4x4 Status Symbol: The 2016 Ford F-150 4x4 SuperCrew Lariat

The 2016 Ford F-150 4x4 SuperCrew Lariat.

Those of us old enough to remember when a Lincoln in the driveway was the sign you had arrived are rapidly becoming a minority.  It has been a while.  And the new expression of that status, especially here in the Desert Southwest, is a truck.  An expensive truck.

2016 Ford F-150 4x4 SuperCrew Lariat.

This is status that comes not from scarcity, as the F-150 is the number one-selling vehicle in America, but by the option sheet.  The same basic vehicle that can be ordered as a bare-bones work truck for $26,540 can also be optioned up to our test vehicle, the F-150 4x4 SuperCrew, with a base price of $45,440, and optioned as tested, can cost $57,455 before discounts.  More about which later.

The test vehicle had the 5.0-liter V8 flexible fuel engine, with 6-speed SelectShift automatic transmission.  The EPA fuel economy estimate is decent in town at 15 miles per gallon and somewhat impressivve on the highway, at 21 miles per gallon.  Much of the credit goes to the lower weight of the F-150, which is now using an aluminum alloy body.   Choosing the 3.5-liter Ecoboost six, which Michael reviewed in a 2015 model last year, increases the EPA estimate to 17 and 23, but many dyed-in-the-wool truck customers won't touch anything without a V8 under the hood.

2016 Ford F-150 4x4 SuperCrew Lariat interior.

Our test vehicle had more than $10,000 worth of optional equipment. $6,995 of that was for Equipment Group 502A, upgrading the trim series to Lariat, adding blind spot information, a remote start system, reverse sensing system, LED side-mirror spotlights, a 110-volt power outlet, upgrading the audio system to include a single CD player and HD Radio, and adding voice activation.

There was also $800 for the swap to the V8, $470 for an electronically locking rear axle, $895 for the trailer towing package, $395 for the 36-gallon extended fuel tank, $275 for an integrated trailer brake control, $315 for the CNG/Propane engine prep that made this a flex-fuel vehicle, $180 for wheel well lining, and $495 for a spray-in bedliner.

As noted above, that should have resulted in an as-tested price of $57,455 with $1,195 destination and delivery charges, but Ford has a $1,500 Lariat discount, so the total MSRP came to $55,955.  And unlike Dad's---or Grandad's---Lincoln, this can go anywhere, carry anything, and likely gets better mileage.