Did I cheap on out the XLT?

[RoadtripsOfUnusualSize]

I lve in Calif, never gets cold enough, besides, I have enough issues with sweaty backside without adding heat to it, now cooled seats I might spring for.

Same here. When it gets cold, we head where it's warm. But, our old Expedition had cooling seats and it was absolutely wonderful.

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[Mirage775]

If you can't drive a vehicle safely without all of the electronic watchdogs you might want to call an Uber. I am the only driver so the seat hasn't moved since day one, so much for power seats, I have them in my RV and they are SLOW, manual would be much faster. As for heated seats? well, I live in Calif, never gets cold enough, besides, I have enough issues with sweaty backside without adding heat to it, now cooled seats I might spring for.

100% agree with that 1st sentence! Half of these morons around here, cannot drive regardless if their cars are doing most of the work!

I too, am the only driver of my truck, with the slight exception of my wife driving it home from the dealer and my step-father test driving it, as he's interested in a new Ranger as well, but completely agree with preferring manually sliding seats!

I too, live in an extremely hot/humid area! Wife wanted the heated seats, I didn't. My truck, my decision! Her truck can have whatever she wants in hers

The only thing I wish it did have was, the old manual style heat/AC buttons. I hate having to hold the temp arrow on the touchscreen to go from hot to cold or vice versa...

 

[BriGuy3030]

I wish I had the B&O sound system. & after having driven my wife’s ‘16 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited 75th Anniversary Edition so much, I REALLY got used to keyless entry & push button start. It seems that I am of the minority w/ regards to hating having to pull that key out. Plus working in construction (Union Ironworker) it bugs me that the switchblade key often flips itself out in my pocket whilst wearing my safety harness. Also, As I’m entering the first shot of colder weather here in St. Louis, I’m wishing it had the heated side mirrors like my wife’s Jeep GC (WK2).
… same/similar price point—Jeep provided quite a bit more option-wise

 

[BriGuy3030]

OH, & heated seats as well(!)

 

[Radioman]

Going against the grain on this thread:

I received my driver's license in 1961 and have driven many cars over the years that had none of the safety features of today. The radios were tube type and you had to wait for the tubes to warm up before listening to the local AM station. Shifting was "3 on the tree". No seatbelts, no air conditioning, they had wind up windows, poor horsepower, and poorer brakes. No power brakes or steering. Gas mileage was poor at best. No air bags.

I still drive a 6 speed manual trans Jeep that has manual adjusting seats, a manual heater and air conditioning and it uses a key. It does have power windows, brakes, and steering but other than that, its pretty basic.

My Ranger does have power seats but once you set the position, there is no reason to change it (I'm a widower). It has leather seats but I wouldn't care if they were cloth. I love the fact that it has the B & O sound system, doesn't require inserting a key to start it, or to lock or unlock the doors, the mirror adjusts for night time, and the climate control is a "set and forget" system, the high beams adjust automatically and wipers and headlights come on as needed. If I have a tire losing air, the truck will let me know.

As for safety, the BLIS system, backup camera, pre-collision assist, and yes, the lane keeping system all may some day save my life.

In short, I welcome all the advances made over the years to make driving more pleasant and much more safer.

I wish the Ranger had cooled seats and 360 degree camera system and I wouldn't mind a heated steering wheel although I wouldn't use it very often.

 

[Msfitoy]

It would've been nice to ala cart the LED headlamps but oh well...I'm glad I upgraded the steering wheel to leather...

 

[Mirage775]

Going against the grain on this thread:

I received my driver's license in 1961 and have driven many cars over the years that had none of the safety features of today. The radios were tube type and you had to wait for the tubes to warm up before listening to the local AM station. Shifting was "3 on the tree". No seatbelts, no air conditioning, they had wind up windows, poor horsepower, and poorer brakes. No power brakes or steering. Gas mileage was poor at best. No air bags.

I still drive a 6 speed manual trans Jeep that has manual adjusting seats, a manual heater and air conditioning and it uses a key. It does have power windows, brakes, and steering but other than that, its pretty basic.

My Ranger does have power seats but once you set the position, there is no reason to change it (I'm a widower). It has leather seats but I wouldn't care if they were cloth. I love the fact that it has the B & O sound system, doesn't require inserting a key to start it, or to lock or unlock the doors, the mirror adjusts for night time, and the climate control is a "set and forget" system, the high beams adjust automatically and wipers and headlights come on as needed. If I have a tire loosing air, the truck will let me know.

As for safety, the BLIS system, backup camera, pre-collision assist, and yes, the lane keeping system all may some day save my life.

In short, I welcome all the advances made over the years to make driving more pleasant and much more safer.

I wish the Ranger had cooled seats and 360 degree camera system and I wouldn't mind a heated steering wheel although I wouldn't use it very often.

Kent,

I cannot top what you said, as I didn't get my license until 30 years after you, '91..., but even at that, I loved classic cars and trucks! My first truck I bought to restore was a '61 Chevy Apache, straight 6, 3 on the tree, short bed, step side. I loved that old truck, but you're right, it was pretty much a big old chunk of iron, with no features, but that didn't bother me, as I hated how vehicles have become, even when I was a teenager in '91... Later on, I had a nice '66 Custom Cab Chevy C10 and then even later on, I had restored a '55 Ford F100, that I truly still miss all these years later

But, my '21 XLT is the newest vehicle I've owned in a long, long time... I didn't even know that the Rangers had progressed so far until my wife and I test drove one this past April, even though it was an XL 4x4, with the STX package... My last truck was an '03 Ranger Supercab 4x4, manual with a 4.0, loved that truck and planned to buy another one like it, until I saw how much they were selling for... So, we opted for a new Ranger.

Back to the thread topic. A Lariat would've been nice, but I thought it was too nice for myself. I didn't need all the "extra" options it had and I don't think I've ever had a daily driver with power leather seats or even heated seats at that... I work in the water distribution field and sometimes, I'll be extremely muddy or wet and my Pitbull goes everywhere with me on the weekends, so I didn't want him to slide around on the leather, similar to how he does in my wife's CR-V, haha!

I think the Lariat was maybe $4000 more than the XLT? I honestly didn't want to spend more than $30k on a new truck, but after looking at them, I saw that wasn't going to happen. I believe my truck was $34k or $36k. Also, I'm planning to make mine look similar to the one in my profile pic, (which is actually a Lariat), but there's a ton more of money spent to get it to that point in the pic.
In a few years, when I finally retire, I might want more options, but for now, I'm happy with my XLT.

To the OP, if he ever comes back to this thread? From what I read, I don't think you'll be happy with an XLT, sounds like it wouldn't meet your expectations... I'm a Ford guy, so there's not much to choose from, other than buying a 5.0 F-150 Regular Cab, I opted for a Crew Cab Ranger XLT.

Sorry to ramble on

 

[ScottyT]

I just ordered an XLT Tremor. No regrets.

Not a fan of the Lariat Gauge Cluster. Never owned a push button start so no big deal to me. Leather, hot in summer and cold in winter. Couldn't justify the price increase.

Only thing I wish the XLT would have an option for is LED Headlights. Other than that, I'm happy.

 

[Mirage775]

I just ordered an XLT Tremor. No regrets.

Not a fan of the Lariat Gauge Cluster. Never owned a push button start so no big deal to me. Leather, hot in summer and cold in winter. Couldn't justify the price increase.

Only thing I wish the XLT would have an option for is LED Headlights. Other than that, I'm happy.

I completely agree with you about the Lariat features, plus the sliding rear window is hidious, but if you want some better than Lariat LED headlights, look at these:

AlphaRex LUXX Headlights

Several options/colors to choose from, just make sure it's the LUXX and not the Pro versions.

 

[TBR17]

I went from a 501A Lariat SCAB FX4 to a 301A XLT SCREW with Technology, Tremor, and tow packages and honestly the only 2 things I initially missed were the LEDs and push button start. Upgraded every bulb on the truck to LED and got used to the switchblade key. No regrets.

 

[OldSpool]

You can get a lower trim xlt or a loaded xlt. Power seats here, adaptive cruise, folding mirrors, nav/touch screen, etc. I love cloth seats over leather, have had leather in the past. And I dislike the gauge cluster on the Lariat, so XLT fully loaded it was for me in 2019. Push button start would kinda be nice, but not a necessity. My last car had it but don't really miss it.

Did the same with my 2021 XLT. No regrets and love it. First time pick up owner coming from sport wagons. I wonder how I ever did without.

 

[Joeiconic]

This is my fifth Ford pickup, all XLT’s. It’s the sweet spot as far as I’m concerned.

 

[Zvedza]

I went XLT 90% for the cluster, and 10% because the Tremor package got better seats than a regular XLT and the Lariat Tremor just had an extra piece of leather in the middle.

I do slightly regret that i dont have forward sensors, keyless entry, and lights on the mirrors (for extra safety). Mainly cause its hard to simply swap those in compared to swapping lights and other stuff.

If only the Lariat didnt have that cluster i wouldve coughed up the extra dough for it.

 

[RangerDangerStranger]

I GOT MY 2004 Ranger XLT reg cab auto in Drk Grey for just over 12k, thats 18k, adusted for inflation. I drove it for 15 years, using it for multiple moves, dump runs piled over the cab, even 1.2 Tons (2400lbs) of dirt twicwe in the same day. Never failed me. Only reason i bought this new Ranger was it got totaled. Even then, it paid me back 7k. Think it was stickered at 28.5k. Got 4500 off from ford, and 1k from the dealer, So piad 24 for it. Thoght that was a good deal, but still too much for a pick up IMHO. If you want a luxery car, buy one. 40k for a Ranger? IDK, maybe 4x4 w/the 2.8 eco boost. off raod, ok. Just can't see it for a daily driver.

 

[Wytchdctr]

Really happy with my XLT. The Lariat has some extra toys, but I prefer the XLT instrumentation and don't miss the push button start. As far as power seats, I find that once the driver's seat is in the sweet spot I tend to leave it there. On a truck I actually prefer the manual adjustment which lets me quickly move the seat or seatback to access cargo etc.

What he said; I got an XLT with the only extra being remote start on the keyfob (like it better than the app).

Love it (minus the bird noises that had nothing to do with trim) and I like the dash over the Lariat anyway.

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