I know folks on this forum feel passionately about their trucks…but I just want to lay my thoughts out there and see if anyone else has these thoughts.
Had my 2019 Raptor for 6 months now. Traded in my 2007 Titan which I had bought new and put 200,000 miles on. While I like the Raptor I don’t really love it. Especially considering how much it costs. First there are some features that I’m not fond of: Auto Start/Stop, Auto Door Locks, Electronic Locking Tailgate, Double Horn Honk, and the various Drive Modes that have to be toggled. I know that most of these can be dealt with using Forscan so I wont dwell here.
With the drive modes it seems there aren’t any that suite ME. I like the response of sport mode on the street but hate the way it hangs onto the gears when I let off the throttle. When driving off-road, Normal mode upshifts to soon and takes me out of the power band. Switching to Deep Sand/Snow mode helps but the shift points are still a little high…and I’m stuck with using 4WD. That leads me to Baja mode. I love Baja mode for high-speed fun like racing my buddy down the beach…and it does allow me to go to 2WD for some awesome drifting/donuts…but for normal offroad driving the shift points are way too high. I also encounter situations that I'd like the shocks to be softer but this is only available in the offroad modes. These modes all have their place but really I could do without most of them if the truck just had more power and would let me toggle only the shocks. I mean there are individual settings for steering feel why not ride quality? Speaking of steering feel...every time I toggle drive modes my steering and traction control preferences get changed. I've literally spend an entire beach run toggling buttons trying to find what works for me only to have it all change next key cycle. All my previous trucks didn’t have these buttons yet always managed to stay in the band without bogging.
Then there’s the suspension. While it handles big bumps gracefully, its feels fluttery and unsettled over most rough roads. Seem like the back end is not in good coordination with the front. I will give it credit though for minimal body roll in corners so long as the road is smooth.
The biggest letdown in my opinion is the EcoBoost. I went into it open minded but its just underwhelming for this type of truck. Gas mileage is only a slight improvement over my old truck and now I’m using premium gas. It makes decent power but has to build up to it…performance does suffer badly in Texas’ climate too. What kinda truck puts out 510 lb-ft of torque and can’t even smoke the tires? My old V8 powered truck had significantly less power but felt lighter on its feet and more responsive.
I’m especially concerned about the longevity of this Ecoboom engine. I had no idea there was such a reputation of engine failures. Like my previous truck I had planned to keep this one beyond 200k/10yrs but now I’m concerned about post-warranty. Maintenance is frustrating as well. Have to climb into the engine bay, with a flashlight, to check or add oil; and every oil change has resulted in an Exxon Valdez in my garage.
I honestly miss my old Titan. It was simple and tough. Seemed to be built more solid and had some practical (to me) features that I miss having. To bad the new ones are such an eyesore.
Not trolling here. I got it in my head that I wanted a new truck and bought the coolest one I could afford. And it is COOL! I have no interest in Chevy/GMC junk, ugly (new) Titan, boring Toyota, and Dodge…some features turned me off of them but I could reconsider later.
