I needed a truck, so I traded in my 2012 VW GTI 4 door for a leftover 2012 F-250 Crew Cab XLT 4x4. Granted, my XLT isn't a King Ranch, but I'd bet most of the materials are similar to the XLT.

Biggest complaint: The entire dashboard is a hunk of plastic. There are no soft-touch surfaces. The door panels are the same way, with the exception of the door handle grips. The dashboard vents are nice, and very functional, with a little chrome dress, but the instrument panel is very plain. (Although the backlighting is relatively pleasing at night).

Other complaints:

-A TINY glove box in a huge truck. Not lit, not lockable, and absolutely no lining of the glove box.

-Poor finish on the assist handles on the A-pillars. Although sturdy, there is a relatively sharp plastic mold / cut line on the inside of the grip. Oddly enough, the similar assist handles on the B-pillar of the crew cab are finished more smoothly.

-No cloth covering of any of the pillars. That being said, they are at least textured to look like a cloth covering, and don't look bad.

-No leather wrap of the steering wheel. Really? At $44k there wasn't another $10 to do this?

-Awful, cheap-looking speaker grilles. Why couldn't a fitted cover been installed, with a smaller grille opening?

-Exterior paint finish is poor. On semi-hidden areas (at door hinge areas and under hood, etc) the paint is dull, apparently not clear-coated, or not finished. The overall appearance is one of orange peel, although color uniformity seems OK.

-Cheap interior door release handles. Although functional (I know this is a truck) they are really cheap.

-No lighting of vanity mirrors on XLT? Unbelievable.

-Not all switchgear is lit. This is a pet peeve of mine. Some things are just stupid...for example, the rear diff locker switch has the "on-off" part lit, but not the symbol. The mirror switch is not lit, nor is the rear window cutoff switch. At least all the window switches are lit, even in the back; many cars still cheap out on this.

I'm just thinking my GTI, at $28k, had a way nicer interior (all switches lit, even some of the storage bins were lit, lit vanities, soft-touch dash and door uppers, woven headlining on pillars, aluminum door handles, way nicer audio-electronic system, way nicer instruments, way, way, nicer paint job, even in the hidden areas, and I could go on). I start thinking, well, the truck is obviously much bigger and does many things the GTI can't do, but even mechanically the truck is low-tech. Solid axles, rear leaf springs, body-on-frame, torque-convertor automatic, etc. Even the 6.2L gas, although somewhat tech-y for a Ford truck motor, is still only a SOHC with sequential fuel injection. Of course the VW was direct-injected, turbocharged, DOHC with VVT, etc.

I suspect these big trucks are cash cows for not just Ford, but all of the big three.

Don't get me wrong, I really like the truck. The styling is great, classic America huge and bold. It seems to be a workhorse. It is surprisingly quiet on the highway and has much more comfortable seats than I expected.

 

It's a truck not a car. They go to a job site not a office. I hear what your saying but thats just my take on it. A king ranch is an office/boss truck with all the options and then some. My xlt serves me well. At least it's easy to keep clean.

 

You got an XLT Package. Basically meant to look good and be functional.

 

I kinda like the interior of the SD's and I have an XL, which is even more plain than the XLT's. The interior is plain and simple which gives it a more "working man's truck" look.

 

I have to agree, it's a truck not an office commuter. You want all that fancy junk that will fail over time buy a King Ranch. Trucks used to be simple and reliable, now everyone wants creature comforts and could care less about anything else. Didn't you inspect the truck before buying?

 

XLT trim is for lil more comfy work truck. What you get is a Work truck. Money is put into the truck where it counts, frame, drivetrain etc...

You could drop another 10-20k and get all the amenities that your VW had and still have the same work horse you have now.

 

Easy guys, I understand what trucks are for. But given that even in the 3/4 and 1-ton market, many customers use the vehicles for pleasure I'm surprised at the low-rent materials inside. I'm not questioning the truck's capability or strength...I know that's there. My point is even on a Lariat or KR, the cheap hard plastic on the dash and doors still exists. I specifically bought a Ford and not one of the other brands because I like Fords...and my family and I have had good experiences with them in the past. That being said, I'll still quibble over terrible interior materials which could and should be better.

 

What's nice about the F250 over the VW is not having to explain to people that you aren't gay. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

The materials are not low quality. They are simply non luxurious. It is semi flexible non squeak high grade plastic. I supposed they could wrap everything in alcantara leather but to me that is a cheap material as it's just fake leather.

As for the other stuff. They keep it simple, reliable. Your VW was was a silly little econo box that was tremendously under powered. Front wheel drive (what kind of "sports" car is front wheel drive). The shifter was like a chop stick sticking out of a bowl of jello with a tennis ball on the end. Absolutely no feeling. And the center of gravity on the thing? Way too high for a car that narrow. Forget about pulling anything close to 1G in the slalom. The engine it's just a worked over 1.8 they used in WWII.

Come on man. You cant compare the 2 .

You paid 44 for a 6.2? Yikes! I paid 36 for a left over 2012. You may want to have a talk with your dealer.

 

 

It's not fords fault, they are being strangled by the EPA to make the trucks more fuel efficent and cut weight down. They use this material because it does that, keeps the weight and cost down. Sure if they built trucks like they did in the 70's and 80's they would get 8mpg downhill. The point being its cost effective, sure wrapping everything in fancy "leather" may look nicer but most people don't look that much into a truck, it's made to pull things and work not please the eyes. I'm sure ford considered doing that but by using a lightweight plastic that won't really squeak, they cut the weight down without sacrificing Peformance. GM and dodge are no better.

 

What are you comparing to anyway?

Go look at a comparable model chevy and report back

 

Ok, THAT was just d*mn funny right there!

I had to clean soda off of my monitor when I read that.

 

Clearly you have never driven a late-model GTI, and apparently never read the motoring press.

I paid less than you for my leftover, I was just talking sticker.

 

Almost everything you listed is the reason why Ford trucks are so popular....especially with fleet owners. Last thing we want is soft touch dashboards....all they do is crack and peel in the sun. Plastic door panels and A-pillars are ideal....easy to clean and very durable. No leather on the steering wheel needed either. The steering wheel on my XLT is still in great shape....the leather on both of my Lariats have the color rubbing off. Paint finish is perfect....we are going to repaint the truck in company colors anyway. When possible, we order our trucks with manual windows and manual locks. The XL model is ideal for fleet use. The XLT has the necessary creature comforts. The Lariat is probably what you should have gone for if you wanted a little more luxury. I think the F150 line up has something in between XLT and Lariat....little extra chrome or something like that...

Generally speaking....Ford pretty much has whatever you want. Mild to plush and several steps in between. Keep in mind...it's still a truck. I think fleet sales are a major source of revenue so that may be the main target market when design cues are determined.

EDIT: (almost forgot...) Welcome to FTE!

 

You hit the nail on the head. Trucks offer these manufacturers the biggest profit margin because unlike the cars where they have competition from all across the board, for the most part, the BIG 3 still are the only choices in the heavy duty truck market.

But you also have to factor in RAW MATERIALS. Raw materials have gone up in costs DRASTICALLY in recent years and that cost gets passed down to the buyers so while it may seem you are getting a lot more for your money with the VW in the way of amenities, you are getting TONS more (literally) in raw materials that it takes to build your truck.

Now, I will say, I do for the most part really enjoy my 2013 XLT Super Duty interior, but like you noticed, there are a few areas here and there where they just seemed to cheap out for stupid inexcusable reasons. I havent checked under the hood on my new Super Duty but my 2011 F150 does NOT have a freaking light under the hood. It blew me away that they would cheap out there. And I agree, the cheap, hard plastic is pretty off putting, even for a work truck.

But if look from a broader perspective, you will notice this all across the board. As the years have gone on, the quality seems to have gone down. the Original KR had very high quality leather, now the new ones are really getting a lot of complaints.

For SUVS we have always bought the top of the line models. When we had broncos we would get the Eddie Bauer models and the interiors were always very nice and the leather was real genuine high quality leather. Now the leather they use in the current trucks are a completely different story, doesnt look or feel like leather at all.

Anybody remember the gift packages you would get when you would buy the Eddie Bauer stuff from a couple decades ago? A couple weeks after our purchase, a package would show up at our door and we would get full sets of Eddie Bauer luggage with our Broncos. The last Eddie Bauer edition Ford we bought was a 2000 Expedition. Few weeks after the purchase, a package shows up and our gift was a freakin blanket....