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13 Posts
Hello Friends,
Last week I declined receipt of my 2022 F-150 Lightning Lariat. You might ask, "why are you telling me this as I have been chomping at the bit to finally get mine"? The answer, I want to provide my experience if there are potentially others who were in my situation and just need more feedback/data.
I was elated when Ford announced the Lightning and obtained a reservation on May 19 2021. I will fast forward through all the pain of waiting for an order date, very poor communication from my dealer, liaising back and forth with Ford corporate, and educating myself on how to get my hands on one of these trucks. Sidenote: I want to thank all contributors to this forum for most of that intel, which again is why I am here following up (to give a bit back).
Anyway, ultimately I received the golden ticket and placed an order for a Lariat Extended Battery with options back in Mar, 2022. Once again, the order was painful as my dealership hadn't a clue on how to do this once I received the order invitation. The dealership communication was poor again which drove me back to Ford corporate to figure it out which I used to help inform the dealership. The last 8 months I was in purgatory while waiting for production of said vehicle. During this time and especially as of late, I was in data review mode, reading whatever review came my way and trying to align reality with my expectations, layered on top of what and how I plan to use the vehicle.
2 weeks ago, I heard from the dealership that my vehicle was in and ready to take delivery. I was very excited. It was at that time I went into my typical large purchase mode and listed out all my pros and cons (subjective to me of course).
Thereafter I went to the dealership, reviewed the vehicle from head to toe and test drive and left saying I had to think about it as I had resverations going in and a few more when I left. They gave me the weekend but said would take ownership themselves and sell it if I didnt take ownership (at a steep markup of course).
Pros: Probably dont need to tell this group all the pros but here goes anyway. Streamlined, very slick looking truck. Beautiful smoked quartz color, with bigger wheels and upgraded tires and a few other options. The technology is state of the art, new age, and has many intuitive and intelligent features, and validated all of the positive reviews I had seen online from both professionals and everyday users. Clearly going electric and Ford being an industry leader with a large and proven company was primary in my initial decision. I loved that I could charge at my home and not have to visit the gas man. Living in Southern California with gas prices the way they are, was very much incentive for me to crossover to an electric truck. The specifications on this truck are amazing considering the torque, tow rating, and speed (0-60) times. Warranty was standard but fair for this space.
Cons: Lariat Extended battery was not cheap but I had been looking at Raptors so it was a wash price wise for me. Given my early order, I had early order pricing, they have gone up since as you all know. I was fortunate after visiting with them and after some discussion to have them honor my build price of just over 80k vs some of the crazy markup stories. Note, they checked my car into inventory as part of their "standard practice" and had this listed on their website at 107K!!! For the price of this vehicle I was quite dismayed over the last 1.5 years on the lack of engagement from the dealer and corporate which probably tainted my experience somewhat. I was always willing to assume some risk with this being a 1st generation vehicle but after seeing recent reviews and critiques my risk tolerance was less (new unproven tech, range, towing, etc). My biggest concern is mostly the misalignment on how I planned to use the vehicle vs perhaps the average daily knockaround town driver. Again, I live in San Diego and while I dont drive far regularly, when I do I was concerned about the range and charging infrastructure. I typically have mountain bikes hanging off the back of my truck, standup paddleboards in the bed or on top, and the occasional trailer off the back towing toys. Range with any non wind resistant appendages was a problem for me. Also, we go to Big Bear, Mammoth, Tahoe, Vegas, the desert (and other places) often throughout the year and after looking at charging centers along a couple of routes, and feedback on charging complications, this turned into a very tough decision for me. Some other smaller items, I did not like the stinkbug stance and was somewhat underwhelmed by the interior again vs the Raptor. Also, given I typically put bigger, more aesthetically pleasing wheels and tires on my vehicles the range was sure to draw down even more while the cost was going up even higher. I spoke with my accountant and he mentioned that the rebate was likely not going to be something I would be able to take advantage of given my income and may not be around either with Ford almost hitting their cap for EVs. Lastly, he mentioned the charger that came standard with my truck was back-ordered 3+ months meaning I would not be charging at home for some time.
Summary: I still think this is an amazing truck and saw no tech or other issues running contrary to how this vehicle is marketed. It just didnt work for how I planned to use it and was more work than I was willing to invest to drive it. I know it seems counter, Lightning vs Raptor but the latter was a better fit for me. Also, given there is so much demand for this truck and considering the time I had invested I wasnt willing to let it go for nothing. After negotiation I was able to carry equity from my MSRP order for the Lightning to the Raptor. Essentially got a 2022 Raptor for ~MSRP (these things all have crazy MSRP markups). Initially, after negotiation, they were willing to pay me for my lightining but I decided to buy the Raptor from them and we both were happy.
Lightning owners, please take all that I say here with a grain of salt, no insult intended, just a personal thing for me and wanted to share my experience for other pole sitters.
Last week I declined receipt of my 2022 F-150 Lightning Lariat. You might ask, "why are you telling me this as I have been chomping at the bit to finally get mine"? The answer, I want to provide my experience if there are potentially others who were in my situation and just need more feedback/data.
I was elated when Ford announced the Lightning and obtained a reservation on May 19 2021. I will fast forward through all the pain of waiting for an order date, very poor communication from my dealer, liaising back and forth with Ford corporate, and educating myself on how to get my hands on one of these trucks. Sidenote: I want to thank all contributors to this forum for most of that intel, which again is why I am here following up (to give a bit back).
Anyway, ultimately I received the golden ticket and placed an order for a Lariat Extended Battery with options back in Mar, 2022. Once again, the order was painful as my dealership hadn't a clue on how to do this once I received the order invitation. The dealership communication was poor again which drove me back to Ford corporate to figure it out which I used to help inform the dealership. The last 8 months I was in purgatory while waiting for production of said vehicle. During this time and especially as of late, I was in data review mode, reading whatever review came my way and trying to align reality with my expectations, layered on top of what and how I plan to use the vehicle.
2 weeks ago, I heard from the dealership that my vehicle was in and ready to take delivery. I was very excited. It was at that time I went into my typical large purchase mode and listed out all my pros and cons (subjective to me of course).
Thereafter I went to the dealership, reviewed the vehicle from head to toe and test drive and left saying I had to think about it as I had resverations going in and a few more when I left. They gave me the weekend but said would take ownership themselves and sell it if I didnt take ownership (at a steep markup of course).
Pros: Probably dont need to tell this group all the pros but here goes anyway. Streamlined, very slick looking truck. Beautiful smoked quartz color, with bigger wheels and upgraded tires and a few other options. The technology is state of the art, new age, and has many intuitive and intelligent features, and validated all of the positive reviews I had seen online from both professionals and everyday users. Clearly going electric and Ford being an industry leader with a large and proven company was primary in my initial decision. I loved that I could charge at my home and not have to visit the gas man. Living in Southern California with gas prices the way they are, was very much incentive for me to crossover to an electric truck. The specifications on this truck are amazing considering the torque, tow rating, and speed (0-60) times. Warranty was standard but fair for this space.
Cons: Lariat Extended battery was not cheap but I had been looking at Raptors so it was a wash price wise for me. Given my early order, I had early order pricing, they have gone up since as you all know. I was fortunate after visiting with them and after some discussion to have them honor my build price of just over 80k vs some of the crazy markup stories. Note, they checked my car into inventory as part of their "standard practice" and had this listed on their website at 107K!!! For the price of this vehicle I was quite dismayed over the last 1.5 years on the lack of engagement from the dealer and corporate which probably tainted my experience somewhat. I was always willing to assume some risk with this being a 1st generation vehicle but after seeing recent reviews and critiques my risk tolerance was less (new unproven tech, range, towing, etc). My biggest concern is mostly the misalignment on how I planned to use the vehicle vs perhaps the average daily knockaround town driver. Again, I live in San Diego and while I dont drive far regularly, when I do I was concerned about the range and charging infrastructure. I typically have mountain bikes hanging off the back of my truck, standup paddleboards in the bed or on top, and the occasional trailer off the back towing toys. Range with any non wind resistant appendages was a problem for me. Also, we go to Big Bear, Mammoth, Tahoe, Vegas, the desert (and other places) often throughout the year and after looking at charging centers along a couple of routes, and feedback on charging complications, this turned into a very tough decision for me. Some other smaller items, I did not like the stinkbug stance and was somewhat underwhelmed by the interior again vs the Raptor. Also, given I typically put bigger, more aesthetically pleasing wheels and tires on my vehicles the range was sure to draw down even more while the cost was going up even higher. I spoke with my accountant and he mentioned that the rebate was likely not going to be something I would be able to take advantage of given my income and may not be around either with Ford almost hitting their cap for EVs. Lastly, he mentioned the charger that came standard with my truck was back-ordered 3+ months meaning I would not be charging at home for some time.
Summary: I still think this is an amazing truck and saw no tech or other issues running contrary to how this vehicle is marketed. It just didnt work for how I planned to use it and was more work than I was willing to invest to drive it. I know it seems counter, Lightning vs Raptor but the latter was a better fit for me. Also, given there is so much demand for this truck and considering the time I had invested I wasnt willing to let it go for nothing. After negotiation I was able to carry equity from my MSRP order for the Lightning to the Raptor. Essentially got a 2022 Raptor for ~MSRP (these things all have crazy MSRP markups). Initially, after negotiation, they were willing to pay me for my lightining but I decided to buy the Raptor from them and we both were happy.
Lightning owners, please take all that I say here with a grain of salt, no insult intended, just a personal thing for me and wanted to share my experience for other pole sitters.
