I set out to buy this F150 because of all the trucks I've ridden, this one had the best ride quality I could find. As far as noisy engine. My wife came out of the house and hopped in the truck, then I put it in gear and drove away. She immediately commented "Oh my gosh, I didn't even know you had the truck running!"

Lumadar, I can't speak for the RSX's, but I had a 1999 Integra and have driven my sisters old Focus. I can say that my Integra was peppier, handled better, rode better and was quieter than her Focus. Maybe she had a bad Focus, maybe your GF got a bad RSX.

Was the Integra 10K better? Probably not, but mine was only 19K at the time and it was a damn good car. Plus it also depends on how long you plan to keep it. From the experience I have, Honda's will depreciate much less than the Focus will.

But I still love my F150.

 

What about the tailgates that fall off and the beds flexing, Toydude? This points to a design deficiency, not necessarily quality control.

 

I've ridden in older Integaras and I just can not possibly buy that the ride quality is better. They ride like a buckboard and have no travel or cushion at all in their suspensions...which is why they have less body roll and handle better. I'll give them that, but smoother ride? No way...

Also, of your integra and her focus which had what type of transmission? I know that makes a big difference in terms of the feel of peppiness. Did you have a Type R, or a standard model?

And no kidding the Integra won't depreciate as much....but when you pay 10k more to start with I sure hope it doesn't.

 

I had the 1999 GS model. I wanted the GS-R but couldn't swing it...and definately couldn't swing the Type R either. I had manual transmission as well. I did tend to blast around quite a bit and enjoyed the suspension, but it was much more comfortable than my MR2 that had lowered springs and stiffer shocks. That thing handled like a go-kart, and was about as comfortable over bumps as a go-kart!

 

Pull your head from Toyotas *** and look at the facts. The Tundra is a complete failure. If you would like me to compile a list of issues Toyota has yet to resove regarding this truck and others I will be more than happy.

Before you write me off as another Toyota hating red neck let me say I have personally owned a Toyota Camry. It was to date the worst vehicle I have ever owned, every month a new part was failing... so I dont fall for the Toyota propaganda as easily as most. CS also just took the Camry off the recommended list of vehicles. I have owned more foreign vehicles than I have domestic and they were nothing to write home about. Infact the Dodge and Ford trucks have been much much more reliable than the Toyota and Nissan vehicles I owned previously and I work(ed) my Ford and Dodge much harder than anything I did to the Nissans.

Last the engine sludge issue has not been handled by Toyota. Many web sites full of angry customers with oil change reciepts are available for your reading pleasure. Toyota has denied the fact it is a manufacturing defect and has done nothing to help.

If your a Yota fan thats great, but in that case this is not where you belong

 

Dude you're a moron and shouldn't express yourself. Let me explain why!
How so? They've stolen +150,000 high end luxury truck buys from the other makers... They'll be about 8-10,000 trucks short of selling 200,000 in a SUB month selling year. If they'd have started on January 1st, 07 they likely would have broken 200,000 by 10-15,000 trucks. I digress.... That was an idiotic comment. Selling 10 trucks would have been a failure. Taking tens of thousands of sales from the bowties and ram division's upscale trucks is nothing to scoff at.
Oh I'm calling bull****. Show the invoices on the work done. Give me your VIN and I'll do it... Putup or shutup.
Congratulations, this part is where I explain why you're an uninformed dumbass that has no valid personal opinion because he can't form a conclusion based on anything!



Let's look at said facts on the 'sludge" problems shall we???:

1. Oil sluding is an owner/operator problem cause by not changing your oil... Ever...
2. Toyota had a voluntary full extended warranty on any "affected" engine that could prove a "reasonable attempt at maintaining their vehicle". It's criteria stated that the oil had to have been changed once in 12 months, or 10,000 miles. Call around TMC's corporate offices (800-331-4331, 310-618-4000, 310-781-2442) and ask them how many they've changed that qualified for having an oil change within 10,000 miles. I can tell you from knowing first hand. It's a great big fat 0...
3. Lets see what propagated the "sludge problem" in the first place. A backyard mechanic with a stupid PCV valve theory that holds obviously no water... And a notorious bloodsucking class action lawyer.
   
   
4. Let's review the class action lawsuit! After years upon years of building a case. It didn't hold any water. The ruling was that Toyota's extended warranty was beyond what it needed to be. Set an end date of March 15, 2007 (slightly shorter than the longest service campaign called for...) to claim anything on TMC's part, and shortened all but the 2002 sold vehicles to be out of warranty.
   If you knew anything, about anything (you know, instead of spatting off random bull**** with nothing to base it on - like a moron), you wold know it's the same lawyer that had his Class action suit on Toyota brake failures immediately axed because the case consisted of obvious owner/operator errors.
   The same one that's going to get his suit on Nissan brakes tossed the second it goes to court/arbitration...
5. The same guy that's been kicked off most forums (toyota, and general...) I've encountered him on from trolling people for his own gains, and babbling innate idiocy in lew of any mechanical, or working knowledge.

So yeah. Explain to me how there is a "sludge problem", because I've changed alot of Toyota engine's, and I've never personally, or spoken to another Toyota mechanic that has ever changed one where the engine was at fault...

 

Toyota Tundra owners are having numerous problems with the Tundra. While Toyota may have met its sales goal it has also pissed off many many Toyota loyalist. To me a vehicle making a bad name for a company is a failure, because these owners will not be back. Go check the Toyota web sites it is full of post from angry owners. Tailgates failing with toyota doing nothing, rumbling transmission Toyota cant fix, camshaft issues, failure 2x to get the 5 star crash rating, interior dash fading within one year, complaints the motor is as noisy as a diesel, horrible bed shake... need I go on?


It just goes to show your sucking off yota when you cant even fathom that a Camry could h ave possibly been a bad car. I sold that POS Toyota and gave all invoices to the next owner. You can believe me or not, doesnt matter to me. I know your type, turn a couple wrenches and are a self proclaimed car expert. You take only your direct experiences and ignore facts from all other sources.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/autom...ta_engine.html

Explain to these people Sludge isn not an issue. The small number of cars you and your buddys see does not make or break the fact it is a problem. My cousin has been a tech for 20 years and has never heard of the spark plug issue with the 5.4 motors, does that mean it doesnt exist?

 

You cannot expect much from a company thats tetering on bankruptcy. I have a Ford f-150 with less than 100 miles on it that has sat in my driveway for two and half years now. Ford did not finish the truck. They left off equipment because they ran out of parts so they skipped putting them on. The dealer has no interest they made their money. Ford has no interest they made their money. I found out too late that Ford does not really have a warranty. Its up to the dealer and if the dealer says no then you are out of luck. Ive had three jap vehicles that apparenty did have a warranty because the dealers fixed or replaced the parts each time. Even after the warranty expired on a honda accord the dealer replaced the radiator and filled it and got it back together with no charge. With Ford from day one I mean the first hour i have gotten nowhere. Ford and the other american companies have a policy of excluding things as the model year goes on. The first thing they stop is all corrosion protection of vehicles. The bodies of cars and trucks no longer go into a paint bath of corrosion protection. WHY? Because it does not show. The customers will never know. They also have a policy of removing employees from the assembly line that have difficult fasteners to attach. If you look closely at your vehicle and it was made after march of the model year you will find many places where the fasteners are not on the vehicle. Needless to say when it comes time for replacement vehicles we will be looking elsewhere other than Ford.

 

I agree with you on most points. I have had horrible times with a local dealer. I would point to the defect on a new truck our company bought, the service manager said, hmmm.. thats supposed to be that way. I was pointing to the plastic trim on the door that runs north to south on the trailing edge. It was coming off, you could see the rivets that had come undone. The same service 'manager' claimed my brake problem with a new Expy was due to me turning the wheel while I braked. He suggested I hold the wheel with the other hand so it would even out... Took it to another dealer and got much better treatment. Ended up being a bad HCU and ford replaced 4 rotors, 2 calipers, 4 sets of pads, 4 brakes lines in order to figure that part out. Point is one dealer can be satan, the next an angel. I have found treating the service writer and manager as your friends, get you a lot further. If they are decent people, they will try to help you.

Hey, times are tough for everyone. Ford is cutting costs to stay alive. It stinks but it's a fact of life.

I am interested in which fasteners you found were left off. Also, is your truck drivable?

 

I agree. Same goes for car dealers. Some are jerks. Some aren't.

I can't think of anyone that I know who has a perfect car. I caught my co-worker taping a radiator hose the other day. He was patching a leaky Mercedes with duct tape. Why? His dealership told him to try it and see if it works. Why didn't they say, "bring it right in sir"? This same Mercedes has already had other warranty work done under the hood - including work on the engine. When I looked under the hood, I actually saw a few pieces of bailing wire.

Buzzz, are you in California or Canada?

 

Southern California.

 

Lmfao..Let me start by saying Toysrme, you gotta get a life bud! Seriously! You have nothing else better to do then to come onto a FORD site and try to explain to FORD owners why other trucks are far more superior then FORD..lmfao! I know your truck forum may have some language barriers but damn bud, do ya really gotta bitch & whine like a school girl?

I love how these pukes spend hrs a day online to get info then regurgitate it, at the same time sounding so damn juvenile! At the end of the day "kid", you don't wanna buy a FORD thats great, pretty sure they'll do alright without your lunch money!

 

Well said! He doesn't want to buy a Ford. No skin off our back. He'll end up losing out in the end when a Ford, Chevy or Dodge tow truck is towing his car home!

 

Consumer Reports is one great source for consumer data, reviews and etc......

I would consider reading up on whatever high ticket item you are thinking about buying from many different sources.

Average them together and ask your coworkers, friends, and family for recommendations. You will then have good consumer info.

Just because they might rate one of your favorite products as fair or poor doesn't mean the product is crap or the publication is crap. Do your own research.

As for the Ford Focus Vs. Acura RSX. Buy/drive what you want. As a Ford Owner, I would choose the RSX.

Brand loyalty can be a bad thing, just because it has a Ford "blue oval" or a Honda "H" doesn't mean it's the best. It just means it is a Honda or a Ford.

 

I agree on the Brand Loyalty issue. It tends to blind people to reality.
My wife and I and our son have owned about 17 cars from at least 7 different makers. Combined, we have owned 6 GM products and 3 Ford Products. I HATE GM to the point of having filed, and won, a lawsuit against them in the early 90's. The 3 Ford products were all purchased in the last 10 years. I still own 2 of them.
We have also owned 3 Toyotas, 2 Mazdas, 1 Nissan, and 1 Honda.
Out of the 17, 11 were new and 6 were used.
As much as I love the Ford trucks, I hate their small cars. However, my son's 2003 Chevy Cavalier has the worst brakes of any car I have ever driven. I would take the Focus over the Cav without a single thought. In my efforts to get the brakes fixed, the car has been to numerous dealers and mechanics. I have also worked on them myself and gotten help from some really skilled friends. All agree it is just a crappy design. I never saw this comment when I researched the Cav on CR or any other publication. Makes me wonder...
My Ford trucks also received less WARRANTY repairs than our Honda Accord. Who knew this would happen?
Finally, I think that Toyota Tundra has the most uncomfortable rear seats of any large Pick-Up in the market. I would not ride in the back of a Tundra for more than 20 minutes.
A lot of people love the Tundra and the Titan. Both of these models are well under 10 years old. This is not much of a track record for a truck. I do not consider the Ridgeline to be much of a contender.
I look at the 1960's and 1970's American made trucks still in use by the landscapers in my area and I wonder if I will ever see a 30 or 40 year-old Tundra putting around with lawnmowers in the bed.
I am guessing my daughter will probably end up with a Japanese car when she starts driving. I will probably never buy another Japanese truck in my life.
With all this said, I agree that mags like CR should be taken with a 'Grain of salt'. Nothing wrong with injecting a little personal experience in our thought process.
I have also learned to pick and choose the dealers I buy from. Both of my local Ford dealers work very well for me. I have to drive to find a good Honda dealer and I still have not found a Chevy dealer I would trust. My neighbor is a parts manager for a local Cadillac dealer. He has almost 30 years with Caddy in total. I asked him to recommend a Chevy dealer to work on my son's car. He said he did not know one he would feel good about recommending. This says a lot.
CR is a good place to start, but nothing beats 10 or 20 years of real ownership experience.