Uber expensive pickups...how much of a trend ?

troubledwaters wrote:
That's why they make and XL, XLT, Lariat, Platinum, King Ranch, etc. People can buy what they want.

Same drive train and surrounding metal in all trim levels. You can get in relatively inexpensive. Or very expensive. Just a matter of how many bells and whistles you want. And those do get expensive. But it appears, except for work trucks, the higher trim levels far out sell the lower end ones. What the customer wants, the manufacturer builds.