Masi1926

A month ago a young man was texting on the highway while it was slow 40mph traffic and drove his Buick right under my bumper. Not too much damage to mine, but my trailer hitch just destroyed his engine and my bumper took care of the rest of his front end. No injuries for either of us.
Anyways I got to drive a 2016 lariat for almost two full weeks.
I came away with some positives and a few negatives.
First, I won't be rushing to trade mine in (2014 fx4-5.0), because they both drove identical.
Mine has 30,000 miles & the rental had 11,0000. It had a 5.0, as does mine. I will say the new 5.0 's power increase was noticeable. Other than that, mechanically they felt the same.
One thing that was a huge difference was going from my projectors, back to regular halogen. I forgot how just much brighter the projectors are.
Two things that for me that are minor, but huge annoyance's in the 14.
The 16 went back to push the stock forward for high beams like the 04-08's did. So pull back to flash to pass isn't a guessing game trying 'not' to pull back so far that you turn your high beams on permanently when you want to signal someone. I hate how that operates in mine.
Also there's a dedicated cargo lamp button finally. I consider that a big deal and it pisses me off, that I don't have that. It's a pickup with a bed. C'mon ford, you should've known better.
The 16 locks the tailgate with the fob. That's nice and I'm definitely jealous of that. I know I can install pop-n-lock on mine, but it's a nice factory touch finally.
Now this whole aluminum thing made the truck feel light and nimble, but I noticed it wasn't planted to the ground and liked to skip sideways on bumps.
I can't imagine how the 250/350's are going to drive. I really felt the difference when I got back in mine. I'm a little skeptical of that Chevy commercial when they drop the tool box. The bed felt just as strong as mine. (Shhh....I tested it gently with a straight claw hammer. I didn't hit it too hard, but I don't think I could've torn the aluminum open).
Finally I never got comfortable in it. I don't know why, it was all power like mine, but I felt really low. It was strange.
Lastly none of the power ports had constant power. I tried all 3 and nothing till I turned the key on. That would bug the hell out of me. I feel like maybe there was something wrong, because you gotta have one, that has power without having to turn the key on...
I wrote this fast as I'm waiting for an appointment. I'm not saying I don't like this new generation. It has its positives, no doubt. I'm just glad I got the opportunity to drive one and came to the realization that I'm not missing out on anything big. So I'm still very happy & proud driving my 14.
I'm even more pleased that my dealer's body shop, did a perfect repair job.
Now in two years when the 18's are refreshed, I'll be looking at them and I hope the carfax doesn't screw me out of $4/5 grand!

tareed94

I just bought a 16 5.0, came up from a 07 5.4. HUGE increase in power and features. I never messed with the 09-14's much aside from a 2011 F-150 with the NA 3.5 that my dad has as a work truck, so I don't have much comparison. The power ports drive me nuts, but I believe you can give them constant power with Forscan. I haven't gotten into the Forscan stuff yet though.

The bed to me almost feels like it flexes when you walk across it, but that could just be in my head.

1stTruckGuy

It's really only the 11-14s that had the high beam controls funny like you mentioned. I had a 12 Lariat, and now a 10 platinum, and my blinker stalk must be pushed forward for high beams. Maybe it can be installed in the 11+ trucks? There is also a dimmer switch in the 09-10s that can completely turn off the interior lights even with the doors open, very useful for drive ins and not an option on the 11-14 trucks. I think the one thing I would really really like in the 15+ trucks is they went back to having a driver's side A pillar grab handle like the 04-08s had.

Masi1926

I forgot about the grab handle or the lack of it.
I used that to pull myself in on my 05 every time. I forget if my 2010 had one.
I refuse to pull on the steering wheel, so ya. I miss the grab handle something awful.

tareed94

The '11's for sure don't have one. That was (and still is) a big complaint from my dad. I didn't even notice it was back until after a week or two driving my truck. I just used it to get in and it didn't sink in that it had come back. Haha

Cisco1911

I drove a beautiful black '16 FX4 w/ 5.0 for a day and while the ride was nice and smooth, it never felt planted. Definitely felt lighter and more squirrely in the *** end. The black paint color is very nice. The interior cabin seemed smaller to me for some reason. Maybe it actually is smaller, I'm not sure. The 5.0 did seem peppier than my '14.


While the '16 had all the bells and whistles, for my money I do not need all the "extras". It was information overload trying to figure everything out. LOL. I did like the back up camera though. While I love the new styling, based on my recent experience I would for sure not trade my '14 for one.

tareed94

My biggest complaint is the suspension. I actually just ordered Fox rear shocks to help the back end out a lot, and I'm already eyeing new front struts from Fox to level the front end out, and help it handle better. My last truck had RS-9000XL's on the rear and Quicklift struts on the front. It was WAY smoother, and significantly more planted than this one.

paintballdude05

I've been riding in a few 15+ trucks at work and do find the that the interior seems smaller. I'm not sure what it is, the seats feel smaller too (maybe it's because it's a base model, IDK).

Spiky

All the little fit and finish stuff discussed in this thread is why I bought my 13. Shopped 16s, bought the 13. Turned on dark mode so I can control the inside lights. Grab handle is disappointing, but at 6'4", I just sit in the seat directly anyway.

Cisco1911

The stock suspension is questionable but I am more inclined to think the lighter aluminum bed is part of the issue on the *** end. It needs more weight IMO. Aside from that the Fox shocks should help big time on the squirrely end and definitely be more planted.