Regarding using your FordPass points (75k, or $300+$ worth) for buying a new Diesel SD. I had multiple dealers tell me you couldn't buy accessories or parts with the points. Turns out they were wrong and just being lazy about finding out. I wanted to buy some parts from the parts counter like wheel well liners and a new grill. Go to the parts counter, get your parts & invoice, walk over to the counter where you pay for service/parts at and they look up your FordPass points up by e-mail address. It's funny... managers, sales people, service folks, parts counter people all said "oh, doesn't work that way" but as soon as I asked the ladies at the payment counter they knew exactly how to do it and it worked perfectly.

 

awesome thanks for posting this, I want to get the factory floor mats so I know where my points will be going!!

 

Thanks for the info...thats kinda how I'd expect it to work. I was thinking about using mine for some wheel wheel liners as well.

 

I ended up with the Platinum to get all the features I wanted, and some I don't lol. By the time you add on to a lower trim level, it almost always is so close that it makes sense to just go with the next trim level. Genius marketing. I'd do anything to not have the useless built in NAV, but was not an option if you wanted the other cool goodies that needed the display. I'd rather mount my phone in that area and get maps that don't suck.

 

True. I optioned my Lariat to very close to the Platinum price. But it cuts back the other way, too. I specifically stayed away from the Platinum because of all the options it forces that I didn't want: 20" wheels, no camper package or rear stabilizer (because of the 20" wheels), monochrome paint, painted bumpers, power running boards (no option to get the extended boards), the Platinum Ultimate puts the moonroof on the truck which is a deal killer (not sure if the other components of Ultimate are a la carte), and it forces the chrome package which flakes and chips in my area of the world.

I like the tailgate insert. The interior looks awesome, too. Probably super plush and I think my wife would love the massaging seats. Otherwise, most of what the Platinum does is to compel absolute deal-killers, must-not-be features on a truck.

And this gets back to the OP, where he valued some of the Lariat items (I think), but couldn't tolerate leather interior (or, at least, his wife couldn't).

 

OP here, sorry for the delay. Just wanted to provide final update as promised since you all have been so helpful in our truck selection process. I bought the truck in Boise, ID, and since we are retired, we decided to make a camping trip out of it. Put 1K miles on it in a week, staying at beautiful campgrounds on the way home.

Why we chose STX over Lariat

I test drove both back to back the final week. The day before I pulled the trigger, we went over to local dealership, where they had STX, XLT, and Lariat parked next to each other. We sat in all of them, discussing different features, comfort, storage spaces, and price differences. When I asked my wife which one she likes the most, she said STX – it gives her everything she wants, seat is super comfy, and she finds simple, all black interior much more pleasing than all that shiny stuff and fake wood grain in Lariat. XLT would be acceptable too. We looked at price differences between trim levels, and what we would get in return. Went back and forth to make sure we are not forgetting any feature. Decided that well equipped STX is the best option for us.

The issue was finding it on dealer’s lot that had everything we wanted and as little of what we didn’t care for. Special order window for 2019 was closed (checked with 3 dealers), my $2K PCO was expiring in 30 days, and I did not want to wait for 2020 with its new transmission. So in essence I had 30 days to find the right truck for us. Here is my option wish list:

XL with STX package
Cloth seats
5th wheel prep package
360 camera package
Sync 3
Black running boards
Rapid heat
Upfitter switches
All terrain tires
Tailgate step
FordPass
Rear defrost with privacy
Remote start
LED bed lighting

Could not find anything remotely close in the whole metro area. Many dealers don’t even stock XLs, and those that do have minimal list of options. Expanded my search nationwide. Negotiated with several dealers. Found the best deal at Kendall Ford in Boise, ID – not only did they have the truck equipped with almost everything on our wish list (and nothing I didn’t want), they also had the best prices. Here is a link to identically equipped truck I purchased:

https://www.kendallfordofmeridian.co...archDepth=7:51

So the only options I did not get were the last 3, and none was a deal breaker. I was happy with the deal I got. When we picked it up, vehicle was spotless, everything was working, all fluid levels correct, as was tire pressure. Paperwork was ready, no heavy pressure to buy additional stuff. Really pleasant experience all around.

My impressions driving it home for a week camping along the way? We love the truck, it was the right choice for us, and there were even few surprises. On a positive side:

Mileage. We got 19.4 MPG, driving mostly on 2 lane roads and some off road. Did not expect that high a number.
Manual climate control. This was my biggest worry, and it turned out to be a non-issue. I kept myself comfortable while she did her usual vent closing/opening; it was actually better experience than dual zone climate we had for almost 20 years.
Rapid heat. What a godsend! Woke up one morning in freezing temperature. Packed the gear, turned engine on with frozen fingers, in no more than 30 seconds hot air blows. Outstanding!
Console/center seat. It’s surprisingly comfortable and usable, there is a large storage area under the seat. Wife said console is now nice to have but not necessary (I told her I can buy it later).
Ride comfort. Better than expected, did not even lower tire pressure. It’s probably the lack of snow plow prep, not sure.

On the negative side:
Turning radius. It’s really awful. Had hard time backing up into some tight campsites. I hope it will improve over time with practice.

So there you have it. Thanks again for all your help! I will post couple pictures if I figure out how to do it.

 

Nice well equipped truck without all the extra gadgets and moon roofs etc to cause more problems later.

 

When we picked it up



After going through miles of mud

 

Congrats. I am sure it is a nice truck and you approached the purchase in a logical and planned manner. And most important it got the wife seal of approval. I am sure you will love it.

 

Open Sky - Congratulations!

On the three items you wished for:

• Rear defrost with privacy: While you can't easily add the defrost, a local window tint shop can give you privacy. Get the 5% tint
• Remote start: See this thread for part # and FORScan settings.
  • ​​​​​​​https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...n-2018-xl.html
• LED bed lighting: There's a thread on here about adding it. I did it to my 2017. Not hard at all. Here's those parts.
  • ​​​​​​​Bed Lamp: FL3Z-13A756-A - Need 2 of them
  • Main Cable: HC3Z-13A409-RB
  • Cable Driver HC3Z-13K371-A
  • Cable Passenger HC3Z-13K371-B
  • Switch FL3Z-9C888-B

 

Congratulation! Nice truck. Glad you were able to find almost exactly what you wanted at the trim level you are most happy with.

 

Thanks guys, appreciate all the well wishes. h20camper - thanks for the parts list on LED bed lighting. I will try to do it at some point.

I will probably pass on remote start, as I have the feature on my phone now. Dealer made sure FordPass was installed and activated, and showed me how to remote start the truck.

As far as tint goes, that was exactly my plan. I will put it on all 5 windows. Defroster will be the only feature missing, but it's not a big deal to me.

Also, I noticed some other things:

I have engine block heater option installed - was there supposed to be power cord attached to it? I don't see anything sticking out and am wondering if I am missing something.
Every time we opened the door, the light above the cabin lit up the bed (same for tailgate light) for quite some time; is there a way to disable it, or at least shorten duration?
Payload capacity is only 3,400 pounds; I expected more on "bare bone" model; is it because I chose "heavy" options - long bed, 14 gal of extra fuel, 5th wheel prep, tailgate step, dual alternators?

 

When was the truck built? From what I understand there was a recall on the block heaters, their fix was to cut the end off. I think they might have an actual fix now.

The light show when unlocking and opening a door is something I wish we had more control of. As far as I know, the only fix is with ForScan and it keeps all the lights off, no option to shorten the duration.

The payload is decreased by every option added and cab/bed combo, but the heaviest option you have, that had the most impact is the diesel.

 

OP here again.

So it’s been 3 months since the purchase of our first-ever truck, and we really like it. There are just a few issues/questions I have for all of you experts, and I decided to post them here vs. creating new separate threads. I used search function and spent several hours last night looking for answers, and have to say the results were not very useful. Hence this post.

So the only 3 things I want to change/upgrade inside are leather steering wheel, elbow padding on the door, and floor console. That’s it! Love everything about it. I will have windows tinted, and bedliner sprayed in, and will probably add tailgate shock. Here are my specific questions, and please feel free to respond to any of them if you have knowledge about it but no clue about others.

1. Steering wheel – I actually like its shape and thickness, so don’t want to swap for thinner Lariat wheel. I am deciding between steering wheel cover like this one or wheelskins https://wheelskins.com/europerf . Did any of you that have or had XL/XLT trim decide to go one way or the other? Is there benefit going with more expensive product, other than appearance?

2. The door is all plastic (knew that when buying), wanted to give it few months to decide if it bugs me or not. It does on long drives, and my wife being very handy sewing and such, suggested she will make custom elbow pads. I went online to see how expensive that part would be to save her time, but didn’t find anything. Does that mean that the whole door is made of one piece of plastic, and one cannot order elbow part separately?

3. Floor console – I miss it, wife doesn’t, she loves the jump seat storage options. Told her if I can find it for less than $500, I will replace it. Questions: Where are the best places online to look for used/junk yards besides ebay and CL? I called dealer they don’t sell it. I recall months ago I saw somewhere on this forum some nice soul posted parts list to build the console, but couldn’t find anything last night. Can someone send me the link to that list please?

4. Window tint – mine are not tinted at all, so will have all 5 done (will not touch windshield). On my other car I have Llumar Ceramic 30% all around and really like the functionality and durability. That’s what I will put on front windows, but in the back I’d like to match the look of darker OEM tint for more privacy. Is OEM tint 20%? Searching the forum, some people say 20%, some say 15%. Dealer didn’t know.

5. Bedliner – I called well rated Line-X installer in my area, and asked them if they remove bed bolts (apparently that’s an issue according to threads on this forum). He said they always do, it’s the right way to do it. Question – is it good, bad, or doesn’t matter? Again, never owned a truck before, so excuse me if this question sounds stupid to you, just don’t want to make expensive mistake.

6. Tailgate shock. I see that people use either one of these: and . Is there a difference between the 2 in functionality, or are they about the same? People seem happy with both, but price difference suggests Ford part might be better...

Finally, I thought I would surprise my wife for Christmas and install heating pad on her seat. There are many options on Amazon, but was wondering if anyone used OEM parts successfully, and what the part numbers are? And if not, which aftermarket solutions are best for our trucks?

Thank you so much for your patience and advice!!!

 

A factory floor console will cost you, ebay always has some but the price is usually well over $500. Going through Ford it will be over 1k. I remember a thread where someone priced it out a while ago.

I have never used a Bedliner or sprayliner, Dealer’s don’t take off for scratched up bed as long as it’s not severely dented etc, most dealerships will get it sprayed or add Bedliner after trade themselves nowadays.

everything else i say go for it, I own a stx so not sure about the door padding.