Ford Raptor advice

[cybertrophic]

Hi,

I am in need of a decent 4x4 pickup as we own horses, live rurally and I drive to work. We already have a Range Rover, but it is getting long in the tooth and is not really in a fit state to turn up to client meetings in if I am looking to create a good image, whilst our Jag S Type is lovely but unsuitable for muddy drives, un-gritted winter roads and any sort of snow.

As I have a limited company, I can run a commercial vehicle without getting kicked in the nuts too hard by the tax man, so naturally thoughts have turned to pickups - specifically crew-/double-cabs with unstressed engines and autoboxes. VW Amarok felt like a wheelbarrow and underpowered, Nissan Navara felt too much like a builder's truck (likewise L200) and the Ford Ranger gets good reviews in 3.2 Wildtrak spec, but on-the-road costs with options is topping £32k, so I figured I might as well take a look at some Yankee iron.

I commute something like 5-600 miles a week depending on client location (mainly motorway miles) and evenings and weekends are spent hauling haylage and other equine duties for the missus. Having owned a Firebird in the past and having a penchant for American vehicles and anything with a burbly V8, I was wondering if anyone here was using a 2013/2014 Raptor as a daily driver and what the experience was like?

I know they are not exactly narrow, but presumably if a Transit with a loader on the back fits, so will the Raptor? What is a relaistic UK MPG figure? I'm thinking 70mph motorway running will be the bulk of its mileage, but it will do some off-road duty and the odd urban trip. I am averaging 16-20mpg in a 4.6 litre range rover, so am not too scared!

Is there anything I should watch out for? Does the Sync/Satnav have a Europe/UK update or do I need to rip it out and fit something else?

Would a 4x4 Harley edition be a better bet? Does anyone here have one of those?

Thanks!

[Roo]

They're not classed as a commercial vehicle by HMRC as they have more than three seats and only a half tonne payload.

[AdeTuono]

I love mine. Had it for a year now, and use it daily in preference to all my other vehicles, covering 3-400 miles a week. Average around 12mpg US, so around 15mpg UK (6.2l). It's about 7" wider than a regular F150, and will just about fit in a normal parking space width-wise, but hangs over the back by a couple of feet. Tall though...

Incredibly comfortable for long drives. The sat-nav can be converted, apparently, but at a cost. I just bought a normal sat-nav and use that. The screen shows plenty of other info such as radio/USB details or climate, so it's by no means redundant.

Don't think you'd regret it; I'll have another.

[cybertrophic]

Roo said:

They're not classed as a commercial vehicle by HMRC as they have more than three seats and only a half tonne payload.

Quoted payload for the supercrew is 1030lb or 0.52 tonnes, 4-tonne pulling payload notwithstanding, so I wonder If that could not be argued. Additionally, the rules only mention the load area being bigger than the passenger area if extra seats are fitted to a van and car-derived vehicles (I.e Ford Fiesta van) which are Mentioned in cases where it is not easy to tell if a vehicle is commercial or not. It would seem that it hinges more on the DVLA classification for tax purposes and if a Hilux crew cab is an LCV, one could argue the Raptor should be... I may give them a call and check, but thanks for the heads up.

[cybertrophic]

AdeTuono said:

I love mine. Had it for a year now, and use it daily in preference to all my other vehicles, covering 3-400 miles a week. Average around 12mpg US, so around 15mpg UK (6.2l). It's about 7" wider than a regular F150, and will just about fit in a normal parking space width-wise, but hangs over the back by a couple of feet. Tall though...

Incredibly comfortable for long drives. The sat-nav can be converted, apparently, but at a cost. I just bought a normal sat-nav and use that. The screen shows plenty of other info such as radio/USB details or climate, so it's by no means redundant.

Don't think you'd regret it; I'll have another.

Thanks - appreciate the info. Would be interested to see if the nav unit can be sorted out of a sense of completeness, but not a deal-breaker. Does the satellite radio and stuff work over here? Any issues with speedo recalibration? I ask as US miles are different and I know my old Pontiac used to show 50 when I was doing nearer 60...

Size wise, I figure if a Luton van fits through, so would the raptor, although I already check out height restrictors in car parks in the Range Rover when I have stuff lashed to it, so it shouldn't be too much of a shock!

Edited by cybertrophic on Wednesday 21st January 20:15

[Roo]

cybertrophic said:

Quoted payload for the supercrew is 1030lb or 0.52 tonnes, 4-tonne pulling payload notwithstanding, so I wonder If that could not be argued. Additionally, the rules only mention the load area being bigger than the passenger area if extra seats are fitted to a van and car-derived vehicles (I.e Ford Fiesta van) which are Mentioned in cases where it is not easy to tell if a vehicle is commercial or not. It would seem that it hinges more on the DVLA classification for tax purposes and if a Hilux crew cab is an LCV, one could argue the Raptor should be... I may give them a call and check, but thanks for the heads up.

With a vehicle that has gone through IVA a lot of that is irrelevant.

You may well find most of them are M1 approval, which is passenger car. Taxed for BIKE as a car, can't have a tacho fitted and can't be used for any form of hire or reward.

Most US cars will have no towing weight listed on the V5 which means they can't tow anything. If there is a weight listed it will be 3,500kg as that's the maximum you can tow in the UK irrespective of what the vehicle is capable of towing.

[AdeTuono]

cybertrophic said:

Thanks - appreciate the info. Would be interested to see if the nav unit can be sorted out of a sense of completeness, but not a deal-breaker. Does the satellite radio and stuff work over here? Any issues with speedo recalibration? I ask as US miles are different and I know my old Pontiac used to show 50 when I was doing nearer 60...

Size wise, I figure if a Luton van fits through, so would the raptor, although I already check out height restrictors in car parks in the Range Rover when I have stuff lashed to it, so it shouldn't be too much of a shock!

Edited by cybertrophic on Wednesday 21st January 20:15

The nav can be sorted, but I believe the cost to be around £1000-ish. Don't think the satellite radio can be used over here, but happy to be corrected.

A UK mile is exactly the same as a US mile, so no need for recalibration. Don't know where you got the idea it isn't. US gallons are 20% smaller. Maybe you're getting confused?

[cybertrophic]

AdeTuono said:

The nav can be sorted, but I believe the cost to be around £1000-ish. Don't think the satellite radio can be used over here, but happy to be corrected.

A UK mile is exactly the same as a US mile, so no need for recalibration. Don't know where you got the idea it isn't. US gallons are 20% smaller. Maybe you're getting confused?

yeah, possibly - I know I definitely had speedo calibration issues with the last american car I had though. Oh well, if it's not a problem, that's all good. As for the satnav, £1k on a car costing roughly £40-50k is not exactly a big stretch!

[BLUETHUNDER]

I run a 2007 F150 Harley. I get 10mpg around town. 16 mpg on a run. I use it twice a week. I wouldn't be using it if I was covering the mileage you are doing. My 7.0 litre corvette is economical to run.

[AdeTuono]

BLUETHUNDER said:

I run a 2007 F150 Harley. I get 10mpg around town. 16 mpg on a run. I use it twice a week. I wouldn't be using it if I was covering the mileage you are doing. My 7.0 litre corvette is economical to run.

I know. I could get 25-30mpg from my Z06. Should never have sold it. Damn you, Swerni!

[Fleckers]

i currently have a Navara 3.0 V6 outlaw

why ? because I was coming from S type jag and the misses said a pickup was too big, so started with the navara and now she is happy I just need a good bonus this year and will be looking to move up in ot Yank status, been looking at the 1500 Rams

[cybertrophic]

Fleckers said:

i currently have a Navara 3.0 V6 outlaw

why ? because I was coming from S type jag and the misses said a pickup was too big, so started with the navara and now she is happy I just need a good bonus this year and will be looking to move up in ot Yank status, been looking at the 1500 Rams

Similar situation - Jaguar S Type Diesel not suited to our more rural lifestyle now, but the "runabout 4x4" she asked for to schlep to the stables is a 1996 Range Rover 4.6 and she loves hooning around in it (albeit I need to give it a bit of TLC).

To be honest, I looked at the Ford Ranger Wildtrak and the Navara and they are not exactly small and, as with the 4x4, the diesels are not getting 50mpg, so why not do it right and get a V8? In the P38 Range Rovers, I think the diesel gets around 25-30MPG in the best conditions, whilst the big old V8 in ours has seen mid-20s on a run, so the difference is not huge.

Having had a Firebird in the past, I am a big fan of US cars' more, ahem, "rugged" engineering - assuming zero maintenance for 150,000 by Billy-Bob and Cletus means the big stuff (engine, gearbox, etc) are built like tanks and are relatively simple. I'd rather trust an F150 to do 100,000 hard miles than a BMW or Mercedes, even though the glovebox may fall off and the interior trim may be a bit rattly by then... :-)