2026 Ford F-250 Platinum Review: America’s S-Class Is a Diesel Pickup

The Ford F-250 Super Duty Platinum with the High-Output Power Stroke diesel is a $103,250 heavy-duty pickup with massage seats, the best head-up display in the business, and 1,200 lb-ft of torque. My verdict after a week: this is the American Mercedes S-Class. In Germany, if you want the pinnacle of luxury and technology, you buy an S-Class. In the United States, you buy this. The price is enormous and the truck is massive, and I still loved nearly every mile.

F-250 Platinum Spec Strip

Spec	Figure
As-tested price	$103,250
Powertrain	6.7L High-Output Power Stroke V8 turbo diesel
Output	500 hp / 1,200 lb-ft
Transmission	10-speed TorqShift automatic
Observed MPG	Near 20 (unloaded, no EPA rating for HD trucks)
Max conventional towing	22,000 lbs (properly equipped)
Seating	5

How does the High-Output Power Stroke drive?

The power is just absurd. As the diesel gets up to speed it sounds like a little semi, and the torque thrust is amazing. For something this big it has no right being as fast as it is.

The 10-speed deserves its own paragraph. I drove a 10-speed truck Godzilla (7.3L) truck just a few years prior and the tuning on this transmission is night and day. It rarely hunts. It knows right where it needs to be, and thanks to the diesel’s torque it never has to do anything drastic to get up to speed. With this many gears, staying composed is rare, and in a big truck the hunting usually becomes really obvious. This Ford has it under control.

Road manners are the shock. This thing is a bank vault on the highway. It handles high speeds with ease even unloaded, which used to not be the heavy-duty norm, since these trucks usually are bouncy all over the place with nothing in the bed because the suspension is ready to haul all the things. Add in my biggest shock, sneaky good fuel economy, I saw near 20 mpg over my week, which beat the 4Runner I had before it, and the case builds fast.

One more piece: the lighting. The headlights do a wonderful job fully lighting the road, and the rear LEDs look terrific.

[CLIP CARD 02: Driving footage / powertrain segment]

Is the F-250 Platinum luxurious enough to be an S-Class?

The S-Class formula is bleeding-edge tech, serene isolation, and a cabin that announces you have arrived. The S-Class also usually brings with it category innovation, sometimes even automotive innovation, the Mercedes finds a way to consistently innovate and keep the space fresh. The Ford does the same.

The seats are sublime. The Smoked Truffle leather is gorgeous, and the heating, cooling, and massage functions all work really well. The head-up display is the best in the business, full stop. It is large, which is nice because there is a lot of glass it can use. It is bright, vibrant, and clear. You could display the constitution up there, and you’d be able to read it. The dash is laid out so everything is second nature: buttons where they need to be, real knobs, steering wheel controls that are physical buttons instead of capacitive panels, and screens that are vibrant, colorful, and snappy. Add the multi-function tailgate, onboard scales, and a bed that still does actual work, and the case is strong.

Two demerits. The sound system is not up to snuff for a $100K vehicle. It has bass, but bass does not matter if the quality is not there, and Ford needed to push the boundaries to stand out. And the one S-Class credential missing is hands-free driving: BlueCruise is not offered on the Super Duty, and Ford says it is not coming soon because the system cannot operate while trailering, which is the whole point of this truck. Adaptive cruise is here. Hands-free is not. This also lags behind GM’s Supercruise, which has the ability to work while towing.

How practical is the F-250 for a family?

A lot of people daily these as family haulers, so the car seat test matters even in a heavy-duty truck.

The height is the challenge. You need to get up on the door steps to load a child, and that punishes both ends of the height chart. If you are tall, standing on the power-folding rails puts you over the roof, so you are bending over the whole time. If you are short, you will struggle to lift a toddler up there at all. The saving grace is the space: once you are up, the opening is so large that finagling a kid into the seat is easy.

And the rear space is absolutely massive. I am 6 feet, and I could sit behind myself with a bag in front of my feet like I was on a plane. It honestly felt like two convertible car seats could fit back to back the long way. Nobody would do that, but it tells you how much room is back there, and it raises a fair question I will get to.

[CLIP CARD 04: Car seat / rear space segment]

The take: the boss chair has gotten too big

The feeling this truck gives you is instant. You are the boss. You own the road, and people look up at you, literally. That confidence clearly goes to some owners’ heads, which you can see in how these get driven. Left-lane bombers who consider themselves lien holders on the road.

But the size has crossed a line. I understand why these keep growing, the market keeps buying them bigger, and sales keep rising. This truck could easily be 6 to 10 inches shorter while keeping every inch of the bed and its work usability, and 3 to 5 inches lower, which would help the pedestrian safety problem that comes with a hood this tall. My rear-legroom airplane test is the evidence: some of this length serves nobody.

Here is where I land. The price is high, and I hate to say it, but it almost felt justified. Something this capable, with this much luxury, is really hard to ignore. I really enjoyed my time behind the wheel of this one.

Verdict Scorecard

FAQ

Does the Ford F-250 Super Duty have BlueCruise?
No. BlueCruise is not offered on the Super Duty lineup, and Ford has said it is not coming soon because the system cannot operate while towing a trailer. The truck offers adaptive cruise control through Co-Pilot360 instead.

What MPG does the F-250 High-Output diesel get?
Heavy-duty trucks have no EPA rating, but I observed near 20 mpg unloaded over a week of mixed driving. Expect that to drop significantly while towing.

How much can the F-250 Platinum tow?
Properly equipped, the F-250 diesel tows up to 22,000 lbs conventionally. The High-Output Power Stroke makes 500 hp and 1,200 lb-ft.

Is the F-250 Platinum worth $103,250?
It is the most convincing six-figure pickup case I have experienced. The capability, the interior, and the head-up display carry the price better than expected. The sound system and the sheer size are the asterisks.

Is the F-250 good for car seats?
The space is enormous once you are up there, and an adult fits easily behind an installed seat. The climb is the problem: tall parents bend over the roof from the rails, short parents struggle with the lift.

I’m MoneyShift. If it has wheels and a story, it ends up here. Follow along for all things car news.