Afraid To Buy Today’s Ford (Powerboost) Am I Nuts?

[FordPrefect]

When I ordered my '23 PB, I too had spent a lot of time reading here and felt that I was making a bet. I would be betting very specifically that the truck that showed up would be done right, end to end, and I wouldn't need much of the obviously-dismal, current-day excuses for warranty service and Customer Care at Ford. It was a bet, too, that the '23 model would benefit from two years of learning and tweaking.

Five years ago, the odds of getting a quality Ford truck build were much better. If Jim Farley is to be believed, they will also be better five years from now. My timing sucks. That is certainly nothing new. But, as lots of folks in this thread have pointed out, those odds aren't nearly zero, even today.

It seemed I could read about similar issues with every other maker of half-ton trucks. They all have their own horror stories, and the Powerboost is a superior fit for my interests. What other choice could I make? Keep my reliable old Ridgeline? I have a retiree's lust for newer bigger toys that it can't tow. Buy an older truck? Sure, but hrmmm... it'd take an awful lot of bolt-ons and a standalone generator to even come close...

So I placed my bet on a Ford Powerboost. Oh, and I bet big (and arguably stupid) by getting the Max Tow option as well.

It took six months to get the truck, and two more after that to get the various cosmetic issues it came with fixed. There were many petty disappointments, mostly with the dealer, but a few with Ford itself. That my order was mutable, such that features could disappear from it without my input or even with any notice, was a new one on me. Normally when you place a bet, you know what the possible outcomes are.

7500 miles in, though, with at least a couple thousand of 'em towing, I think I mostly won the bet. Sure, I'll have to bolt the heated steering bits in myself before things get cold, but I have _most_ of what I ordered. Better tech really has opened up new possibilities. I've never had such fun with a truck, and it has yet do anything to make me really sad. I am only sad that it felt like such a risky decision, and of course there's the lurking specter of any-failure-could-prove-me-wrong-at-any-time. I'd have that, though, with any other half-ton brand sold today, or so it seems.

I think what's bugging me now is that my plan for not living with the specter for too long depends on the Cybertruck not ending up being a really bad idea for me... yeah, I placed that bet too...

At least, from what I can glean from tonight's announcement, Ford hasn't done anything dramatic to the Powerboost drive train for '24. They only seem to want to ride the same horse twice as hard, so the only new issues might stem from them trying to double their PB build rate. They seem to feel the can sell twice as many, though, so there have to be a lot more people out there willing to place their bets.

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[Walter Townsend]

All:

Thanks for your perspectives! If I can leap to a conclusion it seems like it comes down to:

"If you get a good one, and most do, you'll love it. But it you get a trouble one you're going to go through hell and Ford will not be much help". It also seems like the "bad one" ratio is higher than it should be. I believe in asking questions before I buy, so I go through this due diligence process often enough. In my experience this is a high water mark for frustrated users.

Leasing with buy-out may be a solution. Remember, my preference is Ford trucks. I just try to be pragmatic.

BTW, I dropped in a local GMC dealer today to talk explicitly about service with their service manager. I essentially told him I was evaluating their candor (I've a reasonable level of the GM Duramax issues too), attitude, and perspective on problem area's. I also randomly selected two service advisors to talk to. The results were revealing. This is not the time or place to talk extensively about another brand, but the short version is this: If I had a problem truck I'd much rather it be with a GM and that dealership. What does this mean? It means I need to go talk to another Ford dealership. I've done a lot with this one, but.... Still, the total experience of the forum shows it's not just the dealership.

My thanks fella!

MIne was a lease, 4 years, with buyout, but as I had only had the truck 6 months (of which two was in Ford dealers shop) the penalty to get out of the lease was the big issue.

 

[oneinch]

My Powerboost is almost exclusively personal transportation. I got the Powerboost for MPG first, the Pro Power second, and the power of the truck third. Those were my requirements and nothing else compared to the Powerboost except Toyota. Looks was my tie breaker. Ford won. If I actually did truck things with my truck I would have gotten a 3/4 ton.

 

[TSGarp007]

I've had a pair of jumper cables, from the first day I owned my first car and when jump packs came out, got one of them too. I've read the many threads about the various no start problems. What I didn't read, was people helping themselves.

The jumper cables and jump pack likely won't help the SSN that will supposedly be fixed at the end of the year. Like the service bulletin or whatever it is says, time will. Also possibly disconnecting the 12V batteries briefly. I haven't tried the disconnecting the battery thing yet, but I have tried the jump pack and jumper cable when I got the SSN. One time the jumper cable did work, but it was 30 minutes after the SSN, so maybe it was just the time. The other time I tried jumping right away via a jump pack and then jumper cables, both fruitless. Since then I've always remote started or used the two step start process and (knocking on wood) no more issues.

 

[dafish]

Of the three things I see as issues, SSN is not only the most dangerous, it's been delayed at least once by Ford. Second on the list is this exhange issue, for I've yet to see or hear of anything done to eliminate the failures. They just seem to not (yet?) be occuring on the '22's. I've spoken with two Ford service managers and neither know why it seems to be better now.

Let me dig deeper: I've mentioned early I'm sort of a Ford guy at heart, and I've also mentioned I spent some time talking to a GM Serice Manage about his ability to escalate claims, service disconnects. As above, I've not talked at length with two Ford SM's. It's very clear to be (YMMV), that the Ford service shops are being hamstrung for Ford corporate in general, and in particular some very rigid expectations that they've no good (apparently) escape/escalation process for.

BTW, in the the winter I take some trips up into very desolate area's at night in sub-zero temps. A car that randomly decides it's not going to start, and/or requires a sudden shutoff and then won't start, could easily be deadly. Sure, one always has to have some kind of backup plan, but buying a truck that's KNOWN to do this? Argh..

Finally, I heard these comments when talking with SM's that were telling (IMHO).

1) Think about a used one. I can get you it's entire service warranty history instead of rolling the dice on a '23
2) In fact, think about buying a buy-back. You get all that history, how we fixed it, an exceptional additional warranty, and should be able to get a pretty great discount too.
3) Wait on the '24. I imagine there is serious pressure to get whatever fix we're doing for the older ones integrated, it not improved, on the '24's .

Look, I dunno and I'm stilling trying to figure out what's best for me. But maybe this helps somebody else so...

 

[tsvisser]

‘22 PB with $17.5k and all is well, only recall was with wiper motors I think. 7k generator is hella cool. I got the 8 year powertrain warranty because I was concerned about Ford sussing out new tech. From a design standpoint, I do feel the battery is way under capacity, and when the 8 year warranty is up, hope at that point there are after market options to increase battery capacity and add plug-in capability, I feel like MPG could approach 30 or more if they just had a more competent battery system.

 

[gadiedrick]

As to who I am and my use case, I’ll direct you to my introductory post and not bore you all over again. Suffice it to say that I was well on my well to buying another Ford truck, likely a PowerBoost, but now I’m not so sure. I’m wondering what your thoughts and comments might be.

My experience seems to suggest Ford customer service commitment has declined in recent years:

• 2011 gas E-350: Thing was an anvil until some drugged-up moron killed it.
• 2015 Escape 2l: Came with a pretty serious wiring harness flaw, but dealer found it promptly, fixed it quickly. I can live w/a mistake if it’s made right promptly and courteously, so no harm no foul.
• 2108 F-15: It’s been overall reliable, enough that I take it anywhere at any time. But:
  • Ford refused to fix the front transaxle IWE problem. On this version of truck they wanted to cap off the hoses and leave the front transaxle permanently engaged (at a cost of 1 mpg). Nothing could get Ford to relent. I had it fixed (correctly) elsewhere, but that’s strike #1 in the case of “Fords focus is no longer the customer” /“Can I trust their warranty?”
  • Bluetooth suddenly became unreliable. Three multi-day appointments to “check it out” left us with repeated software updates. The third time they tried that I politely demanded actual parts be replaced and it got fixed. But why does the ugly American have to surface to get reasonable service levels? If thinking. If nothing changed it is not software.
• 2022: My neighbor bought a Titan for towing his new RV. The problem? His wife is a service advisor at a Ford dealership! She insisted they not buy a Ford truck. In fact, she tells me a simple diagnostic appointment is now being scheduled out 2 months. All while raging at the unreasonableness of customers running out of patience and demanding their trucks get fixed.
• 2023: This forum. I read, sometimes quite a bit, before I start posting. I see serious long-term problems that have been going on for years (No Start & Etc, plus Heat Exchanger. I’m letting the 9.75” axle pass, but I didn’t miss it).
• 2024: Tomorrow Ford announces the 2024 F-150, and with it a new hybrid variant. I'm really interested! But: How can they be putting engineering resources into new products when they won’t put enough resources into fixing serious design problems on trucks they’ve already sold? And how do I support that behavior by buying from them?

Sure, all things break. My 6 month old Tesla has had several moments. But Tesla is mighty darn serious about fixing things and doing so right the heck now. They’ve come to me several times now, towed it once, and I’ve taken it to them for a few hours once. I had repeated offers of loaners of my choice of demo Teslas. And remember what I said above about problems and mistakes: “I can live w/a mistake if it’s made right promptly and courteously”.

I’ve owned scads of Fords, and I can’t say I’ve ever been hugely disappointed. Now? The trend is not good. Here I was anxiously awaiting the ’24 PowerBoost news and then the weight of evidence, damned in no small part by this forum, has suddenly become palpable. Am I a fool for even considering it? Should my PowerBoost/Duramax/Tunda Hybrid candidate list get shorter?

Do you mind sharing what would you buy if you had my criteria and priorities, and why?

Thanks!

-d

Intro Post: Post #541

 

[gadiedrick]

I've been watch'n this forum since JAN '21. We ordered our XLT '21 PB longbed in the fall of '20 & took delivery in FEB '21. We've never regretted it even with an occasional hiccup or recall. With 25k plus miles it's never been overnite @ the dealership. Our only regret is we paid full price @ the dealership for the extended warranty not realize'n we could'a/should'a negotiated. As we continue to follow this forum it appears that there are more negatives than positives & me thinks that's typical in most anything. Too bad 'cause we're sure there are more lovers than haters of the PB. We're kind'a old school & just like the ride & the drive & don't mess with any more of the tech stuff than we really need to do. Don't do FordPass,
Navigation, Bluetooth, Sirius or anything that distracts us from our ride. Our dealership is in Dyersville, IA, near the Field of Dreams & always take good care of us for scheduled maintenance even though it'sa 50 mile drive through the countryside to get there. Wish'n you well in your decision.

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