Because Raptor

You could easily build a regular f150 to be better than a raptor function wise, I paid less for my stx than I did my tacoma 7 years ago. Will it have the "creature" comforts everyone expects everything to have these days? No. Sorry gents... no automatic folding mirrors, leather everything, fancy stickers, automatic hill descent, drive the truck through the desert for me, what have you...

Function wise; its easy to do. Check out my build.

 

I've been singing that song since I joined, it gets overlooked too easily.

 

Raptor is a waste of money.
I could build a much better Tacoma for the money.

 

You are going to spend a lot to make up for the smaller motor and Ford always overprices their vehicles. You can get Raptors much cheaper with some negotiation. Not sure why Ford does that, but they always sticker shock their customers. Now that the 2015's are rolling in, they are dumping vehicles for cheap. If an OEM built off-road racing capable truck is a waste of money, what does that say about the TRD?

 

Anyone can build anything to be better than what you can buy at the dealership, but not everyone has the money to be able to do it. Way easier to walk onto a lot and finance a raptor and be done with it than it is to finance a lower model and then find $10k-ish to build it.

 

If you got 60 grand to spend on a truck, you got 30k for a taco and 10k in upgrades.

 

All factory off road trucks are not truly off road ready.
No I will not need to build my engine.. Why do I need a big engine. I will keep my 3.4 maybe I would supercharge it. I paid 12K for my truck. With the difference in price for the Raptor I could 3-link SAS dual T-cases 3-link the rear ARB lockers front and rear. Supercharge it and still have cash to burn on other mods. I will bet the Raptor could not follow me up any trail I go. Now you will say the raptor is a desert race truck not a trail rig. That's true. But I don't care for desert race trucks. I build trail rigs to go where you need 4x4 and lockers. So yes in my opinion the raptor is over priced and I could build a better Tacoma for the money.

 

If you are talking straight power, you're right, there is no comparison. 'Much cheaper' is how much to you? There are probably 50 raptors in the Houston area along with 15+ Ford dealers and the most one would come off is $2k, that's not much from a 60k price tag. If you are also talking about off road racing, you could buy a taco, build it for the desert, and the raptor would not keep up.

I agree the TRD PRO (I think that's what you are referring to) is a waste of money. The TRD (O/R & Sport) package is different, it is not an OEM built off road racing truck, it just has different options.

These opinions coming from a guy with an F150 and a taco

 

That makes no sense...

60k for a raptor
26k for a stx, maybe 6k in upgrades. Cheaper depending on your abilities. Suspension at a min a bout 3k. Tack on for creature comforts that you desire.

 

Im aware of that but when building a 'better' truck its gonna need bigger tires!

 

Mine is also an stx, our models have very few luxury items, this is what keeps them well priced, if a raptor came in stx trim it would be a lot cheaper than it is now for sure! Ive thought about how awesome i could make my truck and looked into cost and wow, not worth it at all to me. Where i wheel the raptor is no better than my stx with fox 2.0 stuff. I think this would be the case in most scenarios other than jumping it.. and how many jumps before the raptor busts into pieces?!

 

Apparently one...
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JKQdlXvbWSU

 

If you can finance a Raptor for 60k just get a loan for 60k and build up one amazing truck.

 

It doesn't really work like that...you need collateral with an appropriate loan-to-value (LTV). A Raptor, as an established model produced by Ford, has a defined market value that a bank or credit union can lend on. But no one is going to give you $60k on a $30k truck so that you can build it up, because they aren't stupid and they know it won't be worth near that when it's done. The only way you could do that would be if you had extra collateral or qualified for unsecured credit, which would be much pricier.

 

Burned LOL

 

Why argue? This is so hilarious. A bunch of fan boys comparing there 5-10 year old custom rigs to Raptors. Yes, your custom designed 1/4 ton trucks can out wheel a Raptor. Who cares? Like the OP said the Raptor sticks out in a parking lot without the need to cut and weld your way to glory. Kudo's to Ford for bringing it to the market.

As far as this thread goes it's ridiculous to try and compare a 60K factory show truck to your chop job trucks. Yes LT and custom fabrication yields some amazingly capable off road Tacoma's. They are great desert and trail toys but they lose alot of they're road handling and drivability characteristics. Not to mention the amount of maintenance keeping a LT setup in good shape actually takes. The Raptor could be your daily driver and still go have fun occasionally in the desert. No extra maintenance required. Not to mention when you go to sell you custom Tacoma one day it's still just TRD Offroad. The only guys who buy LT trucks are other desert or trail runners. Everyone from rich kids to mid life crisis 50 year olds will buy a Raptor.

Comparing an STX to a Raptor? Sure you're STX saved you a bunch of cash but it'll never look like a Raptor. If you're silly enough to dump enough cash into an STX to make it look like a Raptor I somewhat pity you. It'll still be an STX bargain box at the end of the day. Great to you but I'm not going to gawk in the parking lot at your Frankenstein Ford STX.

If we're talking cash why not pick up a 5-6 year old regular cab four banger (then modify the piss outta it) Tacoma and a 2-3 year old Raptor for that 60K? Am I the only one who see's that you could spend that 60K a hundred ways and it'd be looked upon as a good investment by one person or another. Whatever floats your boat.

 

Which begs the question, why start an argument instead of continuing the discussion?

 

LOL.

I don't care what you jumped, you land nose down you and your unit are going to be hurting.

 

I didn't start the arguement. The first guy who tried to say "that Raptors a POS, my Taco is 1000000000000000000000x better", was the one who started it lol.

The point I was trying to make is all of your arguments rely on perceived value over real value. You want a truck that capable at a very specific set of tasks. A build will always be better at that than a stock truck. The Raptor tries to keep the functionality of the F150 coupled with some pretty nifty and respectable Off Road upgrades.

If you have a LT truck that's half assed capable you cut or chopped something to fit you're tires/travel. Start cutting pieces and good bye 90% of the people who would buy your truck that aren't TacomaWorld members.

I don't think Toyota would touch your grease fittings or aftermarket shocks. Ford warranties the whole deal.

If you want to make an STX Raptor then that's your money pit. Better stick that next to your Scion Ferrari and your Yamaha Chopper.

I'm not saying the Raptor is gods gift, but the truck is a great work vehicle in tough oil patch conditions over your truck. Sorry if that offends you that I don't see any TRD Offroad Tacoma's doing oil work around here. I see a pile of 2-3 year old Raptors doing everything from battery operations to custom spraying. The OP did nothing wrong by saying he wants one. Most people other than you do for there everyday needs in a fun truck.

 

Financially the raptor is estimated to lose ~30k in value in the first 5 years (15K just in the first year) of ownership, we all know how much tacos lose during that time...