My F-350 is pissing me off

[Knifemaker]

Yes, be it cars, trucks or motorcycles...if you find a great dealership, hold on to them...

My wife has been going to a local Ford dealer for over two decades. She knows everyone there. I went there looking for a truck, and they just got in the used Ranger. It needed a bit of work, which they did before I bought it, but they gave me price that was almost 2 grand less than a different dealer who had pretty much a clone of the same truck.

Been happy with the truck so far. Got two free oil changes from them....and... They gave me that price before they even knew I was her husband.

 

[luvtoride]

Throw them all away & buy a rice burner (japanese). Personally, I am done with American vehicles.

 

[Fred W]

Which "rice burners" would those be?

The big 3 Japanese Truck builders (Honda, Nissan and Toyota) are all made in the USA. Sure, you'll be sending the profit dollars to the Japanese parent company, if that is what you are trying to accomplish, but they are all American built trucks.

 

[lnewlf]

buy a Chevy...built in Canada

or

a Ram...Hemi in Mexico built in Canada..

 

[El Toro]

I've had good luck with the Toyota Tundras. I put about 30,000 to 33,000 miles per year on them. I usually trade them around 65,000 miles.

They're made mostly in Texas. I like them.

My experience with GMC was just so so. My experience with Ford was genuinely abysmal.

 

[luvtoride]

Which "rice burners" would those be?
The big 3 Japanese Truck builders (Honda, Nissan and Toyota) are all made in the USA. Sure, you'll be sending the profit dollars to the Japanese parent company, if that is what you are trying to accomplish, but they are all American built trucks.

Then exactly why do they last longer? I now own a toyota... 2002 Celica with 187,000 miles & still going strong. While you may find an American car that'll do that, it doesn't happen very often. My mom had a Ford Explorer that pooped out with a little over 100,000 miles..

A friend bought a Toyota Tacoma truck that Had over 100,000 miles on it & paid good money for it. I asked why she'd pay that much money for a truck with over 100,000 miles... I was told that Toyota trucks regularly go over 300,000 miles.

I bought my car through a Toyota mechanic that told me that Camrys regularly come into the service bay with over 300,000 miles on them.

I'm going to try not to buy American cars, anymore. & the rice burners that you pointed out are the ones that I'm speaking of. The proof is in the puddin'.

 

[lnewlf]

5 Chevy trucks in 40 years...all went 300K ...all ran good when I sold them for peanuts because the salt rotted the body..lotta puddin' there

 

[08FJR4ME]

I heard on NPR this morning that the Toyota Camry is made in the US. Not only that but it has 76% of the components are also made in the US. So you are pretty buying a US car in my mind.

Dave

 

[luvtoride]

Then why do they last longer than the majority of "American" made autos? It isn't speculation. It is a well known fact, Dave.

 

[luvtoride]

Anyhoo, I'm not going to argue the virtues of supposedly foreign vs. American made. It's an observation & nothing more. You pays yer money & takes yer chances. Good luck OP.

 

[08FJR4ME]

No arguments here. Just thought I would mention what I heard on the radio this morning.

Just a coincidense is all.

Dave

 

[eflyguy]

I feel your pain. I bought a F-150 new in 2003 and call it my POS edition. Like yours mine only gets used when the weather is too bad to ride my bike or if I need to haul something. I don't know that I'll ever buy another Ford. I do know I was damn glad I took the extended warranty after my limited slip rear went out to the tune of over 1200 bucks.

Interesting. I've had my 2003 FX4 Supercrew since new. Was my daily driver "back in the day" but now gets less than a couple of thousand on it per year (~75k total). Other than oil and tires, I did nothing to it until my daughter decided to go to Texas to buy a 442 - pulling the trailer out there, with the car on it back. So I had the cooling system and transmission flushed. The truck was fine (three passengers, and a spare engine in the bed) and runs as good as the day I bought it. Same mileage, too - around 13!!! lol..

I know the spark plugs could potentially be a problem, but - as they say - if it ain't broke, I'm not about to fix it!

 

[Kelvininin]

Throw them all away & buy a rice burner (japanese). Personally, I am done with American vehicles.

This is all relative. The worst vehicle I have ever owned by a large margin, and I have owned some real turds, was a 1992 Toyota Corolla. I don't know if it was assembled on a Friday before a holiday, but it was the least reliable, vehicle I have ever owned, including but not limited to the old diesel powered 81 GMC I had. It was so bad, I'm still pissed about it. I wouldn't take a Toyota if someone paid me take it. Conversely, the best vehicle I have owned was 1994 Dodge Caravan. I drove that thing 270,000 trouble free miles before I sold it. We now have a 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan, it will likely be my last Chrysler product. I am on my second ecoboost F150, and they have been awesome. Tow my 9000 pound camper no problems, also trouble free. Just maintenance. My family have been so impressed with my F150 that my Father in law, father, and brother, have all bought one. In fact my brother is looking into getting his wife one as well.

 

[FJRay]

I'm on the second F150 with no issues and am pretty much a Ford fan. My daily driver is a 1955 F100 and the back up is a 1948 Ford coupe that my dad bought new. It's been coast to coast and from Point Barrow Ak. to central america. My dad was in oil exploration and the coupe towed the trailer we lived in along with being his driver until he passed in 92. It's got around 300k on it and is unrestored. on its third engine and second rear end.

 

[eflyguy]

Ah, but back then, they knew how to make them last!

 

[Fred W]

I bought a used F150 a few years back, with over 100k miles on it. And yeah, I paid good money for it because I know it will last just fine. It has the small V8, 4WD, AC and Cruise control, but everything else is work truck basic, just like I like them. That truck is great. I loaded it up with a ton of pellets last fall for a short trip from the seller to home and it handled the load with no problemo, though I was about 1/4 ton over the GVWR. Wasn't even close to being sacked out.

Sure, I wouldn't mind owning a Tundra either. They are real nice. But I'm not afraid to buy an "American" truck because of some perceived reliability reputation. Reliability and longevity are more about how you care for the vehicle than the badge on the hood.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Up until a few years ago, American made (Ford, Chevy, Dodge) cars and small SUVs were mostly junk. Japanese auto makers had that market down. The big three have always focused on trucks. The US uses the shit out of them.

Then Toyota and Nissan began making full-size half-ton trucks, and Nissan is now making a Titan XD that can be bought with a smaller Cummins Diesel that makes decent power. It's being called a 5/8th's truck. Not quite a 3/4 ton, but bigger than a half.

That being said, if someone wants a truck to drive to the store and do the occasional yard work trailer pulling, a Japanese truck is fine. However, if someone needs the truck for WORK, Ford, GM, and Dodge are it. We can argue all day about which brand is better, and we'll all have a story. I'm a Ford fan while some of my best friends choose GM and Dodge. My dad's cousin that I grew up on a ranch with will not drive anything but Chevy. His brother's kids all drive Dodge trucks. Go figure.

We always had Chevy Sierra 2500 trucks on the ranch. Then one day, something happened and my dad's uncle came home with a 4x4 Ford F250. They horse beat the shit out of that truck, trying to break it, just to prove Chevy was better, and couldn't.

That must have stuck with my dad, because he bought a 1989 F150 after I left for college. I thought he was nuts, but my mom still has that truck with over 300k on it. Original engine and transmission. She still also has the 1990 F250 they bought shortly after that to pull a 5th wheel and the big horse trailers. It's a damn nice truck to this day, but after my dad died, mom let it sit in the garage for a year. Now the rear fuel pump is wonky. I think it's just plugged and needs replaced. It pulls like a train on the front pump. With 180k, that's not a bad deal at all!

 

[El Toro]

I guess it depends on where you live. Around here Tundras are preferred for "work, " unless you need a real 3/4 ton or a dually.

As for maintenance defining truck life, what I've seen is that one can follow the scheduled maintenance religiously and still end up in the TGW (things gone wrong) count.

Sometimes, especially with the big three, they let problems ride from year to year until the anticipated cost to repair in warranty exceeds the cost of making the upgrade.