F-150 Lariat Powerboost Reliability

[Thunderchief]

Did you have specific PB issues, or general F150 issues?

Mostly Powerboost issues I think. For sure the exhaust heat exchanger leak was PB related. I think the PB has a different (electric) air conditioner so the freezing up of the AC would be PB related. I don't know if the transmission vibrations were PB related. The Infotainment failures could be common to all F-150. The transmission refusing to come out of Park is also something I don't know about being PB related.

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[nomarhits400]

I bought a 2022 Lariat Powerboost and I loved the truck. However it was in the shop for so many things and so often, Ford bought it back. I subsequently bought a GMC SLT and it has been a good truck but I am tempted to buy another Lariat. I would hate to buy back into the problems I had with the first Lariat. What is the sense of the new Lariat Powerboost trucks -- are they any more reliable than the 2022 I had?

I think most of the common faults amongst the early Gen 14's (some Powerboost specific: Faulty Heat exchanger, Stop Safely Now issues, BMS 12V management- and other more generic: Max Tow axle bolt, Faulty 12V batteries, Poor transmission/shift logic, CDF Drum issues) have almost all been remedied through engineering or software updates at this point.

Impossible to say with certainty- but if you're looking for a Powerboost- I'd say the landscape is much better in 2025 than it was in 2022. And, of course, there are thousands like myself ('23 Powerboost) who have never had any issues with the platform and would buy one again without a moments hesitation.

Having said that- if you're not tied to the Powerboost platform for the 7.2 kW generator, as has been mentioned- the Coyote 5.0 is a great choice as well. The whole Gen 14 Platform is, I think, in much better shape than it was in 2021 (at least for the issues mentioned above). Good Luck!

 

[Porpoise Hork]

@Thunderchief I remember your having a litany of issues with yours. Most likely you got Monday after a holiday weekend build and the assembly workers were fairly hung-over that day yours rolled down the line.

I'd say the vast majority of quirks and issues some like yourself had with the early PB have been fully ironed out. Mine had the leaky heat exchanger which Ford replaced and now has a satisfaction campaign 24N04 on it if it were to start leaking again. The AC freezing issue on some 21-22's was resolved with a software update. Ford has also updated some of the internal components for the 10R80 resolving many of the issues experienced in the 21's. They replaced the Max Tow axles for the updated design and have not had any issues since. The 12v battery issues were solved by me with a combination of increasing the default SOC from 80% to 100% in Forscan and adding a piggy back 20AH 12v lithium battery to the minuscule aux battery under the back seat. Aside from these what could be considered major to minor problems my 22 PB has been great and I consider it to be very reliable. Sure I had some issues with water leaks but were resolved by both Ford (replacement back window) and myself with clearing cowl drains and replacing the rear cab vents, but then I am cursed with having water leaks in my vehicles. Every single car/truck I have owned for the past 30 years has either had or developed some sort of water leak...

My father-in-law has a 25 Platinum PB and about 5-6K miles on it so far and the only real issues he's had was an alert that the rear brake assist was unavailable and retractable hard tonneau cover would bind because it wasn't aligned correctly. The rear brake assist issue happened right after he brought it home and parked it for nearly two weeks when they went out of town. So likely the system had put modules to deep sleep and just needed to be driven/charged to being the SOC back up.

 

[PowerBoostSoCal]

Just a quick reply - I had a '21 PB Lariat got to 85K miles and had transmission issues that could not be repaired (after 3 times the transmission was replaced with a new one), dealer worked with me on a credit toward a '23 EB (non PB) Lariat - better truck but not perfect (plus I got a really bad color that I did not like from day one). Traded for a '25 EB Lariat - it is just a different animal than the '21 and '23 and I mean that the apparent covid quality issues are not there and this one just seems more solid. In summary, the '25s are built better and have better quality in my view. Good luck.

 

[Pelican]

I have a 24 Lariat PB with the 7.2kw PPOB feature. I have had one non-PB specific issue... a failed GSM while on the road that left me stranded. After 3 weeks of being at the shop, it was fixed and I have had zero issues since. I have over 13k miles on the truck since purchasing it new in Nov 2024 (July 2024 build date). I may be what some call one of the lucky ones, but I would buy another one without question unless I could get an f-350 with the 10-20kw PPOB.

IMO, new vehicles today are expensive to repair and that's why I always purchase an ESP. Been doing so since our first new vehicle in 2017. They are not cheap, but historically I keep my vehicles for 10 years (5 years of payments, 5 years of driving free).

Best of luck with your truck OP'er!

 

[mrichard02]

My Lariat first had a leak in the exhause heat exchanger which took 29-days in the shop. Next my AC kept freezing up. As I was driving the AC would stop working. I would stop and find ice formed around all of the AC lines. I had to turn off the AC and wait 30-minutes for things to thaw. This was a repeat fault that was never fixed and in the shop when the truck was repurchased. When going up a local NC mountain road at maybe 55-mph in cruise control, the truck would periodically vibrate as if there was a transmission problem. The Infotainment screen would periodically go blank requiring a reboot. There were other small things I cannot remember since it has been three years. I loved the truck when it worked and now that my GMC is running out of warranty I am shopping for another truck. I would like to try another Lariat but I would feel real silly if I spent a lot of money buying the same problems.

did the vibration ever get fixed? I have the same issue on my 2024 lariat

 

[Thunderchief]

No, the vibration was never fixed. The truck first spent 29-days at the Dealer for the coolant leak. Then the main problem became the AC freeze up. Between AC failures, it wouldn't come out of Park after starting. It was back in the shop for the AC - 49 days in the shop during my first 180 days - when Ford Repurchased the truck. So I never had time to get to the vibration. I will say the Dealer and Ford were very nice to me during all of these problems and I was never without a vehicle. But the Dealer is 20-miles away so I was spending a lot of time with truck problems and, at 89-years, that is hard to do.

 

[Thunderchief]

I have a 24 Lariat PB with the 7.2kw PPOB feature. I have had one non-PB specific issue... a failed GSM while on the road that left me stranded. After 3 weeks of being at the shop, it was fixed and I have had zero issues since. I have over 13k miles on the truck since purchasing it new in Nov 2024 (July 2024 build date). I may be what some call one of the lucky ones, but I would buy another one without question unless I could get an f-350 with the 10-20kw PPOB.

IMO, new vehicles today are expensive to repair and that's why I always purchase an ESP. Been doing so since our first new vehicle in 2017. They are not cheap, but historically I keep my vehicles for 10 years (5 years of payments, 5 years of driving free).

Best of luck with your truck OP'er!

I have a friend that always buys the ESP and I looked at his total costs over five years. I trade at 36-months when the OEM warranty runs out. I found my total costs compared to his total costs were about the same while I had a new truck every three years.

 

[PowerBoostSoCal]

did the vibration ever get fixed? I have the same issue on my 2024 lariat

I forgot about this one ... my '23 had a bad vibration over 70 under hard acceleration. Turned out it was a combination of out of balance drive shaft and U-joints. Replaced under extended warranty.

 

[mrichard02]

I forgot about this one ... my '23 had a bad vibration over 70 under hard acceleration. Turned out it was a combination of out of balance drive shaft and U-joints. Replaced under extended warranty.

Was it easily reproducible? I have a very slight vibration at highway speeds. But every dealer won't bother to deal with this.

 

[Thunderchief]

Was it easily reproducible? I have a very slight vibration at highway speeds. But every dealer won't bother to deal with this.

No, it was not reproducible and so it was never fixed. The vibration would occur in a steady state sitution with a fairly light load on the engine. For example, climbing Balsam Mountain road using cruise control and at 55 mph, I would occasionally get what felt like a shudder in the transmission which didn't last long. I wouldn't feel anything in the steering wheel. The Balsam road is a long gentle climb so there were no turning forces and the engine was not loaded. When I took the truck to the Dealer for the AC freezing up, I would list the shudder but they could never duplicate it.

 

[Jmitchelltfo]

Was it easily reproducible? I have a very slight vibration at highway speeds. But every dealer won't bother to deal with this.

I've asked twice about a very slight vibration that shows up between 45-75 mph. My dealer blamed my tires.
I told them they all took a max of 1.5 ounces of weight and road forced with 13 pounds on the drum. It's not the tires, but they don't seem interested in digging.

I have noticed a different vibration that sticks around like the OP describes. But it disappears as soon as I downshift manually during a climb. The tuning (in eco or normal mode) on these pickups likes to lug the engine......but the transmission, EGT's, MPG's, and trans/coolant temps do not.



Even with a few small complaints, I would happily buy another Powerboost if this one were totaled today.

 

[Groovicles]

My Lariat first had a leak in the exhause heat exchanger which took 29-days in the shop. Next my AC kept freezing up. As I was driving the AC would stop working. I would stop and find ice formed around all of the AC lines. I had to turn off the AC and wait 30-minutes for things to thaw. This was a repeat fault that was never fixed and in the shop when the truck was repurchased. When going up a local NC mountain road at maybe 55-mph in cruise control, the truck would periodically vibrate as if there was a transmission problem. The Infotainment screen would periodically go blank requiring a reboot. There were other small things I cannot remember since it has been three years. I loved the truck when it worked and now that my GMC is running out of warranty I am shopping for another truck. I would like to try another Lariat but I would feel real silly if I spent a lot of money buying the same problems.

I would expect you'd still run into the same problems as Ford is still Ford. My '22 PB XLT is the worst vehicle I have ever owned in my life with monthly visits to the mechanic for new and interesting problems. Once my vehicle loan is paid off I will be selling this half ton pile of shit and buying anything other than a Ford. I completely understand your hesitation.

 

[Davexxxx]

I would expect you'd still run into the same problems as Ford is still Ford. My '22 PB XLT is the worst vehicle I have ever owned in my life with monthly visits to the mechanic for new and interesting problems. Once my vehicle loan is paid off I will be selling this half ton pile of shit and buying anything other than a Ford. I completely understand your hesitation.

Sorry you've had such a bad experience. Most of the problems and recalls were done by the time my truck was built in May of 03. There has been exactly one on my truck and it was of the "check and see" type. There was nothing wrong.

I'd learned of the max tow axle bolt by then and since PB didn't really benefit that much from it and the regular tow package suited my needs, was able to side step that one.

I did have some nuisance type electrical gremlins early on but they've been gone, a year ago last April, never to return.

I'm not sugar coating it. There were real problems for some and Ford didn't handle some of them well but your experience is not at all universal. Even for the 21-22s

 

[Nassau]

2024 Lariat POWERBOOST. Regular tow. 2.4kw generator. No sunroof. About 18thousand km (12k miles) with zero issues. Lifetime average of 20.5 mpg. About the same in city and highway. I generally drive at 80mph if traffic allows and I love to punch it at lights. Especially if there’s another 1/2 ton beside me. So far I am loving the truck.

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