While I empathize with your situation, it sounds like you do have a bad engine and your particular dealer service sucks, not FoMoCo. They haven't corrected the real problem and should have replaced it, not rebuilt it. Anyway, I think your bad situation really blinds you to the good things. There are hundreds of thousands of F-150's with more than 150k miles and no problems. Your situation is rare, just like "all those" spark plug blowout owners. Considering Ford sells at least 500k 5.4L engines per year for the last 7 years, the percentage of problems are still less than 1%. My 99 5.4L was excellent to me. 69k miles, no engine problems except a dead spark coil covered under extended warranty. I sold it to my father in law last year so I still monitor its life. I would not have sold it to family if I didn't have confidence in the quality.

 

98 Supercab with a 4.6, and 107,000. Only thing that leaks is a/c condensation. Hehe.,,,,98

 

I would get whatever the dealer agrees to fix fixed then I would drive it directly across the lot and trade it in on an 04. Used car guys don't give a ****. They will just sell it to some poor sap....

 

mr. washout,

after reading your complaints and problems i would say you have a lemon. I've had a lemon and it was my first ford, a 94 ranger. It kept blowing the rear main seal( 4 times in 5,000 miles). However i did'nt give up on ford, i patched up the ranger and took it to the auction and sold it. I now have a 97 f150 which has been an excellent truck so far, have over 110,000 miles on her. of course ive had the minor repairs with the truck, but it is to be expected with any truck/car. my advice is to sell your lemon and buy another ford. good luck with whatever you buy.

 

You may want to read the site information through the link below in order to make an educated decision.



http://www.nissanoffroad.net/message...sp?FORUM_ID=69


http://www.minerich.com/dodge_ram.htm

Let us know how it turns out for you.

Jeff

 

Washout I am sorry you have had a bad Time with your Ford, But take this how you want to,
I bought a 2003 Chevy Z71 brand new, And had nothing but Problems, Sold it and am now a proud owner of a 2002 F150 Sport and I love it to death, Will not sell this truck for anything!
My point is that every Brand and maker has problems once in a while, Just don't give up on it over one thing.

 

Have to throw in my 2 cents. My father drove a school bus that had a Ford 390cid. The school district just knew something was wrong when he had 125K miles. They gave him a new bus with a chebby engine, and tore down the Ford. The only thing they found was that it needed a valve job. I had a 1972 F250 Camper Special. At 110K, I rebuilt the engine cause it didn't run right. All that work, and all I had was a burnt valve. All bearning, rings, etc were well within acceptable tolerances. I now have a 2000 F150 Lariat with the 5.4. The only thing that leaks is the water that comes out of the tailgate after a rain storm. I did have to have the instrument cluster replaced under warrenty cause the odometer display would blank out for a few miles then come back on, and I had the IAC valve replaced cause when it got HOT under the hood, the engine would not idle. I am extremely pleased with Ford products (well, the trucks and a couple select cars anyway). You have definately had some problems, but don't give up on Ford. For every one that has a problem, there are probably 1000 more on the road that have absolutely none. My next one will be a F250 Lariat FX4 Supercab with the 6.0 Diesel.

 

Amen on the diesel.
And washout, I'll still give you 50 bucks for your truck.

 

I feel your pain as the Prez used to say. My 87 Cougar.....lost oil pump at 45K. My 89 Ranger....bearings at 120K. However, I continue to buy Ford (03 Lariat 10K) simply because they drive better and are more comfortable than any other make. My family drives Ford and they too say the same thing...comfort...great drive....and yes, maybe don't last quite as long as Chevy, but they drive better when they run.

Greg...from the slopes of Sweat Mountain, Marietta, Georgia

 

No Engine failures...no major repairs...no rebuilds....the first two I kept 10-11 years each

Ford 71 F100 pickup 1971-1982
Ford 82 F100 pickup 1982 -1993
Ford F150 XL F150 4.6 pu 1993-1995
Ford F150 XLT SC. PU 4.6 1995 - 1998
Ford F150 Lar SC PU 4.6 1998-2000
Ford F150 Lar SC PU 5.4 2000-2003
Ford F150 Lar SC PU 4.6 2003-2005
NEW 2005 F150 Lar SC PU 5.4

Just lucky I guess

 

I'm with you Washout! Although I didn't have nearly the same problems that you had, I still had my fair share of troubles with my 01 Lightning, such as smoke on startup, high oil consumption (1 quart per 1500 miles), transmission slipping, and hard starting. Only had 30,000 miles. Dealer would never acknowledge the problems, and said it was all normal. My truck was bought new, well-maintained, never towed or hauled with it, never raced at the track. I sold it a few days ago.

I wonder why people act like it's not a big deal to get a lemon vehicle. It's very frustrating to shell out over $30,000 on a new truck, then find out that it has poor build quality. And then to have the dealer say it's all fine. Sure it looks all nice and shiny, but it's the drivetrain that makes the car go. Maybe $30,000 is less than I thought? Maybe I expect too much from Ford? I mean, they only have been making cars for what, 100 years now?

In my experience, the American cars have not been as good as the foreign cars. My sister has over 200,000 miles on her Honda Accord, my uncle has 500,000 miles on his Toyota truck, a friend of mine has 220,000 on another Toyota truck, and my father has 180,000 miles on his Mercedes. None have had any major breakdowns or repairs.

I owned a Ford Escort that had eight major breakdowns (meaning 8 calls to a tow truck), within 99,000 miles (the alternator and electrical system burned at 99k, so I had it junked). I've had two bad Fords already, so you can guess my loyalty to Ford has been trashed. On the other hand, I've put 70,000 miles on my Toyota Tundra (bought at the same time as my Lightning) and it has had no major mechanical issues. Oil doesn't even change color after 5,000 miles. And I'm harder on my Toyota, since it's slower than the Lightning. Other people may have had other experiences with foreign cars, but that's what my get a lemon vehicle. It's very frustrating to shell out over $30,000 on a new truck, then find out that it has poor build quality. And then to have the dealer say it's all fine. Sure it looks all nice and shiny, but it's the drivetrain that makes the car go. Maybe $30,000 is less than I thought? Maybe I expect too much from Ford? I mean, they only have been making cars for what, 100 years now?

In my experience, the American cars have not been as good as the foreign cars. My sister has over 200,000 miles on her Honda Accord, my uncle has 500,000 miles on his Toyota truck, a friend of mine has 220,000 on another Toyota truck, and my father has 180,000 miles on his Mercedes. None have had any major breakdowns or repairs.

I owned a Ford Escort that had eight major breakdowns (meaning 8 calls to a tow truck), within 99,000 miles (the alternator and electrical system burned at 99k, so I had it junked). I've had two bad Fords already, so you can guess my loyalty to Ford has been trashed. On the other hand, I've put 70,000 miles on my Toyota Tundra (bought at the same time as my Lightning) and it has had no major mechanical issues. Oil doesn't even change color after 5,000 miles. And I'm harder on my Toyota, since it's slower than the Lightning. Other people may have had other experiences with foreign cars, but that's what my experience has been. I've been wanting a diesel truck, but I think I will wait til Toyota makes a heavy duty diesel truck...I don't wanna take chances with a $50,000 Ford SuperDuty.

 

Washout,

Have you considered going higher up the Ford Food Chain to get a resolution to you problem? I don't think I would just lie down and let some crappy Dealership tell me that they can't do anything else.

I don't understand why people let others push them around. You have paid hard earned money for a vehicle that is suppose to operate without leaking oil out of the engine. Lemon or no lemon I wouldn't just stand by and let them screw me over.

Some Dealer Service Depts don't give a **** about you or anything else, others do. It is just the luck of the draw if you happen to get a quality service department. Have you tried a completely different Dealer? Have you talked to your Salesperson?

If the service dept. stone-walls you then have you thought about going directly to Ford with this and tell them what has happened?

If you still feel like you are getting the shaft, have you considered legal actions?

Maybe some of you guys that have been in his shoes, or no someone that has, can get him some useful information (contacts, proper protocol, ..etc) other than, my truck runs great!

Good Luck

 

yeh my '90 f150 with a 300 I6 went to heck, but thats all my fault there. the waterpump went out and like an idiot, i kept driving. the fan went out of whack and took a few chunks out of my radiator...but other than that i love my truck. im not really a hater though, until it comes to imports, but tahts just me.

 

I have been raised up around ford products and never had a problem with any of them. My first ford was a 87 thunderbird that I parked @244K and change. Second Ford was a 96 Ranger that I sold @ 100K and My current Truck a '01 F150 that is roughly @ 92K. My mother and father have driven many fords to the 200k range with out any problems. But EVERY car manufactuer has lemons I used to work for a Foriegn car dealer and they had lemons just as well as my buddies at the domestic dealership next door. It is hard to mass produce something and not have a few vechicles become problem childs that is why we have lemon laws.

 

I had my share of problems with my 2003 F150 4x4, purchaced new in 8-03, 22K miles, both lower ball joints just fell apart at 8K, and had the starter drive, and ring gear was chewed up later, now having trouble with my heater-fan motor. What worried me is the way the ball joints failed, it made the truck unsafe. I questioned Ford if the ball joints are going to be continuing problem even after the warranty runs out, they say that I abused the truck, and I was lucky the ball joints were covered under warranty. ITS A TRUCK !! Its made to be abused, it should handle it.I wanted to buy a Chevy, or a Toyota Tundra in the first place, but I got the Ford cause it was less expensive. My friends that own Chevy V8 trucks tell me they are getting 22 mpg, and the anti-lock brakes work better in the Chevy too.