Hi everyone! Been lurking on here the last few weeks pretty heavily and finally decided to join and start getting my own questions out there about the Gen 1’s. I look forward to everyone’s help!
About me -
23. Off-road and hunting particularly every chance I get. Currently on my 3rd “Personal vehicle” and I’ve had a few cool project and flipper trucks along the way! A company truck is hopefully in my near future, which is a critical part of how we end up here.
First personal vehicle - 2001 F-350 Lariat 7.3 SCREW - Leveled, 35’s, tuned, Intake, exhaust. 113K original miles at the time of trade in. Should’ve kept that one!
Second personal vehicle - 2015 F-150 XLT SCREW 3.5L Ecoboost. Leveled, 33’s and saw more awful roads and nasty stuff than any vehicle should ever have to. It was an unreal truck and never left me stranded. 127K Miles at the time of trade in. 100K of those were mine over a span of 19 months. I used to drive a ton and still do to an extent.
Third and current personal vehicle - 2011 F-350 Lariat Ultimate SCREW 6.7 Powerstroke. Bone stock, 161K Miles.
How we’ve come to this point -
A year ago today, I purchased my current 2011 F-350 6.7 Lariat ultimate. It had everything I wanted! I had always wanted a newer diesel and a 6.7 particularly. A year later and it’s not what I thought it’d be. The cost of ownership is way more than my older diesels. The good old days of tuned trucks that are efficient and fun to drive are no longer around it seems, and the risks of tuning and deleting them aren’t worth the reward. There’s just too many things that scare me when it comes to owning this truck. The turbo going and taking out the engine, fuel pump scraping itself and sending metal through the system to take out the engine, glow plugs being a 2 piece item, the tip cracking and taking out the engine, to name a few. To add more, I never tow anymore either and I hunt every single chance I get so the truck isn’t necessarily fitting my needs off-road either with being as heavy as it is. I initially thought I could get by in the off-road aspect but it hasn’t been the case.
How we get to the Raptor conversation -
Two Friday’s ago my wife calls me after work while driving home to head out of town for the weekend. She mentions the fact that she knows I’m kind of worn out on my F-350 and knows that I’ve been contemplating a new truck. I’d been looking at newer F-150’s again and Tundra’s. Her words as follows, “Why don’t you just buy a Raptor?” My wife is rad and this is why I married her earlier this year. What she said made sense. I’ve wanted a Gen 1 for the last few years and after spending time on this forum and doing my research it seems to be the right truck for my needs and what I do. The 6.2 is awesome (had them in my Super Duty work trucks on a mine site) and the cost to rebuild them is 1/3 of the 6.7 I own now from what I gather. The reliability is there it seems and I won’t necessarily have to sink $4K into the suspension right off the bat to make it capable and make myself happy with the truck off-road. MPG doesn’t scare me, being that my F-350 gets 13.5 on the highway with the Toyo 35’s on it now. Oil changes are half the price, no more DEF and no more fuel filter changes every two oil changes.
It’s also important to mention again that with a possible company vehicle coming to me in the near future, this will really be a weekends only type of truck and won’t be driven more than 10K miles a year if I had to guess.
It seems like the right choice to make. As far as cost of ownership, am I just trying to justify my future purchase or am I headed in the right direction here? I know I’d really like to buy one and pay it off and keep it. Hence why I want the V8 reliability for long term ownership and a truck that can suit my needs for a long time to come.
That said, do I go Gen 1 and never go back? I think the answer is yes. I’ll have more questions as I start looking at these trucks in person in the coming weeks! Thanks everyone!
P.S. - I’m looking at 2013’s & 2014’s in the $35K to $37K range.
About me -
23. Off-road and hunting particularly every chance I get. Currently on my 3rd “Personal vehicle” and I’ve had a few cool project and flipper trucks along the way! A company truck is hopefully in my near future, which is a critical part of how we end up here.
First personal vehicle - 2001 F-350 Lariat 7.3 SCREW - Leveled, 35’s, tuned, Intake, exhaust. 113K original miles at the time of trade in. Should’ve kept that one!
Second personal vehicle - 2015 F-150 XLT SCREW 3.5L Ecoboost. Leveled, 33’s and saw more awful roads and nasty stuff than any vehicle should ever have to. It was an unreal truck and never left me stranded. 127K Miles at the time of trade in. 100K of those were mine over a span of 19 months. I used to drive a ton and still do to an extent.
Third and current personal vehicle - 2011 F-350 Lariat Ultimate SCREW 6.7 Powerstroke. Bone stock, 161K Miles.
How we’ve come to this point -
A year ago today, I purchased my current 2011 F-350 6.7 Lariat ultimate. It had everything I wanted! I had always wanted a newer diesel and a 6.7 particularly. A year later and it’s not what I thought it’d be. The cost of ownership is way more than my older diesels. The good old days of tuned trucks that are efficient and fun to drive are no longer around it seems, and the risks of tuning and deleting them aren’t worth the reward. There’s just too many things that scare me when it comes to owning this truck. The turbo going and taking out the engine, fuel pump scraping itself and sending metal through the system to take out the engine, glow plugs being a 2 piece item, the tip cracking and taking out the engine, to name a few. To add more, I never tow anymore either and I hunt every single chance I get so the truck isn’t necessarily fitting my needs off-road either with being as heavy as it is. I initially thought I could get by in the off-road aspect but it hasn’t been the case.
How we get to the Raptor conversation -
Two Friday’s ago my wife calls me after work while driving home to head out of town for the weekend. She mentions the fact that she knows I’m kind of worn out on my F-350 and knows that I’ve been contemplating a new truck. I’d been looking at newer F-150’s again and Tundra’s. Her words as follows, “Why don’t you just buy a Raptor?” My wife is rad and this is why I married her earlier this year. What she said made sense. I’ve wanted a Gen 1 for the last few years and after spending time on this forum and doing my research it seems to be the right truck for my needs and what I do. The 6.2 is awesome (had them in my Super Duty work trucks on a mine site) and the cost to rebuild them is 1/3 of the 6.7 I own now from what I gather. The reliability is there it seems and I won’t necessarily have to sink $4K into the suspension right off the bat to make it capable and make myself happy with the truck off-road. MPG doesn’t scare me, being that my F-350 gets 13.5 on the highway with the Toyo 35’s on it now. Oil changes are half the price, no more DEF and no more fuel filter changes every two oil changes.
It’s also important to mention again that with a possible company vehicle coming to me in the near future, this will really be a weekends only type of truck and won’t be driven more than 10K miles a year if I had to guess.
It seems like the right choice to make. As far as cost of ownership, am I just trying to justify my future purchase or am I headed in the right direction here? I know I’d really like to buy one and pay it off and keep it. Hence why I want the V8 reliability for long term ownership and a truck that can suit my needs for a long time to come.
That said, do I go Gen 1 and never go back? I think the answer is yes. I’ll have more questions as I start looking at these trucks in person in the coming weeks! Thanks everyone!
P.S. - I’m looking at 2013’s & 2014’s in the $35K to $37K range.
