Get a 17 or pay the extra for 19/20

[ss1le]

I recently started looking at getting a second vehicle. I wanted to something to split driving duties with my Camaro. I was looking at the new Colorado ZR2 but noticed for around the same price I can get into a used Gen 2. I will be a honest and say the truck will be a road queen. Not really a lot of off-roading where I live in Maryland. The last 4x4 I owned was a 92 K1500 Blazer twenty year ago.

Looking around I would prefer a 2020 Gen 2, but the price of a lot of the 2017s is very attractive. Once I started to do some research I am getting deterred with plastic oil pan leaks and cam phaser on the 17-18s, which seemed to be addressed in the 20s and some 19s. Is it something I should actually be concerned about or not as big of an issue as is seems? The price difference seems to be about 10k going from the lower priced 20s to 17s.

 

[FordTechOne]

It’s not a question that can be answered in general, used vehicles are case by case depending on how the vehicle was driven, maintained, and serviced. There will be a huge difference between a truck that was properly cared for and had all maintenance and service work completed as necessary and one that was rode hard, put away wet, and listed for sale when the owner got bored of beating on it.

Telltale signs of a well cared for vehicle, aside from appearance, are verified maintenance records (invoices or receipts), all recalls completed on time, and all service needs addressed. If the owner has let the oil pan leak on their floor instead of fixing it, what else have they neglected?

Regarding either possible issue, the oil pan leak can be fixed by any competent dealer or shop by following the new sealant application process. Alternatively, it can be upgraded to the newer style aluminum pan with a kit for a few hundred dollars. The cam phaser noise root cause was addressed in July 2021 via a software update recall, so if the recall was completed and the engine is quiet, chances are it will be fine.

 

[ss1le]

Thanks, Probably going to check out a 2018 about 10 miles from me. Carfax shows one owner and look like regularly scheduled maintenance. To bad it is black not blue.

 

[Keith88]

go for the better shocks

 

[DMays]

I had a 18 and two 2020's. I always felt the 2019-20 models rode much better. My 2018 always felt like it had a ton of rear hop.

 

[thatJeepguy]

19-20 100%

 

[smurfslayer]

go for the better shocks

I’m going to play Devil’s advocate here and offer this

with either, you will be close to at or past the shelf life of the stock shocks - ~40-60k miles. the ’17-’18 “dumb” Fox shocks are a bit cheaper to replace than the live valve models. They’re also less susceptible to failure in the field. Search FRF for threads with suspension defaulting to “full hard”; ie no damping at all.

Regarding either possible issue, the oil pan leak can be fixed by any competent dealer or shop by following the new sealant application process. Alternatively, it can be upgraded to the newer style aluminum pan with a kit for a few hundred dollars.

I’ve seen quite a lot of traffic on this topic - the plastic... ok -composite- oil pan is fine as a part in and of itself, but it apparently was prone to a slightly higher level of difficulty in getting a proper seal on the assembly line and more importantly for you - and me( I hope I don’t have the issue ever ) a high number of stealership service departments seem to have great difficulty performing the repair/replace procedure correctly the first time. If it has a plastic pan : 1) make sure it’s not leaking and 2) make sure it isn’t freshly cleaned, a tell tale sign someone’s hiding a leak. The repair is covered under factory warranty and ESP but if you don’t have a warranty it’s a pricey repair. You would be well served to spend the extra $$$ and replace with the metal pan IF it is plastic and fails.

’19 - ’20 get a newer computer & sync interface, more conducive to the later releases of sync 3. Minor issue, but not nothing.

All years: heed @Fordtechone’s advice on maintenance. At least empirical evidence suggests that the trucks with closer maintenance intervals fare much better than those with long intervals. the manual says you can go 10k miles between services - if you’re only highway driving, never stuck in traffic, rarely caning it... else you should change oil and perform maintenance sooner.

All years: If you find a Rap with no moonroof BUY IT. Unfortunately for all of us, Ford made the overwhelming majority of Raptors with the twin panel moonroof. You have to maintain it carefully. Not terribly often but carefully. Else you’ll break the tracks opening. Workaround by popping to vent FIRST, all the time, every time and lube the glass to seal contact with Ford’s “Krytox” grease.

To bad it is black not blue.

pfft. #BlackRaptorsMatter

 

[Keith88]

I’m going to play Devil’s advocate here and offer this

with either, you will be close to at or past the shelf life of the stock shocks - ~40-60k miles. the ’17-’18 “dumb” Fox shocks are a bit cheaper to replace than the live valve models. They’re also less susceptible to failure in the field. Search FRF for threads with suspension defaulting to “full hard”; ie no damping at all.



I’ve seen quite a lot of traffic on this topic - the plastic... ok -composite- oil pan is fine as a part in and of itself, but it apparently was prone to a slightly higher level of difficulty in getting a proper seal on the assembly line and more importantly for you - and me( I hope I don’t have the issue ever ) a high number of stealership service departments seem to have great difficulty performing the repair/replace procedure correctly the first time. If it has a plastic pan : 1) make sure it’s not leaking and 2) make sure it isn’t freshly cleaned, a tell tale sign someone’s hiding a leak. The repair is covered under factory warranty and ESP but if you don’t have a warranty it’s a pricey repair. You would be well served to spend the extra $$$ and replace with the metal pan IF it is plastic and fails.

’19 - ’20 get a newer computer & sync interface, more conducive to the later releases of sync 3. Minor issue, but not nothing.

All years: heed @Fordtechone’s advice on maintenance. At least empirical evidence suggests that the trucks with closer maintenance intervals fare much better than those with long intervals. the manual says you can go 10k miles between services - if you’re only highway driving, never stuck in traffic, rarely caning it... else you should change oil and perform maintenance sooner.

All years: If you find a Rap with no moonroof BUY IT. Unfortunately for all of us, Ford made the overwhelming majority of Raptors with the twin panel moonroof. You have to maintain it carefully. Not terribly often but carefully. Else you’ll break the tracks opening. Workaround by popping to vent FIRST, all the time, every time and lube the glass to seal contact with Ford’s “Krytox” grease.


pfft. #BlackRaptorsMatter

Fantastic write up n point of view.

 

[ss1le]

Thanks for the info. I checked out a 2018 with 66K miles on it 20 minutes away. It was built Jun 2018, so not low or high miles. The carfax shows service intervals about every 9k, no repairs noted, just maintenance. It does shows as a commercial truck purchase. The truck looked really clean. I found one scuff on the rear drivers side fender, and some dings on the rear bumper, maybe a little wear on the steering wheel. The color is black I would prefer blue or red, but comes with the luxury and tech package. Also the carbon package that actually looked nice, and used doesn't cost more, I wouldn't pay for it new. I am not sure the tread life on the tires, compared to the Goodyear Supercar 3 on my Camaro almost bald tires have more tread then I am use too

I did not test drive it, they did start it up, and I didn't hear anything strange from the motor, I am not sure how loud the cam phaser marble sounds are. It was showing 1 mile until empty, so probably will have to actually schedule a test drive so they can put some gas in it. I popped the moonroof open to vent (like you are supposed to I guess), but didn't actually open it. The kids were going nuts, and my wife loved it.

I reached out to the dealership that it was serviced at, it is actually the dealership closest to me that I will be going to anyway. I asked if there was any issues that popped up during servicing and if the Cam Phaser flash was done, hopefully they will get back with me.

I don't want to just jump on the first truck I see, but this one seems hard to beat, it is ~2k under the KBB "average", but most are around that atm. The documented maintence and one owner is nice. The others I see look good in pictures seem to have 2-3 owners and not well documented service or repair and replaced items.

 

[smurfslayer]

if you want to be sure the cam phasers aren’t lurking underneath, bring a laser thermometer with you and gauge the engine block and exhaust temp before you start it. The rattle incident to cam phasers almost always presents only on the first cold soak start up...