$40k gen 1 or 2

[EricM]

My hopes for the post were to pick up a couple of less known nuggets that you can only find with ownership e.g. the air vents, never would have guessed that.

My 2013 Raptor is the first and only vehicle I've ever owned with round vents. They are easily the best functioning vents I've ever seen in any modern vehicle.

Gen 2 owners thinking - "The vents? Really?" It seems like a small thing, but it's not when you think about how finely you adjust them when it's really cold or really hot out. If you can't easily adjust a vent to blow cold A/C up into each one of your sweaty armpits- it's simply a bad design.

Test drives will make you want a Gen 2. The rubber in all the suspension parts will be at least 3 years newer, the steering is electric- it will just be easier to drive and will feel more cushy like any newer vehicle compared to an older one. The Gen 2 is faster as well. It just sounds terrible and the engine is not reliable IMO.

For the same money though, I'd take the Gen 2. I'd hate it every time I heard the V6 farting around back there, but the aluminum body in the rust belt would be worth dealing with the engine issues long term. Both trucks will hold their value very well, even if the Gen 1 is likely going to be much better at resale percentage wise.

 

[zombiekiller]

That's it? Well that's your opinion.

I'm not helping Gen 2 values because I won't buy it. I don't like them. Throw away the shit engine entirely- I don't like the Gen 2 styling in many ways. The squared off catfish mouth grille is a hideous copy of the Gen 1 grille. The high wasted, low bedside look is weak. The rear bumper and exhaust tip setup is retarded looking. The big plastic wart on the hood is ugly. The huge LED bars in the headlights are too over the top and will not age well, just like all of the aggro-styling elements it has. The frameless sliding rear window is also strange looking.

Let's go inside. When I drove Gen 2s, I found that there's less room in the driver's seat for tall people and the arm rest is not at the right height. I felt like I was sitting on the seat and not in it. The non-circular vents are a huge downgrade from the Gen 1 and the A/C seats don't cool your back. It's cool the Sync 3 can do AA and is faster, but Sync 2 is much nicer looking. Nicer plastics in the 17+ yes, but the dashboards warp a lot from being so thin.

The ONLY thing I'd want from a Gen 2 truck in my truck is the aluminum body. I can upgrade the Gen 1 suspension to be better than a Gen 2. I can upgrade the engine to be better than a Gen 2 fartbox. I can't upgrade the body from steel to aluminum.

you know, I never really noticed the armrest issue until I actually thought about it when you posted. It is awkward if you're over 6'0. I now realize that I actually smack my forearm on the stupid thing when landing.

At this point in my personal adventure, I could give a crap about what ford brings out next raptor-wise. The plain reality is, I can swap a V8 into my truck for less than the ADM will be on a Gen3 V8 raptor if they actually build it.

I will also fully admit that the Gen2 in conjunction with how nuts my build went has worn the "gotta be a raptor" mentality out of me. There honestly isnt a whole lot left on/in my truck that makes it a "raptor" outside of the frame.

I honestly don't have much that I could do to my truck being that I do not want to backhalf it. If where I ended up was my goal in the beginning, I would have saved myself about $40K and started with a V8 F-150. For my next project ( the truck that I have is staying indefinitely.) I plan to just start with a cab and a frame and build it how I want it, which will be essentially a trophy truck with glass and air conditioning.