GEN 2 My thoughts on my new Raptor and Questions !!

[S Killius]

Did you turn your stereo to surround mode? It's easy to forget to do, but really wakes it up.

 

[7six2]

I have been driving my Raptor for approx 4 months and I am not feeling it, I paid approx. 90k CDN and I am having a hard time justifying the cost. if I paid 65 CDN I would okay with it. The GEN 1 Raptor was really cool and the price was perfect, you can sell a GEN 1 here for almost what it cost new if it has low mileage and a minty.

I made the mistake of driving a Ram recently, a friend bought a 18 that they were blowing out, he paid around 50K CDN. The transmission shifting and engine sound was awesome, not going to lie. Its not as nice as a Raptor, but nothing 10K could not fix. That said, the dash shifter was a non starter.

My biggest complaints are:

a) lack of power, the bottom end is great but if you floor it at 110-120 km/h its got nothing.

b) the stereo is bad, it sounds like a factory base unit. MAYBE I screwed up and got a lower level stereo as I never ordered the lane assist, maybe a better stereo came with that package. A friend of mine has a Ford f150 and his stereo is way better, he said it is a SONY and it comes with a sub.

c) it takes a long time to engage drive or reverse, when I perform a 3 point turn its frustrating as I have to wait for engagement or it sounds bad.

I am deciding whether I should keep it or sell it and take the hit. If I keep it what are your recommendations to improve these issues? Thanks !!

PS. I did not post this to start a argument, its my personal opinion at this time.

Welcome to the club. I cant help feeling disappointed with this truck. I consider it to be a step up from the "normal" trucks but its just not wowing me. You know we cant truly get to know a vehicle with just short test drives. Not until you take it home, baby it a few weeks, then really get into it. In my world...Other than high speed off-road running I just cant see that this truck is much more capable than those lifted trucks of my buddies which cost less. On our most recent outing we all three eventually got stuck on sand dunes but my Raptor was caught on the smallest dune due to its lower ground clearance. Nothing about the Raptor set it apart from the others on the trail other than its tires wouldn't rub inside the wheel well...and it drew the most attention from onlookers. When it was time drift turns my truck excelled... but the ride is much rougher than expected; and I'm getting bad wheel hop trying to accelerate on sand. This is with tires down to 34 psi and in Baja and Sand/Snow mode. The power level is pitiful too. On pavement, facing uphill, my truck can only manage a coupe short tire chirps if I floor it. All my friends that wanted Raptors and couldn't wait to try mine out have walked away kinda let down. And as time goes on I find myself only appreciating the truck for its cool looks and fanfare and luxury features. I'm not ready to turn it in yet but I have started thinking about it.

 

[rtmozingo]

Welcome to the club. I cant help feeling disappointed with this truck. I consider it to be a step up from the "normal" trucks but its just not wowing me. You know we cant truly get to know a vehicle with just short test drives. Not until you take it home, baby it a few weeks, then really get into it. In my world...Other than high speed off-road running I just cant see that this truck is much more capable than those lifted trucks of my buddies which cost less. On our most recent outing we all three eventually got stuck on sand dunes but my Raptor was caught on the smallest dune due to its lower ground clearance. Nothing about the Raptor set it apart from the others on the trail other than its tires wouldn't rub inside the wheel well...and it drew the most attention from onlookers. When it was time drift turns my truck excelled... but the ride is much rougher than expected; and I'm getting bad wheel hop trying to accelerate on sand. This is with tires down to 34 psi and in Baja and Sand/Snow mode. The power level is pitiful too. On pavement, facing uphill, my truck can only manage a coupe short tire chirps if I floor it. All my friends that wanted Raptors and couldn't wait to try mine out have walked away kinda let down. And as time goes on I find myself only appreciating the truck for its cool looks and fanfare and luxury features. I'm not ready to turn it in yet but I have started thinking about it.

34 psi in sand and you are blaming the truck? Also, you realize traction control is going to kill tire chirp unless you hold the TC button down, right? With TC 'minimized' I can break the tires loose in normal mode, let alone sport or baja. Baja 2H is outright laughable offroad - you can't get the tires to grab nearly at all, you just fishtail everywhere.

Last I checked this was the most powerful half-ton truck engine you could get new...so yeah. You're gonna lose a bit to running 35s, but my supercab runs 0-60 in 5.2 seconds stock, and that's no slouch for a 2.5 ton brick. If you think the Raptor is slow, you've not driven other trucks...

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/ram...st-pickup-trucks-motor-trend-has-ever-tested/

For those of you complaining it is slow, put the truck in sport mode, 4A, and hold down the TC button then brake boost launch it. As long as you aren't comparing it against 100k sport cars, you can't honestly say it isn't fast. Especially for what it is.

One last thing...the higher the lift, the better chance you have to roll over, especially doing serious offroading. It is hard to imagine a lifted truck crawling better than a stock Raptor...

 

[goblues38]

For those of you complaining it is slow, put the truck in sport mode, 4A, and hold down the TC button then brake boost launch it. As long as you aren't comparing it against 100k sport cars, you can't honestly say it isn't fast. Especially for what it is.

One last thing...the higher the lift, the better chance you have to roll over, especially doing serious offroading. It is hard to imagine a lifted truck crawling better than a stock Raptor...

OR.... rate the truck on what it was designed to do.....which is desert off roading at high rates of speed, and trail drives.

If you complain that vehicle x is better at rock crawling, or vehicle y is better on the highway....you are an idiot. compare any vehicle to the Raptor while desert off roading at high rates of speed, or trail drives and nothing will be in the Raptors league. Everything else is a know compromise with the Raptor, and I think it does a very good job on that compromise.

 

[rtmozingo]

OR.... rate the truck on what it was designed to do.....which is desert off roading at high rates of speed, and trail drives.

The fact this thread (and others like it) exist should prove that is simply not an option. Everyone knows you can't judge a Raptor on its ability to go at high speeds offroad - unless, of course, you are comparing it to a trophy truck, and come to the obvious conclusion that the Raptor is a complete failure, an overpriced POS.*

The Raptor is good at nothing - a fail-of-all-trades, and if you don't see that you are a moron.

* Seriously, every single hater conveniently dodges around the high speed offroad intent behind the Raptor. Doesn't matter that the Raptor was designed to baja, and no other stock truck can - let's rag on the lower tow/haul numbers.

 

[Kenfldude]

If that’s the case then why dwell on it. You have been through 300 cars. It’s not for you, Flip it and move on

I have never known anybody that's owned 200-300 vehicles. That's pretty impressive.

 

[traxem]

I have never known anybody that's owned 200-300 vehicles. That's pretty impressive.

He ran a used car dealer. His experience with cars is the same as any valet lot attendant.

 

[MDJAK]

As long as this thread is, this guy should be on vehicle #301 by now and we should all just move on.

Omg, I just spat my warm milk on my electric blanket and shocked my balls. Hilarious.

 

[7six2]

I've tried every combination of tire pressure, traction, drive modes, etc and have yet to find that magical combination. At this point I'm tired of messing with it every time; and I just leave the tires alone. I have DRIVEN the truck just like its meant to be. I've raced other trucks across sand up to 100mph, jumped dunes, gone totally airborne, plowed deep sand and ruts, drifted country dirt roads, and climbed. Haven't got around to putting this truck in any serious mud though...I don't like mudding but its a necessity for me during the cooler months. The only thing about the Raptor so far which truly impresses me is when I drift it around turns...how stable it is and how easy to control. However, most of my offroading does not involve all those high speed shenanigans. There just aren't many places for it and I don't like all my stuff flying around. Really my style would be suited for a crawling rig but I don't see myself being happy with a Jeep; specifically the poor highway performance. I went with the Raptor because it seemed to cover all the bases. It does...just not to the level I expected. Ride quality and power output should be improved.

PS. Now due to my most recent off road shenanigans I have rear door that wont latch.

 

[Kraftei]

I was buying parts today (at the dealer) and I bumped into a sales manager that I know. I shared my thoughts on the Raptor with him and told him about this post, as well the reaction of some.

He said customer satisfaction is always higher for people that don't own the vehicle compared to those who pay cash. In most cases the dealer sells vehicles to people that cant get financing or cant get financing at a reasonable rate. The buyer feels indebted and the dealer returns the favor by charging them more money (I knew that). People that own have higher expectations (owner) vs (renter).

He told a story of a car hauler that had a incident, all the vehicles had damage, the dealer offered to loan vehicles and fix the damage as well offered 2 months no payment or 2k off for the cash buyers.. All the people that paid cash declined and requested refunds or reordered, all the financed accepted the offer. He said it not a great comparable but it makes a point.

This post is probably off topic but it may explain why Raptor owners have such polar opposite opinions. I paid cash and I was expecting more, some folks make a point that it is a baja specific vehicle, we don't have any baja trails in Canada ( or very few) so I cant be the only one who bought one thinking it may cover other bases as well.

Fair enough, I put it up for sale, if I don't take too big a bath it will be gone, if not I will add a power program and look in to enhancing the stereo. I am not a big stereo guy but when I hop from one vehicle to another it is noticeable.