If you had to order again would you still get the PowerBoost motor?

[Snakebitten]

I'd order it again 100%, no question. The 7.2kW ProPower Onboard option has helped while pulling my Airstream countless times; I just got home from a 4-1/2 month, 12K road trip. Cracks me up how easy and helpful it is.

Powerboost + Airstream + time to roam

You are living the dream!

And yes, the Powerboost is a gamechanger for that scenario.

Sponsored

 

[Hullguy]

Thank you for your interest in national defense... Did you forget the initial question? Would you buy it again or something on your truck? My answer was simple: No, that $750 was wasted.

I would absolutely buy it again!

 

[amschind]

I was just thinking of this today as I got 26 MPG going 70 MPH in South Texas with the AC blasting; I was helped along with a decent tailwind and have 93 octane in this tank, but that's still an extremely high number for second most powerful light truck engine produced by Ford Motor Company.

 

[Snakebitten]

I would absolutely buy it again!

$750 is about a weeks worth of groceries at my abode.

And during our coastal power outages? That generator is priceless

 

[tn.lariat]

Yes, I would. I'm averaging 21-23 per tank mostly city. My 17' 3.5 eco built same way averaged 18-20. the 21' came with a lot more options and technology. Only thing that Ford needs to get right, is the 10spd trans shift algorithms.

 

[jofo]

After 10 defects, and subsequent trips to the dealership, and 3 recalls, I can unequivocally say no! In fact I am doing what I can to get out of my 10 month old mistake. I have Lariat 502A that was to be my bucket list retirement truck. Instead of enjoying the pleasure of having something special that I could enjoy for years to come, I have a $70K citrusy bloated bucket of bolts that I don’t trust to take out of state. To say I am disappointed is a gross understatement. I’ve owned 3 F150’S prior to this one, and never had any major issues with any of them. I did have a hiccup with the tranny on my 20 Lariat, but that was an isolated incident, and it ended there. I’ve finally located a 22 XLT 3.5 302A with the tow package, and I’ve worked out a deal to “downgrade”. I wanted so bad to love the PB, but my gut told me otherwise from the day that my fuel cap peg broke off. It was an omen. When I sat down and listed all of the issues that I’ve had, I could not believe how bad it all added up. This is just totally unacceptable from any manufacturer, for any product. It’s an embarrassment. Debugging and growing pains for a new model year are what we tell ourselves to keep off the ledge, but who is kidding who? The reality is that they are not worth the extra money for an already expensive vehicle. Do yourself a favor and avoid like the plague until they get about 3+ years under their belts.

 

[Snakebitten]

I understand how you came to your conclusion, but you must know that there are many thousands of Powerboosts on the road that are not even remotely as troublesome as yours?
While I can't yet vouch for my 2022 with only 350 miles (2 weeks old), my 2021 I had for 51 weeks and it never saw the dealership. It was magnificent! So much so that just as you described, I concluded that a Powerboost could be my bucket-list truck if it wasn't painted dark, didn't have fingerprint attracting interior surfaces, and was 1' longer.
It took 1/2 a year for Ford to get around to building it, but it's here.
Fingers crossed that this one is more like my first one and less like yours.

Good luck to you and your new truck too.

 

[jofo]

I can only speak for myself and some similar folks here that have had many of the same issues. I wish like hell that I was one of the lucky thousands that are issue free. I kept telling myself that “I’ll get this fixed” and then just move on because I’ve had a good history with the F150. But one can only take so much before it’s time to cut bait. Good luck in your new toy. There is no denying at all that it is a totally awesome truck when it is not broken. Nicest I’ve ever owned.

 

[jeffcrum]

So far, I have only other posts.

But. I love my PB. Did not order it. Read about it during the Texas freeze a year and a half ago. Searched for it and found one 50 miles away.

Said to the wife ... do you want to go look at a truck with me?

Ummm, NO!

Do you mind if I buy it after looking?

Nope!

Drove there in her car and drove it home. Her first ride in it was to retrieve her car ?

I have used it to power my house after hurricane Ida and am over impressed with it!

 

[F-150 Prius]

After 10 defects, and subsequent trips to the dealership, and 3 recalls, I can unequivocally say no! In fact I am doing what I can to get out of my 10 month old mistake. I have Lariat 502A that was to be my bucket list retirement truck. Instead of enjoying the pleasure of having something special that I could enjoy for years to come, I have a $70K citrusy bloated bucket of bolts that I don’t trust to take out of state. To say I am disappointed is a gross understatement. I’ve owned 3 F150’S prior to this one, and never had any major issues with any of them. I did have a hiccup with the tranny on my 20 Lariat, but that was an isolated incident, and it ended there. I’ve finally located a 22 XLT 3.5 302A with the tow package, and I’ve worked out a deal to “downgrade”. I wanted so bad to love the PB, but my gut told me otherwise from the day that my fuel cap peg broke off. It was an omen. When I sat down and listed all of the issues that I’ve had, I could not believe how bad it all added up. This is just totally unacceptable from any manufacturer, for any product. It’s an embarrassment. Debugging and growing pains for a new model year are what we tell ourselves to keep off the ledge, but who is kidding who? The reality is that they are not worth the extra money for an already expensive vehicle. Do yourself a favor and avoid like the plague until they get about 3+ years under their belts.

Fair enough. That kind of experience sours confidence even though you know you're the unlucky one and probably won't have that bad luck again. I bought a 2005 6.0 diesel … a notoriously unreliable engine with expensive bad habits, but I got a good one and a year when they were "getting better" (before being changed to become even worse.) Careful maintenance and a great service work ethic at the dealer might have been most of my "luck."

I've had numerous customers with "headache" cars (why else would they come to me if they weren't having car problems and the dealer wasn't fixing them?) but I can't remember a real bitter lemon (though I personally had the now infamous 2014 GT3 with the engine that would catch fire … but Porsche made a solid decision and replaced the whole engine and extended the warranty.)

I wish Ford (and all auto makers) had a much sharper sensitivity to owners with those 0.1% lemons … just stop treating it like a warranty and service problem … after all, the vehicle itself is easily replaced, but not the customer, nor the 100s of people influenced by hearing about an owner with a lemon. I don't see why they're not quick to offer a solution, at least offering an inexpensive update to a new Hybrid to get the customer into a reliable vehicle, then take the questionable one for a thorough refurbishment and sell it as such.

I certainly hesitated to buy the PB when early tests showed poor (bad?) mpg while towing (the main thing I do is drive and tow long distance, the rest of the time, my '21 is garaged and I'm in an electric vehicle … which now happens to be a Rivian R1T, but that's another story.) Now I'm looking to keep an eye on the Lightning and see how that goes (I'm optimistic) because I'll be looking to get one, to replace the Rivian, but not until Ford has proven it's a reliable vehicle. Also, I want to wait and see how the GM EVlanche turns out – it has some tricks up its sleeve (onboard power, rear steer, mid-gate, trick tailgate) that are features I wish Ford would put into the Lightning. GM's battery technology is clearly superior (800 volt charging is a big deal for fast, fat charging curves.)

So I read the forums looking for lemons and didn't find too many … mostly I found crap dealers with crap "policies" (policies of not providing decent service.) What I haven't seen is a consistent weakness being reported. Maybe it exists and someone can point out a theme to the unreliable PBs. I think if there was a common problem with anything in the Hybrid system (like some had problems with connectors to the battery) especially motors being replaced, battery performance, cooling or software gremlins, it would have shown up by now and the reputation of the PB would be mud. The only thing I'd say is consistent is bad mpg while towing, but for the times I'm muttering uncouth comments while seeing 10 mpg and $6/gallon, there's no pickup I'd rather own. At least until they make the Lightning with twice the range of this first generation.

 

[Kodiak]

@F-150 Prius is right on the money. I have also thought of this many times. In the grand scheme of things a program like this for customers would amount to peanuts yet it would return goodwill and good feelings about a brand that would be immeasurable. Especially if it was a repeat customer.

You can tell if vehicle is one of the lemons or if it is a case of just a complaining customer that picks at anything. If the folks with the legitimate lemon were treated to a red carpet program, imagine the brand goodwill that could be had for peanuts.

 

[Snakebitten]

Much of the pain experienced with a newly owned Powerboost with an issue isn't so much that the truck is legitimately a lemon, but the owners experience of getting the truck repaired IS a "lemon experience".

Or put another way, if the problem was the sagging shield damaging the driveshaft, but the repair only took how long a driveshaft swap actually takes, then the truck owners experience would be similar to an oil change. (a bit of an exaggeration, but only by a couple of hours, NOT weeks)

Same with the leaking exhaust heat exchanger. 1 hour labor, yet BRAND NEW trucks are sitting in a service parking lot for a month or two. Often longer than the owner has had the truck.

Not to mention the OTA fiasco where the dealerships have failed the customer miserably, yet some owners have tackled the problems associated over a long weekend.

The Powerboost is an amazing truck that can get a huge black eye just because of parts availability and being technologically ahead of the service department skillset.

 

[UGADawg96]

Imagine if the PB was released in 2017/2018 or over two years before Covid and the supply chain chaos and all the first gen gremlins were worked through. Demand of the PB would be even higher than it is today.

 

[Snakebitten]

Imagine if the PB was released in 2017/2018 or over two years before Covid and the supply chain chaos and all the first gen gremlins were worked through. Demand of the PB would be even higher than it is today.

So true.
We would be reading stories like
https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/thr...ing-with-pro-power-onboard.10535/#post-212622

Instead of long waits for simple repairs.

Sponsored