Convince me I'm making a good choice!
 

I just sold my custom Chevy Z71, lifted, supercharged. It was the best truck I have ever owned period! The truck was too impractical with my two small children so I decided to sell my baby. This truck had approx 400 ponies and I never had a problem with anything on the truck.

I'm thinking about going to the new Ford, but evrytime I check the board I hear all these negative comments about the new ford. I know the first year run usually has a few prob's. But some of the stuff posted seems like quality control stuff which scares the heck out of me for a $37,000 truck.

Give me your honest opinion on the new Ford F-150. Do you like? If you could get something else knowing what you know now, would you? BE HONEST FORD PEOPLE.

You can see My chevy on My Website....
www.DamonPsaros.com

Bear in mind you are in a group of ultra critical people....that's why they are here !

If anyone is going to discover problems it is the people posting here.

HOWEVER, I think some are a bit over critical.

I am on my second '04 already....the reasons quoted elsewhere, and I think that for a truck it is quite brilliant.

I'm sorry if I have said this before and if it seems in some way boasting....but back home in the UK I have some very nice cars including Bentley and Aston Martin......
The 2004 is as quiet as the Bentley and rides just as well.
I enjoy driving the truck just as much.

OK , it doesn't go quite like the Aston.....not much does....but I am full of nothing but praise for the 04 F 150.

TO BE PERFECTLY HONEST:

(1) My '04 XLT Screw is flawless and without fault.

(2) I would wait, delay, procrastinate, halt, pause, defer, and
postpone any decision about a purchase until you can be
absolutely assured that the vehicle you order, regardless of
brand, will be as perfect as your Z71...which must have
been as flawless and without fault as my '04 F150.

This is my 1st Ford truck and I'm not necessarily brand loyal. Wherever the best deal (and quality) is for my money, that's what I'll get.

From my 3 month experience with it, I absolutely love this truck and would not opt for any other truck out there at this point. I've had some small issues with it, but they're all minor and easily fixed.

As you've stated, these issues are not uncommon for a 1st year / redesigned vehicle and should be expected... to a degree. Hopefully, as people take their trucks in for these issues, FORD incorporates them into their quality control checks and we should see the problems disappear as the volume of produced trucks increases.

So, I would fully recommend this new F150 to ANYONE.

i love my 04. i am glad i bought it. the only problem i've had was the utside temp sensor reading incorrectly sometimes. not really a big deal and it was fixed in a jiffy.

to be honest, i bought an 04 because i had to buy a vehicle now and i wanted an F-150. if my previous vehicle would have lasted, I would have waited until the 05 models. i think they might add some neat features down the line and fix any problems there may be. if you can wait, i would. i coudn't wait and i am 110% satisfied with my truck. FWIW, the stock truck does well off road too. probalby not as well as your trick chevy, but better than any other stock truck i've ever driven or rode in. hope this helps.

Re: Convince me I'm making a good choice!
 

reddrig,

I took delivery of my 04 F150 Supercrew on 10/30/03. It only has 1500 miles so far, but so far, the truck has been great. I haven't had any issues worth complaining about. I don't have any reservations about my purchase and would do it all over again (although probably not as quickly as Lenticular:D) The truck has met or exceeded my expectations. It's good that you are trying to get as much information as possible before buying. Most (if not all) of the forum member have high expectations for their trucks, so you will find a lot of critical dialogue here, along with enthusiastic praise.

Good luck in your decision making.

I absolutely love this truck, and would recommend it to anyone. It is by far the nicest vehicle I have had the pleasure of owning.

One might consider me "brand loyal" as this is my 6th F-150 in row. I have not owned another brand of truck, but I alway look at them before buying. There are thing that I can appreciate about each truck maker. Even the Titan....

I went from a loaded '01 Lariat SCab 4x4 to a loaded '04 Lariat Scab 4x4. Same configuration, but these trucks are worlds apart. The '01 was a very nice truck, but the ride was less than comfortable. Every time I drive this new truck, I am amazed at handling, quietness and overall refinement. It's much heavier and feels slower, but it's not.

For every complaint I have about this truck - and I have a few - I have 10 compliments. Most on this site are more likely to complain about the problems than praise the good stuff. We're disappointed with any troubles and look to others for help. We expect it to be good and mostly keep that under our hats.

I've only had mine two weeks. Have 850 miles, and only took one short trip. I loved the truck when I bought it, in the past two weeks I have grown to love it even more. That's a good sign.

This is the secound Ford truck I have owned.I use to be a die hard GM man and took a chance on a 98 F150 (what a nightmare) and swore I would never by another Ford.Well then they came out with the 04 and OH WHAT A TRUCK!!!! I absoultley will be buying more Ford trucks if they keep this up and I think Chevrolet ruined their truck series with the grill and headlights on the 03 and 04's...Good Luck in your decesion.

MR
04 LARIAT SCREW
4X4

I've owned a large cross section of vehicles and brands (way too large according to my wife).

I've owned everything from BMW to Toyota.

I don't consider myself particularly "brand loyal", at least not to the point that I would argue about it with someone.

I liked the 1998 Dodge Ram 4x4 I traded in on my new '04 FX4 Scab. It was a good truck, never let me down but the 5.2 litre (still old school 318) pissed me off to no end with its pinging and lack of power.

When I bought the new F-150, three things weighed in:

1) I could have bought a comparably equipped Dodge Hemi for about $5k less than my F-150. I just didn't feel the quality was up to par with the F-150. Still don't. Cheaper yes, better no.

2) I really missed my 1996 Bronco Eddie Bauer since I traded it in 4 years ago . It rode great, and just had a solid feel to it.

3) I really didn't even look at the GM products other than a few mag articles. GM's (and I mean this as no offense to you) just don't do it for me. I have owned numerous GM products in the past (Corvette and 3 Z-28's) but the trucks just never appealed to me.

So, to answer your question - I am very glad I bought my new F-150. I consider myself somewhat hard to please and so far I am all smiles. And if I had my money back tomorrow, I would go out and purchase the exact same truck within 5 minutes. Thats my honest opinion.

Before I bought my 04 SuperCrew Lariat I had an 01 Eddie Bauer Expedition. IMHO there is no comparison between the two. The 04 F-150 is light years ahead. It's quieter, quicker, rides and handles a lot better, and the steering is much more direct.

For me, the acid test is the half mile of dirt (ok...mud) road up to my house. It's fairly steep and has some big undulations to it. The truck drives up it like it's paved. I have an 03 Jeep Liberty and at 15 mph the Liberty feels like I'm riding a bull. The F-150 cruises through at 25 mph with a much smoother ride. I have to take my trash cans to a spot at the bottom of the hill. Stand the can up in the back of the truck and it's still standing when I get down the hill. If the Liberty had a bed and I tried that I'd have to go back and find the trash can...it would get tossed over the side :)

My gas mileage isn't anything to write home about (averaging 11.8 so far), but that can be attributed to the climb up the hill. After refilling, I usually reset the computer and it shows 15.4 mpg until I get near my house and start climbing. Most of my trips are short at around 10 miles or less with virtually no highway time, so I'm getting about what I expected. The Expedition got 13 mpg and the truck may get there after it's broken in. I've had it for two months, but have just over 600 miles on it so far (I work at home).

I haven't had any of the problems that others have reported. It's been very smooth sailing so far.

KJB's F-150

Bottom line here is...

I think I have seen 2 people on this board that are NOT happy with their trucks.

Most not only are pleased, they use the word "love" for this thing.

I think the wait a year for the bugs to work out is void. There really is none to speak of. "None" for mine.

If I was going to advise, I would say be sure and get what you want. Not getting everything like you want it may be the only reason to ever get rid of a 2004 F150.

I am plenty pleased with mine and plan on driving it for 10 years.
I wonder what the 2014s will look like?

I took my new 150 out of dealer stock on 10-04-03. It was pretty much an impulse purchase. Though I was looking at trading my 03 in on a 4x4 for reasons of need, I did not anticipate spending as much as I did ($38k) for the Lariat Screw. Once I drove it, and saw the interior, and how quiet the ride was, I got suckered in and bought the truck.

Mine hasn't been without glitch, but they have been really minor.

What surprised me is how much my truck is noticed out on the streets, especially by other truck owners. It seems like hardly a day goes by that someone doesn't ask me about it. I've had people stick their thumbs up out their windows as I drive by them. I went from driving a ho-hum F-150 to an F-150 that makes me feel like the object of attention out there. But of course it isn't me...it is the stunning good-looks of this truck.

I love driving it, and being seen in it.

I also was a GM man, for years thats all i would buy,untill I bought a 99 dodge 4x4 quad cab,7 times in the shop at 20000 miles,then back to a chevy,2000 Z71,ls,5.3,quad cab. I guess the reason im going in circles is theres something wrong with any brand at one time or another, lifters pecked pretty loud on start up,and the interior was loose in some spots,front end was to low,so in comes the f-150. 1700 miles on my FX4 scab and i love it. Super quiet interior,great ride,good power,and no less than 15 mpg BABY:rocker: Just try one and I think you will be impressed.