2012 Ford F-150 Platinum and Lariat Editions

Tessa uses her inside voice inside the comfortable and quiet cabin of the 2011 Ford F-150

Interior/Exterior

When decked out in Platinum trim the Ford F-150 is one well-appointed truck. Interior comforts abound, including rich brown leather upholstery, heated and cooled power front seats, heated second row seats, dual zone climate control, SYNC connectivity, and Sony audio system. Our tester also came equipped with an optional Navigation system, which worked fine, but you could easily save a lot of pennies with a cheaper aftermarket unit.

Our test vehicle came dressed in rich metallic brown paint, which gives the truck a woodsy, outdoors appearance. The 20″ polished cast-aluminum wheels do look a bit excessive and out of place, but will be appreciated by folks looking for some bling. Platinum models are only available with a SuperCrew cab, which means rear seat passengers have some serious room to stretch out. The trade-off is less cargo room; box length is limited to 5 ½ or 6 ½ feet, although an optional stowable bed extender provides additional cargo space when the tailgate is down. Power-deployable running boards come standard, which is a nice feature given that the truck sits fairly high off the ground.

Tessa demonstrates the Ford F-150 SuperCrew rear seat and fully flat loading surface

Verdict

The Ford F-150 has been the best-selling vehicle in America for years. The new engine lineup addresses one of the few weaknesses of the outgoing model, which means this success is more than likely to continue.

Although spending close to $50k on a pickup might seem silly to some, you actually get quite a lot for your money with the F-150 Platinum. From the high output engine to the decked out interior, this is more a high-performance luxury vehicle than a simple large work truck.

	BUILD	INTERIOR	PERFORMANCE	HANDLING	STYLING	VALUE	OVERALL
RATING	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.25/B+

MORE FORD F-150 EXPERT REVIEWS

	Review: 2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor Review by David Colman “If Popeye owned a pickup, the Raptor would be it. When you fit the 6.2 liter, 411hp engine to this 4×4’s beefy frame, you’ve got way more muscle than a tin of spinach.”

	Review: 2009 Ford F-150 Review – New and Improved! But you probably didn’t notice. Rating: by Kurt Gensheimer “…the F-150 transports its occupants in style and comfort, tows a hell of a lot and has the structural rigidity to handle some brutish worksites.”

	Review: 2008 Ford F-150 4×4 King Ranch Edition – Boring but Functional Rating: by Kurt Gensheimer “It looks solid, it feels solid, it drives solid; even as we ran it ragged across washboarded dirt roads. Built Ford tough. There’s another one.”