After six months on my new Postal route I happened across a customer that I've never met. We started talking about his Stang a bit and I mentioned that I'm a Ford enthusiast. The truck talk started.

I mentioned that I have a 2011 EB truck and I expressed some concerns about some things that I've read on line.

He stated that he hasn't made any major repairs to a 5.0L truck, that's a good thing.

He then stated that he hasn't had any ecoboost trucks in for anything more than routine service, spark plugs, belts and basically minor stuff. He did mention that there is some CAC condensation issues but they are pretty rare and he stated that he hasn't seen any in his Ford garage which by the way is a high volume dealership. I'm guessing that these issue may be regional depending on weather.

He did say that sometimes the EB doesn't respond well to a tune.

After about four minutes of great conversation he said that a 2012 Explorer Ecoboost came in. The car has 57K on the clock and needs a new engine, turbos, etc. A $10,000 repair. He also mentioned that for some strange reason the owner never had the oil changed even though the dealer offers two free changes with every new car purchase.

After 57K miles the engine was sludged to the point where the engine seized. Jokingly he stated that the MC oil must be some good **** if it will last for 57K miles.

I felt that this needed to be said as we're an internet forum. As with all forums, we typically read the bad luck issues and get caught up with Ford's flaws instead of appreciating Ford's overall build quality.

As for the guys who have suffered through these issues, I'm sorry and wish that it didn't happen.

Anyway, take this for what it may be worth to you. These trucks aren't perfect but they seem to be getting better with each generation.

 

Thanks for sharing your conversation Tim, all good information.

Tried to rep you but still in "rep jail"

 

Cool post Tim... I got him for u Robb.

 

Good post Tim. It is funny how when turn to help or for a review online, the only things that you see are problems/complaints. It makes you wonder what percentage of the products versus the number built/made actually have issues. Think about it....Pick any product that you own/use and look for a review about it online. Guaranteed you will find many disgruntled users and poor reviews. Sorry for the rant.

 

The cool thing here was that this guy was fun to talk with. Sometimes the techs can be a little stuffy for obvious reasons, they don't want to talk shop.

This dude was laughing his butt off when he was telling me the story about the 2012 Exploder.

It seems the harder you drive these trucks the better they like it, the 5.0L included. I seems to me that when I drive mine hard the transmission smooths out nicely and shifts perfectly, when I'm being light footed it seems a little quirky.

I love pushing my truck as hard as I can get away with but quite frankly, it scares me. It's that damned fast.

 

Appreciate you sharing with us. Makes my recent trade-in for a EcoBoost feel less "painful" in new truck payment!

 

It's only money

 

And potentially a marriage?

These were your sentiments not mine bro!

 

I'd like to know how the tech knew the Explorer didn't have an oil change in its life. Would a negligent customer even admit such a thing?

Completely agree with your point though. The internet is a great resource for finding information because people like to talk about their problems. But it gives a disproportionate sample that's biased towards those with issues because people don't complain about a good running truck.

 

I think it would be pretty obvious when the drain plug is pulled and black pudding comes lumping out... LOL

To the OP, good post, and that's pretty much the experiences I've heard about the new trucks as well. My brother has been through several variants of Ford Trucks since the 90s, I've been through a few since the 80s. They've never let me down, and at this point, I see no reason to go elsewhere for my vehicle needs.

 

.......I'm actually at the dealer right now ..........for an oil change

 

I sold a Chevy 5.7L engine to a shop several years ago. Oil would not even drain on the core I got back. It had failed on a cold morning because the 'oil' would not pump. It was about three years old with 60K, so I can't imagine that it was ever changed. By far the worst one I've seen.

 

You can't fix stupid and it ain't illegal either.

 

Well, you *can*... but the fix is illegal!

 

Thanks Tim! Love these kinds of posts! It does help me. Okay, speaking of Ford gear head talk, I was at local gas station yesterday about 6 pm on my way to look at another Ecocboost at my Georgia dealer (I'm here now) and low and behold, there was a beautiful, hard worked '12 Platinum Ecoboost and a '56 two door coupe! Oh me, those two vehicles cost me two hours of conversation with their owners!

First the Ecoboost owner: it is owner's work truck for his road construction bidness, over 100,000 hard miles on it already! Only problem he said is a tail light he canno' get fixed! Tail light? He loves the truck.

Rest of my talk time was with the old boy who has the '56. He told me he bleeds Ford blue if he cuts his hand. He's 73 and said his Dad only had Fords, he used to race the old flathead V8s, builds Fords for a hobby and was featured in a magazine, won first place while not trying to (he doesn't compete in car shows, just loves doing it!) in a classic car show even! Wow, I love meeting these people!! He lives nearby, so maybe I can get a pic of his '56. It's cartilage stock, that baby blue color, if any of y'all are old enough to remember that color back in the '50s when cars were real cars, trucks were real trucks, men were real men.... oh, I'd better stop.

I never did get to dealer.