B177y
Member
- First Name
- Bill
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2024
- Threads
- 1
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 5
- Location
- Olympic Peninsula WA
- Vehicles
- 2024 Lightning Pro ER Max Tow, 2021 Highlander V6, 2013 Suzuki Wee-Strom
- Thread starter
- #1
After 1 year and a couple weeks of owning my CR1, I traded it in yesterday for a Lightning Pro ER Max Tow. More accurately, I traded my MME and sold my trusty old 2001 F350 Crew Cab Long Bed V10 on a private sale, so it was more of a consolidation from 2 vehicles to one that can do both things reasonably well.
Yes, The MME depreciated a ton. The Lightning was eligible for the IRS and Washington State incentives, I can do the Ford First Responder incentive, and it was slightly discounted from MSRP with the 0% 60 month loan, so it didn't hurt as much as it could have.
I loved the CR1 and really thought that I would drive it until the wheels fell off or until my teenage son finally took it away from me because I was getting too old. I started looking into the Lightnings late this summer after using my old F350 to tow our family travel trailer for three different trips over summer break. I used to love driving the F350, but after driving the CR1 as my daily driver, the F350 felt so.... unrefined? Yes, I was now completely spoiled by the MME.
I researched my usual towing trips in ABRP with the Lightning settings and the shorter range seemed to be where I stop for breaks while towing anyway. The F350 had a range of about 200-250 miles with a full 35 gallon tank at 6-7 MPG while towing, vs the Lightning 100-150 miles between charges while towing. Realistically I was stopping to fuel the F350 when it was 1/2 to 1/4 of a tank anyway, which is about equal to the 150 mile charge stops anticipated in the Lightning. Usually two or three of of summer trips are to my kid's soccer tournaments with other families and are easily reachable with the 100-150 range of the Lightning. Since I just came home with the Lightning yesterday, I do not have any firsthand experience with towing. There are plenty of reports on this forum and the experience of others will hopefully translate to a similar towing experience for me. All of your towing reports and advice also helped me to make the decision to go with the Lightning as my only vehicle to do everything.
I will truly miss the MME. It was an excellent driving experience for me. I road-tripped in it every chance I could. My last trip I had the A2Z Tesla adapter and it was flawless. My only service issue with the MME was a 3-month wait for a charge port replacement due to no parts available. This is well documented in my posts on the macheforum.com (sister site to this site). It was undriveable for the entire 3 months while it sat at the dealer waiting for the part to arrive. Regardless, I still put 17,400 miles on it with 9 total months of operation (12 months 3 weeks of ownership).
The Lightning Pro is much lower tech-wise than the MME. Small screen, no PAAK, no BlueCruise, no adaptive cruise, no heated steering wheel, and no glass roof. I do appreciate that the Pro has more knobs and switches to control the basic functions of volume, climate control, frunk release, etc... Some of the tech and options from the MME I will miss, and some I was never a fan of anyway. No deal killers either way for me.
The tow-tech package and max-tow on the Lightning are truly amazing and I can't wait try it out on the trailer. The F350 had a tow hitch and a 7-way plug... The Lightning has an amazing array of towing technology that I still need to read through to learn how to operate. The 10,000 lb towing capacity of the Lightning is actually the same as the 2001 F350, which was considered "industry leading" at the time for a 1-ton truck.
On the almost 100 mile drive home from the dealer yesterday, I did appreciate the added cabin space and softer ride of the Lightning over the MME. My entire family of 4 agrees on these points and they actually commented about it on the way home. They got to experience the drive to the dealer in the MME and the drive home in the Lightning, so it was an easy comparison to make.
A shoutout to the internet sales team of Paul, John, and Johnathan at Kendall Ford in Marysville, WA for making the trade and purchase easy and professional.
This will be cross posted on macheforum.com with edits where appropriate as a farewell and thank you to the users of that forum for their education and assistance provided.
Yes, The MME depreciated a ton. The Lightning was eligible for the IRS and Washington State incentives, I can do the Ford First Responder incentive, and it was slightly discounted from MSRP with the 0% 60 month loan, so it didn't hurt as much as it could have.
I loved the CR1 and really thought that I would drive it until the wheels fell off or until my teenage son finally took it away from me because I was getting too old. I started looking into the Lightnings late this summer after using my old F350 to tow our family travel trailer for three different trips over summer break. I used to love driving the F350, but after driving the CR1 as my daily driver, the F350 felt so.... unrefined? Yes, I was now completely spoiled by the MME.
I researched my usual towing trips in ABRP with the Lightning settings and the shorter range seemed to be where I stop for breaks while towing anyway. The F350 had a range of about 200-250 miles with a full 35 gallon tank at 6-7 MPG while towing, vs the Lightning 100-150 miles between charges while towing. Realistically I was stopping to fuel the F350 when it was 1/2 to 1/4 of a tank anyway, which is about equal to the 150 mile charge stops anticipated in the Lightning. Usually two or three of of summer trips are to my kid's soccer tournaments with other families and are easily reachable with the 100-150 range of the Lightning. Since I just came home with the Lightning yesterday, I do not have any firsthand experience with towing. There are plenty of reports on this forum and the experience of others will hopefully translate to a similar towing experience for me. All of your towing reports and advice also helped me to make the decision to go with the Lightning as my only vehicle to do everything.
I will truly miss the MME. It was an excellent driving experience for me. I road-tripped in it every chance I could. My last trip I had the A2Z Tesla adapter and it was flawless. My only service issue with the MME was a 3-month wait for a charge port replacement due to no parts available. This is well documented in my posts on the macheforum.com (sister site to this site). It was undriveable for the entire 3 months while it sat at the dealer waiting for the part to arrive. Regardless, I still put 17,400 miles on it with 9 total months of operation (12 months 3 weeks of ownership).
The Lightning Pro is much lower tech-wise than the MME. Small screen, no PAAK, no BlueCruise, no adaptive cruise, no heated steering wheel, and no glass roof. I do appreciate that the Pro has more knobs and switches to control the basic functions of volume, climate control, frunk release, etc... Some of the tech and options from the MME I will miss, and some I was never a fan of anyway. No deal killers either way for me.
The tow-tech package and max-tow on the Lightning are truly amazing and I can't wait try it out on the trailer. The F350 had a tow hitch and a 7-way plug... The Lightning has an amazing array of towing technology that I still need to read through to learn how to operate. The 10,000 lb towing capacity of the Lightning is actually the same as the 2001 F350, which was considered "industry leading" at the time for a 1-ton truck.
On the almost 100 mile drive home from the dealer yesterday, I did appreciate the added cabin space and softer ride of the Lightning over the MME. My entire family of 4 agrees on these points and they actually commented about it on the way home. They got to experience the drive to the dealer in the MME and the drive home in the Lightning, so it was an easy comparison to make.
A shoutout to the internet sales team of Paul, John, and Johnathan at Kendall Ford in Marysville, WA for making the trade and purchase easy and professional.
This will be cross posted on macheforum.com with edits where appropriate as a farewell and thank you to the users of that forum for their education and assistance provided.
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