OopsUpsideYerHead

I'm talking about things like adaptive cruise, parking assist, lane keeping, power running boards, puddle lights, power folding mirrors, heated/cooled seats, heated steering, 360 cameras, massage seats, ambient lighting, trailer parking, pano roof, etc...

I'm curious to hear what OWNERS of trucks with some of these options think about them after living with them.

I'll go first. I have a totally loaded 2017 Lariat 502a with pretty much every possible option selected. I bought it used, I didn't even know a Lariat could have some of the options this one had.

1) parking assist:
I'll be honest, I didn't even know my truck had this until I'd already owned it for 2 weeks! I park on the street in front of my house. My street is such that if another car is parked directly on the opposite side it can be a little narrow to squeeze through, especially if there are mounds of snow (I've lost a side mirror to my old car thanks to some hit & run coward). So I like to get snug up to the curb. My block is an odd shape, roughly the shape of the rotor of a rotary engine. I consider myself a high percentile parallel parker, yet even having lived on this street for 6 years the curve of it can still be challenging to get correct so that you end up snug against the curb both front and back while not scraping up your wheels/tires against the curb. When I tried out the parking assist I was very skeptical it would do even a satisfactory job. I was absolutely floored with how perfect it got me, and it works 99% of the time! Sometimes I even get annoyed if there isn't another vehicle parked so I can use the assist! It has gotten me into spots I may have passed by thinking they were either too small or would be too much hassle to get into. I've also enabled perpendicular mode via forscan, with more mixed results. A lot of times the perpendicular mode doesn't like/recognize perfectly good spots. All in all, I really like this feature, especially for a vehicle this size (6.5ft bed SCREW). I think this is a worthwhile feature to pay for if you do even a modest amount of parallel parking in your area.

2) Lane Keeping
Another feature I didn't know I had at first. It works. I just don't know how practical it is or whether it will ever "save me" from something. I thought that maybe it would almost allow one to rest their hands off the steering wheel (like on a long highway trip with cruise control). My limited experience testing it doesn't support that. If I let the truck drift to one side it will correct it back the other way but if I don't intervene I will just end up leaving the lane on the other side and it will just keep correcting side to side (would not be a pleasant road trip, to say the least). A bit underwhelmed on this, would not pay specifically for this feature.

3) Puddle Lights
Meh, not that useful to me. Wish that they illuminated more rearward toward the side of vehicle for seeing the curb when parking at night. Would not pay specifically for this, maybe I just haven't yet encountered a scenario where these will prove useful.

4) Power Folding Mirrors
Yes please! I like my mirrors tucked any time I'm parked. With auto folding enabled via forscan this works great and will absolutely want this feature on any future vehicles.

5) Cooled Seats
Again, yes please! I freaking hate when my back is sweating in a car seat and therest not a damn thing I or the front AC can do about it. Definitely a good feature I'll always prize.

6) heated seats/steering wheel
same as above as long as I live someplace that gets cold weather.

7) 360 cameras
Very useful, and obviously necessary to enable other features. Would be amazing if they were able to be utilized like dash cams too. I imagine cameras are going to be nearly universally standard on most vehicles beyond the very lowest of the low trim levels going forward. Cams really aid in reversing and getting within inches of things when parking.

8) Ambient Lighting
Pffff, I sometimes wonder if there is some inside joke at Ford about this. Completely useless aside from amusing my 5 year old for about a minute. Otherwise, I never turn them on or think to myself "what I need right now is to have purple accent lighting in my cup holder!"

9) Inverter with outlets integrated in dash/console
I don't really use them much but when I do, it is usually in a situation where I'm very thankful to have this. I wouldn't buy a truck without it. Certainly the inverter quality & output could be improved, another outlet in the bed by the tailgate would be awesome.


Anyway, those are my thoughts on some of these optional "luxuries" that are often derided by some tough talkers (eg. "I don't need no help parking!") or those rationalizing their decision to forgo them without having tried them or lived with them. Looking forward to hear other people's takes on some of these options.

acdii

At least three items that drove me to a Platinum, one was the massaging seats, the second the power running boards, so easy to get in and out of the truck, especially for someone with bad knees and back, and the ultimate item, the heated steering wheel. I was giving serious thought to a 2016 F350 Platinum, but it didn't have a heated steering wheel, deal killer for me. LOL

For me the list is

Heated steering wheel
Adaptive Cruise
LED lights
Power running boards
Comfortable seats

Other than the seats, though not as good as the Platinum seats, if I could get the above in an XLT I would.

h2ouup2

1. Parking Assist:
I too like the parking assist. It is very accurate, and much easier than I thought it would be. Though I am an excellent parallel parker, my wife isn’t, and this comes in very handy. I too will second the idea that it can get me in places I might have passed on.

2. Lane Keeping:
I like it, and don’t like it. If you’re in construction, etc., its nice to have it should your mind wonder, and keep you off the side of a wall, etc. Even on regular marked highways it can keep you in your lane.Now the part I don’t like, if you have to make an evasive maneuver quickly (a car changing lanes into you) and don’t have time to put on your blinker, the lane assist hinders your movement, which could be just enough delay to actually cause an accident.

3. Puddle Lights:
I like them. When I’m driving down the ranch drive which is well over a ¼ mile long, you can turn them on and look for the cows (or whatever you want to look at). Very valuable, in this situation. I just wish they would stay on at higher speeds (hello FORScan)?

4. Power Folding Mirrors:
Ditto! I don’t’ want a truck without them. I keep my truck garaged, so doing the FORScan and having them fold when parked automatically is even better. I do wish they operated like the older models though. On my 12 Platinum, I can fold them in or out anytime, meaning the power to them is always hot. On my 19 you have to hit the start button or have the truck running for them to deploy. I don’t know if FORScan can change that either.

5. Cooled Seats:
Ditto again. It would be nice to have them as an option in the back for the passengers. I know most wouldn’t use them, but at least have the option

6. Heated Seats/Steering Wheel:
I like the heated seats and noticed the heated steering wheel comes on with them. I do like them especially on very cold days.

7. 360 Cameras:
I love the 360 cameras, especially the front camera. My garage is a bit tight and I love being able to bet within an inch of the wall and know I won’t touch it. I would be great if they had a plug in which you could insert a camera and use the front camera as one of the lens to record to your SD card, or even use all the cameras on the vehicle while driving to record.I do want to say that my 19 camera is not even close to as clear as my 12’s camera. The clarity is like a HD to SD tv.

8. Ambient Lighting:
Well Ford listened. You only have one color for 2019 and that is ice blue. You can change the intensity in the 2019 which I think wasn’t available in the previous years which didn’t have the ability to change color. In my 12 I could change to different colors, change the intensity. I don’t use it a lot, but when I do it’s a nice change, kind of like having a different truck. I miss it, but it’s not a deal killer.

9. Inverters:
I love them. I like the fact that the 19 has them in the back and front dash, and the fact that the wattage has increased. I too would like to have one in the bed, but I can see why Ford didn’t. To many people leaving the cover open, the change of it getting broken, and keeping water out.

10. LED Lights:
I LOVE the LED lights. Much brighter and easy to see. I like how they look and the light spread is fantastic. In my 12 I could have my brights on by mistake, and usually, no one would bright be back because they didn’t realize they were on bright. In fact, this was my least favorite feature of my 12 were the headlights. I also like the fact that LED’s are on all Limited lights.

11. Wheel Well Liners:
My 12 Platinum didn’t have them, my 19 Limited came with them. Didn’t think I would notice, but it sure helps keep it cleaner. If my next truck doesn’t come with them, I will be putting them on.

12. Panoramic Roof:
I don’t use it, It looks nice and it’s cool, but if I could have gotten one without this roof I would have. However Limited doesn’t offer one without it so. I would like to have one less place to leak. However, my 12 has a moon roof, and it’s never leaked. IMO the key is to open it once every two weeks just to keep things limber….

13. B&O Sound System:
I have the Sony with NAV in the 12 and thought it was just fine. I really didn’t think there would be that much difference in sound. I was wrong. The B&O is better depending on the source.

14. Removal of the CD/DVD player:
Okay, I know they are a dying breed, but at least offer it in the 2019. I have thousands of CD’s and really don’t have the time to convert them into MP3’s. I had some DVD’s I had burned that had lots of songs, and with the LockPICK my wife would watch movies on long trips.

15. Ribbon on LCD screen that shows current radio station info:
In my 12 even on full screen NAV a ribbon at the bottom displayed the current station FM/AM SIRUS, etc., and what was playing. Maybe I can do it in the 19 but haven’t figured it out yet.

16. The Jukebox:
I liked being able to record stuff in my 12, and then play it back later. I wish you could do that with the 19.

17. Massage Seats:
Not a deal breaker either way, but nice to have when you need them. Just don’t get to comfortable or you might just find yourself dozing off on a long trip home.

18. Power Running Boards:
I like these much better than static running boards. They area actually useful. They lower so my 85-year-old mother can get it very easily. Your foot doesn’t slip off as easily. The transition between the steps is perfect, and it gives me more ground clearance. I don’t want a truck without them.

19. Auto/Lock Tailgate:
I love it!

20. Auto lowering Tailgate:
Well I do like it, but you do have to be careful. Make sure there isn’t something hooked up or sitting on the tailgate before you lower it. You must be careful in a parking lot. If you backed in, is there something behind you that it might lower on to. If you are parked nose in (this happened to me), you must watch traffic. We were coming out of a restaurant (four of us), with to-go boxes. I didn’t want the smell of food in my truck so as we were walking towards the truck I said, “Hey let put our food in the back” and popped the tailgate. As it began to lower a car rounder the corner in the parking lot and almost ran into the tailgate.

21. Dampening Tailgate:
I like the fact that my tailgate lowers slowly, it doesn’t just slam down when opened.

22. Tailgate Step:
Didn’t think I would need it, but I love it, and wouldn’t have a truck without one. Maybe it’s my age but buying a new one this would be a deal breaker if it didn’t have one.

23. Adaptive Cruise:
Another one I didn’t think I needed, but not having to worry about having to reset your cruise, it great. Not a deal breaker, but If I had two truck to choose from, all being equal except one had the Adaptive Cruise, and one didn’t I would take the one with the Adaptive Cruise.

24. Shark Fin SAT Antenna:
I have much less SAT loss with the Shark Fin Antenna.

25. Memory:
I love the fact I can have three memory seats, wheels, mirrors, pedals and steering wheels. No more having to change things every time my wife drives it. I also like how you can assign it to a remote control too. Even if you have both in the car (you’re with your wife) whomever opens the driver’s door the memory is set to that key. I like this a lot. That’s my 25. Ford has come a long way since 2012. Though there are some things I like better about the 2012, overall my 2019 is much more of a truck.

71_340

All I can say is once you have owned a King Ranch or a Platinum and are used to having all the amenities you never want to go back to a plane Jane truck. The only thing I don't find very useful is the Park Assist; but then, I don't live in a metropolitan area where parallel parking is probably the norm.

Firerunner

iTrader: (3)

I'm kind of out of place here because having an XLT the only luxury items on your list I had were the heated seats & power inverter, but I have added most of the other features. Here are my thoughts on them.

Power Inverter - Nice to have, but I've never really put it to use.

Heated Seats/Heated Steering wheel - love them on cold mornings. This is the first vehicle I've had with them, but any future vehicle will have it now.

Dampening Tailgate/Step - I'm not as young as I once was, it's definitely a must have from now on

Adaptive Cruise - now that I've got it, I don't want to use regular cruise

LED lights - Love the output of the LED headlights, I had the LED tail lights & was satisfied, but felt the parking lights could have been more visible from the rear. Once the '18 lights came out I like the rear visibility better.

Power running boards - As the others have stated, much better getting in & out of the truck...even for a 2WD like mine. I have two older dogs that had issues climbing in the truck, even with the static running boards. With the PRBs they are low enough to provide them with a firm step getting into the truck.

360 Camera - Nice to have, but I really don't use it as much as I thought I would.

Power Fold Mirrors - Absolutely love them, Have them set to auto fold

Puddle Lights - I like the light output they provide

Spot Lights - Another addition that I really haven't used since installing other than occasionally checking the mailbox at night. They don't seem very bright unless you are working close to them IMO.

BLIS - I would keep this on the must have list for the next vehicle also

Threeper88

Of all the extra features my 2018 502a has I really only use the heated/cooled seats and steering wheel and power fold mirrors. LED headlights are sweet too.

The seats are nice to have but far from necessary. The power fold mirrors were big for me for my garage. The other technology stuff I just don't use. I even find myself swiveling my head when backing out and not using my camera. I check it once in a while but then feel like I'm dividing my attention. I kind of miss the plainness of my old 2004 FX4. My next truck will be an XLT.

Domo Dan

SCrewYou

I have a 501A, so I have some of these features, but not all of them. I'll rank them in order of usefulness.

1. BLIS: I consider myself a good driver, I don't get distracted often, but I will admit BLIS has saved my *** more than once. Sometimes, no matter how much you look, you just don't see that tiny car, or worse yet, motorcycle hiding in your blind spot. I can usually hear the bikes and look around more for them or wait until I can see them to make any moves. I guess it's true, loud pipes save lives.

2. Power folding mirrors: This is another must-have feature for me. So much easier than having to get out of the truck and fold the passengers side mirror in when going through a car wash, trying to squeeze between two vehicles parked on the street, etc. I won't own another truck without them.

3. Heated seats: I love them, again, I can't go without them at this point. They work great. My truck also has cooled seats, but I will get to them in a minute, as they unfortunately aren't as effective as my heated seats.

4. Tailgate step: I don't use my truck as a truck very often, but when I do need to load something in the bed, I'm very glad I have it. I'm not an old man by any stretch, and I'm in fairly decent shape, but this still helps out immensely and I wouldn't own a Ford truck that didn't have it.

5. Ambient lighting: It's pretty useless, but it's cool to rub in the face of the guys with newer trucks complaining they can't change the color of their cupholder lights.

6. Puddle lights/spotlights: I'm a city boy, I don't need to check on the pastures, I don't hunt, I don't work on a construction site, I don't go camping, you're much more likely to find my truck in the Starbucks drive-thru or the Costco parking lot than on a dirt road, so the mirror spotlights are pretty useless for me, but I can see how they would be useful for others.

7. Twin panel moonroof: It's another cool feature, one of the reasons I wanted the truck, but I don't use it as much as I thought I would. Mainly because I'm afraid to open the damn thing with all the problems people have had. Mine has also recently developed a rattle (I believe it's coming from the roof, but I'm not 100% sure If I'm honest), but it was nice and quiet for the first 60,000 miles.

8. Sync3: Not really a luxury feature, since most XLTs have it, but I will list it anyway, since it is an option. Ford really needs to get their crap together when it comes to infotainment systems. It just isn't reliable and is almost as bad as MyFord Touch. I've already had the APIM replaced once, and I'm starting to get some sluggishness, dropping my Bluetooth connection, and the NO GPS icon more often, which are classic symptoms it's about the crap the bed again. If you read the many threads on it, I'm not the only one who will have gone through more than one APIM either. Sync3 is great, when it works. I love the layout, it's reasonably quick, but if I'm going to have to go through this crap every 30,000 miles, that's very disappointing.

9. Cooled seats: I would list them much further up, if they actually worked. I can't even feel them when they're on, so I don't bother using them anymore. This is a widely discussed topic, and I'm aware that the 18+ trucks seem to have cooled seats that are more effective.

10. Memory seat/mirrors: They're great if you have more than one driver, but I'm the only one who drives my truck, so for me, they are useless most of the time, but they do work flawlessly.

bobn

I went with a Platinum due to seats, IMO, are more comfy than a lariat and the leather seems to be nicer than a Lariat.

Had a fender bender (not my fault) and truck was in the shop for about a month (frame replaced) last summer, and I was in a base xlt Ford. By the end of the rental I was thinking is a Platinum really worth the extra coin? And was thinking maybe I'll sell the Platinum...that is until I got my truck back.

Once you are used to all the bells and whistles, they are nice, and the one bell and whistle I missed the most was being able unlock the truck by just grabbing the handle. What is this called, remote unlock proximity? I know this option is available in a lariat too.

cgarison

My thoughts on the different features of the F150 trucks including the luxury group items.

360 Camera: This is the feature that took me to the "Platinum" trim as I could get a lot more items "bundled" for the money over the 502A. I love the feature and use it all the time when I am working in north Jersey/NYC and when I am working closer to Philly where parking is much more tight than out here in Valley Forge/K.o.P, PA. When I am in the mid to upper Ohio Valley (primarily northern KY) I rarely use the 360 Camera.

Lane Keep Assist: I don't necessarily like this feature on the truck because I think my truck is a worse driver than me, but there have been a couple of times where this option has been extremely handy, like the time I was driving back to Valley Forge from Secaucus, NJ and I had just finished working a project where I had been awake for 47 straight hours. Technically, I was too tired to drive, but the LKA and Adaptive Cruise kept the truck properly spaced while I eased back to Pennsylvania. And I did such a nice job I did not get a single "coffee cup" notification on the dash.

Adaptive Cruise: I have a love hate relationship with adaptive cruise. On the New Jersey Turnpike and the PA turnpike near Philly, this function is vital to my sanity. OTOH, I really hate this functionality when I am running along I68 and I79. But I know it is easily turned on and off on the menus in the dash so not a big deal. In all, not having a button to enable and disable adaptive cruise in the truck (similar to the LKA button in the center console) is one of my few gripes on the truck because I like being able to turn this on at a whim and then turn it back off.

Park Assist: The salesman that sold me the truck told me to never use the button unless I wanted to crash the truck. They had done way more damage to cars trying to demonstrate the function to customers than had sales where people "had to have" that feature. So I took his advice and don't use the feature.

Massaging Seats: Bonus feature of the Platinum Trim that my wife loves and I can live without. They make her happy on our 500 mile commutes to Kentucky for the holidays.

Rain sensing wipers: Nice feature, but they wipe at more aggressive speeds than I use when I control them myself. I am thinking about disabling this feature and seeing what it would be like for me to go back to manual wipers for a bit.

Automatic High beams: This is another case of having a great feature on the truck, but the algorithm programmed by Ford just does not please me as much as when I control this myself. I typically over ride this and manually control the lights myself more times than one would think.

LED Headlights: This is the feature that put me in the "Luxury" trim trucks. I think it is wrong for Ford not to offer better lighting on the 501a, XLT and STX trims. (Safety is not a luxury. GOT THAT FoMoCo!!!! /rant) Now that is out of my system, I am a bit concerned that the headlights will ice up as I travel through western Maryland in the winter, but so far, I have not had any issues. If I do, a light bar with some old school, (probably Hella 550) halogen auxiliary lights are in my future.

Pano Sunroof: I have red hair and fair skin. I turn shades of cooked lobster when exposed to the sun for too long without sunscreen. I have not stocked the truck with ample amounts of sunscreen (yet) so this has not been used much.

FX4 Downhill assist: never used it, yet...

B&O Stereo: I am really starting to like this stereo. It has taken a bit of time for it to grow on me, but it is.

Augmented Sound/Noise canceling technology: This damn near drove me nuts when I purchased the truck and was the first thing that I disabled with ForScan. Bambi mode was second.

Power Running Boards: These are a little lower than the standard running board and have been very helpful in allowing my mother-in-law to get in the truck. They get awkwardly muddy when off road and you have to remember to deploy them when taking the truck to the car wash to remove the grime.

Tailgate Step: I did not need the tailgate step, but it is really nice and is bundled at almost zero cost as a part of the Platinum package. Very nice feature.

Bed Side Steps: I have used these more than I though I would, but do not deploy these steps when it is below freezing outside and the roads are wet. It took me about 5 minutes to chip away the ice to get the damn step to close at the Home Depot 2 weeks ago.

Wheel Well Liners: I like the looks of them (black liners on a black truck sounds like a bit of an oxymoron) and I don't know why these are not standard on higher trim trucks.

Puddle Lights: With the large towing mirrors on the truck, these are far enough away from the body of the truck they actually work to light area along the sides of the truck. I have used them for light to check the torque on my front wheel lug nuts at 6:00 pm on a winters evening last month.

Mirror Spotlights: I agree, these could be better and I have used them to light the area when backing into the driveway at the Kentucky Compound, but they are pretty pitiful. They did work well with the mirrors folded in to light the area to check the torque values on the rear wheels of the truck on that January night without me having to pull my head light out from under the back seat.

Power Inverter: Nice to have, but have not needed it yet.

The only BIG dislike on the truck is the placement of the light control panel. It is not as bad now that I have a fall/winter's worth of driving in the truck, but last August, it was a total PITA to find the different controls while on the road.