Problem with brand new '16 XLT Special Edition
01-22-2017, 01:16 PM
#1
2016 XLT FX4/SE
Thread Starter
Problem with brand new '16 XLT Special Edition
Sorry - this is long.
On 12/31, I bought a 2016 XLT Sport/FX4/Special Edition/3.5EB/SCREW from a local dealer in Omaha. The truck was at a dealer in northern MN. The truck was delivered on the evening of Thursday Jan 5 (4 degrees F - cold night). The delivery was very anticlimactic - "Here's the key, its over there in the parking lot". First thing I notice is the "sound" of the truck was very different from the two loaner trucks I'd been driving in the prior few days. Even started the loaner while I transferred "stuff" from the loaner and listened side by side.
When I left the lot, within a couple of blocks, I noticed a "hard shift". Then about 3 miles into to trip home, I noticed a vibration and noise - sounded like I was driving on a grooved road, but there were no grooves. It continued for about a minute until I arrived at my stop. Called the dealer, but they were already closed. Was at my stop about 30 minutes. When I first resumed the trip home, no noise. But it started again about 3 miles into the next leg. Continued until I arrived home. The noise seemed related to speed, not rpm. Almost like a tire noise.
Of course, called the dealer the next AM. The noise didn't resume at all on the ride to the dealer. I rode with a trouble-shooter, and the noise emerged only for a few seconds just as we were about to give up reproducing it. She exclaimed "That's a transmission problem".
The other thing I observed is that the "get-up-and-go" was noticeably lacking compared to the two loaners equipped with the same engine/tranny/etc. (In fact, one of the reasons I bought the truck was based on the impressive performance of the 3.5EB compared to my 2011's 5.0).
Left if with the dealer until Tuesday Jan 10. No codes, and they could not reproduce it. Said they would arrange for a Ford Field Engineer to ride with me the next week. I picked it up Tuesday Jan 10. The problem emerged again Wednesday night (about 8-10 seconds) and again Thursday AM (about 2 seconds).
I stopped driving it at this point.
Fast forward to Thursday Jan 19. Meet with the overall service manager, the head mechanic, and the Ford Field Engineer. Walked through the issues/observations. They talked about a change Ford made to the 2016's that circulates fluid in the front transfer case even when you aren't in 4H if the temp is less than freezing, and the fact that the truck "learns" how I drive and programs itself to my driving style. All sounded plausible.
We go for the test drive. Try a variety of diagnostic procedures (shift in/out of 4H, turn right, turn left, etc.). No noise. Head back to the dealership and suddenly the noise emerged. At first I thought it was the grooved road (the road WAS grooved). We accelerated to 60 mph and the noise was consistently there - the head mechanic asked me to shift into 4H. Instantly, the noise stopped. He declared it a transfer case issue.
My request to the dealer was "find me the same truck somewhere else and you can keep this one". There is an acknowledged problem with this truck, and even if they fix it, who knows what other damage might have been done when they drove it down from MN (350 miles). I have not yet heard a response.
Several questions:
Here is some additional flavor. When I bought my 2011 FX4 from the same dealer 5 years ago, it turns out they had previously sold it to another customer several months earlier, and it had a tranny meltdown. They'd replaced the tranny, but still sold it to me as a "new truck". Only reason I found out was they accidentally sent me the bill for the tranny repair.... They replaced the truck with an identically equipped truck.
On 12/31, I bought a 2016 XLT Sport/FX4/Special Edition/3.5EB/SCREW from a local dealer in Omaha. The truck was at a dealer in northern MN. The truck was delivered on the evening of Thursday Jan 5 (4 degrees F - cold night). The delivery was very anticlimactic - "Here's the key, its over there in the parking lot". First thing I notice is the "sound" of the truck was very different from the two loaner trucks I'd been driving in the prior few days. Even started the loaner while I transferred "stuff" from the loaner and listened side by side.
When I left the lot, within a couple of blocks, I noticed a "hard shift". Then about 3 miles into to trip home, I noticed a vibration and noise - sounded like I was driving on a grooved road, but there were no grooves. It continued for about a minute until I arrived at my stop. Called the dealer, but they were already closed. Was at my stop about 30 minutes. When I first resumed the trip home, no noise. But it started again about 3 miles into the next leg. Continued until I arrived home. The noise seemed related to speed, not rpm. Almost like a tire noise.
Of course, called the dealer the next AM. The noise didn't resume at all on the ride to the dealer. I rode with a trouble-shooter, and the noise emerged only for a few seconds just as we were about to give up reproducing it. She exclaimed "That's a transmission problem".
The other thing I observed is that the "get-up-and-go" was noticeably lacking compared to the two loaners equipped with the same engine/tranny/etc. (In fact, one of the reasons I bought the truck was based on the impressive performance of the 3.5EB compared to my 2011's 5.0).
Left if with the dealer until Tuesday Jan 10. No codes, and they could not reproduce it. Said they would arrange for a Ford Field Engineer to ride with me the next week. I picked it up Tuesday Jan 10. The problem emerged again Wednesday night (about 8-10 seconds) and again Thursday AM (about 2 seconds).
I stopped driving it at this point.
Fast forward to Thursday Jan 19. Meet with the overall service manager, the head mechanic, and the Ford Field Engineer. Walked through the issues/observations. They talked about a change Ford made to the 2016's that circulates fluid in the front transfer case even when you aren't in 4H if the temp is less than freezing, and the fact that the truck "learns" how I drive and programs itself to my driving style. All sounded plausible.
We go for the test drive. Try a variety of diagnostic procedures (shift in/out of 4H, turn right, turn left, etc.). No noise. Head back to the dealership and suddenly the noise emerged. At first I thought it was the grooved road (the road WAS grooved). We accelerated to 60 mph and the noise was consistently there - the head mechanic asked me to shift into 4H. Instantly, the noise stopped. He declared it a transfer case issue.
My request to the dealer was "find me the same truck somewhere else and you can keep this one". There is an acknowledged problem with this truck, and even if they fix it, who knows what other damage might have been done when they drove it down from MN (350 miles). I have not yet heard a response.
Several questions:
- Is it reasonable to request a swap out? What would a great dealer do that? Do I have any legal standing to insist on a replacement?
- Has anyone else experienced this issue? Any ideas what it could be?
- What would explain the very noticeable performance degradation from the two loaners to this one? Could the transfer case problem explain that? Keep in mind, I observed the lower performance even when the noise was not present.
Here is some additional flavor. When I bought my 2011 FX4 from the same dealer 5 years ago, it turns out they had previously sold it to another customer several months earlier, and it had a tranny meltdown. They'd replaced the tranny, but still sold it to me as a "new truck". Only reason I found out was they accidentally sent me the bill for the tranny repair.... They replaced the truck with an identically equipped truck.
01-22-2017, 01:32 PM
#2
Senior Member
Based on the experience you had 5 years ago, don't know why you returned.
Sale can be reversed in some states for 3 days, but you're way past that. Unless the dealer wants to do what they did 5 years ago (which is not ethical, perhaps illegal), you're stuck with warranty claims and then Lemon Law if applicable, unless Nebraska has some law I don't know about.
Sale can be reversed in some states for 3 days, but you're way past that. Unless the dealer wants to do what they did 5 years ago (which is not ethical, perhaps illegal), you're stuck with warranty claims and then Lemon Law if applicable, unless Nebraska has some law I don't know about.
01-22-2017, 03:30 PM
#3
2016 XLT FX4/SE
Thread Starter
I'm hoping that the fact I returned it to the dealership with the complaint within 14 hours will establish a marker.
Yeah, I'm second guessing myself for going back to the dealer. They have a very good reputation in the area, and they did the right thing with the 2011, so I'm hoping they'll do the right thing here.
Yeah, I'm second guessing myself for going back to the dealer. They have a very good reputation in the area, and they did the right thing with the 2011, so I'm hoping they'll do the right thing here.
01-22-2017, 03:36 PM
#4
Both loaner trucks had the same gear ratio as the truck you bought?
As far as owning a truck with a Transfer case that's been replaced, wouldn't phase me. "You can keep this one" doesn't usually work out.
As far as owning a truck with a Transfer case that's been replaced, wouldn't phase me. "You can keep this one" doesn't usually work out.
01-22-2017, 04:53 PM
#6
Senior Member
When you said the truck was delivered...... was that on a carrier of some sort or somebody drove it down? Maybe they thrashed the living daylights out of it on the way or put in in 4hi/lol by accident or intention. Would hope not........
Last edited by Polar Bear F150; 01-22-2017 at 04:55 PM.
01-22-2017, 05:04 PM
#7
Sorry - this is long.
On 12/31, I bought a 2016 XLT Sport/FX4/Special Edition/3.5EB/SCREW from a local dealer in Omaha. The truck was at a dealer in northern MN. The truck was delivered on the evening of Thursday Jan 5 (4 degrees F - cold night). The delivery was very anticlimactic - "Here's the key, its over there in the parking lot". First thing I notice is the "sound" of the truck was very different from the two loaner trucks I'd been driving in the prior few days. Even started the loaner while I transferred "stuff" from the loaner and listened side by side.
When I left the lot, within a couple of blocks, I noticed a "hard shift". Then about 3 miles into to trip home, I noticed a vibration and noise - sounded like I was driving on a grooved road, but there were no grooves. It continued for about a minute until I arrived at my stop. Called the dealer, but they were already closed. Was at my stop about 30 minutes. When I first resumed the trip home, no noise. But it started again about 3 miles into the next leg. Continued until I arrived home. The noise seemed related to speed, not rpm. Almost like a tire noise.
Of course, called the dealer the next AM. The noise didn't resume at all on the ride to the dealer. I rode with a trouble-shooter, and the noise emerged only for a few seconds just as we were about to give up reproducing it. She exclaimed "That's a transmission problem".
The other thing I observed is that the "get-up-and-go" was noticeably lacking compared to the two loaners equipped with the same engine/tranny/etc. (In fact, one of the reasons I bought the truck was based on the impressive performance of the 3.5EB compared to my 2011's 5.0).
Left if with the dealer until Tuesday Jan 10. No codes, and they could not reproduce it. Said they would arrange for a Ford Field Engineer to ride with me the next week. I picked it up Tuesday Jan 10. The problem emerged again Wednesday night (about 8-10 seconds) and again Thursday AM (about 2 seconds).
I stopped driving it at this point.
Fast forward to Thursday Jan 19. Meet with the overall service manager, the head mechanic, and the Ford Field Engineer. Walked through the issues/observations. They talked about a change Ford made to the 2016's that circulates fluid in the front transfer case even when you aren't in 4H if the temp is less than freezing, and the fact that the truck "learns" how I drive and programs itself to my driving style. All sounded plausible.
We go for the test drive. Try a variety of diagnostic procedures (shift in/out of 4H, turn right, turn left, etc.). No noise. Head back to the dealership and suddenly the noise emerged. At first I thought it was the grooved road (the road WAS grooved). We accelerated to 60 mph and the noise was consistently there - the head mechanic asked me to shift into 4H. Instantly, the noise stopped. He declared it a transfer case issue.
My request to the dealer was "find me the same truck somewhere else and you can keep this one". There is an acknowledged problem with this truck, and even if they fix it, who knows what other damage might have been done when they drove it down from MN (350 miles). I have not yet heard a response.
Several questions:
Here is some additional flavor. When I bought my 2011 FX4 from the same dealer 5 years ago, it turns out they had previously sold it to another customer several months earlier, and it had a tranny meltdown. They'd replaced the tranny, but still sold it to me as a "new truck". Only reason I found out was they accidentally sent me the bill for the tranny repair.... They replaced the truck with an identically equipped truck.
On 12/31, I bought a 2016 XLT Sport/FX4/Special Edition/3.5EB/SCREW from a local dealer in Omaha. The truck was at a dealer in northern MN. The truck was delivered on the evening of Thursday Jan 5 (4 degrees F - cold night). The delivery was very anticlimactic - "Here's the key, its over there in the parking lot". First thing I notice is the "sound" of the truck was very different from the two loaner trucks I'd been driving in the prior few days. Even started the loaner while I transferred "stuff" from the loaner and listened side by side.
When I left the lot, within a couple of blocks, I noticed a "hard shift". Then about 3 miles into to trip home, I noticed a vibration and noise - sounded like I was driving on a grooved road, but there were no grooves. It continued for about a minute until I arrived at my stop. Called the dealer, but they were already closed. Was at my stop about 30 minutes. When I first resumed the trip home, no noise. But it started again about 3 miles into the next leg. Continued until I arrived home. The noise seemed related to speed, not rpm. Almost like a tire noise.
Of course, called the dealer the next AM. The noise didn't resume at all on the ride to the dealer. I rode with a trouble-shooter, and the noise emerged only for a few seconds just as we were about to give up reproducing it. She exclaimed "That's a transmission problem".
The other thing I observed is that the "get-up-and-go" was noticeably lacking compared to the two loaners equipped with the same engine/tranny/etc. (In fact, one of the reasons I bought the truck was based on the impressive performance of the 3.5EB compared to my 2011's 5.0).
Left if with the dealer until Tuesday Jan 10. No codes, and they could not reproduce it. Said they would arrange for a Ford Field Engineer to ride with me the next week. I picked it up Tuesday Jan 10. The problem emerged again Wednesday night (about 8-10 seconds) and again Thursday AM (about 2 seconds).
I stopped driving it at this point.
Fast forward to Thursday Jan 19. Meet with the overall service manager, the head mechanic, and the Ford Field Engineer. Walked through the issues/observations. They talked about a change Ford made to the 2016's that circulates fluid in the front transfer case even when you aren't in 4H if the temp is less than freezing, and the fact that the truck "learns" how I drive and programs itself to my driving style. All sounded plausible.
We go for the test drive. Try a variety of diagnostic procedures (shift in/out of 4H, turn right, turn left, etc.). No noise. Head back to the dealership and suddenly the noise emerged. At first I thought it was the grooved road (the road WAS grooved). We accelerated to 60 mph and the noise was consistently there - the head mechanic asked me to shift into 4H. Instantly, the noise stopped. He declared it a transfer case issue.
My request to the dealer was "find me the same truck somewhere else and you can keep this one". There is an acknowledged problem with this truck, and even if they fix it, who knows what other damage might have been done when they drove it down from MN (350 miles). I have not yet heard a response.
Several questions:
- Is it reasonable to request a swap out? What would a great dealer do that? Do I have any legal standing to insist on a replacement?
- Has anyone else experienced this issue? Any ideas what it could be?
- What would explain the very noticeable performance degradation from the two loaners to this one? Could the transfer case problem explain that? Keep in mind, I observed the lower performance even when the noise was not present.
Here is some additional flavor. When I bought my 2011 FX4 from the same dealer 5 years ago, it turns out they had previously sold it to another customer several months earlier, and it had a tranny meltdown. They'd replaced the tranny, but still sold it to me as a "new truck". Only reason I found out was they accidentally sent me the bill for the tranny repair.... They replaced the truck with an identically equipped truck.
I have to agree with the other poster.
Why would you go back to the same dealer that you said gave you problems several years ago?
I`m sorry but you have no one to blame but yourself for going back to this dealer.
As far as the problems you`re now having with your new XLT, the truck has a 3Yr/36 thousand mile bumper to bumper warranty on it so stay on top of any problems you`re having and take it to another dealership.
Good luck to you.
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01-22-2017, 05:16 PM
#8
2016 XLT FX4/SE
Thread Starter
The truck was driven from Morris MN to Omaha NE. The delivery people are a group of retired guys - doubt they would purposefully trash the truck, but they might not have noticed the noise or simply ignored it.
Over time, I've purchased 5 new vehicles from this dealer (or dealerships they now own). They said they would "take care of me" because I'm a repeat customer. Hope to hear their plan tomorrow.
If they can address the noise (a specific fix), explain/fix the "under-performance", and offer an extended warranty on connected elements, I'd might be OK with the unit.
Over time, I've purchased 5 new vehicles from this dealer (or dealerships they now own). They said they would "take care of me" because I'm a repeat customer. Hope to hear their plan tomorrow.
If they can address the noise (a specific fix), explain/fix the "under-performance", and offer an extended warranty on connected elements, I'd might be OK with the unit.
01-22-2017, 06:15 PM
#9
Senior Member
01-22-2017, 07:37 PM
#10
Again,
You`re hoping for miracles by accepting said vehicle after the repair and an offer of an extended warranty.
Extended warranty is not going to happen because all they are required to do is fix the vehicle while it`s under warranty.
You said that you`ve purchased 5 vehicles from this dealership and dealerships they now own before and " they said " that they would take care of you because you`re a repeat customer.
Sounds like typical deflection talk to me.
I can understand your frustration and I feel for you but don`t be so gullible to what they say or tell you because if it`s not in print, it means nothing.
Looking forward to what happens when you talk to them this week.
You`re hoping for miracles by accepting said vehicle after the repair and an offer of an extended warranty.
Extended warranty is not going to happen because all they are required to do is fix the vehicle while it`s under warranty.
You said that you`ve purchased 5 vehicles from this dealership and dealerships they now own before and " they said " that they would take care of you because you`re a repeat customer.
Sounds like typical deflection talk to me.
I can understand your frustration and I feel for you but don`t be so gullible to what they say or tell you because if it`s not in print, it means nothing.
Looking forward to what happens when you talk to them this week.
