First time posting on the site, so I apologize in advance if this isn't the correct place to post. Regardless, I wanted to share the letter I wrote Ford after some serious issues with my 2011 F-150 V6 ecoboost. I mailed one letter to Investor Relations, and one letter to their Customer Relations address. If anyone has any additional thoughts on where I could mail this letter, I'd appreciate it. FWIW, I removed names of people at the service center. Here's what's in the letter:

Dear Ford,

I’m writing to inform you that I’m no longer a Ford Truck guy. Since I was a kid, I thought the Ford F150 was the meanest looking, longest lasting, toughest truck out there. I was ecstatic when I was finally able to afford an F150, and really excited for the new EcoBoost technology under the hood. I figured with routine maintenance, care and sensible driving my F150 would reliably serve me for many years to come.

So it shocked me when the 2011 V6 EcoBoost engine blew up in January at just over 84,000 miles. I was told by the local mechanic and the Ford technician (Ryan at Larry H Miller Ford in Lakewood Colorado) that a faulty piston came apart and blew a hole the size of a baseball in the engine block. I accept that sometimes mechanical failures occur far in advance of expectations. However, this is clearly an outlier, and the components of the engine are designed to last far longer when properly maintained and driven. Ford even implied as much with their much publicized F150 EcoBoost Torture Test. (http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2011/01...ooks-like.html). I purchased the truck after reading this article. I thought if a randomly picked factory EcoBoost engine could accumulate 163,000 miles of rigorous testing with hardly a blemish, I could expect to get 100,000 miles of sensible driving out of my truck before I needed any kind of major maintenance, much less catastrophic failure.

Clearly, that was not the case. Regrettably for me, the engine was out of warranty, and I was forced to replace the entire engine (short block and long block) at a cost of almost $8,500. I will say that xxxx and his team at Larry H Miller Ford were fair and even gave me a 10% discount which I appreciate.

Despite the financial difficulty that the engine replacement has cost me (I had to take a loan from a family member), I was excited to drive my all but new truck. I incorrectly believed that after buying an entire new engine, the truck would be perfectly tuned and running like brand new. However, when I drove away from the service center the transmission was shifting so hard at slow speeds that it felt like I was being rear ended.

I brought the truck back in today (February 17) and was informed that a faulty wiring harness is causing the hard shift. I was told that the engine replacement had nothing to do with this, and that I’m on the hook for another $800+ to fix the wiring. I have no idea if it was possible for the engine replacement process to cause an issue in the wiring of the transmission. I was told by the technician that it is not possible, despite the fact that I wasn’t experiencing the issue prior to the engine failure and replacement.

I still own and will continue to own the F150. But that is only because I owe more than the truck is currently worth. To be honest, I don’t even know why I’m writing you this letter. There are too many people demanding something for nothing these days, and that’s not my intention. The truck is out of warranty, so accept that I have to pay for the issues I’ve outlined above. Ultimately, I guess I want you to know that I expected a lot more, and at this point, I’m really upset that I even walked onto a Ford lot in the first place.

Regards,
Chris Morrison

 

Not to rain on your parade, but like me and several others here who have had major issues with our trucks, it comes down to the fact that after Ford has your money, they don't care, not even a whit.

 

Sorry to hear about your truck. I personally think it's human nature to feel slighted when something doesn't last as long as it should. I'm certain it happens all the time with every brand. I also understand the loss of loyalty as a result. Don't feel bad for feeling sour grapes over the situation.

 

I understand what you are saying but just how long should any manufacturer warranty their product. 85,000, 150,000 miles, forever? I would be upset as well but mechanical things break.

 

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a modern vehicle to last 100k miles or for a manufacturer to warrant the powertrain for that duration.

 

Then buy one from the manufacturer who offers that warranty. They are out there, FoMoCo isn't one of them.

 

Why is it people always say it's mechanical or Ford made X amount of EcoBoost so it's XX% of failure. I been on F-150 forums for 15yrs and I have read more post about issues with the 09+ F-150 than I have on all the others combined. It's not just powertrain issues, it's all kinds of things.

The fact is that the quality of Ford has dropped ALOT over the last couple years and I really hope they do something soon or whenever I get ready to get another truck chances are I won't be looking at a Ford. And I have owned NOTHING BUT Fords since I started driving.

Wayne

 

From the little bit of time I've spent in the 2015-16 forum, there seems to be even more issues with the 13th gens.

 

Agree, they could care less regardless of the letter you write! My 13 is the last Ford I will own.

 

Yep and wait until they start building in Mexico! Hope they dont mix up the horns!