Hello all. Considering a couple used 2018 Lariats. One has the 501a package and the other has 502a. Have not owned a ford before.

Is the 502a worth the additional costs? What do you really get?

appeciate your time in response.

 

Go here https://www.sandersonsford.com/asset...0-Brochure.pdf. Download the file, go to page 29, and look at the right-hand side. It has all of the Lariat equipment group details.

EDIT: Adding my observations on the 502A package. The following items are definitely worth the upgrade between the 501 & 502

Heated and ventilated 10-way power-adjustable front bucket seats,
Memory driver’s seat and flow-through center console with floor shifter
Heated rear outboard seats
SYNC Connect4 + 110V/400W power outlet on the back of the center console
B&O PLAY™ Premium Audio System by HARMAN with HD Radio™
Voice-activated Navigation System
Quad-beam LED headlamps with auto high beams (Hands down beats any aftermarket option)
LED fog lamps (I did not get LED in 2016 but swapped out mine for aftermarket and worth it)
Windshield wiper de-icer

 

What do you really get? Factory LED headlights. That's the major upgrade with a 502A. Also standard heated steering wheel, heated second row seats, little better stereo, and I think heated/deicing and auto/rain sensing for the windshield wipers. There are also several higher end options that you can, well, optionally, add to a 502A that are not available at lower levels (power running boards, 360* camera/tech package, park assist, and the like)

When shopping new trucks, IIRC, it was about $3,500 street price increase to go from 501A to 502A. I got the 501A. I think that was the right call for me, though I also could have definitely rationalized the extra cost for the 502A.

If you get the 501A anticipate wanting (needing) to do something to upgrade the terrible factory halogen headlights. Good news is you can get a noticeable improvement for like $120, bad news is to go all the way and replace the whole assemblies it's upwards of $1,200 (varies considerably with what you get) and people regularly have problems with seemingly all of the aftermarket expensive full assembly swaps.

If I were shopping a used 2018 Lariat right now and looking at both 501A and 502A, I'd be open to either, depending on other factors.




Gas tank. MUST HAVE 36 gallon tank. There is literally no reason for any buyer or owner not to prefer the 36g tank.

Rear axle: Make sure you know what the rear axle is and if it's the one you want (some guys will not accept an open rear diff, or a ratio higher than 3.55, or 3.73 even for 5.0). Just, make an informed rear axle decision.

Moonroof: I veto any truck with a pano moonroof because they have so many problems. But, they aren't a death sentence necessarily and some people really really like them. They do tend to cost more, are more things to go wrong, and do add weight/reduce payload


Payload: Do you need to or want to, or maybe, haul heavy or TOW with the truck?


Every Lariat 501A is going to have the keyless proximity entry with push button start, leather, heated and ventilated seats, power folding side mirrors, interior ambient lighting, 8" screen with sync 3, 4A (basically AWD selectable) if 4x4, and dual zone electronic climate control as well as some smaller things (backup camera, backup sensors, cross traffic alert, blind spot monitoring) and all the of XLT stuff

 

I would say it depends on the price difference. I'm not familiar with what the upcharge is for 502A on the secondhand market. I have a 501A and really wanted LED headlights so I had to go aftermarket. Heated wheel and rear seats would be nice, but not something that I miss often, if at all.

 

It’s worth it for the LED lights alone.

 

502a for the win. That is all.

 

I always felt that the XX2A's, whether the 300 series for xlt's, or the 500's for lariats, was worth the increase in price.

 

go for the 502A! you get a lot more bells and whistles and the price to upgrade to the 502A isn´t that substantial. as others have said, the LED headlights alone are worth wild to get the 502A. some people despise the pano moonroof, but i personally would not buy a new lariat without one. i think its awesome. and while some have problems, most do not!

 

It’s obviously a personal preference and budget thing but I went with 501A. I did want the LEDs but that wasn’t worth the cost to me. Didn’t really care about the rest of the 502A goodies.

 

What is the price difference between the 2 in the used market? Personally I would pay $2k more for a used 2018 truck with the 502a vs. 501a if everything else was equal.