New Member in Colorado

[Aurik]

Hello everyone,

I'm a future Raptor owner here in the Denver, CO area. My first encounter with the Raptor was with the Gen 1 prototype at auto shows -- I thought it was pretty cool, but not the vehicle for me at the time. However, since I've moved to Colorado, it's started growing on me. This summer we took my wife's GMC Acadia All-Terrain out to southwest Colorado for a vacation -- we got ourselves an AirBnB away from it all, and just decompressed for a week. One of the things my wife really wanted to do was visit the Bridal Veil Falls outside of Telluride. I looked at the trail, and was uncertain. Sure, the all-terrain package has a slightly lifted suspension, but that's a VERY rough trail. We did make it up there and back, but we bottomed out more than once, and the ABS/StabiliTrak system went completely haywire.

So a couple weeks later, I went over to a dealer near me and test drove a 2019 Raptor and loved it. My last high-performance vehicle was a Corvette, so when I stomped on the gas it didn't feel that quick, but when I looked down at the speedometer and realized how I quickly I got to 75 (and this was in a 45 zone. OOPS). It's definitely high on my list of candidates, and we've had good luck with Ford trucks in the past (our last pickup was a Ford Ranger -- nothing fancy, but it was super-reliable. In the 15 years we owned it, the only non-routine maintenance was when the alternator went out at about 150,000 miles).

I've got a chunk of stock vesting come next spring -- my only big question is, do I want to get a low-mileage used Gen-2, or get on the list to get a Gen-3? Hopefully there will be some concrete information about the Gen-3 between now and then that will help me make my decision

 

[CoronaRaptor]

Welcome to the place. I would wait and see what the gen 3 has to offer, nothing like having the latest and greatest if you can afford it.

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

morning..........

guess you will have to make that descision once you get your money.

 

[K223]

The Raptor is quite smooth with the power delivery. Sometimes you really do not know how fast your going or how you got up to speed so quickly.

What’s left of new 19 and 20’s in many places are few or marked up as there looks to be no Raptor for next model year. So if you want to wait a year or so for a Gen 3 then do it. Otherwise the supply might will get thinner and more pricey on Gen 2’s. Good luck

 

[two24studios]

Welcome, and congrats! I'm in Denver too if you want to go cruising!

 

[Navigator55]

Another Denver area Raptor owner

 

[Daniel Hennek]

It's a bit of a misnomer to call many vehicles "all terrain", but that name gets people into trouble every year in our mountains. There's even a Rav4 being billed as able to conquer "extreme terrain"! Glad you didn't get into real trouble. Do you know how easy it is for a novice to hit something hard on a rock that shouldn't be hit hard on a rock? Then you're stuck blocking the trail and your vehicle gets more damage in the recovery. That trail going up to Bridal Veil is fairly tame compared to many others around here, it's rocky as hell but I've seen mini vans up there.

If you want to get out there in the mountains, in my opinion there is no factory vehicle better than the Raptor. For us, we did the Jeep thing for a while with a 2006 Rubicon lifted and modded LJ as well as a 2014 Rubicon Unlimited. They drive over anything but are not comfortable. We much prefer the comfort of the Raptor and don't mind the fact that we can't go on certain trails. When driving down wash board forest service roads all the Jeeps are jealous watching us just cruise in comfort as they rattle their teeth so hard they fall out. The speed at which you can cover ground in the forest comfortably is pretty incredible in a Raptor.

Words can hardly describe how much of a blast it is to baja race down open forest service roads drifting corners and jumping cattle guards. And I don't even come close to pushing this truck. The roads that are bumpy and jerky in a jeep are like fun roller coasters in the Raptor. The float is amazing and this is by far my favorite vehicle ever owned. Top it all off with the fact that you can cruise 60 MPH around hard curves on pavement that people in sedans take at 40 and you've got an impressive all around vehicle.

You aren't going to go wrong with a Gen 2, but a Gen 3 is guaranteed to be even better. Ford got so many things right with this vehicle and I have no doubts the team working on it is making improvements always. I got my fully loaded Gen 2 new in July this year for around 7k off MSRP when many dealers were already trying to mark them up due to the unknown release date of the Gen 3, and the suspicion that 2021 would be without a new Raptor. I don't know what the market is like now, but Phil Long in Colo Springs(I think) had some deals they were trying to work with me before Power Ford gave me a better deal in ABQ. So, they're not that far away if you're in Denver and I think they have a dealer up there too. Whatever you decide, decide on a Raptor and you'll be happy with it.

 

[JoeSC]

Get a Raptor. I used to own a 350Z. My Raptor is faster, and I can drive it over way more stuff. I don’t even miss my 6 speed, which is kind of surprising. Raptors are just so much fun and so damn comfortable.

 

[Aurik]

Thanks for the opinions, guys. Right now I'm doing my best to educate myself about the different options out there. As of right now, the Raptor definitely seems to be an outstanding option. I just wish we knew for certain when the Gen 3 was going to hit and what new goodies it would bring. It's like I'm waiting for Christmas all over again.

I also recently saw an article on TFLTruck where they discussed the PaxPower v8 raptor conversion. Supercharged v8 raptor, hmmmm...

Anyways, it's all just research and pondering until next spring. My better half told me that I'd need to pay cash for my next "fun vehicle", and that's not going to happen until then.

 

[Aurik]

So based upon multiple rumor sources, I've gone ahead added my name to a dealer's waitlist for the (probable) supercharged V8 Raptor (called the "Raptor-R" by C&D). The dealer suggested that it's likely going to be a 2023 model, and he will be doing the same pricing he's currently doing on his GT500 allocation, straight MSRP plus a reasonable doc fee. I'm not the first on his waitlist, and he suspects that there are some people that may drop off due to the wait. I considered going with the TRX so I wouldn't have to wait as long, but there are some things about the TRX I'm not so sure about. For one thing it's a FCA product, and the last 2 Chrysler products I had were crap (granted that was 20+ years ago) while the last Ford product I owned ran like a champ for 150k+ miles -- the only major thing that failed on it was the alternator (and that was at 120k miles).

Plus there are a few things about the TRX I'm not sure about. For one thing, I don't need full-time 4WD. Heck, most of my driving is going to be on paved roads, and even in Denver we don't get THAT much snow. I do fully intend on taking this off-road as it's intended (we've got TONS of off-road trails here, and then there's Great Sand Dunes National Park that has some trails that scream RAPTOR in my head). Also I suspect the full-time 4WD contributes to the lousy 10/14 gas mileage for the TRX. I'm not expecting a tree-hugger 30+MPG -- given the current F150 V8 and the previous-gen Raptor, I'd expect more in the 15/18 or slightly lower range, but 10/14 is something I really couldn't sell my wife on.

Soooo, the waiting game begins. But at least for now one question has been answered for me.