Back in July of 2016, with the wife expecting our second baby, it was time for me to trade in the 2006 Mustang (base model) for a more suitable family sized vehicle. What better place to look than the Ford dealership. Between my family and hers, we have purchased 9 vehicles from this dealership over the past 15 years. I’d like to give you all a 25,000 mile review of my 2016 Platinum EL 4x4 equipment group 600A.
For starters, as I mentioned it’s a White Platinum Metallic Tri Coat 2016 Platinum EL 4x4 with the HD tow package, equipment group 600A and the second row bucket seats in Brunello leather. OEM 20” polished aluminum wheels WITHOUT the rear air suspension/ CCD suspension. It had 900 miles on it when I purchase it as it was a demo vehicle, and the sticker price was $68,610. After some negotiation I was able to get the price down to $52,178 which included the following add ons: extended warranty, full under body coating, tinted windows, and lifetime interior and exterior protection packages.
I had high hopes for this truck as my father-in-law has a 2007 EL and the first time I drove it, I knew I’d want one eventually. First trip we took with it was from VA to FL to take my 2 year old to Disney. Outstanding ride quality and I loved the 20+ MPG even with it being an EL 4x4. Truck is now mostly driven in the city with occasional long distance trips averaging about 3 hours on the highway. Standard maintenance when needed and oil changes are full synthetic at 5000 mile intervals. All surfaces are holding up well both interior and exterior. With two kids and talk about a third, I know this truck is going to be exactly what my family needs. Plenty of space, power, and options available for making it your own.
Since purchase date, the only powertrain issue I have had is a wrench light code to the electronic throttle body. Vehicle died in the middle of an intersection and went into limp home mode until I pulled it into a parking lot and cycled the ignition off and back on. Light went away but still took it in to have it looked at. Ford pulled a DTC for ETB and it was replaced and back out the door in 1 hour. No issues since then.
As for upgrades, you all have probably seen several of my posts but in summary; Readylift 3/2 SST lift kit over Nitto Ridge Grappler 35/11.50/20s, K&N 63-2595 intake system, JLT passenger side oil catch can, custom 4” side exit exhaust, custom Raptor style grill lights, full interior/ exterior LED conversion (minus the L/H beams), tinted tail light edges, and 1st-3rd row interior WeatherTech floor liners.
Issues with upgrades are as follows:
· Tires rub UCA on OEM +44 offset wheels at full lock. This is minimal as all it does is barely rub up against it leaving slight “smudges” on the UCA. Solution: 3/8” hub and wheel centric spacers 3/8” as I don’t currently have another $1000 to put out for correct offset wheels.
· Obviously the MPGs took a little hit with the 35s down about 1.5 MPG
· K&N intake system also dropped my MPGs drastically at first, almost 4MPG. Solution: After a PCM re learn of the fuel trims, they are back up to where they were when the tires were installed. 14-16 city and ~19 highway. I don’t see over 20 anymore unless I’ve got a tailwind or I’m drafting behind an 18 wheeler. 5 star tune is in the future which should give me a little more.
· With the exterior LED conversion, I had hyperflash of the turn signals due to the computer thinking there was a burned out bulb since LEDs draw less power. Solution: had to go with FORSCAN and a OBD2 reader to fix this.
Maybe you are looking into doing some of the same stuff I did, and if so, please feel free to ask me any questions you may have. Thanks for reading!
For starters, as I mentioned it’s a White Platinum Metallic Tri Coat 2016 Platinum EL 4x4 with the HD tow package, equipment group 600A and the second row bucket seats in Brunello leather. OEM 20” polished aluminum wheels WITHOUT the rear air suspension/ CCD suspension. It had 900 miles on it when I purchase it as it was a demo vehicle, and the sticker price was $68,610. After some negotiation I was able to get the price down to $52,178 which included the following add ons: extended warranty, full under body coating, tinted windows, and lifetime interior and exterior protection packages.
I had high hopes for this truck as my father-in-law has a 2007 EL and the first time I drove it, I knew I’d want one eventually. First trip we took with it was from VA to FL to take my 2 year old to Disney. Outstanding ride quality and I loved the 20+ MPG even with it being an EL 4x4. Truck is now mostly driven in the city with occasional long distance trips averaging about 3 hours on the highway. Standard maintenance when needed and oil changes are full synthetic at 5000 mile intervals. All surfaces are holding up well both interior and exterior. With two kids and talk about a third, I know this truck is going to be exactly what my family needs. Plenty of space, power, and options available for making it your own.
Since purchase date, the only powertrain issue I have had is a wrench light code to the electronic throttle body. Vehicle died in the middle of an intersection and went into limp home mode until I pulled it into a parking lot and cycled the ignition off and back on. Light went away but still took it in to have it looked at. Ford pulled a DTC for ETB and it was replaced and back out the door in 1 hour. No issues since then.
As for upgrades, you all have probably seen several of my posts but in summary; Readylift 3/2 SST lift kit over Nitto Ridge Grappler 35/11.50/20s, K&N 63-2595 intake system, JLT passenger side oil catch can, custom 4” side exit exhaust, custom Raptor style grill lights, full interior/ exterior LED conversion (minus the L/H beams), tinted tail light edges, and 1st-3rd row interior WeatherTech floor liners.
Issues with upgrades are as follows:
· Tires rub UCA on OEM +44 offset wheels at full lock. This is minimal as all it does is barely rub up against it leaving slight “smudges” on the UCA. Solution: 3/8” hub and wheel centric spacers 3/8” as I don’t currently have another $1000 to put out for correct offset wheels.
· Obviously the MPGs took a little hit with the 35s down about 1.5 MPG
· K&N intake system also dropped my MPGs drastically at first, almost 4MPG. Solution: After a PCM re learn of the fuel trims, they are back up to where they were when the tires were installed. 14-16 city and ~19 highway. I don’t see over 20 anymore unless I’ve got a tailwind or I’m drafting behind an 18 wheeler. 5 star tune is in the future which should give me a little more.
· With the exterior LED conversion, I had hyperflash of the turn signals due to the computer thinking there was a burned out bulb since LEDs draw less power. Solution: had to go with FORSCAN and a OBD2 reader to fix this.
Maybe you are looking into doing some of the same stuff I did, and if so, please feel free to ask me any questions you may have. Thanks for reading!
