What would you do, if you're feeling uneasy regarding the realiability of your truck

[Snakebitten]

@Snakebitten you are one of the 80% in CR who have not had any issues with the PB so you fit into the majority. The 20% that has issues is just the most vocal as is always the case.

Absolutely!

So like you mentioned, you have to use perspective. If you do include a healthy dose of logic, then the data collection won't generate so much spin?

We are funny creatures though. We all read the same TSB on a windshield wiper. Yet the perspective can vary from one fella completely ignoring, to some other fella refusing to drive his truck if the Forcast has a chance of rain. (and everything in between)

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[Goldeneye36]

I've had my truck for 10 months now and I'm still very happy with it overall. That being said, I have had some issues so far. I've had the GSM replaced after getting the power train malfunction warning and now just yesterday popped a check engine light for the evap valve sticking.

Most of the other issues I had early on seem to be fixing themselves as the truck breaks in.

 

[Lefty665]

Count me as a powerboost fan boy. I've had mine for just over a year now with essentially no issues. It is a wonderful truck and it powered our house last winter when the electricity was out.

It has been back to the dealer once for the air intake razor blade mod. Otherwise flawless. 23-24mpg overall, and it almost passes for quick if you stick your foot in it.

My experience after a career in tech is that electronics failures are mostly early life and then settle into a long stable lifetime of good performance. I have no reason to expect these trucks will be any different. While a little spotty, Ford's OTA software updates have made things work better. I expect software and delivery will continue to improve as they bring more software development and maintenance in house from component mfrs.

I grew up on Consumer Reports, but over the last couple of decades have been less and less enchanted with them. Their reviews have tended to high end stuff and with a funny set of values. I have always taken their auto reviews with a grain of salt. Their consumer survey ratings are what the survey industry calls SLOP, Self Locating Opinion Polls. They are not representative samples of the objects of the surveys. CU's bias against domestic auto manufacturers has been glaring for decades. The half century old valid criticism of domestic vehicles quality has long since disappeared. All vehicles have gotten a heck of a lot better.

FWIW, I have long felt that domestic automobile mfg was a virtue so have driven American cars for a long time. In the last 40 years I have put close to 2 million miles on them (I was a road warrior) with remarkably good results that have consistently varied widely from Consumer Reports ratings. They've been a mix of GM and Ford. Oil changes, brake pads and transmission flushes/refills have been my maintenance experience. Doesn't get much better than that.

Like I started, count me a fan. I'm not blind that Ford, and all mfrs, produce some lemons, or that dealer service departments vary widely. But, overall, vehicle mfrs have done a remarkable job of embracing technology and engineering. We've come a long way from my '55 Ford w mechanical overdrive, and the '55 Olds I had too. They've all been good rides.

 

[Calson]

My 2022 truck was a safety hazard for the first 18 months while I waited for a recall part. I replaced the battery 4 times and after installing the fourth battery I sold the truck. My regret is in not dumping it the first few months and moving on to a better and more reliable truck. There was one chance in 10 that the truck would start in the morning and I never had that problem with any other vehicle, even the ones with a 6 volt battery.

 

[JCsTruck]

I would say you can thank the increased competition pressure from Japanese manufacturers like Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Subaru for forcing the big three American manufacturers to improve their vehicles. When congress wanted the big three to improve emissions in the early 70’s they told congress it couldn’t be done but the Japanese manufacturers proved them wrong. Without that competition I wonder if the poor quality I saw in the seventies through the late nineties would have remained. I have taken apart a few American and Japanese engines from those times and the qaulity difference was huge so I think the trend on CR does have merit and I would say even CR helped force the big three to improve and shed light on the truth.

I like my Ford F-150 but the fit and finish is not the best even compared to the Toyota Tundra I had over 24 years ago. I hope their 5.0-liter V8 is as reliable and bulletproof as my 2014 with the 3.7-liter V6 has been (232k miles and running strong) but that engine design had help from Mazda from when Ford had ownership in Mazda and access to their superior engineering. Still, I am glad to see Ford Motor Company doing well and innovating with cool new ideas like their PowerBoost truck.

 

[Snakebitten]

I have 2 Fords with the Cyclone (3.7 variant) and I agree that they are amazingly reliable engines. But I'm curious why you give Mazda credit for the engineering of the Cyclone engine. It's true that Mazda was a user of the engine in several of their products during the business marriage, but I haven't ever read anything that states Mazda was even a partner in the design.

Don't get me wrong though. I'm a huge Mazda fan. The engineering (so called gram strategy) in the ND MX-5 garnered high praise from the industry insiders worldwide. (Engineers praising their competitors accomplishments) And their post WWII rise from the ashes of Hiroshima is truly amazing. But I think Ford deserves the praise for the Cyclone engine and it's very respected and well earned legacy.

 

[Hans Moleman]

The "bathtub curve" in automotive contexts illustrates a typical pattern of car and component failure over time: a high initial failure rate due to manufacturing defects (infant mortality), followed by a long period of low and stable failure rates during the vehicle's useful life, and finally, an increasing failure rate as the car experiences wear and tear in its old age

 

[parkerdog]

First thing to look at is the powerboost idle. When idling and Eco-idle is not enabled the ICE will lug due to the EV motor charging the HV battery pack. Go into the truck settings and enable Eco-idle. This will raise the idle rpm when not in gear to 1350-1500 as the system charges the battery. When n gear and a charge cycle starts it will also put a large load on the ICE causing it to lug (groan) and is perfectly normal behavior for the PB. The charge cycle happens when the HV battery hits 43% and will bring it back up to 60% in roughly 90 seconds. It's a little disconcerting at first when it groans/lugs during a charge cycle but you get used to it lol.

For the rest take it to a trusted dealer to have them look at the stored codes to identify if what the issue is so they can resolve them. If it continues to cause issues during the factory warranty, then trade it in or if the problems get significantly worse then push for a buyback. If the issues get resolved and it remains trouble free through the bulk of the factory warranty period and you have not done so already consider getting a Ford Premium Care plan that covers the length of time and mileage you plan on keeping it for through Granger Ford. https://grangerwarranty.com/

You know, my sister just had a bad experience with Granger motors. Must be a different group of associates when you order versus buying off the lot.

She bought a Maverick off the lot and the finance guy talked her into some kind of $4000 aftermarket warranty they are peddling.

When I found out I had her cancel which was a hassle in itself and then she bought a Ford premium through Flood Ford. Same price and she was done dealing with Granger after the unpleasantness.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

The coverage I got through https://grangerwarranty.com/ is legit Ford Premium care and never had to talk to anyone to buy it.

The finance guys at dealerships are the worst. It doesn't matter which dealership you go to either. Each and every one of them end up being one of those sleazy used car sales guy types that will bold faced lie to you about the warranties they push. They always try to sell those super high margin third party plans that they make a huge commission on and swear are just as good if not better than ones like Ford Premium care but end up being a complete waste of money because they'll weasel out of every claim you file for some reason or another.

 

[Snakebitten]

Those finance guys are often making the biggest bank at the dealership. And while I know a couple of them that aren't sleezy and will not lie about anything, they'll even tell you off-record it's a sleezy part of the industry.

 

[Jmitchelltfo]

Those finance guys are often making the biggest bank at the dealership. And while I know a couple of them that aren't sleezy and will not lie about anything, they'll even tell you off-record it's a sleezy part of the industry.

This is the main reason why I never bought a single thing from the F&I at a dealer while purchasing a vehicle until my pickup and my wife's Aviator. Getting Eddy's in Wichita to beat Granger's online price for the premium care ESP was especially surprising, but I think it had more to do with being a brand new Lincoln dealer than anything else.

 

[foofoodar]

I have a 2021 power boost.

My powertrain malfunction alert started off without much issue, the wrench would come on while driving, I wouldn’t notice any difference and it would go off after I restarted the truck. This happened 3-4 times over the period of a few months, I never took it in at this time for the issue.

Then it came on when I was driving 3-4 hours from home on a vacation with the family, and when I got to my destination the truck would no longer go in gear, after cooling down the next morning truck drove again like normal, I took to the dealership and they said it needed a software update.

After that I had no issues for a while, and then one day my transmission just blew up, and I had to have a new transmission installed at 75k.

I now have 95k on the truck and the new transmission is just a quirky as the last, I do love my truck but I do worry about it, if it wasn’t for the warranty that came with the replacement transmission I would have gotten rid of it.

With all that being said, my issue may not be your issue, just telling you what happened to me, I had an extended warranty at the time and I had a brand new transmission installed, cost me 3k out of pocket, total cost was 12k so glad I had the warranty.

The warranty company tries to push you to installed used or rebuilt transmission, the dealership would only install new, and since that’s what I wanted it worked out in my favor, but that is why I had to pay 3k out of pocket.

Also when I installed the new transmission I decided to install the livernois tune and eboost tune, most people would not consider that a wise move for warranty, but I trust their tune more than the factory tune, and the truck is an absolute monster with the tune, and the transmission is smoother, but still quirky.

 

[Jerome10]

Quickly scanned but if you have a 2024, I'd at least see how it goes until you approach end of warranty.

At the same time I get the "trust" thing too. I've had it with a car or two in my past. I've also had cars with 230,000 miles that NEVER let me down. Trusting your car is a pretty big deal in my eye.

I just wouldn't part with it if it was just 1 or 2 items under warranty then its running great for several years after that.

I do wonder if we've actually passed peak reliability, generally. Such a focus on every drop of gasoline, but a $10,000 transmission failure can buy a LOT of gas. Same with a hybrid battery pack, etc. I kinda suspect sometimes that the port-injected, non-turbo engines with a 6 speed auto (or manual) was about as good as it got and its been downhill from there.

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