Okay, I went to see my step-brother today at work and as some of you might remember he is a tech that works at a Ford dealership. He has been somewhat against me buying the first year of the body style change. I pick up my order confirmation for my new screw and he tells me that so far every one of the 04´s they have sold have come back and right now they have three in service waiting to get new instrument clusters put in them. Seems they have a problem with the engine temp guage not working. He is the electrical guy and thinks it is in the connector at the probe due to past experiences on other vehicles. He tells me that the ambient temp guages are not working correctly either which we have discussed here on other threads. Also, he tells me that there have been a lot of complaints on the 5.4´s making a ticking noise and he knows of one guy who has already gotten rid of his since Ford told him that nothing was wrong with it and to just drive it and it will correct itself or diminish with time. He added that Ford will fix all of the bugs but it sure will be a bother to have to put it in the shop several times for these little things. All of this has me a little worried. I hope Ford didn´t rush something to market but surely after all we heard about how much they have riding on this truck would mean that they thoroughly R and D´ed to correct stuff like this?¿? Have those of you that have already taken delivery had any similar problems? I sure hope they correct a lot of this before mine gets here.

 

In July/August there were many internet posts about 04 f150's that ford had stashed at a storage lot. People observed the parked trucks and were wildly speculating as to why Ford would allow those trucks to stand idle, and some anoymous posters even made the ominous suggestion "I saw those trucks myself, a Few of them Even had the Hood Up" . My answer is, So What? Ford has the 04 release well in hand and they know good and well why those trucks were delayed. Lots of negative innuendos in your memo considering that you are a guy who has ordered a new 04. Are you a parking lot watcher who likes to speculate and spin stories, or are you just excited about that new 04? If it is the latter, are you anxious about everything in life or has the anticipation of taking delivery of a new 04 overwhelmed you. Just wondering.

 

There is a paradox here. First off, Ford wants to get this product as quick to the market as possible for obvious reasons. Since they have all these new innovative designs, they want to be the first to bring them to the market. That being said, they also want to test these vehicles to make sure they can last the life of the vehicle. Unfortunately, they do not have 5-10 years to test these things.

I think to look positively, the things that are going wrong are mainly electronic-related. It could be worse.

There is an inherent idea that first year models are going to be problematic. I was an early adopter of the now "older" F150 back in 1997, and that was a bona-fide lemon. But I still got another one. That's what the warrenty is all about.

 

for very obvious reasons Ford will not rush the 04 f150 to the market because poor product introduction might jepordize their #1 hold on the market. Pushing a few sales thru for early revenue recognition makes zero sense when considering ford is the market leader and ford has the most to lose from a product bust. Ford's confidence in the new truck is spelled "One Hundred Million Dollars " as that is introductory product spending. When Ford committed to the $100M ante, do you think that GM or Chrylser perceived that bet as a sign of weakness or a sign of strength? As for 5 or 10 years to dink around with road tests, no manufactuer has that luxury. That would be like keeping a kid at home until they are 12 years old to make sure they can pass kindergarten. If you or the earlier poster know of electronic problems with the 04's , pls post as i would like to hear those details. sorry about your experience but I dont share your presumption that first year models are doomed to be lemons. By the way, did you see the article on Detroit Auto News where it was stated that Ford is selling the new 04's within 6 days of delivery ? Common delivery to sale date is around 30 to 90 days, unless of course it is a GM Aztek in which case it is 180 days to nearly never.

 

"Lots of negative innuendos in your memo considering that you are a guy who has ordered a new 04. Are you a parking lot watcher who likes to speculate and spin stories, or are you just excited about that new 04? If it is the latter, are you anxious about everything in life or has the anticipation of taking delivery of a new 04 overwhelmed you. Just wondering."

Thank you 03F150man. Your "words of wisdom" have calmed my feeling of being overwhelmed so much
Any negative "innuendos" as you poorly attempted to use the word came from my relative, not me. Obviously, I don´t agree with him or I would not have ordered the truck. I simply am concerned about spending my money on something that might still have problems with it and was curious about what others thought and their experiences which after all is what this board is all about. If my questions seem extreme to you or that I am bashing a truck I will soon own....maybe you could refrain from answering next time.

 

I have about 1000 miles on my new 2004 F-150 Lariat. There is not a single thing wrong with it. I think you will be amazed at well this thing is built.

Philip

 

Yeah, I test drove a new 150 and puzzled about the engine ticking noise. And yeah every time I bought a brand new style of car or truck stuff needed to be fixed.

That did not deter me from ordering my new 150 scab, and I'll just deal with whatever happens.

This is one awesome truck.

 

proford1, no intentional attempt to agitate anyone. I also ask all the questions i can before spending $$$$$. I am seriously thinking about a new 04, and when i read your post i tried to understand the comments. Dont know where your step brother works, but in a few weeks (2 months or so) he already has these negative (no reported positive) 2004 F150 experiences "EVERY 04 screw they have sold has come back", "currently they have 3 waiting for the new instrument clusters", "also the ambient air temperature guages are not working" , "there have been LOTS of complaints about the 5.4L ticking" , "one guy has already gotten rid of his 04" , "ford said the repairs will sure be a bother to put it in the shop for these little things(hard to imagine ford actually saying this). Pls keep us posted as he hears more.

 

My 2004 F150 SCab Lariat has a faulty wheel speed sensor. The Dealer, Team Ford, was really good about getting the truck fixed and on the road within 24 hours. Since then I've put 1,600 miles on the truck and it runs perfectly. There is no "tick" in the engine and it gets 16 to 18 MPG in mixed use driving.

So yes, it had a problem. But no, it was no big deal. Ford has a help line that is almost always available and was ready to dispatch the factory tech reps the minute they heard something was wrong with an 04.

Ford's product support is pretty incredible compared to the other brands. Nissan has to be the worst.

 

Speaking of Ford service. I was like the "first guy" back in Feb of 96 that got the first 97. (a dark red 4x4 off road package stepsides) And it was king of the hill .

The second day I had it, after sitting out in a heavy snow/sleet storm, I managed to "shatter" the plastic covering on the front shift fork in my DRIVEWAY when I shifted it to 4x4 with the back tires still slowly turning on the ice. OUCH .(made a mental note to never do that again)

Ford air freighted a complete front rear assembly the next day to the dealer and had my damaged one sent back airfreight for inspection by their engineers.

It also had a couple of recalls, a broken power point door, and a couple of steering shafts (that clunked at low speed) replaced All in about 6 months after I got it., but since then, NOT A THING has gone wrong since, only standard service and care. I had a waiting list of people that wanted it when they heard I had a 04 on order. (its already pre-sold) So my moral is, I have the same salesman I did last time, he will take care of me. I love my Ford trucks.

 

03f150man,
The comment "ford said the repairs will sure be a bother to put it in the shop for these little things(hard to imagine ford actually saying this)." came from my relative not directly from Ford as you might have missed in my post "He added that Ford will fix all of the bugs but it sure will be a bother to have to put it in the shop several times for these little things.. Just his opinion." My whole thing with posting this was because he works for a service department at a one of the largest Ford dealers around and is a wrench turner and sees all of what goes on that we don´t usually see, I wanted to get a broad consensus of what was going on with other owners out there. Having him attempt to dissuade me from ordering one to begin with and then having him attempt to prove his point seemed one sided and I wanted to bring it into perspective. I have never owned any other truck other than Ford and never plan on it and the posts so far confirm my feeling. Thanks to all for your input and I will post updates when I hear what becomes of these "problems" I have been told about.

 

I agree, you do run the risk of having to cope with basic and sometimes not so basic design issues that come with a new body and drivetrain. However, to have one of the only 04 FX4's in my town is well worth the issues that may crop up (let you know a year from now ) But all in all with that being said, thats the reason you work the dealer for a extended warranty....I got the 5yr 60K Comprehensive.....a small piece of mind

 

True, new models have yet to have the bugs shaken out of them. My '97 was an early model and had many shakedown issues. Each issue was quickly and completely repaired or replaced, with the exception of the infamous cracking door skin, which continues to haunt the last generation. The level of service given to owners of first year models has to be top notch because they can't afford negative market reaction. I can honestly say I am having a hard time giving up my '97 that still runs better than any truck I've ever driven, even with 190,000 miles on her, but am confident my new '04 Lariat will serve me at least as well. Plus, I'll get the joy of owning a head turner for at least the first year until every other vehicle on the road is a '04 F150.

 

Yeah don't worry about it, I've had a few problems with my 2004 STX but after putting about 8k in mods on it I think it's pretty sweet to look at and a ball to drive, I have only 9,000mi on it. I did have some vibration problems at first and had it back to the dealer for a rearend and driveshaft swap then to the factory here in Norfolk and had another driveshaft put in it and that fixed the higher speed vibration but still had one at low speed and come to find out part of the problem was my fault by altering the pinion angle by installing some 2.5" drop shackles but I fixed this by installing some 2deg wedge blocks on the rearend. It has a slight tapping sound or just sounds like it's tapping until it warms up but after that it runs great aside of a couple little vibes here and there but I love my fords. Have a 2003 Stang too. Checkout my STX, and if it blows up tommorow I'll be pissed hahaha!! But I will tell ya this, it steals all the looks at the stop lights.

https://www.f150online.com/galleries....cfm?gnum=5193

 

Now that's gotta be the record for the oldest post responded to (that I have seen anyway)