Hey as much as these guys are being rough, I have to be honest and say I came from a handful of Audi's myself. Back in 2006 I bought a Mustang GT which was an awesome car, and the most car for the $ I could afford on my budget at the time. Tons of fun, but ultimately a cheap toy. Granted, Mustangs have come a hell of a long way since 2006 these days ...
Point being, I've been a bit annoyed with a laundry list of fitment issues and a handful of TSB's and recalls right off the lot with my new Raptor. I had an inkling this is what I'd have to set my standards at with Ford, but c'mon boys ... I'm going to agree. I don't care if it's a "$35K base truck with $40K of upgrade parts" - something coming out of Ford's performance division should be treated for what it's meant to be ... a luxury vehicle. A luxury vehicle simply means it's purposely built and intended to more than strictly get you from point A to B. The Raptor is a Ford "halo" product, and the majority of people do indeed buy them in part for that reason. It's a Raptor, and it's cool ... and it's definitely not cheap.
The truck costs more than an Audi S5 Sportback loaded to the teeth, and I can tell you first hand that my S5 hasn't had a single issue at all and everything is as rock-solid at 40,000 as it was off the lot. I know all cars can have issues, and they are mass produced ... but isn't that what automation and robotics has done for vehicle manufacturing, taking human error out of the picture as much as possible? You charge that much, it should be worth that much. Period. The other sore spot with Ford, is they absolutely take you to school in the finance department ... 7% interest compared to 0.9 or 1.9% on an Audi, and with the Audi you get free Audi care meaning you have ALL of your schedules services paid for and included with the car.
I see the OP's point ... just the truth, and kind of a trade off with this Raptor. I love my truck for what it is, and it is a truck ... but I'm still annoyed at the lack of QC from Ford. That to me, is valid.
