I purchased my new 04 F150 last month (07/06/04) and have had some problems with it already. On the second day of ownership I started it up to go to work and the serpentine belt squeeled like crazy. Then I noticed that when driving, the vehicle pulled to the right of the road, no matter which lane I was driving in. I took it to the dealership and they corrected those problems.

Then on the following week I was unloading a bicycle and I just happend to look across the roof of the cab and noticed several pings or dents (6 total). Also, I noticed that everytime I rolled down and up my passenger side window, a 4" long film of adhesive would appear on it. Needless to say I was not to happy. I immediately called the sales representative and he assured me he would take care of it....he came to my place of employment and pick it up the following week and then brought it back (same day) and told me the dents had been fixed but the window had not. When I was going home that afternoon, I got in the bed of the truck to inspect the work and guess what, ALL of the dents were STILL there! I immediately went to the dealership and confronted the salesrep and he told me he would get with the body shop mgr and would call me the next day. By lunch the following day, I had not heard anything so I was feeling like I was being jerked around . So, I made an abrupt lunch visit to my local Ford dealership. After going off on the body shop mgr, the sales mgr came out and he was offering me bed liners, accessories, and such to compensate me for the dents , to which I adamantly told him nothing would suffice except for the dents to be fixed without repainting .

So now a Ford Representative is coming to examine my truck and three other trucks on their lot that has roof dents. Has anyone had any experience in dealing with these Ford Reps? And, has anyone out there heard of these roof dents/pings? In the meantime, I've noticed that when I'm braking, sometimes there is a shimmy in the steering wheel. I've been a Ford man my whole life, but, I don't have a warm fuzzy feeling about the Q.C. this new F150, at least mine anyway....I wish I had kept my '02 F150 now.

Yours truly

Foadtuff

 

i havnt heard of any roof dents or anything like that, but i did have a bubble in the clearcoat and a couple of chips in the paint on the passenger door that was to the metal. the dealership fixed them the next week after i had purchased the pickup. i have to say that the dealership and my salesman have bent over backwards to help me when i have needed assistance. i am sorry to hear about your experiences with your dealer, but possibly there might be another dealer in your area that may be able to help you more in the future and hope that you enjoy your truck, they are really a great truck.

 

I notice some foof dents. I had never noticed them before up until a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure where they came from. I never thought of checking the roof before accepting the truck. SCAB, Norflok built.

 

I too noticed the roof impressions on my Screw. They are not random on my roof. It looks as if the inner support ribs have pulled the roof sheeting down slightly. You can hardly tell they are there- but they are noticable at certain views. What I found interesting was that I checked 5 other brand new trucks on the lot and they had the same impressions. Not only that but where in the same location as mine. Two on each side spaced evenly apart centered off the B post. I would say they were put there on assembly, Etc. Go figure!!

 

I too just noticed the dents on the top of my S-crew...I'm with Kize to assume it happened during assembly...my truck has never seen hail.
Foadtuff- to answer your question about the "passenger side window, a 4" long film of adhesive"...what I have found to be the cause was tape residue from electrical tape that was around the rubber insulator that was protecting the accuator cable from hitting the window. I removed the tape and cleaned the residue off and viola...no more streaks.

 

I have two impressions on my Screw also. What is the B post? If its the post between the doors then it appears I have the same impressions as you. The are not real noticeable, so I haven't done anything to fix yet.

 

sounds like hail.

 

Hi Kize....thanks for the reply. I really wish that my dents were from assembly, I would be able to live with them then. I'm inclined to believe that the dents on my truck and the other three on the lot may have happend during transport, but, that's just a theory. The randomness of the dents look almost like hail, but, they vary in size and the roof is the only place that has any flaws, the rest of the body is perfect. I just hope this Ford Rep is understanding and helpful.

 

"A" post is the vertical metal support at the front window from roof line to body. "B" post is the vertical metal support between driver and passenger door connecting the roof to the body and so on.

 

I have been to an assembly plant and have seen the waves and actual dents in the roof panels as they move along on the line. It is very noticable from the catwalk vantage point of the tour. My truck has them, and I would imagine most 04-05s do. It was the only disapointing build quality defect appearant at the time. Bought one anyway and love it!