'22 Lariat to '22 Platinum (Unicorn 🦄) Upgrade

[luebri]

As as I posted a few weeks ago here (https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/moisture-in-the-tail-lightbar.28359/post-546935) I completed a buy back on my August 2022 Build Fully Spec'd with Max Tow Lariat ER earlier this month for the repeated Tailgate Light bar issue. I love the Lightning and really the only debate to replace was to go Low Mile used or New Lightning.... I ended up honing in on 2022 Platinums since they did not have the 2023 chip deletes. I ended up finding an April 2022 build, 10k mile Rapid Red with Max Recline (unicorn) that I am extremely happy with so far! I upgraded trim, went from 40k to 10k miles, and pocketed a substantial amount of cash. I am extremely grateful and lucky and hats off to Ford for their handling of the Buy back process. I do hope they get the tailgate Light bar issue does get permanently resolved, as it is my belief another recall is in order.

A few musings from the upgrade...

1) I am extremely dubious at the 320 to 300 miles EPA range difference between Platinum and Fully trimmed Lariat. My early observation is the range is negligibly different. Definitely not > 5% delta.

2) HVB SOH via Car Scanner says 99.5% so hopefully thats a good sign! (FYI, my previous truck was at 40k miles and 99% SOH)

3) Massage seats not as nice as I hoped, but the wife and kiddos like it so it's a win! That said, the Leather is definitely nicer vs Lariat's leather.

4) Speaker system is not as big of upgrade as I hoped, but I also mainly listen to spoken audio so not a big deal.

5) Oddly the '22 platinum truck bed is definitely different (in fairly minor ways) between my 22 Lariat vs the slightly earlier build 22' Platinum which surprised me.

6) The beeps... oh the beeps. They are all different. Not sure they are better or worse, just different. I guess they are supposed to be more premium beeps

7) Rapid Red back in 2022 was my last choice, but that color grew on me recently. Wife loved it so that helped make that call.

8) Ride quality in going from 20" to 22" is negligibly different in my opinion. Less noticeable than I feared for sure.

9) I hope this is not a jinx, but it does not seem that the '22 Platinum has the Wireless CarPlay issues I had in my '22 Lariat that never got resolved.

Sponsored

 

[Andrewbens]

New Truck looks sweet! What mods are you planning on doing to her?

 

[luebri]

New Truck looks sweet! What mods are you planning on doing to her?

my guess is probably a few replacement tailgate light bars!

But on top of that… I took the opportunity to get paint correction and ceramic done this time which I regretted not doing on my lariat. Other than that I’ll black out the front light bar if I can find a shop to do it. Not sure where or how to get it done m but I’d really like to cover all the light blue with a grey or a black as I don’t think the light blue plays well with the red at all.

 

[Zed]

Welcome to the Rapid Red zone! Your "new" truck is a clone of mine. I also have the max recline seats and massage; I tried the recline just to see what it was like and found it uncomfortable. It didn't seem flat at all when fully reclined and bothered my back. (Not that I ever intend to use that feature - I was just curious). I also don't find the massage useful, but my daughter uses it every time she's in the truck - so a family win for me as well.

As for the sound - if you haven't already tried it, I suggest you try the surround sound setting. I find it helps with the sound stage a lot since you're literally surrounded with speakers. It may not make much or any difference on the spoken audio, though.

 

[CerebralPrimate]

my guess is probably a few replacement tailgate light bars!

Now that there was funny, I dont care who ya are!

Other than that I’ll black out the front light bar if I can find a shop to do it. Not sure where or how to get it done m but I’d really like to cover all the light blue with a grey or a black as I don’t think the light blue plays well with the red at all.

Two ways to go about it. The more expensive way, but maybe the better final product, is to find any local Wrap shop. They have multiple options for film meant to cover lights, some are completely black in the day, but do affect the brightness at night. So they would be using their own sheet of dark film and cutting it to fit the curves and edges of the light. I asked my shop about this and was told about $600-$700 in material, and a minimum of $450 for labor, but probably closer to $600.

The more cost effective (cheaper) way is to go with the pre-cut films from brands like Lamin-X. I think I spent $200 for the material for both front and rear, then the labor will be $450 on the high end as there is no cutting, just applying.

The downside is, the Lamin-X is a flat smoke color, whereas if you go with shop film they will have various levels of darkness and even ones that look a little glossy. As I already dropped $1800 on power running boards in the first week of ownership, I wasn't in a hurry to drop another $1200 just to black out the light bar with custom film. I bought the Lamin-X, but haven't had it put on yet.

Some pix of the Lamin-X

 

[CerebralPrimate]

Shop type tint for comparison... a little darker and more glossy.

To me it does look a little nicer, but does it look $600 worth of nicer?

 

[MountainAlive]

"5) Oddly the '22 platinum truck bed is definitely different (in fairly minor ways) between my 22 Lariat vs the slightly earlier build 22' Platinum which surprised me."
What's different about the bed?
That aside, I would have done the same as you if I had to get another Lightning. 2022 Platinum.

 

[MountainAlive]

Weird I wonder what that is about.

 

[luebri]

"5) Oddly the '22 platinum truck bed is definitely different (in fairly minor ways) between my 22 Lariat vs the slightly earlier build 22' Platinum which surprised me."
What's different about the bed?
That aside, I would have done the same as you if I had to get another Lightning. 2022 Platinum.

Cab side bed hooks are higher. And there is this angled bump out

 

[luebri]

Weird I wonder what that is about.

I have to imagine there is some routing conflict that they figured out pretty early in the manufacturing process and got resolved. I noticed it on one of the very early review truck that had the same thing.

 

[Zaptor]

You got them to buy it back for the taillight issue? I let them replace it once, and since they didn't get it back together right the first time, I've just been living with a repeat of the moisture in there ever since... damn, I'd love to get back what I paid as an early adopter...
Cheers and congrats!
Zap

PS- Don't try the plastidip smoke spray for light bar blackout; it looks fine when not lit but when lit it's as patchy as a 17 year old's beard

 

[luebri]

Welcome to the Rapid Red zone! Your "new" truck is a clone of mine. I also have the max recline seats and massage; I tried the recline just to see what it was like and found it uncomfortable. It didn't seem flat at all when fully reclined and bothered my back. (Not that I ever intend to use that feature - I was just curious). I also don't find the massage useful, but my daughter uses it every time she's in the truck - so a family win for me as well.

As for the sound - if you haven't already tried it, I suggest you try the surround sound setting. I find it helps with the sound stage a lot since you're literally surrounded with speakers. It may not make much or any difference on the spoken audio, though.

I tried the max recline as well after I got it and Im 6'0 so a little taller than average but I'm a stomach sleeper so it's not gerat for me. I slept in my lariat once in the back seat camping after a storm toppled our tent and my wife and kids and kids scrambled to my folks cabin not too far away. Maybe the max recline would have been better... but not much better. Its still nice to have the option especially post depreciation.

Sponsored