I've been looking at trucks for roughly a month. My budget (~$27k) puts me at a 2014 Lariat with under 80,000 miles. Or, a 2015 Lariat with like 100,000+ miles. We've test driven a '14 Platinum and a '15 Lariat. I actually lean towards preferring the older body style, but my husband strongly prefers the interior on the newer trucks. I also hesitate a bit on buying the older style and then feeling "outdated" for the next 10 years. I know they went from steel to aluminum in 2015 and have done some reading on that.....anything else I should consider? Thoughts or suggestions? Should I just wait and save up another $5k and give myself more options with a bigger budget?

 

I would get a '14 5.0 with under 80,000. I believe they are more reliable, but, that's just my opinion.

 

I had a 14 Lariat 3.5EB and still prefer it to the new trucks for a few reasons. The interior in the 15+ "may" be larger, but only if you sit in the back seat. The front seats are identical in size, and with even less room since the handle on the door panel sticks out, my knee rests against it where it didn't in the 14 and it gets uncomfortable after a while. Also the bottle holder in the door is much smaller in the 15. The Lariat seat in the 14 was much more comfortable, for me, than the one in the 2016 I had, but the 18 Platinum I have now, the seats are more comfortable than both, so for that it is a matter of butt than anything.

Another issue or complaint I have is the new style is very susceptible to vibrations, a tire that has a hard spot that would not be felt in the 14 will be felt in the 15+.

I was going to mention that Sync3 is far superior to the MFT, but the 2015 has the MFT still.

With this in mind, I guess is to drive both, and think about driving them for long distances of over an hour and see which one is more comfortable.

 

I wouldn't get the first year of a new gen. Not that a 16 will be any better, Ford seems to continually let common problems carry over, but they likely worked out some of the kinks.

That said, I'd still get a 14. I think Ford is getting getting a bit lazy on their quality control.

 

That was a concern also, thank you.

 

With the 2014 - a lot of the truck goes back to 2009 and the engines go back to 2011 - so they have had a decent amount of time to work anything out.

But even with that, there are plenty 2015 trucks out there with no problems. I was in a similar situation in 2017 - was between a 2013 & 2015 - went with the 2013 because of the price - the 2015 wasn't worth the additional cost to me.

Neither is a bad choice in my opinion.

 

If it helps, I wish I still had my 2014 Lariat even though I now have an 18 Platinum. I loved that truck, never had a problem with it, but lost it on an icy road one night, totaled it out. It was a RWD Lariat 501a with the 3.5EB and 3.15 rear gear. Got 20 MPG in normal driving, and towed like mad. If I had any complaint it was only that the remote start had a limited range, but found a fix for it, but never applied it.

With the new Gen truck I had to replace the WD hitch I used with the 2014 because the newer truck just didn't handle the same, had to get a Blue Ox to replace the Husky I was using. The other thing I found is that it is very susceptible to wheel balance. A wheel can be perfectly balanced but if the tire has more spring to it in one spot than the others, it will vibrate the truck at certain speeds, where the same tire/wheel would not bother the 2014 one bit. I am still using the wheels that were on the 2014 when I bought it, I had snow tires on steel wheels when I crashed it.

Knowing what I know now, had I known it in Jan 2017 I never would have bought the latest gen and would have searched harder for a 2014.

 

Just upgraded from my 2003 F-150 XLT 2WD to a 2014 4X4 XLT with the V-8. The new truck has a lot of upgrades inside and out, with leather seats, a SnugTop with BedRug, etc. Just got home from a 550 mile road trip, couldn't be happier. Nice ride, gas mileage as expected, performs well on the freeway, and so on. I hesitated about buying the 2015 for all the reasons you have already heard, so am happy with where I am at. Look around, don't take the first one you find, and the right one will find you. Good Luck

 

I love my 2013 145" XLT 301A 4x4 3.5 EcoBeast.

 

my vote is for the 2014. Love mine, Limited with the 6.2. The 14 seems to be plagued by the fewest problems from that generation.