OK. I said I was going to test drive the Lariat this week and I did this morning. First off it's a beautiful truck with lots of nice features. Some of the features I don't even need. Anyway, the ride is a little smoother but the inside sound was not all that more quiet than the XLT I own. Maybe that's because of the larger tires and engine? Surprizingly the power was not all that evident. The 5.4L has 300hp and my 4.6L has 231hp. You'd think I'd notice a huge difference when pushing the pedal. I did, but only very slightly. The 4.6L is more than adequate to accelerate the F150. I liked the leather chairs and the look with the bigger tires is great. Also the AC in the Lariat is far superior to my XLT (very important in Tucson). Finally I decided to keep my XLT for now. I wanted to go to the AZ Biege and they didn't have it with the features I wanted, plus they did not have the Audiophile. I asked my salesperson if I could order one to my specs and he said that Ford is not doing that any more for this year. I do want the Lairat and will wait for the 2005s to come out that way I can order one with exactly what I want in features.

 

Good luck. I love mine. Almost ordered with all Arizona Beige for ease of cleaning, but I just couldn't resist the black/beige combo after seeing it in person. It's really a very comfortable truck. Very nice looking. One thing I'm REALLY happy I got was the reverse sensing system. Some people complain that it's a waste of money, but I find it EXTREMELY useful. You can't see what's back there, but the sensors do and 99% of the time, it works as it should. Sometimes frost on the sensors will screw it up, but otherwise it's a great system.

 

The one I looked at today had the reverse sensing system. It also had the tow package, which I don't need and the rear power window which I don't want. I'd rather trade those features for the Audiophile upgrade. I drove my XLT without radio and low AC for the past 4 days to compare sound level. It's not much different. Also I like the one tone Toreador Red color of my XLT better than the two tone Lariat of the same color. I also like the grill of the XLT better than the gold grill of the Lariat. I guess when I buy my Lariat I'll find the black grill XLT color to put on it. I love the white leather seats of the Lariat. They look great and are very comfortable. I don't like the dashboard of the Lariat at all. The plain tones of the XLT tan interior is a far superior look to the fake wood accents of the Lariat. I do like the instrument gauges of the Lariat better than the XLT. It'll come down to getting a Beige color and if I can get the audiophile. I'll give an update when that time comes.

 

The reverse sensing system only comes after you get the trailer package. Maybe they'll change that, I don't know. One of the benefits of getting the tow package is you get a bigger radiator, trans cooler, bigger battery and better altenator I think...lots for a small charge up front. Fortunately, I liked the looks of everything the way Ford laid it out, grill, dash, seats, etc. I wanted something that was a good mix of an every-day driver (sort of car-like in a way) and a truck. It's nice to finally have something I can put my ladders and phone tools in for the side work I do. I used to be an installer, but now I'm a desk jockey doing inside phone work on the PC mainly...so the tools come into play after my day job is done if I have a side job to do. My bed cover keeps everything nice and dry and secure (locks).
Two other items I wouldn't do without from day one are the ford molded splash guards and the black platform running boards. They keep everything off the side of the truck and I like the looks.

 

Interesting. If those features are added with the tow package then it seems wise to get it even if I don't tow. I'm glad I found this F150 message board. The information here is priceless. I'll start working on what I want on my 2005 F150. Including the dampeners from the other vibration post on this page. Might as well get everything you want on it.