One of the coolest trucks to come from the factory over the past two decades or so has to be the Ford F-150 Raptor. Built with high-speed desert running and rock crawling in mind, using long-travel suspension and serious all-terrain tires, it was among the first of its kind to push this idea of a factory-ready, pre-runner-themed pickup.
The Raptor was an immense success for Ford, of course, leading the brand to spawn more Raptor-badged trims for vehicles like the Ranger and the Bronco. Other brands took notice, too, building factory off-road pickups to capitalize on the market’s craze for sporty utility vehicles. See Chevy’s revived ZR2 trims for the Colorado and the Silverado, and Ram’s ferocious, supercharged V8-powered TRX.
Because of the original Raptor’s trick suspension and unmatched aura, I always simply assumed they’d remain too expensive to ever be worth considering. But as it turns out, they’re way cheaper than I expected. And it’s giving me bad ideas.
A New Segment Is Launched
When the first-generation F-150 Raptor debuted, it was a revelation. Packing 35-inch BFGoodrich all-terrains with reinforced sidewalls, unique off-road-ready suspension from Fox Racing, heat vents cut into the hood, and amber market lights in the grille, it was unlike any factory F-150 before it, and unlike any truck sold by the big three American manufacturers. The Raptor could go places and do things that the normal F-150 couldn’t, and virtually everyone who drove it seemed to love it. From Car and Driver’s original review:
On city streets, the suspension feels a little gummy, the Raptor leaning in turns and kowtowing its way up to a stoplight. In a truck meant for fast trail running, that’s a virtue. Special elongated aluminum lower-front control arms cast with the “SVT” logo are part of the Raptor’s package. The resulting 11.2 inches of front suspension travel (12.1 in the rear), damped by the big-piston Fox Racing Shox shock absorbers (the rears have remote reservoirs), allows the Raptor to practically float at 45 mph over deep water cuts, dried wheel ruts, rocky tufts, floundering cyborgs, and other desert nuisances that would pulverize other stock pickup trucks trying to keep up.
The only downside to that original, first-year Raptor was its engine, at least according to journalists at the time. The only available powertrain was a 5.4-liter naturally aspirated V8 making 310 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of torque, which MotorTrend described as not enough “to match the suspension’s capability.”
Ford fixed that problem the very next model year, making the 6.2-liter V8 from the Super Duty available as a $3,000 option, spiced up with its own unique cams and tune. Car and Driver liked this one even more:
The optional 6.2-liter V-8, new for 2010, was in the plan all along, Ford tells us, and a quick turn behind the wheel seems to verify that. The character of this engine matches the truck perfectly. With 411 hp and 434 lb-ft of torque, it imbues the Raptor’s powertrain with the same unflinching capability as the long-travel suspension does the chassis.
The rest is history. The Raptor quickly became a huge hit among the overlanding and off-roading scene, becoming the default choice for truck bros who want to fly over uneven desert terrain at highway speeds. After a successful first generation, Ford brought the Raptor back in 2017 with the new-model F-150, replacing the V8 with an even more powerful, more torquey twin-turbo EcoBoost V6. Then, in an effort to one-up the 702-hp Ram TRX, it released the 700-hp, supercharged V8-powered Raptor R.
I Feel Like This Is A Lot Of Truck For The Money
While a new Raptor R will run you over $115,000 out the door, used, high-mile originals can be found for six figures less. Some comments on my post about the F-150 recall from this morning inspired me to check Facebook to see what kind of F-150 I could buy for $15,000 or less, and I was amazed to see a swath of first-gen Raptors pop up on the screen.
These are not low-mileage garage queens, of course. A Raptor that costs less than the price of the cheapest new car on sale is going to have some miles, and it’s not going to be perfect (DrivingLine specifically mentions rust and the vacuum-operated locking hubs for the front axle as common issues). But still, a whole running, driving, F-150 Raptor, with the right tires and that Fox suspension, is a lot more attainable than I expected.
Let me give you a few examples. Here’s one listed on Facebook Marketplace in Illinois with 175,000 miles on the clock for $17,500, sporting the 6.2-liter engine and brand-new K02 all-terrain tires. Here’s another in Michigan with slightly more miles and a bit more rust, selling for just $15,000. This white model with the 5.4-liter V8 is up for grabs at a dealership in New Jersey for $13,900. If you care even less about mileage and don’t mind rust, this red one out of New Jersey can be yours for just over $10,000.
Again, these are not pristine examples. If you want something cleaner, you’ll probably have to spend over 20 grand, which, by the way, is still incredibly cheap for a truck with this much off-road equipment on board. And if you think these first-gen Raptors are just too old, don’t worry, the newer turbocharged versions are getting down there in price, too. They’re not as cheap as the first-gen trucks, obviously, but they’re still way cheaper than any new F-150. Here’s one listed for just $26,000 in Ohio, and another, in a lovely shade of blue, for $29,000, also in Ohio.
Would it be a terrible idea for me to buy a giant, high-mileage F-150 that gets 13 mpg as gas prices skyrocket, with nowhere to park it where I live in New York City? Yeah, probably. Do I have a couple of tabs open for deals nearby? Also yes.
Top graphic image: Ford
Could they be cheap because they’re ragged-out, gas guzzling douchemagnets which suddenly and unpredictably shift into second?
I need less people to know about cheap gen 1s until after I get one. Also avoid the 5.4s
Raptors are douche magnets. There’s an idiot on my morning commute who drives one through rush hour traffic like it’s a damn sportbike… weaving through traffic, tailgating, cutting people off, etc. There’s a hyper aggressive bro energy that goes along with these things that makes the average RAM driver look like a little old lady on her way to church.
I’m sure there are ok examples out there. But do they do love to go in to a ditch and mess some stuff up. They like the right ditch more and the air intake is on the left side so there is that. The early extended cabs at least look like interesting. All the 4 doors look like every other nitwit that decided he needs a truck to haul his family around and needed wider bigger tires and probably some poorly installed external resovoir shocks for all that suspension travel needed to get into the drive way from the street.
Most of those 1st gen Raptors look like they are being dumped before the rust goes from noticeable to catastrophic. Within 2 years they’ll all look like Swiss cheese.
Mercedes lives in the mid-west, likes city cars.
Brian lives in NYC, and wants a Raptor.
Yep, The Autopian.
That’s perfect for the frost heaved, pot holed streets of NY. You must buy one.
This seems suspiciously low for a decent condition truck.
Besides abysmal fuel economy, what’s missing?
I’m guessing High insurance rates.
They all have a boat load of miles.
I personally don’t think any of these are as “cheap” as the piece suggests. Heck, the newest one here is 9 years old, has 153k miles, and is asking $29,000. Sure, it’s a Raptor, but that ain’t cheap.
Cheap is relative. As stated, a new one will run you $115K.
Reliability and rust resistance.
depends a lot on what you would use it for. I would have to be paid to take on a 5.4 version, that motor is pretty much the worst. the 6.2 is ok, but might as well be a diesel with the amount of oil they consume, still it does this pretty reliably, so it can be lived with. the suspension part is the reason for both use cases.
Case 1, you want to own one of these for occasional jaunts out of the city onto fire roads and maybe camping. The suspension is actually kind of soft to handle the offroad nature, so it would be comfy enough and offroadish enough to do most things adequately, including say some not so technical stuff in Moab. But this setup also reduces truck capabilities. plenty of motor with the 6.2, but the suspension limits safe towing to about 5K.
Case 2 You want a truck, you want the truck to look cool in the mall parking lot and it makes you feel safer to have good offroad capabilities for the snow. Yep the truck should be fine for both. Though again, it lacks some capabilities of say a 400 HP 3.5 non raptor F150, that is newer and probably cheaper because of the lack of Raptor stuff. And snow is still going to be a problem with ice under it either way.
However I am a big advocate for buy what you want, enjoy it however you intend to and that is your business, not mine really
That suspension is very appealing to me, considering the roads in NYC are absolute trash
It’s the sidewall to keep from blowing out a tire and/or bashing a rim.
Goodyear makes a tire with Kevlar. That should help.
https://www.goodyear.com/en-us/tires/wrangler-all-terrain-adventure-with-kevlar_2732
I absolutely hated those tires. I had a set on my Tacoma. They are a bad mix of not very aggressive so not good off road, but they didn’t really make for good street tires either. They are just kinda bleh all the way around. Either go for something more aggressive, or something that is better for daily commute.
FYI The fox shocks have a 50k rebuild service interval, budget $2k for that if they don’t have a documented rebuild recently.
I have spent way too much time shopping for one of these
Hmmm, are all those examples from rustbelt?
Some are most likely. https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/listing/436836675?sourceContext=autotempest&cgfv=0.37&cgfr=2&cgfab=Q&px8324=p110&dnetworktype=r&cgfdate=2026417&cgfloc=en#/
But not likely all are from there for about 20K
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/21a39f61-6eb4-4d8b-9fd6-826cf110d4f8/?aff=atempest&utm_campaign=atempest&utm_source=autotempest&utm_medium=trp&utm_campaign_id=1&utm_trusted=TRUE
Man, am I the only one thinking those prices are high? When the Raptor came out, it was actually one of the more affordable trims. I remember giving my parents a hard time for getting a Lariat that was more expensive than a comparable Raptor. Honestly, most 1st gen Raptors were in the 40s and low 50s. Only dropping to 40-50% of their value after 10+ years and almost 150k miles is pretty insane.