Have a 2019 Lariat. Rented a 2020 XLT

[Dr. Zaius]

Someone here posted this. Maybe you?

Nope, not me.

If I said those things to my wife, I know that the minimum out of pocket cost would at least equal and likely exceed my deductible for the ER visit. ?

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[Figarou]

Been married 27 plus years, and am still trying to find the ON/OFF switch.

 

[Figarou]

As the title states; I have a Ranger & rented a Ranger.
I'm out of town and rented the XLT for 6 weeks. I'm a week into the rental, and there are a couple of differences that are driving me crazy.
One is the door handle lock/unlock feature of the Lariat. I never had that feature before buying my truck, and never really thought much about it over the last couple years. When I bought the truck, I thought.....ahh, couldn't care less one way or the other. Even until I got the rental, I thought it was no big deal.
Now that I don't have it!.........I'm going nuts without it! It's amazing how frustrated I get, pulling on the handle and nothing happens. Then I have dig into my pocket to get the keys....which have dropped below my wallet and phone, and wrestle them out.

I know, I know.....new world problems.....but unless you've experienced it, you won't understand it. I didn't.

The second issue is not a difference between the Lariat & the XLT, but a difference between my truck and the rental.
Now before I get into it...and at the risk of offending some people...I'm going to throw this out there. I am really over all the damper jokes. They were funny at the start, but come on, can we not move on. They're just not funny anymore. At this point, I liken them to kindergarten jokes. Oooohhh, he said "poo". ?
Ok, so now that I have everyone's fingers all tingly, ready to post a response, the other HUGE issue I'm having with the rental is it doesn't have a tailgate damper.
I am saying this in all honesty; once you have a tailgate with a damper and you use a truck without one, it actually becomes a safety issue. That may sound a bit over zealous, but it really isn't. The very first time I opened the tailgate, I popped the handle and let go. Of course, I expected the tailgate to gently lower. And of course, it didn't. It slammed down as I was turning away and it caught the bone on my wrist. Four days later and I'm just now starting to get full movement back. Despite that incident, I've come close to doing it twice more.

It's funny the thing that become important, that didn't seem important before you had them.

There is a big plus to having the XLT, and that is the instrument cluster. It is soooooooooo much better than the cyclopes cluster on the Lariat. How Ford thought the Lariat cluster was an upgrade, is beyond me.

The same thing will happen to me if I rented a Ranger.
I'm so used to my vehicle and I know what to expect. Can't expect the same if I drive a different one.

I can't remember the vehicle, but in the past, there's this feature where you gently close the trunk and it'll pull the lid in the rest of the way. No need to slam it down. What did I do when I came across one? Slammed it down. The owner was upset. (I helped carry groceries to people's cars when I was younger.)

 

[nevada.tracy]

Yeah, they're not too good at following directions.

I once told my wife to sit down and be quiet, and she didn't do either one of those things...

Never works!!!!

 

[RANGER_MARC]

As the title states; I have a Ranger & rented a Ranger.
I'm out of town and rented the XLT for 6 weeks. I'm a week into the rental, and there are a couple of differences that are driving me crazy.
One is the door handle lock/unlock feature of the Lariat. I never had that feature before buying my truck, and never really thought much about it over the last couple years. When I bought the truck, I thought.....ahh, couldn't care less one way or the other. Even until I got the rental, I thought it was no big deal.
Now that I don't have it!.........I'm going nuts without it! It's amazing how frustrated I get, pulling on the handle and nothing happens. Then I have dig into my pocket to get the keys....which have dropped below my wallet and phone, and wrestle them out.

I know, I know.....new world problems.....but unless you've experienced it, you won't understand it. I didn't.

The second issue is not a difference between the Lariat & the XLT, but a difference between my truck and the rental.
Now before I get into it...and at the risk of offending some people...I'm going to throw this out there. I am really over all the damper jokes. They were funny at the start, but come on, can we not move on. They're just not funny anymore. At this point, I liken them to kindergarten jokes. Oooohhh, he said "poo". ?
Ok, so now that I have everyone's fingers all tingly, ready to post a response, the other HUGE issue I'm having with the rental is it doesn't have a tailgate damper.
I am saying this in all honesty; once you have a tailgate with a damper and you use a truck without one, it actually becomes a safety issue. That may sound a bit over zealous, but it really isn't. The very first time I opened the tailgate, I popped the handle and let go. Of course, I expected the tailgate to gently lower. And of course, it didn't. It slammed down as I was turning away and it caught the bone on my wrist. Four days later and I'm just now starting to get full movement back. Despite that incident, I've come close to doing it twice more.

It's funny the thing that become important, that didn't seem important before you had them.

There is a big plus to having the XLT, and that is the instrument cluster. It is soooooooooo much better than the cyclopes cluster on the Lariat. How Ford thought the Lariat cluster was an upgrade, is beyond me.

Kindergarten jokers, unite!

 

[D Fresh]

I really don't get the hate on the Lariat cluster. Seriously. People say "the XLT cluster is soo much better." Well, what's better about it? The LCD screen from 1980s calculator?

What are people's complaints about the Lariat cluster?

Also, not our, or Ford's fault, that you weakened yourself by installing a damper. Perhaps you need a gym membership.

 

[Chris M]

I like the analog tach and speedometer of the XLT gauge cluster.
Doesn't the Lariat have only the single speedometer thingy in the middle of it all? Not a fan of that look at all.
Not a hater, mind you. Just not a fan.
And that in itself would have been enough to keep me from buying a Lariat.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

Different strokes for different folks. The cluster does seem to inspire emotional responses in people.

Coming from a fully loaded Frontier Pro4X, I initially drove a Lariat thinking that was what I would want.

The cluster turned me off the Lariat.

When I decided I was going to get an XLT Ranger equipped the way I wanted it, I only had 2 things that were an absolute MUST.

1. It could be any color other than black.

2. The color couldn't be black.

Black trucks are a great choice for people other than me.

 

[Todd Chapin]

Im know I am in the minority here but I love my Lariat dash cluster. Love that I can have my nav info on the small screen on the right. I agree with the OP on everything else, love all the whistles and bells.

 

[D Fresh]

Im know I am in the minority here but I love my Lariat dash cluster. Love that I can have my nav info on the small screen on the right. I agree with the OP on everything else, love all the whistles and bells.

I use Android Auto and Google Maps for nav. But I keep the compass up over there, I like the speed limit display as well.

I like the fact that it's bright, legible, and easy to pick out what I'm looking for.

I have no issue with the XLT display. It's just severely dated. Looks like the display belongs in a 2002 Ranger. Whereas the Lariat cluster is modern, like the rest of my truck.

The XLT cluster looks like my milktruck's dash. Perfectly functional and utilitarian, but boring.

 

[Tracy Bowman]

just for an easy visual comparison for reference

Thank you! Wondered what the fuss was about all this time.

 

[Dr. Zaius]

had a black truck. 1989 Ranger....never....ever....again. 30+ years i have stayed away from black
...

I'm a slow learner.

My Rx7 was black, my Camaro SS was black, my current Bronco is black with some red.

Black looks so good when clean, for about 20 minutes. And then the first summer day you touch it and leave 3 layers of epidermis you start to remember why you don't really want a black vehicle again.

Out of all the color vehicles I've had, the light gunmetals and silver seems to be easiest to keep looking clean. My Ranger is the first white vehicle I've had and it's pretty good too so far.

All that said, we all fully realize that it's a pretty frivolous thing to get emotional about different instrument clusters.

But then I can afford to be closed minded, because I'm right

 

[BGDOGY]

I like the analog tach and speedometer of the XLT gauge cluster.
Doesn't the Lariat have only the single speedometer thingy in the middle of it all? Not a fan of that look at all.
Not a hater, mind you. Just not a fan.
And that in itself would have been enough to keep me from buying a Lariat.

The left side can show different info, you can have a digital speedometer on the left side of the cluster if you want it. I usually leave it on MPG, so I can remember to keep my foot out of it!

 

[AzScorpion]

The left side can show different info, you can have a digital speedometer on the left side of the cluster if you want it. I usually leave it on MPG, so I can remember to keep my foot out of it!

I leave it on the same screen too. It's amazing how fast the mpg go down when you're going up an incline or when you step on it. Idling really kills it too. Now that I think of it it might be better to change the screen seeing how high gas prices are now. lol

 

[Montana Ranger]

There is a big plus to having the XLT, and that is the instrument cluster. It is soooooooooo much better than the cyclopes cluster on the Lariat. How Ford thought the Lariat cluster was an upgrade, is beyond me.

I almost went XLT over the Lariat over that. The Lariat cluster is a cluster. It's the most inefficient deliverer of information I've ever owned. Most of the screens are useless information and you have to dance around to see what you want when you want it. As someone who's done human interface design, I'd love the opportunity to re-design that.

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