IF you could do it all over... what would you buy?

[Thunder1809]

I bought a ‘23 ER in July ‘23 and got a zero percent purchase rate 5 days before Ford dropped the price $8500. My dealer worked for 2 months to get me a price adjust so it ended up being just under the $80K MSRP for the $7500 tax credit. I tell people it is the best commuter with blue cruise and the comfy interior. I drive 57 miles round trip a day and it makes the commute so much less stressful and costly. I wouldn’t change a thing.

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[Effonefiddy Lightning]

CT

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I cannot think of what I would do differently.

I do wish there were different package options. I don't like the glass roof, but it was packaged with all the other things I did want.

If there's a smaller EV pickup available when it's time to retire the Lightning to home-backup duty, we'll go with that. If not, we'll go with another Lightning, probably.

Oh, I just realized what I'd do differently.

If I could get the same price, I'd buy the truck two months earlier.
We bought in May 2024.
We took our Tacoma on a 2200 mile round trip camping trip from northern Arizona to the Ozark National Forest in Arkansas in April for the total eclipse. If I had it to do over again and I could find the same truck for the same price, I'd buy in March instead of May so we could have had a better road trip in April.

 

[Tclark5]

If you could go back in time to to the day before you decided to purchase your Lightning (with your present knowledge of today), what would you do?

Would you do exactly what you did?
Would you hold out for a better price down the line (or buy used)?
Would you purchase a different vehicle (and if so, what)?

Every day my kid sees a Cybertruck and just ogles it like its the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition... and its getting to me.

Love my lightning, would get another one it anything happened to it. There is nothing out there better, Ford nailed it for a first try! Everyone who gets in can’t believe how nice and powerful it is. Anyone who drives it say holy crap and grins when they stomp on it.

 

[detansinn]

If you could go back in time to to the day before you decided to purchase your Lightning (with your present knowledge of today), what would you do?

Would you do exactly what you did?
Would you hold out for a better price down the line (or buy used)?
Would you purchase a different vehicle (and if so, what)?

Every day my kid sees a Cybertruck and just ogles it like its the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition... and its getting to me.

I wouldn't change a thing. I certainly don't have any Cybertruck envy, because that Tesla is a steaming pile of garbage with the kind of freefall depreciation that makes a Lightning look like a 401k. The Lightning literally does everything better.

I don't know how old your son is, but in our neck of the woods, the teenagers make fun of Cybertruck owners. It's got the wrong kind of "look at me" energy.

 

[Firn]

If you could go back in time to to the day before you decided to purchase your Lightning (with your present knowledge of today), what would you do?

Would you do exactly what you did?
Would you hold out for a better price down the line (or buy used)?
Would you purchase a different vehicle (and if so, what)?

Every day my kid sees a Cybertruck and just ogles it like its the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition... and its getting to me.

Having owned 24 different vehicles, and having an early reservation on the Cybertruck, I can tell you that I would only be MORE excited about my upcoming purchase of the Lightning.

I do love my Pro ER with the right options. A ton of things I'm really happy with, like the rubber floor and the non-powered tailgate. I do wish for nicer seats and lane centering, and I want for a front lightbar and passive entry, but don't need for anything.

And compared to the alternatives the interior is absolutely cavernous, one of my dislikes of the Cybertruck (and the vault like nature of the back seat). The Chevy has a big interior as well but I'm not a fan of the truck, although the GMC AT4 looks a lot nicer.

Rivian is on my short list though. Very positive reviews and a brand new American company to boot. I would love to give them my money but I just couldn't justify the nearly $40k increase over what I paid.

 

[LightningShow]

Even after two battery module failures I'd still take the Lightning. I admit I'm tempted by the R1T and CT but I think Ford will handle the customer service end of EV truck ownership better in the long run.

 

[Bushwood CC]

I’ve had my flash since July. I’d do what I did. The rebates and incentives and 0% for 60 months really made it an easy decision. Really hoping to have this for many many years. At less than 7 cents/kwh I’m paying pennies compared to an ICE F150.

 

[johnnyonetime]

Lariat ER since Nov ‘22. The best vehicle I’ve ever driven. After 48k miles still delivers the goods, wouldn’t do anything differently.

 

[Newton]

I was pretty lucky, I got a Lariat SR just when Ford was trying to get rid of them and got a decent discount off of MSRP. It is really the best for me, all the Lariat comforts including the essential folding mirrors but with a steel roof. Now that I have my NACS adapter I have either saved 10K or gotten nicer features than the XLT LR that I was considering. I have had no problems on long trips with the SR and now with NACS even that slight worry is gone.

The only competitor on my radar is the VW scout (without the range extender.)

 

[Alexsouthcleveland]

Would I do it again? yes. Despite my recent service issues this is still the best vehicle I’ve ever owned! But I am considering a change and would appreciate some feedback.

I have a 22 lariat ER with right at 60K miles. Until about a month ago it’s been dead reliable. I had a battery module failure. They replaced it works fine. Then two weeks later it leaves me stranded 150 miles from home it won’t charge on DC or level 2. It sat at a ford dealer for a week and a half and even though they kept saying they would look at it they never did. Went to my home dealer they put me in a truck and had mine trailered in. They think it’s the charge port.

Here’s my conundrum. Do I keep the truck. After these recent issues I’m concerned keeping it out of warranty which will happen for me in about a year and a half. I test drove a Silverado ev LT and was not impressed. Only thing it has going for it is the big battery.

Even though I’m about 15k negative equity I think I could trade into a 24 lariat for the same payment. (With 0% for 72 and all the incentives) the only downside is my truck has 9.6 pro power and all the lariats only have the 2.4 pro power. I do use this every day for my business.

Is there anything else I’m losing from switching from a 22 to a 24? From my reading on this forum there haven’t been as many module failures on 24s.

Only other vehicles I would be considering at in the near future would be a mid spec GMC Sierra EV or the Ram when it comes out. Only thing is it will likely be some time before there’s any good deals like the deals were seeing on the Lightning’s.

Thanks so much!

 

[Effonefiddy Lightning]

Even after two battery module failures I'd still take the Lightning. I admit I'm tempted by the R1T and CT but I think Ford will handle the customer service end of EV truck ownership better in the long run.

As a product developer do you think Ford is choosing the right company to build modules for the Lightning?

 

[21st Century Truck]

I got a Pro ER Max tow at the end of Sept. If I had to do it all over, I would have spent the $ for a higher trim like Flash, Lariat, or a leftover '23 Platinum that my local dealer had for a really good deal but was still a bit too rich for me.

The two things that I really missed with the Pro was adaptive cruise/BlueCruise and the heated steering wheel that I had in my Mach-e that I traded for the Lightning. I added adaptive cruise based on the thread in this forum and a got a heated steering wheel cover that plugs in to the 12v socket that keeps my hands warm in the cold-cold days. Having both of those stock instead of after the fact would have been much nicer. The hands-free BlueCruise was also really nice and is unable to be added to the Pro.

All that said, I LOVE this truck even though it's a Pro and don't see it going away any time soon.

EDIT/addition:
The GOOD part of the Pro that I would not want to give up in a higher trim is the smaller screen and physical knob controls, as well as no glass roof.

Ideally, I'd love to be able to option a truck without being prisoner to specific "packages".

I backed into my high option 2023 Lightning XLT ER in July 2024 when my 2022 Mach E began to fail (front motor replaced, twice).

Lote this truck. It is nearly perfect. Knowing what I now know, I pretty much lucked into a perfect vehicle.

Like B177y above, I love the smaller screen and the hand knob controls.

Having had BlueCruise 1.3 on the Mach E, I actually do not miss it at all. Seriously... especially if I'd have to pay for a subscription. Nope, no, no way.

I also love a metal cabin roof. Having had the panoramic roof on the Mach E, I now know they are pretty much an eye gimmick, and an energy open window in the Winter.

The only Ford option I wish had come on my high-option XLT are the power folding mirrors. I already installed the wire kit to make them work... juts saving pennies now to purchase a set off EBay.

Otherwise, my Lightning is a perfect, very utilitarian, great-looking, smooth-driving vehicle and cheap to drive to boot.

Oh did I mention the zero % financing I got in July 2024? ...that sealed the deal for me.

 

[Effonefiddy Lightning]

So I called ford the other day because while recieving text and phone calls while listening to music through B-tooth my truck tells me I cannot text because there is no connectivity. (So the last couple of updates don't work for better connectivity) And my nav isn't navving, so the kind lady told me to take it to the dealer and tell them they need to open a TAC ticket. Not sure of the spelling on that. The service writer looked at me and said, what's that?
A year ago we took my wifes Model Y to Tesla without an appointment and without writing paperwork up on it they jumped on it to figure out the issue.
Just a couple of my service issue differences between the two.

 

[StevenC56]

So I called ford the other day because while recieving text and phone calls while listening to music through B-tooth my truck tells me I cannot text because there is no connectivity. (So the last couple of updates don't work for better connectivity) And my nav isn't navving, so the kind lady told me to take it to the dealer and tell them they need to open a TAC ticket. Not sure of the spelling on that. The service writer looked at me and said, what's that?

Maybe she meant "Tech (Technical) Ticket"?

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