I am sooo wanting to reach out and strangle someone at CU.

Let's start at the top: I think we confuse the issues of durability, reliability, and quality. Example- my '93 F150 had a few plastic panels that weren't lined up correctly. That's a quality issue. It had (has) a few rattles and squeaks. Another quality issue. The paint job would have wound up on the scrap heap of any self-respecting Honda or Toyota plant. Another quality issue.

Fast forward 12 years and almost 200K miles. The plastic panels still don't line up. The few little rattles and squeaks have become old friends. That sub-par paint job is still on the truck, and shines darned near the same as when it was new. (it's in my gallery). The truck has seen virtually every weather and road condition imaginable, and has never let us down. It is a complete stranger to the tail end of a tow truck. The heads have never been off of the engine, and the original 4EOD shifts into overdrive with the same "clunk" as it did when it was new.

My initial quality impression was average at best. Today I marvel at what a durable reliable piece of equipment it's been. I wonder how that truck scored with CU back in '93? Then again, maybe not.

 

Good point Polarbear.

 

Considering that you will be towing a 5500 lb boat, and the capacity on the tundra is 6800 lbs, that doesn't leave you with a whole lot of breathing room when you factor in fuel, cargo, and passengers.

Is the 5500 dry or loaded up with fuel and gear on the boat?

A properly equiped '05 F150 SuperCab 6ft box 4x4 can get you a 9300lb towing capacity (3.73's and a 5.4L), or 8800lb (3.55's and a 5.4L).

http://www.fordtrucks.com/specs/2005/2005_f150_1.html

IMO, the Ford is the clear winner by looking at towing stats, and would leave you plenty of breathing room for extra cargo, or even a bigger boat!

 

Well consumer reports said my 96 250 was a worst buy. But its been my best buy. The first year of any new truck has its bugs and the 2004 150 is no different. The new 2005s are so far what Ive heard have been great. I think consumer reports likes foreighn brands better then the big 3.

 

Yeah, CR talks very highly of Japanese models, and very low of American models. It becomes more and more obvious with each year they do their quality survey.

The boat is 5000# dry plus I figure another 500# in gas, plus about 200# in gear and if I bring a couple of buddies, this will definitely be taxing the limits of the truck. There is no doubt the Ford wins in the towing area, but the only concern I have left is will I get 200,000 miles out of it like my other vehicles have gotten. I'm trying to have realistic expectations about its reliability and I dont expect it to last like a Tundra, just to be decent. Hopefully Fords poor showing was due to it being a new model year and they have worked the bugs out.

Has anybody here had problems with the 4WD system in their F-150? CR says thats where the F-150 was having trouble.

 

Just remember....you can get a "lemon" in every make of vehicle. Just because you have great luck with Toyota doesn't mean the next new one you buy will be as good, same with Nissan, Ford, Chevy, Dodge...etc.

 

I am going to say to go with the ford. My family has been purely ford since the first model T came out and you can't beat them in the abuse area. My dad's 2002 f-150 has been to hell and back between us and has about 100,000 miles on it. Only problems with it have been our fault from towing too much weight. I just rolled over 12,000 miles on my '04 150 and have not had a single problem with it. The truck was designed to work hard and play harder. Ive pulled a trailer loaded with scrap steel that was just under 9000lbs and it handled it with no problem. Another thing that not everyone knows is that the fords have a govnor chip on them that turns off when you hook up a trailer. You end up making more power with a trailer attached which is why our trucks seem slow.

A final point is compare interior room of the trucks- Does toyota even make a crew cab? Your'e freinds and family will thank you for the crew cab

 

The F150 reliabilty issues as reported in consumer reports was directed to the 4wd models only. The reason behind it was vibration issues. Ford put together a video you can watch on the internet. They apart F150's Nissans, chevies, and Dodge. It's pretty good video once you get behind the outer service you will see Ford puts together a much beefier truck. Go to the Titan owners forums and they are having the same amount of issues that this F150 forum is discussing. The only reason they are rated a little higher is they perform better from 0 to 60 and stop shorter. Makes sense because the F150 is a heavy truck 4 WD comes in at somewhere around 5900lbs.

Here's the video.

http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/f150/truth/

 

I bought my 91 F150 new. It has been extremely reliable. I do all my own repairs and maintenance, but outside of a couple of mufflers and front brakes, I probably haven't spent more than $100 in repairs during the last 13 years. My cousin put 260000 miles on a 97 F150 4.6L which was bought wrecked. He hauled cars with it for a living and has a VERY heavy right foot. Engine finally gave up but tranny was still going.

Go to the Ford dealer and pick up a "Truth about Trucks" DVD. Sure it's biased toward Ford, but they cut up frames and stuff from different makes. The difference in the way the new F150 is obvious.

If you are on the fence, I would like to see you support an American company. The big 3 are struggling to compete right now. But that's just MHO.

Mark

 

In my opinion buying a car or truck that is sub par in terms of quality doesnt do the manufacturer any good. All it does is encourage them to build more of the same, in a way Nissan, Toyota, and Honda getting into the truck market will do more good for us as consumers and truck buyers. It will force the Detroit to start building better quality vehicles or they will be out of business.

With that being said though, after taking test drives of both the Toyota and F-150 I have decided to give Ford a chance. I took the day off to go over every part of both of them and I was quite impressed with the F-150. The ride, handling and fit and finish were excellent. The Toyota was great as well but you could easily tell that the F-150 is a much more substantial truck. Hopefully I will be equally impressed with the long term reliability. Thanks for the help here everybody, I really appreciate it

 

Like I said on different earlier thread on consumer report, I wouldn't worry too much as it's the first year model. Apparently there were issues with vibrations, and if most of you the 04/05 F150 owners fill out the annual questionnaire, being as honest as you can be. The report would have come out differently. The next couple years, the reliablity should no doubt move up as the bugs are all solved. Just like with the previous F150 generation of 97-03.

 

I'm in a similar position. Being a Ford owner for 20 yrs I'll add my 2c. . .
Tundra - nice truck, a bit smaller, adequate power, good selection, tops on reliability. Negatives - rear drum brakes (although braking performance 'rates' good, I'd question their resolve with multiple stops with a couple thousand lbs behind it), and the rear axle looks awefully small to me (again, doesn't 'seem' to be a weak point, maybe I'm just jaded by the rock-solid 9", and the near-as-tough 8.8" of Ford). As I do tow, both of these are concerns for me. I also don't prefer the rear seating arrangement (large hump under the seat doesn't work well for me), and the non-Limited version's interior seems mundane to me.
Titan - best thought-out 1/2 ton out there (drivetrain, interior, bed), with performance that is easily the equal of any other offering (the Hemi being the only contender for acceleration) - has some quality issues, most noteably the front brakes - not all surprising given its 2yrs young - should be fixed hopefully mid-year and for 2006. Limited choices which isn't an issue if they've got the version/style YOU want. Its fast. . .and loud, which may be 'cool' for a while, but may get really annoying (the exhaust rumble that is) if thats not your style. If you can wait, and the field stays the same, it may be the right truck for you.
F-150 - yea, consumer reports gives it a low score, everyone has their opinion. I wouldn't rate it up there with the Tundra for reliability, though close. IMHO these are the most solid '1/2 ton' trucks made. My personal advice to anyone regarding Fords (I'll get my heat shield on) - if you perform your own maintenance & repairs (or have a trusted knowledgeable mechanic) they're great. If you prefer to take your vehicle to a dealer (incl warranty), consider purchasing another brand. I truely believe, after many, many vehicles, dealers, experiences, this is Ford's (and Chevy&Dodge's to some degree) achielles heel (When I bought my '03 F-150 I told the dealer, honestly, he'd never see the truck again, was fine when I did do all the work, now I don't have time, the truck has some issues I'd normally deal with, tried two other dealers without satisfaction (again), and it will force my hand).
Dodge & Chevy - If your brand loyal, or really like the looks of either (and this is important to you), or you've 'gotta have a Hemi', you've probably already made up your mind. They are certainly worthy, but I'd recommend one of the above otherwise.
All just my opinion of course. . .
Best of luck with your decision, and your new truck!

 

Thanks cj, I actually was seriously considering the Titan as I felt and still feel it is the nicest all around full size on the market. Only problem is as you mentioned the quality. The truck is still fairly new and I dont think I can wait another year or two for Nissan to work these problems out.

Funny you should mention Fords being good if you can work on them yourself. I have heard the same thing for two other people who own F-150's. According to them they have not had good experiences with their Ford dealers and have gone to several other dealers with little success. I have never done much of my own maintenance, except changing the oil. I would like to learn but wouldnt really know where to begin. In your experience has the dealership experience been that bad that you wouldnt purchase a Ford in the future? Thanks again for your help.

 

I was tied up between the Titan and F150, after really doing some major comparison the F150 won out. Reason being, the Titan is just not as solid, the interior fit and finish is not as nice as the F150, and from my perspective it's ugly. Those were the only factors that made me decide.I am sure it's a good truck, but from my perspective the F150 was a little above. Even though the Titan 0 to 60 may be better than the F150, my buying decision was not based on a stop light drag race, but an overall people friendly and boat tower. The solidness on the F150 part is evident by the weight of the vehicle.

 

mlazuka,
Glad to hear you bought a Ford! I know I haven't had good things to say about Ford service depts - but in my case, they've earned it. Not saying they are all bad, or that the techs are incompetent or malisious. As with any service dept, your best defense if knowledge. If they overcharge you or feed you total BS, would you know it? If they 'fixed' something and something else goes wrong, would you be able to possibly put the two together. I surely don't know everything, but the more you do the better off you'll be. Try small service first (with any service dept) and see what happens. Take a look at the repair area, see what the techs are doing and their body language. If the look upset, indifferent, ****ed, wishing they were anywhere but where they are, etc. I'd suggest you find somewhere else (if you can actually speak to them, do it!). For example, at most Ford service dept I've been to, too many techs are stressed, angry, don't care, etc (and I've know more than several who have worked at Ford service who'd agree). When I go to Jag for service (maybe not a totally fair comparo, but the F-150 was many thousands more, sticker, than the X-type), the techs are clearly more focused, and seem to understand that their jobs are on the line with every customer. Not saying Jag is cruel - they've just set a higher expectation for their team. (I run a mfg plant so I've developed some skill in this.) Its certainly possible that I've just had a string of bad experiences, although, again I've had many over twenty years at at least 4 dealers, some have the Ford 'Gold' service award or whatever it is - I couldn't honestly recommend any of them. A good auto technician can be very hard to find, but can save you many, many thousands on just one vehicle! Knowledge is power, use it to your advantage - and best of luck in your new Ford!!!