Hello,

I'm looking at buying a 2018 F-150 with the 3.5L Ecoboost engine that was a manufacturer buy back. The documents show it went through the 21N03 program repair/upgrade/recall.

I've found that there are a lot of issues with the Phase CAM on this year/engine. I've not been able to find out too much info on the effeteness of the 21N03 program to fix the issue. Looking for some info to make a buy or not decision on this truck.

Thanks

 

Why was it bought back?

 

The reason listed is Unintended Acceleration - Engine Inoperable.

There are 3 entries related to phaser in the Resale Notice Disclosure form the dealer gave me.

11/2019: replaced 4 VCT and reprogrammed PCM. SSM 48272

8/2021: Perform program 21B10, reprogram PCM

3/2022: Recall 21N03. Includes a long list of work done.

6/2022: was when the buyback occurred

under the repairs performed section of the form (after the buyback I think) it references the recall 21N03 and then says no problems found.

I also have the carfax report but none of the above services show up on the carfax report?

 

None of the cam phaser related stuff should relate to sudden uncontrolled acceleration. I would see how long the dealership is willing to cover the cam phasers they replaced. And some type of a warranty if the sudden acceleration actually does happen.

On my 2010 F150 I had two instances of sudden uncontrolled acceleration, on the thier occurance I found out I was capable of not being square on the brake pedal when slowing down and actually getting my stupid toes pushing on the accelerator while braking.

 

It seems like an odd reason for buy back as there is no indication of that issue previously as far as I can tell.

The dealer is including a 12 month, 12,000 mile warranty on the vehicle.

 

From what I understand it takes a host of issues for Ford to "buy back" a vehicle. As they say "Buyer Beware"

 

Run Run screaming........... Unless they are giving you a 20 year bumper to bumper warranty, with free rental and at half retail.
no but seriously its a bad Idea, If it was bad enough for Ford to buy it back its got issues. Plus I'm sure you are going to have to sign your rights away to buy it.

D.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

Some more info from the Disclosure Notice.
There is a section on the form regarding the repurchase reason. There are 3 options.
1. Arbitration or court proceedings
2. Alternate dispute resolution
3. Voluntary customer satisfaction repurchase

#3 is checked.

If there were any other mechanical issues that factored into the buyback decision, they are not listed on disclosure notice.

From what I can tell it seems that the Phaser issue was solved in 2019, and that the parts were updated via the N2103 program. But I’m not real clear about that.

If that’s the case and the only issue on this vehicle is the Phaser issue, then the truck should be “fixed?”

 

Here's a list of all communications with NHTSA from FORD on the "rattle". Note that some of these are superseded.

TSB 22-2200
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...12106-0001.pdf

21N03 Supplement #4
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...09366-0001.pdf

21N08
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...02720-0001.pdf

21B10 Supplement 3
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...01643-0001.pdf

21-2119
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...91176-0001.pdf

21-2315
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...80531-0001.pdf

20-2191
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...76838-0001.pdf

SSM 48445
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...70923-0001.pdf

SSM 48272
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...67208-0001.pdf

SSM 48168
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/20...65685-0001.pdf

 

I went through a buyback many years ago. If the issue could not be fixed prompting a buyback, it is still not fixed. My truck was declared a lemon by the Attorney General's office, but the truck was sold out of state without any notification of issues to the new owner.