Is Anybody Happy With Their Lightning?

[rockhead]

Just over three months in, still tickled fucking pink, period

I have noticed however, that I have developed a habit that some people may find wildly obnoxious ... I get annoyed now when the price of gas goes down which really is unnecessarily evil LOL

Sponsored

 

[djstough]

Yes
No. Sorry, I wanted a brief answer and wrote the wrong.

I have a Maverick on order, but started having reservations about the size and utilitarian interior a couple weeks ago, so I started looking at the Ford Lightnings. I read about the tech and features and was pretty excited. But there are so many negative reviews online. There's maybe 1 positive review for every 9 that say "I hated my Lightning and sold it and a huge loss" reviews. Even here it seems like the majority are unhappy with their purchase. Am I making a huge mistake even looking at the Lightning?

 

[Sedawk]

The president of Ford can drive any vehicle they make. Jim is a self describe "Petrol Head". His daily driver is an F-150 Lightning.

Personally, I'm 55 years old and have been driving since I was 14 and got my driver's license the day I turned 16. My Lightning is BY FAR my favourite vehicle I have ever owned.

 

[StevenC56]

Yes

5 pages so far, and you're the only one that doesn't like them. Its ok if that's how you feel, but please explain why?

 

[bmw325_num99]

After a year of ownership, I can report I am absolutely happy with my 2022 Lariat ER, yes. It is not perfect but 95% perfect isnt bad. I love this truck and it is the best vehicle I have ever owned. If it got totalled/stolen I would 100% buy another one since nothing else has what it has in the same package.

 

[Zaptor]

Happy enough to buy a second one. Plus extended warranties for both. In em for the long haul (which is saying a lot since I used to change rigs a lot; had a 2019 Ram 1500 Limited, 2020 Ram 3500 Limited, 2021 Subaru STI and 2023 Tesla Model Y Performance all of which are now gone). Given how 'stung' Ford has been with sales, and with the way they have cut features, we're pretty glad to have the early first gen trucks that they threw the whole R&D budget at, not the next version that was pushed back, and where they'll no doubt cut corners and features here and there to avoid the same situation again... YMMV literally and figuratively tho... love ours!

-Zap

 

[SomeStupidDriver]

Went from a 22 Powerboost to a Lightning and I have zero regrets. Absolutely love the truck, cant recommend it enough. As other have said, most comments about anything on the internet are negative.

 

[dovetaildan]

Love driving my Lightning

 

[F150ROD]

Yes Happy, it’s actually perfect as a vehicle

Unhappy because Ford is holding back or unwilling to listen to owners to make it better than perfect and crush the competition

 

[Maxx]

I love my pro and interior space but if if there was a midsize EV truck with the same value, I would probably go for that instead. Between ICE Maveric and Lightning, I would definitely go for Lightning. especially if you don't need DCFC frequently. I can't deal with noise, oil change and emissions anymore. And having a generator with me all the time is nice too. My main concern when I bought mine was reliability but mine has been rock solid so far. Acceleration is not necessary for a big truck but it is nice to have it when you need it.

 

[MyJoule]

I'll chime in - we've had our Platinum Lightning for almost 16 months and we've put 16K on it so 1K/month we bought a Used '22 with 6K miles on it. Saved a ton of money on it that way- 25K less than new - I suspect it was owned by someone that tried towing 300 miles on a charge and didn't make it. I can't be certain of that, but that's a guess as to why someone would buy a truck and get rid of it in less than a year. ( it was a June '22 build, and we bought it in April '23)


We are also Tesla owners, so we have Tesla software envy when driving the Ford- not because the software is bad, it just isn't as good as Tesla's software. Mostly things like charger routing, energy usage screens and stuff like "Camp Mode" missing Most of our complaints could be handled if Ford just copied the Tesla feature set and put it in our trucks. (As much as possible considering the hardware differences) But some things like energy screens should be no brainers. Things like Dog Mode and Camp Mode certainly should be possible. But something like geofenced Homelink, is probably not possible in the Lightning. Even though it has Homelink. it's just not integrated the way the Tesla is.

Home charging is a must if you plan to own an EV. Can't emphasize that enough

Other specific likes of the Ford.
1. The Frunk- best in class by far
2. Pro-power onboard- While we've not really used it, its nice to know it's there
3. Ride comfort- It's actually in some ways more comfortable than the Tesla
4. On Board scales- Love them for making sure we load by weight not volume

Specific dislikes beyond the software as pointed out above.
1. It's a large vehicle, and the turning radius sometimes handicaps it in parking lots
2. DC fast charging speed- while it does charge at up to 170KW (Observed) it would be nice if it could peak above 200 and stay there for a while. It just takes longer to charge than the Tesla.
3. Wish our version had the Heat Pump- new ones do , so that should make for a better winter experience than we might have. But around town it's not an issue.


Would we buy it again. I'd say yes, until something better comes along we'll keep it -

 

[SpacemanSpiff]

Bought November '23. Enormously happy. I'm not going back to gas unless they make me (and noone's going to make me).

If you can charge at home and drive less than 200 miles a day, it's far more convenient than an ICE vehicle.

 

[Newton]

We love ours, and have done three 1500+ mile road trips in it with no difficulty in the PNW. People are funny about EVs, we talked to one AirBNB host in California and said that we were from Washington State and their jaws dropped. They looked at us like we were some sort of pioneer, which is cool I guess, but all we did was charge a few times on the freeway and plugged into a few dryer outlets at AirBNBs (with permission.) They would have been really surprised if they realized how far north of Seattle that I live….

 

[mtxmiller]

Love mine 22 lariat. Makes me not want to drive my 2011 Audi s4 because the truck is faster.

 

[zinkscott]

I love mine. However, it’s overpriced. Find a good deal on a used one.

Sponsored