Coercion Shaman

Again, as stated in an earlier comment, it isn't about 'saving money'. My truck has a level and 35" tires. My MIL (in her 70's) moved in last year and has a hell of a time getting in and out of the truck. If I put on the smaller tires again and removed the level, it would give her about 2" less to deal with in entry height. It is a genuine concern for us as it is still difficult with a step I carry around now. And while I love the look of the larger tires, I do somewhat miss the ride I lost by having 10 ply tires now and we haven't gone off road in a while. I figured I could spend the money to return to stock, or I could look at a new 2018. Or I could possibly go with a used Platinum to gain the massage seats that would help with my wife's back issues and gain the nicer interior trim pieces.

I absolutely love the look of the 2018. I just struggle with spending more than about $45K on a vehicle. Funny that I remember struggling with more than $20K, then more than $30K....

Coercion Shaman

Wow. Now that is a huge change.

The change in headlights wasn't a big issue for you?

PARIAH

Like the OP, there came a point in the pricing of these trucks that I just could not get my mind around spending nearly $70K on a vehicle. I miss some of the extras, to be sure, but none were worth the thousands I've saved by dropping down to an XLT.

Scrappy Doo

iTrader: (1)

Nope. The regular lights are fine. Don't see why people think they aren't. Sure they could be better, but then just get a nicer truck.

It's kind of like the way people here freak out over a 3.31 rear gear.

DyLivn

I don't know. Reflector halogen headlights in the year 2018 on a 50K vehicle is borderline lunacy. 10 year old cars that cost 25k new at least come with a projector housing. This is an area Ford flat out dropped the ball. I'll bet the next generation F150 comes with better headlights in the lower trim levels, just like the current Silverado.

Kingofwylietx

The 2016 and 2017 regular headlights are actually pretty bad. The LED headlights are *less bad*
See 2016: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/veh...Headlight13552
See 2017: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/veh...Headlight13799

The 2018 regular headlights are still pretty bad. The LED headlights improved. This is most likely due to being better aimed from the factory, as I'm not aware of any changes to the LED module (and IIHS does NOT adjust the headlights before testing, they test it as it was received from the factory).
See: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/veh...Headlight16023

nlitend1

The only way I would go back to a 302 is if I was forced to financially. I am a gadget geek though.
I also say keep what you have, changing it to fit your needs may be cheaper.

flyin51

iTrader: (1)

I went from a 14 Lariat, to a 16 XLT 301a. Was having issues with the 14 front suspension after leveling. Traded it with 19k miles. I added Katzkin and a few PTM parts to the 16. I don't miss the laggy touchscreen, or the heated/cooled seats. Half the time that function was needed, I had forgotten to even turn it on. I wanna keep this truck for a long while, so I figured the less gadgets to fail, the better. The power fold mirrors is the only thing I have missed from the Lariat, and that hasn't honestly been real often.

BarmanBean

iTrader: (1)

^With this info, just go back to stock, then. No need for a whole new truck to mitigate those issues. If anything, go trade in the current truck on a different vehicle altogether that would be more friendly for MIL if that's what is required.

Just my $0.02, but I just cant make sense of trading in a modified 2016 Lariat for a 2018 XLT. They are essentially the same exact vehicle, except the 2018 will have fewer features and will depreciate even faster.

BarmanBean

iTrader: (1)

Or if money is really no option, find someone to bag the whole truck. You could lower it to the pavement for MIL to get in and then raise it back up to lifted hit, lol.