Thanks Chandler. My post may seem a little harsh, but sometimes the truth hurts and IMHO we need to take responsibility for our actions (or lack thereof) and stop blaming everyone else for our problems. There are plenty of 2004, F150, 5.4L on the road that are still running great. I see them in my neck o' the woods all the time.

But, after re-reading my post, I'd add one more thing to the list:

Is this a valuable lesson to ANYONE looking to buy ANY pre-owned (<--car industry term, sounds better than "used") vehicle? Yes.

Have a great weekend!

 

True, the dealer honesty statement was a broad brush statement and it was in no way directed at you.

However (and unfortunately) in my 35+ years of buying new and used vehicles I have found it to be the rule, not the exception. In fact, I can only think of one exception and that was 5 cars ago (just so happens my Dad was personal friends with the dealership sales manager; they were in the same Harley MC, The RoadRunners).

But, please accept my apology for lumping you in with the rest of the group.

 

2800 bucks to keep a 7-8 year old vehicle that's past its warranty at 71k miles operating in good condition considering what you paid for it?

If you wanted a vehicle with zero problems, you should have bit the bullet and financed a new vehicle. Even new vehicles have problems.

My wife's Honda minivan at 4 years required a complete AC compressor replacement, flushes, additional parts, etc.... It was out of warranty due to mileage.

You should have seen what that cost.

 

Tried adding Rep to Charlie and couldn't I still need to spread the love some so Powerdude got some rep from me for his post!!

 

That's pretty much standard for any make and model. That is exactly why you see so many 7+ year old vehicles with 70-120k miles for sale...the owner doesn't want to do the required scheduled maintenance (you inherit deferred maintenance). You have a choice...jump from one $400+/month car payment to the next (keep dumping before warranty goes) or deal with $1,200+ maintenance bills . Just my $.02.

 

Thanks for all the responses!! It is refreshing to be told I'm a troll, and a dope.
I was aware of it previous to this, but none the less, a good reminder.
I got the rig back tonight, kudos to the Mandan Nd ford dealer. Hell of a job to this point. Not the same pickup I gave them! Just to clarify a couple things you fellers were quick to dump on my head.
1. I was offered a warranty by the dealer, 3000 dollars. ( In hindsight I am still 200 bucks ahead on that, or more,I doubt it would have covered spark plugs)
2. I have never purchased a new vehicle, in 51 years of existence, and never will. I have had the same pickup for 14 years, a 1991 Ford. (which I drove this week while the 2004 was in the shop)
3. I admit some mistakes in this purchase. The dealer did replace a head gasket and rear tires. So I do not condemn them completely.
4. At least I didn't buy, a dodge, or a chevy, or a toyota, or god forbid, a nissan.
5. I will run this monster through another North Dakota winter and see what comes out the other side.


Have yourselves a good weekend!

 

glad you got her back running properly. I'm fairly certain your feelings towards the truck will get way better. I miss my 2006 F-150 FX4 badly...and it's been 2yrs. It never left me down, no matter how badly I treated it.

I will appologize if my post was harsh, but that is just the way new vehicles are. Your 1991 has minimal electronics. It's so old that Ford was messing around with Speed Density ECM (vice MAF), and the suspension/drivetrain on it was put into production in 1980.The 2004+ F-150 is/was IMO, perhaps the most advanced re-issue that Ford has ever released. It had a rocky 2 yrs getting going, but the 2006+ trucks are beasts. the 2009 variant is even more so with very few problems.




btw, this is coming from the guy who voids warranties usually within the 1st 10,000 miles. Either gotta have faith in the product, or be stupid to do that. I like to believe!

 

Well, I have to admit despite that being a true Ford truck loyality based on my excellent F150 ownership experiences in last four F150s, I don't appreciate Ford selling tons of "defective" (due to poor design) 150's to buyers, then when it comes down to doing normal service maintenance such as major tune-up involving spark plug replacement, and find broken spark plugs during removal procedure, and the customer are to pay for additional costs to accomplish this based on poor design. Same goes for cam phaser issue. Knowing that Ford fixed this after the 2007 model. But wow, at least Ford could have offered to fix all the spark plug issues at standard service cost instead of added cost to remove the broken plugs and so forth. That way they would be giving us message that they would back their design either way, and strengthen our (customer) loyality with them.
I do feel for this Feedguy, and his argument is relevant, but like you guys say that once get past that fix, he's got an excellent truck for next 75-100K.

Just my .02 worth.

 

This is one of the reasons I would like to buy a vehicle with 20,000 miles or less and take care of it well and drive it a long time. That way you don't have to worry so much if previous maintenance has been done. Sometimes thats not affordable though.

 

"Dear Patrick,

Please be advised that as Dealerships are privately owned and operated, they are the ones that determine the amount of fees that they charge on their services.

Moreover, in light of some known concerns or defects, Ford stands behind its products by honoring applicable warranties and by issuance of recalls and Customer Satisfaction Programs (CSP's).

Once again, I apologize if you are not satisfied with our response.

Sincerely,
Harold
Customer Relationship Center
Ford Motor Company"

Just to keep the thread going a little longer. This sounds to me like let's throw the dealers under the bus. Even though we manufacture this product and create the issue, it's the dealer's fault that it costs so much to fix our problem. I assume there is some sort of equation used to determine if Ford does recalls on defects. Apparently there aren't enough units with the spark plug defect, and the cam phaser defect? Any of you guys have a source for some sort of number of 2004 models, as an example, that have these two issues? From what I read it is not uncommon, but hard to get a percentage. Or do they simply all have the issue, or will eventually, and it has become the "new normal", to coin a corporate phrase.
Interested in some feedback.
PS: I have another email to Ford requesting a pointed reply to a direct question.

What is ford doing about broken spark plugs? All eight of them broke on my 2004 when the dealer changed them. What is Ford doing about the cam phaser issue? Quite common and definitely a flaw in the 5.4 liter engine year 2004.

My name.
Mandan ND"

 

I am glad you got it back but this thread started off as wanting some support and you changed that fairly quickly just like the rest of us. This is a Ford Enthusiast Forums so you shouldn't of been surprised by the comments you got.

 

You are barking up the wrong tree if you expect Ford to even say there is a problem.

Look at it this way. Ford made MILLIONS of the 04-08 F-150. If you dig back through FTE, you'll see that the sparkplug issues didn't start cropping up until late 2005.

That was 2yrs after the trucks hit the streets. By 2006 it was starting to become more of a known thing. But still not overly common. Most people find FTE and other vehicle forums because their vehicle has a problem. So out of those millions of trucks produced, you will have problems. These problems get concentrated and magnified on the forum here. They are problems. But not nearly as widespread as people would have you believe
Just a little food for thought.

 

Excellent point. It easy to forget that these forums tend to attract the really pissed or really happy owners.

And thanks for the reps!

Feedguy - very happy to hear you're up and running. If you haven't already, you can download a manual and maintenance guide here:

https://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenan...ls/default.asp

Off the top of my head, I'd say you need to read the manual re: taking care of the leather seats (there are some pretty specific dos and don'ts with the vinyl covered leather).