Upgrade In 2025, Or Be Patient?

[Dovertj]

I currently drive a 2021 Lariat Powerboost and I am ready to pull the trigger and upgrade my vehicle. I am looking at a 2025 King Ranch with the Ecoboost. I love the speed and torque of the Powerboost, but after 80K miles I am very skeptical about the longevity of this power train. There are a lot of hard shifts while transferring from electricity to using the ICE and I believe it’s unnecessarily hard on the transmission (not to mention I cannot stand my truck chiming every time that I put it in reverse).

Here’s my dilemma: I am very intrigued by the “Ford Digital Experience” that is replacing the Sync 4 system in the Expedition and Explorer. Although I have not had many issues lately, the Sync system is buggy and out of date. I feel like I’ve fought constantly to get my carplay to work properly in this truck. I also like that the new system is a Google based operating system and will seemingly have added features.

Is there any rumors of whether or not this new interface will be added to the 2026 model year F150? I am trying to decide if it is worth it to hold out for another year or if I would be waiting for a few years yet?

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[Jimi]

I currently drive a 2021 Lariat Powerboost and I am ready to pull the trigger and upgrade my vehicle. I am looking at a 2025 King Ranch with the Ecoboost. I love the speed and torque of the Powerboost, but after 80K miles I am very skeptical about the longevity of this power train. There are a lot of hard shifts while transferring from electricity to using the ICE and I believe it’s unnecessarily hard on the transmission (not to mention I cannot stand my truck chiming every time that I put it in reverse).

Here’s my dilemma: I am very intrigued by the “Ford Digital Experience” that is replacing the Sync 4 system in the Expedition and Explorer. Although I have not had many issues lately, the Sync system is buggy and out of date. I feel like I’ve fought constantly to get my carplay to work properly in this truck. I also like that the new system is a Google based operating system and will seemingly have added features.

Is there any rumors of whether or not this new interface will be added to the 2026 model year F150? I am trying to decide if it is worth it to hold out for another year or if I would be waiting for a few years yet?

I'm trying to decide also.

 

[v8440]

I can't tell you what you should do, but I'll mention an observation. If you jump too soon, it's expensive to undo that upon finding out something better came out just a little after you purchased. If you jump later, there is little or no financial penalty for buying something that's a little older than just-came-out-yesterday.

 

[UGADawg96]

I wouldn't expect FDE until the next gen.

You can turn off the sounds you don't like.

Put the trans in relearn and those probs should go away.

This site has tons of threads of people that have had those concerns resolved.

 

[Nlitend1]

I'd be cautious. Moving from my 21 Lariat to the 24 lariat has me so disappointed I wish I had just got a base level truck. Huge price increase with so many item removed. Glare free. Gone. Worse lane centering with a trailer. Less ambient lighting. No box lights. No full size spare tire. No bed camera. On and on. Thankfully only on a 24 month lease.

 

[adyaro77]

Buy used or be patient.

 

[Bossharp]

Or you could look for a nice Pre 1980 F-250 and have it worth more every day. Restomod the rough edges..

 

[HammaMan]

Drive a 1980s vehicle back to back with a modern f150. There's no comparison. Rose colored glasses are just that. Especially an old diesel. You'd need ear plugs just to hear your inner monologue or some significant hearing loss.

The only benefit to a new truck is lack of features, if that's your thing -- that and higher prices.

 

[JCsTruck]

Ford is rumored to come out with a redesigned F-150 in as early as 2026, maybe mid 2027, and when they do the current generation F-150 may be worth less suddenly. If you’re also worried about reliability issues though then it’s not a good idea to purchase the first model year of a redesign, even brands like Toyota will have teething issues.

Ford also offers less features in the 2025 model year compared to the 2024 model year, but the last few years of the current generation F-150 might also prove to be the most refined and trouble free years because Ford has had more time to perfect their product over the years and work out the bugs.

The power boost is a cool concept but it’s also Fords first crack at hybrid technology in trucks and like anything else complicated and new, there will be compromises made and issues as a result. This is why the power boost model has dragged down the Ford F-150 overall reliability in ratings such as CR. Fords 10-speed transmission also kinda sucks when it comes to shift logic and feel anyway. Its great with efficiency though, extracting the most capability from their engines like good acceleration while still extracting decent fuel economy. Ford engines are overall some of the best on the market like the ecoboost 2.7, 3.5, and NA 3.3, 3.5, 3.7, and 5.0 coyote. The ecoboost 2.7 coupled to the 10-speed is a quiet and smooth combination too.

 

[HammaMan]

Ford is rumored to come out with a redesigned F-150 in as early as 2026, maybe mid 2027, and when they do the current generation F-150 may be worth less suddenly.

The power boost is a cool concept but it’s also Fords first crack at hybrid technology in trucks and like anything else complicated and new, there will be compromises made and issues as a result. This is why the power boost model has dragged down the Ford F-150 overall reliability in ratings such as CR.

Did you read the CR reports? It was typical F150 issues, not PB specific. The PB wasn't even a clean sheet design. Just about the entire hybrid system was used in the 2020 explorer. Some of the parts date back to the escape hybrid. The 23s showed up with a software issue that took them 5 months to patch but not before generating a lot of complaints. Had they differentiated hybrid specific issues vs calling issues with sync PB related, it would have told a different story. GIGO.

Ford's new release was pushed back to 2027 because they wasted a lot of time and resources pretending like they were going to have some big EV demand. Major facepalm on that one. They've squandered their PB lead they had on the market. Now their next major release will be in 2027 though we may see a 2026 interior refresh with parts from the expedition on certain halo trims. I really hope they don't take the F150 down this road because it's neither attractive nor practical. I'm prepared to be disappointed though.

 

[Kanuck]

@HammaMan if this is a picture of the "NEW" F 150 dash - I personally don't want it. I would not wanting to be looking at that going down the road. I find it a PITA sometimes with my 21 Sync touch screen. Trying to select a option, or changing the radio station while moving. I find if I rest hand on the dash to steady it, my touch is not registered.

 

[oncechance]

@HammaMan if this is a picture of the "NEW" F 150 dash - I personally don't want it. I would not wanting to be looking at that going down the road. I find it a PITA sometimes with my 21 Sync touch screen. Trying to select a option, or changing the radio station while moving. I find if I rest hand on the dash to steady it, my touch is not registered.

I use Alexa to change stations, hands free.

 

[JCsTruck]

Did you read the CR reports? It was typical F150 issues, not PB specific. The PB wasn't even a clean sheet design. Just about the entire hybrid system was used in the 2020 explorer. Some of the parts date back to the escape hybrid. The 23s showed up with a software issue that took them 5 months to patch but not before generating a lot of complaints. Had they differentiated hybrid specific issues vs calling issues with sync PB related, it would have told a different story. GIGO.

Ford's new release was pushed back to 2027 because they wasted a lot of time and resources pretending like they were going to have some big EV demand. Major facepalm on that one. They've squandered their PB lead they had on the market. Now their next major release will be in 2027 though we may see a 2026 interior refresh with parts from the expedition on certain halo trims. I really hope they don't take the F150 down this road because it's neither attractive nor practical. I'm prepared to be disappointed though.

As usual, you always have informative and insightful commentary Hammerman. I completely agree with what you just said. I have read the CR reports but maybe I missed something because I cant recall them differentiating much between PB and pure ICE models. I do subscribe to their magazine. I think CR has lost some credibility though ever since they went to the affiliate program. I also think CR might have some bias towards electric and hybrid models, although I am far from opposed to electric. I think you’ve heard me say this before, but I think electric cars and hybrids especially are great and I think hybrids will be the future.

I kind of like the look of that dashboard you posted in the picture. I wonder if that screen up high in the dash would interfere with visibility because it seems like it might block your view over the hood. I agree, Ford definitely squandered their lead on hybrids, but they are not the only manufacturer that got caught in the crossfire on that front. Obviously Stellantis is also switching gears and changing direction really quickly.

 

[Jerome10]

For me.... I know when I'm ready to upgrade. Usually it takes a pretty long time. Your expense will be higher (and I guess decontented as well), depreciation, all that. When you start doing that math the new features become even more expensive. I also generally find that not too much changes generation to generation anymore, for example. So unless there really is some great new feature I generally just keep driving what I've got. One big thing for me that I have enjoyed is WIRELESS CarPlay. That was a really nice upgrade.

Sometimes though they get a bit too old on you and that's another sign for me. If I start growing a little tired of maintenance issues.

Personally, I probably wouldn't upgrade just for tech purposes. New stuff tends to be buggy too, so even all-new vehicles or all-new electronics I give it a few years.

Sync isn't too bad in my opinion. Every now and then I'll have to pop the phone in airplane mode and then turn it off and reconnect. Other than that I've been happy with it. It doesn't LOOK awesome or anything but I find it works well and is intuitive.

Couple relatives have a Toyota and a Lexus, and frankly, their system really sucks compared to SYNC. The graphics/resolution look a tad better but actual day-to-day use it really is very poor. I have owned Toyotas in the past and I generally find them very solid vehicles, but for in-car electronics Ford vastly outperforms in my opinion.

Lastly, reading around these forums I probably wouldn't make the assumption the 10 Speed will be any better. Seems to still be very hit-or-miss on the smoothness. Some people get perfect ones and others will have clunks for 150,000 miles. Mine too is not smooth. 3-4-5 upshifts often "drop" into gear and 6-5 downshift lurches unless I'm on throttle or increasing braking pressure. Resets and software updates at dealer didn't fix anything. If I had one wish on the truck it would simply be for Ford to put all efforts into the transmission. If they could smooth it out to operate like everyone else's automatics, the truck would basically be perfect to me. I can't not notice it doing its shenanigans when I'm driving and it gets irritating quickly.

 

[Kanuck]

I use Alexa to change stations, hands free.

I have Alexa...never tried it... will give it a try.

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