CPO question - 2019 Raptor - I MIGHT buy

[aaron1085]

Good morning!

I have found a 2019 with 35,000 miles on it at my local dealer. The deal is pretty decent and my plan is to move forward in the next few days with purchasing it. The dealer told me due to the modifications it cannot be CPO’d

Modifications included:

20” rims and tires
Added fog lights and light bar on grill
Allegedly a Borla exhaust
Allegedly an intake (no brand)
*Pedal commander

They tried to tell me the pedal commander was a computer chip to which I told the service department to simply Google and to spell that myth. I advise them they can unplug it if that makes him feel better and go ahead and refl the computer. With that said, what technically disqualifies a vehicle from being CPO?

If this is the case, my plan was to go to flood insurance and buy an extended warranty but if I can force their hand to CPO it then I think that would make more sense for me.

 

[smurfslayer]

Looks like it’s in good shape. I think CPO is probably out and I’d be hesitant about dropping money on an ESP because it looks like it’s modified enough to be a problem if there is a problem.

Not sure what pedal box does, and if it is just a throttle map adjuster like the pedal commander, and if so, then likely not a big deal. However if it does anything to fool the computer into adding more boost, then that’s going to compromise any warranty. The level up front and 20/0 offset wheels might be if you ever have a CV, transfer case or driveline issue.

 

[Wilbur]

I assume you're referring to Blue vs Gold Certified? When I was looking a few months ago, I was told if it has aftermarket wheels it can only be Blue which is the 90 day/4000 mile warranty. Not sure if an exhaust/intake is allowed under Blue tho.

Few things I want to add just by looking at the pics: looks like he did springs in the front to level it. I think those are Morimoto headlights. And it may have some forscan mods done to it based on the mirrors being folded in. I'd double check to see if he's done anything else.

 

[aaron1085]

Mmmm. All solid points and stuff I didn’t consider.
They dealership actually did say it has different headlights; I did not know that and it sounds like you figured out which one.

So, the flood ESP is all online basically, doesn’t look like there is any ‘on site check’. Is that correct? So… I can buy the ESP 8/100k but… you’re saying they could deny a claim for a CV issue or lighting issue or whatever once they see what is added on?

I’d honesty rather just dump the intake and keep it basically ‘stock’. Fine by me.

 

[aaron1085]

As for the pedal commander; all it does is plug into the throttle pedal and make jt more responsive, NO modifications to the mapping. I told the dealer if they would prefer to unplug it prior to me signing for the truck and that would make their techs feel better, that is fine by me.

 

[aaron1085]

I assume you're referring to Blue vs Gold Certified? When I was looking a few months ago, I was told if it has aftermarket wheels it can only be Blue which is the 90 day/4000 mile warranty. Not sure if an exhaust/intake is allowed under Blue tho.

Few things I want to add just by looking at the pics: looks like he did springs in the front to level it. I think those are Morimoto headlights. And it may have some forscan mods done to it based on the mirrors being folded in. I'd double check to see if he's done anything else.

So you do think it is level up front? Ford ‘mechanic’ hasn’t mentioned that .. yet anyway. Do you see this being a long term issue?

Any foreseen issues with the headlights being aftermarket or the forscan suggestion?

Never had a raptor and fairly new to ford. Altho my GMC has been leveled for 4 years, no issues. Love it. Just time for a change.

 

[FordTechOne]

So you do think it is level up front? Ford ‘mechanic’ hasn’t mentioned that .. yet anyway. Do you see this being a long term issue?

Any foreseen issues with the headlights being aftermarket or the forscan suggestion?

Never had a raptor and fairly new to ford. Altho my GMC has been leveled for 4 years, no issues. Love it. Just time for a change.

As mentioned, it’s it has a front suspension lift, any front axles issues are not warrantable. We’ve seen a few members on here with repeat axle failure due to the increase in axle operating angles.

If there are any issues with the aftermarket headlamps, that also would not be covered under warranty, and those lamps are not cheap.

 

[aaron1085]

As mentioned, it’s it has a front suspension lift, any front axles issues are not warrantable. We’ve seen a few members on here with repeat axle failure due to the increase in axle operating angles.

If there are any issues with the aftermarket headlamps, that also would not be covered under warranty, and those lamps are not cheap.

Hmm … geez. Maybe I should pass. Looks cool, rides great… now ya’ll got me questioning.

 

[aaron1085]

What if we took that level off or made the front back to OEM, do you think those tires and wheel offsets would be an issue?

 

[smurfslayer]

We’ve seen a few members on here with repeat axle failure due to the increase in axle operating angles.

And, famously not covered under warranty. Now, to be fair, there are a cr@p ton of Raptors running around leveled to run zero offset wheels and they don’t have problems. Likely because the owners idea of serious off roading is hopping the curb island at the local starbucks. OTOH, if you have designs on doing Raptor stuff while Raptoring Raptoriously, yeah, you may see some decreased life in the front driveline components. If that pedal box is only altering throttle input/output signals and not doing anything with boost or mapping, then it should not be a problem --IF-- you’re realistic with it.

I say that because the ‘19+ trucks are generally more sensitive to alterations to the throttle map. Pedal commander users sometimes reported dashboard Christmas tree displays of DTC’s and the like and usually because they were running something like sport +5 or something silly like that. - PC has eco, normal city and sport modes in ascending order of aggressiveness and a range of -5 through + 5 on each mode. I found City through City +2 was about as far as I wanted to take it because past that the throttle was way too binary and lacked fine control. I never got any DTC’s or issues from the pedal commander but some ’19+ MY Raptor owners did. YMMV.

I’m most concerned about the lift/level. as @FordTechOne mentioned, we’ve had some users, not a lot, but a few have premature and unexpected failures.

Now, can you fit those wheels unleveled? Maybe. I --think-- those are Venomrex 20’s and the tires don’t look oversized for the wheel. If the combo is close to the diameter of the stock tire, maybe ...

Generally speaking, the ’17-’18 MY Raptors without the live valve shocks have a lower front stance and will not abide zero offset wheels and the stock sized tires. Stock offset is +34mm. You would need one of the supporting vendors to solidify this but I was told we needed at least +12mm with stock tires on my ’17. I went with Motegi +18, which are very light, but strong.

‘19+ Raps with the live valve shocks have a taller front stance and I think - need some helpful Jen Too owners to chime in here - I think you may be able to get away with zero offset on those trucks, without modification.

If it’s just leveled by collars, that should be easy enough to remove. It doesn’t look lifted out back but have the stealership verify.

If there are any issues with the aftermarket headlamps, that also would not be covered under warranty, and those lamps are not cheap.

He has a gift of understatement rivaling the British. Stock LED’s are expensive. I’ve seen low 4 figures per side. Not sure what the Morimotos run, but we do have supporting vendors on here who sell them. My only concerns with the Morimotos would be workmanship. You don’t want to be driving home on some backwoods country road full of forest rats to find your headlamps go dark on you... if the connections aren’t hacked together, probably fine, but with modified vehicles, you need to pay extra attention. Look for lots of amateur looking splices or bare wire tied together and taped. IF you find that, run like hell. Else, there are a bunch of Morimoto customers here and I’ve seen generally favorable comments. Again, my main concern would be workmanship.

So, this truck looks good but has some stuff to investigate and drill down on.
How’s the service history and Carfax ?