Let me tell you about my F250

[Paul G]

Last year I got T boned in an intersection driving my company owned work truck. After that is all said and done the company gets me a brand new F250 cab chassis and has an up-fitter install the utility bed, lift gate, lighting, etc. After about 1000 miles I am noticing the brakes pull when applied. They could pull left or right. Very weird. I take it in to the local Ford heavy truck dealer in Phoenix for a look see. They replace the front pads and rotors and call it good.

Another 2500 miles or so go by and it is doing it again. Take it back to the same dealer, this time they say the brake controller unit has a brake line cross threaded in to it and need to order a new unit with a new brake line. They install the new parts, turn the rotors and install new pads. So I finally get my truck back after a couple of weeks at the dealer. Good to go this time right?

By now the truck has about 5000 miles on it. The brakes are pulling again. So I take it back to the same dealer for an oil change and check over the brakes. I was on vacation for a week while they had the truck. I get back to work, when I call in to get my truck, they say it is ready to pick up. I ask what was done? He says the oil change is done and new pads and rotors on the front. I say; you have got to be kidding me! I am not even coming in to get it. This truck is unsafe to drive until those brakes have been repaired and I do not feel safe driving this truck. Twice the pads and rotors have been replaced, a major brake system component replaced, It still has the problem and now you are going back to pads and rotors replacement?

I turned the problem over to our fleet manager. He in turn tried to turn the problem over to ARI our fleet leasing agent. ARI said they cant help us. Service is between us and Ford. I heard that our purchasing manager contacted some one at ARI and said that we have over 300 vehicles leased on contract with them and not fixing this problem with Ford is not making us very happy with ARI. Friday I spoke with our fleet manager and he told me that Ford was sending out an engineer to go over the truck. ARI set up an F150 for me to drive temporarily, leased from Enterprise rent a car, charged back to Ford.  

The F250 has been sitting at that dealer for going on six weeks now. I am not very happy with Ford.

Oh, and BTW, the rented F150 left speaker channel on the radio comes in and goes out at random. POS Ford!  

[JB400]

Sounds like you got a couple lemons in need of some sugar and water.  I won't be getting one anytime soon.

[440]

I'll take any old 73 - 79 Ford over any new truck, they were Americas best selling truck for a reason.

[Tilar]

I'll take any old 73 - 79 Ford over any new truck, they were Americas best selling truck for a reason.

I had a 76 that I bought new and I liked that one. They still are Americas best selling trucks. I think they come in at something like #6 or 8 from the top of the list. The Silverado comes in somewhere close to 20 if I remember right.

[Cooter]

Just remember this thread when looking at any newer vehicle with all that Automatic bullsh*t on 'em. I refer everyone back to the KISS rule....


Keep It Simple Stupid. I've been waiting for someone to bring up the "Death wobble" that Ford seems to send out a TSB on saying the tire pressures are at fault.....


Funny, I've never seen tire pressures cause a truck to violently shake from side to side before.

[Silver R/T]

I just made last payment on my Dodge Ram CTD. I plan on taking care of it and it should last me a lifetime, no more payments. I just don't see how some people lease new car every 2-3 years, they must like being in debt??
My daily driver is 20 years old and just take care of the car and buy parts as needed, still it's way less expensive than having a car payment.

[Tilar]

I'd rather make 2 house payments than I would 1 car payment. I've only bought 2 new vehicles in my lifetime. That 76 F-150 and a 95 Chevy S-10 that I just sold a year ago. Never again. If I cant pay cash for it I aint buying it.

[Iceyone]

I got rid of my 06 F250 last year with only 60K miles on it. I could see the writing on the wall in that it wasn't going to last a long time as I expected it to do so when new. At only 30K miles the right rear brake caliper froze up and trashed the rotor. Upon further inspection the backing plate was rusted out. That one cost me 900 bucks for just parts to replace everything. The truck was over 3 years old at the time so no warranty. Then it got the death wobble about a year after I got the notice in the mail about tire pressures. Tire pressure didn't matter. Also had a seal coming out of the front axle and a leaking rear differential seal. Body was starting to rust around the seams and gas mileage totally sucked.........Traded the POS for my Challenger.

[Paul G]

You know what the kick in the pants is? Never mind, it's not a question I will tell you anyway... Ford did not take any bail out money from Uncle Sam so I really want to show my support for Ford. But with the crap they are peddling right now I just cant do it. Ford trucks have traditionally been super tough and long lived. I guess not any more. I have no experience with Ford cars, I just hope they are building them better than they are building Ford trucks.

I wish they would have fixed my 2500 HD now instead of totaling it.

[Mike DC]

 

The peak of car reliability/operating costs was boring 1990s Japanese sedans.  Nothing as been that good before or since, including those same Jap models. 

You can't keep perpetually dumping more complexity into a vehicle every year and expect the quality stay up where it was.  The idea is inherently flawed.

[69rtse4spd]

That's one reason I will never own a Ford.

[Mike DC]

   

That's one reason I will never own a Ford.

There isn't a car or truck on the market where you can't find a long list of outrageous complaints against it.  Buy a vehicle = a decent chance of uncalled-for problems before 50,000 miles.  There just isn't anything simple enough and long enough in production to have weeded out the common issues. 

[Cooter]

Ford did not take any bail out money from Uncle Sam so I really want to show my support for Ford.

Without getting all political, IMO, Ford DID take "Bailout" money. It just wasn't as blatant as the other companies. They "hid" the fact that they took 'other' means of keeping out of bankrupt court.

[ACUDANUT]

   

That's one reason I will never own a Ford.

There isn't a car or truck on the market where you can't find a long list of outrageous complaints against it.  Buy a vehicle = a decent chance of uncalled-for problems before 50,000 miles.  There just isn't anything simple enough and long enough in production to have weeded out the common issues. 

Same with Dodge, oh sorry "Ram".

[Indygenerallee]

Without getting all political, IMO, Ford DID take "Bailout" money. It just wasn't as blatant as the other companies. They "hid" the fact that they took 'other' means of keeping out of bankrupt court.

Right on the money!

[Paul G]

After 11 weeks of sitting on the dealers lot my fleet manager, Rod, tells me to go test drive the truck. Ford corporate has decided that the vehicle is fixed because the servicing dealer, Sanderson Ford, said it is. Ford is not having anyone else look at the truck, like an engineer from Ford as we were told.

This all happened two Thursday's ago, so I go to the dealer, they have the shop foreman come out to go on the test drive with me. OK, we head out and he wants to just go around the block. Unt uh.... we are going for a ride. I drove for about 25 minutes on a stop and go highway heading for my normal service area. Truck seems okay, brake pedal is firm now, it was mushy in the past which was not right, but that's how they kept giving it back to me. So we drive.

We get close to town and the low tire warning light comes on. This is bad, a low tire will definitely effect drivability. Our regular independent service shop that does our oil changes and routine service is close so we go there. He checks tire pressure and asks if the tires had been rotated? I tell him they have been along with oil an change and brake repairs. He says the tire pressures are wrong, backs have 50 and fronts have 90 and the system was not recalibrated. He corrected the pressures and says take it back to the servicing shop for calibration. OK, now the Ford foreman has egg on his face.

Continuing with the test drive the foreman is explaining how the roads are crowned to the right, the vehicle should drift to the right. OK lets see. I am on a road that has a 45 mph speed limit and little traffic. I take it up to 50 and apply the brakes firmly. I can feel the truck pulling left and correct with a slight tug of the wheel to the right. Again up to 50 and a little firmer on the brakes, let go of the wheel and we cross the double yellows, no drift to the right, a pull to the left. The foreman has more egg on his face.

I repeated this several times, the more I did it the harder it would pull left, the abs even kicked in on the left front wheel one time. "So what do ya think there doc?" I ask. He says "it definitely pulls left". Yep! I explained that I will not attempt to tow a 6000# generator with this truck, probably should not even drive it like this. He agrees and we cruise back to the dealership. On the way back the brakes cooled off quickly and started to act fairly normal. He calls in to the dealership and wants an infra red temp gun ready for when we get back. He checked the brake temps, left front was about 18° hotter than the right front, at around 330°, both backs were about the same temp around 250°. He is discussing with the service writer to ask Ford for a wholesale replacement of the entire braking system. Can you believe that?

I report the results of the test drive back to my fleet manager and he is pissed! He sends me back to the dealership the next day to retrieve all of my tools, spares and personal items as well as the license plate and registration, he wanted me to completely empty the truck. He said we are done with that vehicle. I think he is more pissed that Ford let it sit for 11 weeks, playing the waiting game with us, expecting us to give in, pick up the truck and go away happy, or just go away. Instead they let it sit for 11 weeks when they could have been further diagnosing the problem. Since the vehicle was not fixed it will be interesting to see how this plays out.....    

[resq302]

Man, I'd be pissed too!  Hope your boss sticks to his guns!

[ACUDANUT]

It all comes down to the accident it was involved in, imo.

[myk]

I just made last payment on my Dodge Ram CTD. I plan on taking care of it and it should last me a lifetime, no more payments. I just don't see how some people lease new car every 2-3 years, they must like being in debt??
My daily driver is 20 years old and just take care of the car and buy parts as needed, still it's way less expensive than having a car payment.

Copy that; I plan to never get into a new-car loan/lease situation if I can help it.  But, you know that mainstream folks have to have the newest and shiniest thing or it's no good...

[A383Wing]

It all comes down to the accident it was involved in, imo.

I don't think the F250 was in an accident....the Chev 2500 was

[bull]

I'll take any old 73 - 79 Ford over any new truck, they were Americas best selling truck for a reason.

Those twin I-beam suspensions helped sell a lot of tires too.

[rt green]

probably something as simple as a bad brake hose

[MaximRecoil]

I'll take any old 73 - 79 Ford over any new truck, they were Americas best selling truck for a reason.

Best looking full-size pickup body style ever in my opinion. I never owned one unfortunately, but I did own an '83 F100 for about 8 years and never had any major problems with it.

[Charger-Bodie]

90 %  of all ford trucks are still on the road. The other 10 % made it all the way home!

[Paul G]

90 %  of all ford trucks are still on the road. The other 10 % made it all the way home!