YouTuber Shows Off First-Gen Raptor Formerly Used by Border Patrol

Tyler Hoover got a good deal on this old beat-up Raptor, but will he end up paying for its rough and tumble past?

Many Ford trucks lead hard lives. Even if an F-150 isn’t used for carrying lumber or pulling a boat, it typically covers hundreds of thousands of suburban and city miles that take their toll on its hardware and interior. Super Duty pickups often serve as family vehicles and workhorses that haul sheetrock and tow trailers loaded with tons of building supplies or machinery. F-150 Raptors don’t get it easy, either – especially when they’re driven over rough terrain day in and day out by the United States Border Patrol.

The 2012 Raptor in this video from the YouTube channel Hoovies Garage started its life that way. Border Patrol ordered it without frills, disabled the back doors’ interior handles, added a protective barrier between the rear and front seats, then slapped on its logo, a couple of diagonal green stripes, and “BORDER PATROL” on top of the rear fenders.

After this Raptor filled its post along the border, it went to a private owner in Florida…and started a second rough life. According to Tyler Hoover, the creator of Hoovies Garage, the man he bought it from took the Raptor out on the beach and “drove it so hard that it eventually started stalling out and said the transfer case was making a horrible noise.” When the 6.2-liter V8 wouldn’t start any more, he decided to dump the Raptor altogether.

Hoover scooped it up. He has a thing for buying cool vehicles, such as the Mercedes-Benz E 63 AMG wagon and Rolls-Royce Phantom, on the cheap. Getting them for such a low price usually means he has to pay a lot for repairs later on. Hoover ended up getting this ravaged Raptor and $8,000 in exchange for his 2013 Hyundai Equus, which he had purchased for $15,000. Hoover said, “If you do the math, that means I bought this truck for $7,000 – plus a thousand dollars shipping” from Florida to his house in Kansas. His new purchase has 159,000 miles on it and needs new front seats, but if you consider the fact that Hoover found a nearly 200,000-mile Raptor going for $19,000 on Autotrader.com, it looks like a heck of a deal.

But what about that whole, you know, not starting thing? Hoover has his friend David Long (aka The Car Wizard) look under the hood to find the cause of the malfunction. Long points to a spot in the fuse box and tells Hoover, “It was your fuel pump relay.” With that inexpensive part swapped out for a new one, the Raptor fires right up.

So far, Hoover is ahead on his Raptor purchase. He only had to spend about $20 to transform it from a giant paperweight into a living beast. But Long hasn’t given it a thorough mechanical inspection yet. If he uncovers major issues, Hoover may find himself spending that $8,000 he got during the exchange for his Equus in a hurry.

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Derek Shiekhi

Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.

After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.

While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.

Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.

In addition to writing for a variety of Internet Brands sites, including JK Forum and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Derek also contributes to other outlets. He started There Will Be Cars on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube to get even more automotive content out to fellow enthusiasts.

He can be reached at autoeditors@internetbrands.com.

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