Ford's epic Lightning bait-and-switch is complete (the official "I'm out" thread).

[Bryan Simon]

You'd be surprised how many people commute in an f150 when they could be completely be fine in a ho hum crossover.

Ive pretty much commuted in a truck my whole life—distance was irrevellant..
My spouse used to commute 100 mi one way daily. I refused to get her a small economical punch crumble car. Reason for this is that after a 10hr shift at work, it was a good idea to have a vehicle that would not beat her to death on the heavily traveled by semis 2-lane hiway. Important that the Car would bring her home in comfort, offer some form of protection in an incident, and would get blown off the hiway every time a semi or motor home passed going in the opposite direction.
Crown Victoria did an excellent job pulling this off, till it finally wore out.
She has a shorter commute now, so a Trailblazer works well for the commute and going to town.

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[adoublee]

Ive pretty much commuted in a truck my whole life—distance was irrevellant..
My spouse used to commute 100 mi one way daily. I refused to get her a small economical punch crumble car. Reason for this is that after a 10hr shift at work, it was a good idea to have a vehicle that would not beat her to death on the heavily traveled by semis 2-lane hiway. Important that the Car would bring her home in comfort, offer some form of protection in an incident, and would get blown off the hiway every time a semi or motor home passed going in the opposite direction.
Crown Victoria did an excellent job pulling this off, till it finally wore out.
She has a shorter commute now, so a Trailblazer works well for the commute and going to town.

Lightning weight will make it one of the safest passenger vehicles go operate on the road IMO (weight advantage being isolated from crash test ratings).

 

[TF1000]

just tryna save some people 20+k ?

Serious question. Do you really think your posts will change someones mind about buying a Lightning?

 

[Deleted member 9341]

Serious question. Do you really think your posts will change someones mind about buying a Lightning?

Nope!

 

[Snakebitten]

Except you provided *opinions* and are trying to pass them off as facts. CR predicting a car to be reliable doesn’t make it so. Sorry bud, but real world owners of the Mach E directly contradict what you’re trying to sell. Their experiences with Ford’s first EV is why I recommended people wait in the first place, so Ford can work these issues out and not drag good people into it.

So your advice is to wait until Ford announces the last year of production of a vehicle and snatch one then?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Been buying Fords since 1976. I've been fortunate to not get a single bad one. I'm loving my current magic carpet ride Platinum Powerboost. 8 months and it hasn't missed a beat. I'm an RV full timer and it's been my power-grid-on-wheels on a number of occasions. Wish I had it last year in the Texas Freeze. (it's why I bought one though)

 

[Deleted member 9341]

So your advice is to wait until Ford announces the last year of production of a vehicle and snatch one then?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Been buying Fords since 1976. I've been fortunate to not get a single bad one. I'm loving my current magic carpet ride Platinum Powerboost. 8 months and it hasn't missed a beat. I'm an RV full timer and it's been my power-grid-on-wheels on a number of occasions. Wish I had it last year in the Texas Freeze. (it's why I bought one though)

Great color

 

[AutonomousHybridF150]

My only complaint was that this thread is falsely titled as click bait and basically false news. Because these are the same prices discussed on launch day, and Ford didn’t really state they were ever selling the Lightning Pro ER to the consumer, except some twitter post or something.

It wasn’t bait and switch, it was uninformed decision making and buyers remorse setting in later, which has caused this entire thread to evolve into a Ford EV bashing contest.

But in reality, this is all being caused by the title of the thread and people thinking they are going to get the latest Lightning XLT ER for 55,000. Have you priced many vehicles recently? Because it seems the going price is 70-95k for anything mid trim or higher.

The Lightning traditionally had about 3 options, and I believe one of those was paint color. You paid the SVT tax no matter which options you chose.

EVs cost more on the front end, but cost less for maintenance and cost roughly 50% less to operate.

Gas and Hybrid will never be able to tow like a Diesal, but the F-150 version powerstroke just doesn’t tow enough extra to justify the Diesal tax. When I say tow like a Diesal, I’m really meaning tow like a Super Duty Diesal. There is just so much stored energy potential in Diesal fuel, so the torque figures will continue to prevail, which is what is needed for towing. Don’t get me wrong, the new F-150s are hella towing machines, but it can’t tow 20,000 lbs.

Besides. Aren’t EV purchasers buying EVs to directly impact their carbon footprint by driving electric vs petrol? How dare you all put a price on saving our beautiful planet 300+ miles at a time.

You’re either buying a Lightning because you believe in saving the planet, or you want an awesome and fast electric truck, because it’s the new cool lightning thing to do. If the price is too high for you, welcome to the United States, where free trade and the free market prevail.

I’m sure half of you all use Apple products, so you’re already drinking the overpriced retail product strategy, with ecosystem that has hooked you in for life, so you have to keep buying overpriced Apple forever, so I don’t want to hear about how you think Ford is charging too much or pricing their vehicles in an odd manner. It’s the free market, and that’s just the way it is.

I’ve been waiting for Ford to make a new Lightning since the last version. I’ll be happy to pay whatever they charge. If Ford can charge $25,995 for a 5.2L GT500 crate engine, then you can dang well bet they are going to charge extra for anything that people are going to want to buy.

 

[Snakebitten]

^ great points.

But this thread is no longer about its title. Like lots of threads, it has taken on a life of its own based on content.

I've enjoyed it. It's what forums are. Nobody really gets hurt, other than their egos that is.

 

[Nick Gerteis]

Yeah, I’m sure most of us have experienced a good amount of personal growth just by reading and posting here….?

 

[EaglesPDX]

Except you provided *opinions* and are trying to pass them off as facts.

Consumer Reports reliability is based on owners surveys and car tests vs youropinion. Evidence for Ford doing a good job vs. an internet troll.

 

[IdeaOfTheDayCom]

Because the way the system has been setup, there is very little legally that the manufacturer can do to set actual vehicle price. There is both a contract signed with the dealership and in most states additional laws also governing the manufacturer/dealer relationship.

Sometimes things like this become a catalyst for change. As word spreads about how unfairly dealerships handle these orders, it adds to the growing need to change the system.

Tesla's been taken to court by local dealership lobbyists that claim that selling directly is against the law. Tesla was forced to block their "stores" in NJ malls from being allowed to sell cars directly because they weren't licensed as dealerships. They owned dozens of dealerships and expected Tesla to let them buy a franchise like other brands. Thankfully, Tesla found a workaround. They created a few licensed / company owned "Dealerships", then if you go to one of their showrooms and decide to buy, the order is handed over to their other location.

 

[jb56]

Because these are the same prices discussed on launch day,

They are?

I just pulled a Forbes article from October that says the Mid-Level XLT will cost $53,000. And that is True for an XLT with the standard battery and the 311A package. No power seat, no heated seat, no 9.6 kw power onboard, etc.

Ok, so it's technically true. Fine. But then the XLT + with the 312A package leaps all the way up to $74,000.

While you can reasonably argue that this isn't technically a "bait and switch" it is pretty surprising that a middle of the line pickup is $74,000.

I'm also a little surprised that the Platinum is so much. I expected it to be between $80,000 and $85,000, about $10,000-$12,000 more than the comparable powerboost. But to have it be $20,000 more than the powerboost was surprising. Maybe that's not a bait and switch, but whatever.

I don't see any launch day pricing for the Lariat extended or Platinum Lightnings. Maybe I missed it.

 

[Blainestang]

Because these are the same prices discussed on launch day

Where's the $73k XLT ER base price that was discussed on Launch day?

Or the Lariat price?

Lariat ER?

Pro ER unavailability to retail on launch day?

 

[Sam James]

Where's the $73k XLT ER base price that was discussed on Launch day?

Or the Lariat price?

Lariat ER?

Pro ER unavailability to retail on launch day?

Don't forget that the XLT ER hits $77k just by adding tow tech, max towing, and a bed-liner. Those are going to be three options I think most folks add to any build if not already standard. The Lariat ER with tow tech has the same towing capacity and is only $2k more.

The XLT ER is a huge joke.

 

[Blainestang]

Don't forget that the XLT ER hits $77k just by adding tow tech, max towing, and a bed-liner. Those are going to be three options I think most folks add to any build if not already standard. The Lariat ER with tow tech has the same towing capacity and is only $2k more.

The XLT ER is a huge joke.

Right, XLT makes no sense. XLT ER might as well go Lariat. XLT SR is an awful deal compared to the Pro unless you just HAVE to have *factory* painted bumpers and cloth seats even if it costs you $13k.

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