My 98 F150 4X4 has crawled through mudholes, broken puddle ice 3" thick, driven over 4" white birch, plowed fluffy snow with the bumper, hauled idiots out of where they should not have driven ANY truck, and scratched a million alders, maybe two. Only got 118,000 km on er and about 40,000 of those were in bull low 4X4 without touching the gas peddle... about one kph... she kin crawwlll!

A buddy who owns an auto detail shop said I should let him buff out the scratches (some cannot be buffed out, especially the ones past the paint) before I put it up fer sale. I quickly put my hand on the truck and said, reassuringly, "Don't worry darlin, I'd never let him take yer badges of honour away from you." I looked at buddy and said, "Don't scare the poor old girl like that."

So, that's what it's all about. A truck for the back woods roads that can also get me through the maze of crazy drivers in this town with a sense of some safety and that can plow through nasty snowstorms as well as keep me comfy when it's 38C with 90% RH.

Now, I could get sommat like an Explorer (mid-size SUV) but they cost about as much, don't have that extra safety feature of enhanced field of vision and btter chances in an accident simply due to size and weight, can't haul shit around, and don't get much better fuel economy... especially at 118,000/11 km/year.

Oh yeah, the old girl will still go like a scalded dog when called upon... had a reason yesterday and went from 100kph to 135kph quick like, with pedal left (not much left, but some).