Hi Guys,
I'm going to be purchasing a new truck over the next month, I want to order either one of these trucks regardless. I am having a huge debate over this and I cannot decide on which of these trucks to get, obviously, this is a raptor forum and I will get biased opinions, but that is okay, you are the ones who have the experience of owning them and if raptors were really trucks that had a lot of problems, you're not salesmen at the dealership your owners and I hope you would let me know of the headaches.. but I don't think that is the case, I feel that there is a much stronger community of Raptor owners opposed to GMC owners.
With that being said,
Here's my situation, I'm coming from a sports car, I could never really fulfill my goals of completing the projects I wanted to complete, so with my next vehicle I'm not sure I want to start with a base model and add parts to it in order to get it finally completed. My goal with either the denali or raptor is that they should be completed and ready for me to just drive. But that doesn't mean I won't want to add anything to it because I know that I will eventually look at modifications.
My uses:
Towing:
no boat yet, but I will eventually get either a bass boat or some type of recreation boat, so nothing major
I will be buying some type of small enclosed trailer for moving, I seem to move a lot and it would be more helpful to tow my own trailer then renting for UHaul
Commute:
It is about 50 miles one way, but I work from home for the most part so gas mileage can be limited, and I will eventually go on trips with it from NC to NY.
Sport/Mudding:
I don't know where to go mudding and I just wouldn't trust myself to do it, it's not really my type of thing, plus I don't have the slightest clue where to go, so that is not likely to be something I would be doing, but I still would love to throw a SC on the raptor and hit the drag strip
I've driven both trucks now, The raptor I was excited to drive and the GMC it was just like such a casual test drive, I actually got into the Raptor a bit and the handling felt really good, unlike the GMC which felt like driving a big cinder block it was so stiff and bulky, even though the raptor is wider I felt more in control of it and more comfortable in it.
for the 2014 year, GMC is going crazy with their interior upgrades and it really is the only reason why I am considering the GMC, but from seeing the intellilink in action, it was kind of slow and just really didn't phase me as much as I thought it would, The Ford Mytouch I feel has been around and some of the kinks have been worked out. Everytime I look at the new GMC I get lost in the fact that I don't see anything different from the older GMCs, which is another reason why I was considering the Denali, because I thought it would look completely different than previous generations.
I will probably order the denali with 22 inch black rims and I like the Denali grill but the rest of the truck just doesn't do it for me as much as I thought. I always have loved the wide body look of the Raptor and I would get the SE package with the 801 package, so it would come with all the bells and whistles like the Denali would have, also the suspension and fox shocks is amazing I love it, which doesn't compare to the Z71 package I feel.
Some things about either truck with bug me, the GMC is supposed to be changing everything yet they left the shifter on the column, it is so goofy and in today's world in today's car I can't stand it, Thank you Ford for being up with the times. However, looking at the Raptor steering wheel even though it is wrapped in leather it's still got that old fashioned plastic look to it, but it's tolerable. Other than the both interiors are the same except for the Mytouch vs the Intellilink. Another point is I will be getting the rear seat entertainment and kids will be on the way within the next couple years, so that will help.
I want a truck for drivability and utility, I don't have that with a loud and obnoxious sport coupe, however, I feel I will get bored with the luxury based Sierra even though the exterior styling matches my appetite of clean looking. But the raptor matches sporty appetite and allows for me to toy with it a bit and there are so many aftermarket parts for the raptors. Raptor has a little bit worse gas mileage than the Denali, but I feel like the Denali is like another 2 or 3 mpgs per gallon, the Screw would have the bigger fuel tank though. When I think about a clean looking truck I have seen a lot of Raptors that suit my style:
i love the look of this truck and yes I can say I love the look of the Denali because its luxury but to me this raptor looks just as luxury
Thanks for the time guys, sorry about the length but this is the deliberation I have been going through, I honestly find it so much more entertaining and exciting to go through and look a raptor aftermarket parts, exhaust systems, etc. and go through and watch youtube videos of raptors, but then I look for GMC sierra products or videos and it's just so blah.
Your advice helps thanks guys!
