I checked my truck sticker on the driver rear door, and the build date says 09/03. I remember reading these posts since the beginning of the 04 segment and there were some that posted problems with early models (defect that had to be fixed)

I also read that ford was saying that the first models would be built slightly better with better products than the rest due to the important launch they needed.

Is september the first month of production, or have they been rollin out long before?

 

I don't know about the early ones being built better. Seems logical that the workers would take a lot of extra care on the first few built.

Mine was built on 20 August 03. I bought it on 4 October.

 

Mine was built in July and took delivery on September 3rd. I have listed 16 problems to date, yes, some are small but there are 4 that are major problems, 2 that are dangerous but.....no fixes yet for most.

 

Not delivered until 10 September.

Not a single problem! Everything works as it should.

I am convinced this truck sat in the famous Virginia Beach parking lot for weeks while Quality Assurance went over it with a fine tooth comb.

It was delivered with 23 miles on the odometer.

Supercab Lariat

 

How do you guys know the exact days? my sticker just says 09/03 and does anybody know when the first production model was made?

Fieldman, what are the 16 problems? id like to know so i can keep a watch out for.

 

Mine was provided by the dealer. A "Vin Check" which can be done by the dealer or by one of the great Ford guys on this site
can provide a number of date point in the build/deliver process.

The Vin Check requirtes access to a restricted Ford data base.

 

According to this article,

http://trucks.about.com/cs/ford2003/a/newfordv8.htm

production of the 2004's started on June 10th 2003.

 

mxz600, I've posted these problems before, but if no one minds, I'll do it again. (I hate to keep beating a dead horse). I have taken the vehicle in for service, after 10 days in the shop, only a few of the problems were resolved. Like I mentioned, some of the problems are nit-picky but after the first few problems were noticed, it really raises your awareness.

1) Distorted windshield (Visteon replaced, and it's not much better).
2) Rear end dog-tracks when hitting a bump (prototype fix, but not available till spring)
3) Vibration at 40-70 mph
4) Steering wheel nibble
5) Reverse sensing aides giving false readings (couldn't duplicate concern)
6) Doors misaligned
7) Outside temp gauge inaccurate (reflashed)
8) Climate control not functioning properly (reflashed)
9) Passenger heated seat inoperable (replaced the seat)
10) Transmission malfunction reading twice (recalibration)
11) Shifter doesn't effortlessly engage and the key gets stuck in the ignition (couldn't duplicate concern)
12) Hood bounces when driving at freeway speeds, like it's not latched properly
13) Steady hum from rearend at 45 mph

I've got a meeting scheduled with the zone manager on Tuesday, Feb 3rd.

 

I thought the reverse sensing system was messed up on mine, too, but after thinking about it a little while, I realized that it only does it when it gets really cold. The times I noticed it were when I had taken it through a car wash... I figure some how the water froze over the sensors cause a false reading.... the weather warmed up and the problem didn't exhist any more... just a thought.

 

purty_2004, That's exactly what happened with mine but since that time, it only happens when the temperature is about 10 or less, wash or no wash, never fails, they go off. I took it to the dealer when it was happening, techs and service director came out and looked at it and witnessed the solid beep with nothing around me. Told me to drive it into the bay, after it was inside for about 10 minutes, it stopped. They couldn't fix it because the diagnostic tester showed that nothing was wrong. If they replaced the sensors, without a code from the tester that showed something was actually wrong, they wouldn't get warranty repair $$$ for the fix. They actually witnessed it and won't fix it. Pretty lame huh?

 

yep, that sucks. I don't know what to tell you, dude.

 

I don't expect a first model year vehicle to be perfect, let alone any other new vehicle, I understand that there are always problems but 16 of them???????? I consider that to be allot.

 

Your truck is a lemon. I haven't seen anybody here with all 16 problems you have. I've seen people with maybe 1 or 2 of the probs you have at most.

You should tell the guy at your meeting that you plan to lemon your vehicle.

What do you mean by "prototype fix"? Do you have any details? I'd be interested to know what they told you was wrong.

My truck was built on 12/2 and is perfect except for one spot where the paint is bad. You can't see it because it's where the body wraps under the vehicle below the door.

 

I've already been to the Lemon Law attorney and that's exactly what I'm going to do. As far as the proto-type fix, I believe they said that they are going to add weight to the dampeners? Something like that, I'm sorry I can't remember exactly without looking at the paperwork and I don't have that in front of me at the moment.

 

I would think to change the dampening they would have to replace the rear shocks. If this truly is a widespread problem (I haven't noticed it on mine at all) then changing the shocks out is a relatively simple fix.