I have been shopping for a new truck lately. I see that they are made in Canada, Kansas City and Norfolk Va. Does one plant have a better quality record? Should I avoid trucks made in Canada due to the piston slappers? Today I drove a 2002 F150 Lariat that was made in Canada and the radio didn't work, nice huh? Noticed some paint runs on the rocker panel also. This was an early 2002, mfg in Oct 2001. I have noticed that there has been an engineering change sometime in the model year. Here is what I have observed. The switches for the windows and locks are different, bottoms of door are different, different drain holes and location. Also noticed different gasket around rear window. Go to a dealer and look for one that was made in 2001 for 2002 and one made later in 2002 and you will see the changes. One more thing I noticed that auto. climate control is now standard on the Lariat and the homelink thing. The 2002 Lariat I drove did not have these two options and the MSRP is the same. The salesman didn't know anything about it. Guess I should be selling trucks. Hope to get some feedback from you guys.

 

You are talking about 'assembly' plants.
Piston slap, broken radios are outside assembly plant control.
Those would be from the plant where those items are made and all the assembly plants have a fair shot at getting bad stuff to assemble.

Assembly plants can be individually accountable for paint, fit and finish.

Good luck with your new Ford.

 

I had a '97 that was built in Norfolk and currently my '01 Lightning built in Canada. The build quality appears to be equal except for paint quality. If you have a choice, go with one made in Norfolk. I can't speak for KC though.