Just can't imagine that at your tender age you have much to compare your truck to considering you've been driving for twelve whole months! OK, I'm just jealous that I had a POS at 17! Don't get your feathers ruffled young pup

Oh wait, no beer for you either!

 

At 17 I was driving a chit brown 4cyl 79 Mustang with Kmart tires, man was I proud of that car. I guess some of us were haves and some were have nots.

I don't think it takes more than a few seconds of glancing between last gen and current gen F150's to surmise the superiorority of the current gen's interior appointments.

 

I had traded cars 3 times by the time I was 16 to get my 1954 Ford coupe. My dad and I put in a 1957 Thunderbird, 312 CI with a four barrel. I had it painted dark purple, lowered it in the front a little. I was the first one in my town to put oversize tires on the rear. That car was so much fun, still had it when I got married at 19. We sold it while in college, sure wish I had it back. By the way, I paid for it all myself, my dad and I did most of the work.

 

You're right FX4&EXCURSION--I didn't mean any harm anyway. We're definitely lucky to be in the baddest effies yet!

 

I think the interiors are far superior to the old generation trucks. My Grandfather had an 88 Lariat, and I had an 01. These 04's are far nicer; especially the lariat. The lariat looks like a luxury car. I wish i could have spared the extra 5K for a lariat. I'll have in a year when i graduate from nursing school. Cant wait. More money to throw away on unnecessary mods.

 

Oh I know bro! My apologies if I seemed accusatory. I couldn't agree with you more. I am sure though when the next gen F150's come out we will be saying how far superior that interior is compared to our current generation!

 

Blacklariat - the rear foglight icon is @ 7 o'clock on the light switch. Haven't stuck my head under the dash to see if they added additional contacts.
Tardman - Know what you mean about the rubber mats. I ordered the optional ford mats (16A) on the '06. While they have deep grooves to catch stuff, they aren't very big, so coverage is lacking. On my '97, I had a full width mat out of the previous generation...it worked great. I think the rubber flooring that comes in the XL is a 2 piece, front & rear. I'm contemplating buying a front piece and installing it over that plush carpeting.

 

I think the interior materials used in the new F-150 are definitely an acquired taste. When I first saw the truck, the first thing I noticed was how cheap the cloth seats and carpeting seemed compared to earlier trucks. However, now that I have lived with the truck for awhile (and seen similar interior materials used in other vehicles -- especially new Chrysler product cars) I am no longer so taken aback by their appearance.

I think the issue is that the new materials are much "harder" fabrics that don't come across as being very plush -- but once you get used to their appearance they're not as alarming and you actually grow to accept them.

Just my .02 cents.....

 

My girlfriend has a 2002 F150 XLT regular cab and I have a 2005 F150 XL regular cab so it's easy to compare them side by side. The last generation F150s were cramped inside compared to the current ones. The seats were not as comfortable or supportive as the new ones are. While the ***** in my F150 are not the toughest out there, they are better than the ones in my girlfriend's F150. Also, the 2002's steering and pedals feel a lot touchier than my 2005. Perhaps Ford intentionally "smoothed out" the handling characteristics a bit?

 

I assume you want to hook an MP3 player into the Aux input... Is this a correct statement? You don't lose the ability to play MP3 CDs, do you? If the satellite radio option makes you give that up, then something isn't right.

If anyone knows of losing the ability to play MP3 CDs with the satellite radio option, please let me know so I can have that option removed before my '06 goes into production (if it hasn't already).

 

Gibson - yes, you lose the option to hook up an MP3 player to the Aux input. The sat radio is nice, though.