Leaving the F150 & the Ford world - My exit interview
 

Hi all,

I just wanted to share my whole Ford experience with you. First of all, I want to say that I have had many interesting discussions here and had a positive experience with the F150forum. After 2 years of owning it, I have decided to sell my truck for several reasons, but mainly because of the company's customer service that I deem to be very ordinary (to not use the word, mediocre). I have also decided to not buy any Ford product again. It was my first American branded vehicle and probably my last. I will stick with imported (unless I buy a Tesla, of course :)). Long short story :

1- I've had 4 windshields that have all ended up cracking for no valid reasons or that had manufacturing defects. Ford refused to replace the current one and say it's my fault (of course, I knew it would eventually happen). In 10 years, I never had so many issues with one single windshield.
2- Famous IWE issue. Ford is aware of this issue that's ongoing since more than 10 years and they don't fix it. I brought the truck in more times than the number of fingers on my hands and they always said they couldn't ''replicated'' the noise so they wouldn't try to fix it. Of course, the ''collateral damage'' will not appear within the first year of the truck's life, so they probably don't care for that reason since it'll be out of warranty.
3- Poor customer service. I've been treated like a number on a piece of paper since day one. I must say that I traded-in a Lexus and theirs is just immaculate. It's not a good comparison so I will not elaborate on my previous experience versus my current one. I also tried another dealership and it was the same.
4- Recalls & TSB. In all the cars I've owned (10+, both new and used), I've never had so many recalls and TSB on the truck. The main reason why I bought a new truck was to have a peace of mind. Having a warranty is a thing, but having to bring it in on an average of 1x/month is another thing. I lost a lot of time and trust in this company.
5- Cheap paint. On all the vehicles I've owned so far, this is the worst when it comes to the quality of the paint.

I could go on and on, but I'll stop here. I probably just had a bad product/experience or I might just be too picky (the devil is in the details as they say), so for those who are currently on the market for a F150, please factor that in. I'm also not looking to start a debate whether or not Ford is reliable, I just wanted to put that on the table as my ''exit interview'' in the hope that a Ford rep will read that & take good notes. Customer service is all about the satisfaction of every single client, not the satisfaction on an average clientele.

Wish you all best of success & may be we'll talk again one day.

Cheers!

What are you switching to? Remember, the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.

I've said it a 1000 times. Dealerships ruin the brand far more than the brand itself does.

IMO Lexus is one of the few OEM's that seem to have one of the better dealership experiences.

Adios

Going back to the roots :)

I completely agree with you.

I agree with you on the recalls and TSB's. My truck has suffered from most of the "common" issues for my generation and they still continued on for the next 3 years after mine. If you know it's broke, fix it. Frustrating.
That being said, it's been easy enough to fix most of my troubles and in part because of places like this forum.
For me a lot goes into buying a vehicle, beyond just how it looks and who makes it. Do I like my local Service Center? Can I get access basic information to fix things? What are the cost of simple replacement parts?
I weighed my options and eventually bought a basic F-150 and I am glad I did. Of all the vehicles I've owned this one has cost the most to own (common issue repairs) and if I'd bought a $30k+ truck I'd be miffed.

I agree with everything you said on some levels. Would like to share that paint quality seems to get worse year over year, the chemicals used in the paints that made them super durable years ago are regulated out of existence. My last 3 cars have been total garbage as far as paint durability.

Sorry to hear about your terrible luck, a good dealership service center could have softened the blow for most of those issues but in my experience Ford is very hit or miss.

Sorry to hear about your experience. I totally agree with your assessment of the dealer experience. I've had several run-ins with mine and wish I had better options for service.

That said, my history with Ford has been the exact opposite of yours. This is my fourth F-series, and the third new Ford truck since 2000. Not one of the previous 2 had any issues with reliability, build quality or paint. If I recall correctly, I had one recall on the 2000 F-250 (for an intermittent wiper relay issue) and no recalls on the '09 F-150. Put 100K over 9 years on both and was still driving on the original exhaust and brakes when I traded in! I did have a similar experience with the windshield on the '09, but it was due to rock chips which eventually cracked, and I chocked it up to the use of thinner glass (for weight savings, presumably). The new '18 F-150 has been flawless for the last 9 months and 6000 miles, without a hint of the IWE or trans issues that seem to be major complaints. I hope my luck continues, but only time will tell.

As far as paint quality, the only thing I can offer for you anecdotally is that the only other NEW car I've purchased in the last 20 years was a 2013 Corvette GS. Both the new F-150 and the Vette are black, and the Vette had far more paint flaws with respect to coverage, orange peel and runs than the truck does. I hope that the problems I see in this forum is a small fraction of the overall owner experience.

If you're switching over to a foreign make--Toyota, Nissan, ???--stop back in 6 months and update your experience with us. Good luck!

Just to add to the flip of your though on TSB's.

I would have a problem if there were issues and there were NO TSB's.

I think Ford is doing right by it's customers to actually find fixes and pump them out in the quantity that it does.

I would agree on most but recalls and TSB's are two different things. Recalls you need to have completed. TSB's may be for something your vehicle never exhibits as an issue, but if you follow this site, you might think they are life and death. I owned a 2011, 2013 and 2017 and only had 1 recall throughout the my ownership and that was the 2017 for the lock issue even though I never exeperienced it.

Best of luck and enjoy your new vehicle.