Well I picked up my 2004 F150 Lariat SuperCrew last Wednesday and I've been like a giggling teenager ever since. My last truck is/was a '92 F150 XLT extended cab and I put 207,000 miles on it before the engine blew a few weeks ago (of course this was about 3,000 miles after I replaced the transmission). On the positive side, I was already in the process of selling it as I had already ordered the '04. Of course now I can't get quite as much out of it not running.

My other car is an '01 Acura CL Type S and I feel like the new truck drives almost as comfortably as the Acura. Sitting in the truck with the console, you have a hard time even telling you are in a truck and not a luxury car.

Here are my one week observations:

I got the captains chairs and the seats are really nice for a truck. However, the only complaint I have is they don't have enough support in the lower back, and the sides. The old truck had the armrests that could come down and that tended to give me a little more support from the sides.

First fill up gave me 15.7 mpg driving in daily stop-and-go traffic. Not too disappointed there.

I'm not an audiophile, but I did get the stereo. I am very happy with the quality. I'm not saying it is perfect or anything, but for a typical driver it should suffice. It has speed sensitive volume which I really like, so as you slow down to quieter speeds, the volume decreses slightly as well. It also has preset speaker settings for "driver only", "all seats", and "rear seats only". This is nice so you don't have to adjust balance and fade when you want to carry on a conversation in the front seat and your kids want to hear the radio in the back.

It also has automatic headlights that come on when it gets dark, but are NOT daytime lights. I personally am not a big fan of 'having' to have the lights on during the day.

I really like the console option. I was worried because someone posted a while ago about it infringing on their right leg during normal driving. At just under six foot tall, the console doesn't affect me at all.

And the drive... All I can say is WOW. The drive is incredible. Granted my other truck was on it's last legs, but there is no comparison to any other truck I have been in. I find myself actually looking forward to driving to work in the morning (and more importantly leaving work in the evening!). Sitting up much higher than most other vehicles on the road, I feel a lot safer in daily traffic driving as well.

I also got the reverse sensing system and wasn't sure how much I would use it, but I have been very pleased with it. I am one of those people that back-in to just about every parking space they come across, always have and always will. Well, if this is like you, I highly recommend this option.

As this is already too lengthy, I'll stop now. As I think of some more things I will add to the post, but overall I am very pleased with the new truck (and what about that new truck smell!)

I posted some pictures in my gallery of when it was at the dealership before picking it up. I'll try to get some more this weekend now that it is in my possession!

marshamc
2004 F150 Lariat SuperCrew
Black-on-Black

 

Great sounding truck, congratulations. What is the story on the "flow thru" console that ford talks about. Are they routing fresh air thru the console or ?? thanks.