2010 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor: No Going Back

I don't know. $2,500 is about double what you should be paying for Nav and instrument panel screen (I know, it includes a DVD player too, but that's a feature I can live without).

$700 buys a super deluxe portable nav. I understand that it is not as clean looking as built in, but for a 72% discount, I can live with the messier look of the nav attached to my window.

Better performance than the one I have now - I don't ever want to leave an older car with better performance to go to a new one that's slower and doesn't handle as well.

Clutch pedal and A/C.

RWD would be nice to have.

Everything else I can do without.

First world problems, for sure... I can't see the need for a nav system given the way I use my vehicle. Only occasionally would I go to an area I'm unfamiliar with.

My brother is missing the NAV in his Raptor, he was calling me yesterday for directions to the DMV, he doesn't even have a smart phone, lol.

+1 vvk

it may be something you cant do without if you have it in your car- but most people dont have it in their cars. Furthermore automakers are now offering screens without nav. This started with cars like the Maxima but is now spreading to cars like the Focus with offers a full color screen sans nav. Nav systems arent great at quickly providing alternate routes when stuck in traffic in my experience anyway. It would be beneficial to know your way around your own city and have alternate routes in your head.

I love the "I wish I could roll over the cars in front of me" comment. Its an honest truth that some folks in trucks have this mentality. Its been discussed many times on this forum, especially around the Raptor. I'm glad that even though people want to hurt others (by rolling over them), that they can't, and don't. Thank goodness we have laws that require a wee bit of respect and allow every car to exist "equally" on the road, avoiding the "I'm bigger so you don't matter" phenomenon that seems to come out of some large vehicle owners.

As for what I *need* in a vehicle (great question BTW)?

True clutch & RWD. Even air conditioning I've done without (though it is probably #1 on the wants list)

Kevin

What can't I live without?

POWERRRRRRR!

I also won't buy a car without a clutch pedal. That's why I bought a Mazda 5 when I needed a vehicle that can seat at least six. The price of the 5 also helped.

As for nav, I prefer my Garmin to most factory nav systems.

Can't do without?

Telescoping steering wheel. Driver's seat with proper thigh support. Better suspension and steering than the typical toyota. ~30mpg highway minimum. Less road noise than a Honda Civic. After that, I'm pretty easy to please. Never had nav. Not a drug I want to get hooked on, still makes a car pretty expensive with the trim & options it's often bundled with.

When it comes to nav and other electronic gizmos, your mindset has to depend in part on how long you expect to keep the car. I keep cars for a long time, so I would never buy built-in nav seeing as it's going to be hopelessly outdated anyway after a few years. Same goes for hard-drive based audio, and so on. If I needed these things I'd add them myself, and have an upgrade path.

I prefer for nav to not be integrated. I have yet to see a factory system that has as nice of a user interface as a $100 Garmin, and doesn't have ridiculously expensive map upgrades as well. Plus, given how quickly electronics improve, an integrated system would be hopelessly out of date after a short while.

@bugeye

Honda's Gen 2 Navi (introed around '03, I think) for the touchscreen systems isn't available anymore, but is still better than a $100 garmin nearly a decade after its first application. I don't buy the "navis outdate themselves in a few years" meme.

Kinda sounds like you have become too dependent on the Nav especially in your own city which is bad.

As for stuff I need in my vehicle?
4wd
Limited Slip Diff
Large Mirrors
Either large aftermarket support or cheap easy to find OEM part support.

That said these are the main reasons I look towards Pickup as my 1st choice vehicle for 90% of the driving I do or expect to have to do.

@yellowmiata
Where did anyone mention rolling over cars in this post?

Nav and poor riding 20" wheels with $300+ tires are a few vehicle options I can do without.

"Only occasionally would I go to an area I'm unfamiliar with."

Well, that's just no fun. I'm always doing the "wonder if this road would get me where I want to go" or "hey, lets see where this road goes" or "wow, traffic is slowing on the freeway ahead, I wonder if that exit ahead would get me anywhere near where I'm going"

What I want is a touch screen that I can remotely plug a portable nav into. The best of both worlds.
The built in units are too expensive and cost too much to update and don't seem to work as well. But, they are always there, always on and don't sit on the windshield yelling "break a window and take me".
I've got a portable with free lifetime traffic but for the 2 times a month when traffic on my commute is bad it doesn't seem worth having it always on the windshield and if I wait till I see brake lights then it is too late. It would be a great way to decide if I want to take the direct surface street route that adds 5-10 minutes over the freeway route or stay on the freeway and get stuck in a 45 minute backup.

Not a big fan of nav myself. I like knowing my way around. But I do keep a Tom Tom in my glove box just in case I get lost, or if I'm going somewhere for the first time.

+1 vvk on the clutch pedal. Also on my list are posi and rwd.

I don't have AC in any of my cars. The cutlass is a convertible so that kind of takes care of itself. But the past few days have been a heat wave here in NJ. Sooooooooo, as of right now I would add that to my list as an upgrade.

Things any car of mine must have:

Leather Seats
Air Conditioning (do they make cars with this?)
Sunroof
Heated Seats
iPod Integration

Bluetooth

I use my Droid as the nav in my car, and don't feel like I'm missing out on anything, but I would like to have an integrated system in my next car; as long as it isn't too expensive.

Things I can't live without in a car... comfortable seats (heated/cooled or not) and a telescoping steering wheel. Absolutely necessary. I'd also have a hard time getting over a car without a half-decent sound system... and iPod integration (or an AUX slot).

Whatever happened to planning ahead or having patience.

"I had my smartphone with me, but I had poor 3G reception and it was taking way too long to bring up the map."

I thought handheld devices in the car were a no-no in CA?

"It was frustrating and since I was in the Raptor, I wished I could roll over the cars in front of me."

...which I think is a fail in the driving tests of many states for "wrong attitude".

Sad to see how much Edmunds follows and panders to the "me now" attitude crowd of today that so blight our society.

I bought an Accord in '08 that happened to have Nav, though it wasn't a feature I was looking for. Ron's point is that you become addicted......I agree. My next car had to have it. Built in nav unit's big screens and integration with other features do it for me. They're also hard to steal and impossible to forget.

A downside is that you tend to become too dependent on them.