2019 Ford F-150 Platinum

The 2019 Ford F-150 is one of the most popular trucks in the United States. That it’s also one of the most capable vehicles on the road today is no coincidence. Like other top-tier full-size pickup trucks, the F-150 is available in a wide variety of trim levels, comes with many available powertrains, and delivers big-time towing and hauling capabilities.

It’s more than just a brawny pickup truck, though. The F-150 is also versatile enough for family duty. The interior is modern and comfortable and has many high-class touches. Tech features such as the Sync 3 infotainment system give you easy access to your smartphone, while the latest in advanced driver safety aids give you added peace of mind. Notably, forward collision warning with automatic braking is now standard on every F-150.

Of course, if trailer-pulling power is what you’re after, the F-150 still has you covered. Six engines are available, ranging from a basic V6 all the way to a muscular 450-horsepower turbocharged V6. As part of that six-engine lineup, the F-150 is now available with a 3.0-liter diesel-powered V6 engine. It’s likely the best pick of the group if you plan to do a lot of towing, but its significant cost increase needs to be factored in. You can read more about it in our F-150 Power Stroke First Drive article.

Even without all these updates for 2019, the Ford F-150 was a class leader. And with everything that Ford has done to keep it relevant, this F-150 hasn’t lost a step.

Notably, we picked the 2019 Ford F-150 and F-150 Diesel as one of Edmunds’ Best Luxury Cars, Best Pickup Trucks, Best Trucks for Towing and Best Gas Mileage Trucks and the 2019 Ford F-150 Raptor as one of Edmunds’ Best Off-Road Trucks and for this year.

What’s it like to live with?

The F-150 has been the truck sales leader for decades, so every new F-150 is massively important. That’s why we bought a bright blue Lariat for our long-term fleet when this generation launched in 2015. While we liked the truck overall, we were unimpressed by the new 2.7-liter engine’s real-world fuel economy compared to its EPA numbers. When the 2018 model bowed with a new transmission, we decided to buy another F-150 in nearly the exact same configuration, in part to see if the fuel economy improved. To read about how economy improved — or didn’t — read our long-term F-150 test, where we also covered everything from performance to long-distance seat comfort.

As with most full-size pickups, there are a lot of features to choose from on the 2019 Ford F-150, starting with six main trim levels: base XL, XLT, Lariat, King Ranch, Platinum and Limited. There’s also the off-road Raptor variant that exists outside the standard lineup.