper option, but it’s exactly that – a truck that launched in 2009 and is a dinosaur compared to the latest F-150.
If you want a new Ram 1500, it’ll cost you at least $35k, while the Chevy Silverado 1500 starts out at $33k, the Toyota Tundra at $35k, and the Nissan Titan comes in at $38k. Outside of the Silverado, none of those trucks are available as a regular cab, which makes the Ford F-150 a bit of a lone wolf in today’s world of luxurious pickups.
Source: Ford Truck Enthusiasts
