Looking at a used Ford F-250 Diesel to tow my 28' Pantera. I've heard that some model years are better than others. What are the good years and what are the years to avoid?

avoid anything with a 6.0 03 to 07....IMO 02 and 03 7.3s are the most reliable..not powerhouses, but will run forever and make decent power.

7.3 power stroke = reliability
6.0 = trouble

Te 7.3 power stroke was built up until 2003, these were very reliable and long lived motors. They were not the most powerful diesels by todays standards and the auto tranny was not that good. They are also getting hard to find unless they have a ton of miles, saw one for sale the other day with 451,000 miles with original motor. Next came the 6.0, they had some problems especially the first 2 years. They used what is called torque to yield head bolts, they could be put on by a machine, and saved assembly time, They caused head gasket failures epecially with chipped trucks. The 05's to 07's where better, the only really common problem is the EGR coolers crap out pretty often, and they have head gasket issues if pushed too hard. The auto tranny on the 6.0 is much much better, and the coil spring front suspension on the 05's up is better. Stay away from the new 6.4, I will not go into details about problems, but avoid it for fuel economy alone.

6.0's in 06, 07 were ok, earlier years had problems, 6.4 about the same power but only 13mpg vs. 18-20 on the 6.0.

When you figure out what you want get a hold of me, Ill see if I have anything kicking around. Ive had a lot of decent trades lately. Im in your neck of the woods. BTW.... I had an 06 with a 6.0 with major injector problems (I lived with that truck.),and I sold my personal truck 6.4 to a friemd that had radiator problems at one time but it was fixed and all good now. Duramax???

2006 F-250 70000 miles zero problems. 2004 F-250 major problem, ford bought back. If you find a nice 06 or 07 and don't plan on major chipping it will work well. I have really enjoyed my King Ranch. By the way the suspension on the 05 and up is much more refined than before. Tighter turning radius is worth a lot.

Don't be afraid of a 6.0 truck at this point. If it had issues, they should have been fixed by now. I guess I am lucky, I have an early 03 and the only thing gone wrong was the injector harness rubbed thru. Ford helped me under goodwill at 80K and it only cost me 500.00 to fix. The truck runs hard and I pull 15K with it with ease.

Just be smart when buying any used vehicle.

2005 f250 diesel. 125,000 miles. No major problems. Just replaced the alternator. Still runs very strong. Usual maintenance, oil 7500 miles, trans 30,000 miles, flush radiator, brakes etc at proper intervals. Tires still wearing evenly without the first alignment! Best truck on the market....btw owned 2003 f250, also a good truck...

+1 my 05 has been great.