What is everyone's take on the Ford F-150?

[Steamfitter]

I love my 4runner. It is a solid truck.

However, it misses the mark on Technology and it is under powered.

This is the double-edged sword of the T4R. Tech and power seem to be inversely proportional to reliability.

I've looked at BMW's... they are gorgeous, powerful, and tech overload. However they have one of the worst reputations for reliability (a lot of that is probably built-in obsolescence) out there, and are notoriously expensive to own and repair.

All this discussion has me wondering if I even need a full-size truck. I was driving a work truck all last weekend (it's a Ram 1500 Hemi, 2015 I think), and I was really happy to get back in my T4R afterwards. It truly hits the sweet spot of storage space, ride quality, size, off-road ability, etc. The only bad part is I think it's made me too picky about other vehicles now!

 

[Kung]

So, I literally just traded in my 2013 F150 for a 2020 Tundra; prior to the 2013 F150, I owned a 2004 F150. Here's my take.

I actually had no 'real' issues, in a sense, with either of my F150s. Both of them ran for miles (230K and still running on the 2004; 124K or so on my 2013). I didn't really 'need' a new truck. Why did I get rid of mine, and not go with another Ford, then? I'll list a few reasons.

1. I tow on a semi-regular basis - not enough to *need* a super powerful truck, but enough so that I need something powerful enough to handle it. My 2013 F150 had the 5.0L, and while it had plenty of power....it did NOT make it down low. Towing a 24' camper, I often had to go to 3rd (or 2nd!) to be able to maintain anything like a decent speed. Running at 5000+ rpm in 2nd gear at 55mph for hours is not the brightest idea, in my opinion.

2. It had plenty of tech....but said tech often failed me. I had the Sync system, and while I can't speak for the newest stuff, I can tell you that the Sync system in my truck was THE biggest piece of crap I have ever seen in my life. It often didn't understand me, made phantom calls to people, or flat out wouldn't work, requiring a complete reset....and I'm not talking occasionally. I'm talking multiple times a month....over 6.5 years. The same thing happened with my cruise control, backup sensors, the smoothness of the shifting, etc. Nothing 'broke,' so to speak, but it sure as hell would go on the fritz fairly often. I'm a fairly tolerant guy when it comes to stuff breaking or having issues, but after 6.5 years of stuff constantly just....malfunctioning for no reason, then 'fixing' itself, and the cycle endlessly repeating...it drove me nuts.

3. MPG ratings were not accurate. Granted, I live in the Ozarks, but I'm not exactly driving up a 90 degree hill all of the time. With about 75% highway and 25% city driving, I got a whopping 15.9MPG - and that's driving it like Grandmas was in the passenger seat with an open cup of coffee.

4. For me, the single biggest reason I got rid of it was because when it comes down to it, I don't care if it has the newest tech or not. I DO care if the tech that it has works well. For example, seat heaters, multimedia, etc, are nice, but if they don't work, I don't care. A few years back, Ford's reliability ratings took a huge hit, even though the trucks themselves were OK. The reason was almost entirely due to the Sync multimedia system quality. I've known more than a few people with the newer Ford trucks, and while I'd say 1/2 of them have had no issues, the other 1/2 have. Nothing monstrous, mind you, but when EVERYONE you know owns 4Runners, Highlanders, and Tundras, and NONE of them have really ever had any issues....and 1/2 the people you know who own F150's have had issues (brakes, misshapen 5.0L cylinders, 2.7L issues, door locks freezing, etc.), suffice to say it scares you off.

Like I said, the truck never failed me; and even though I LOVE my new truck, I do have to say I miss the old one somewhat. It saw me through some hard times (wife's hospitalization, the loss of my father, etc.), and for that it'll have a place in my mind...but when the recent downturn hit, and given that I was looking for something with a bit more power, I decided to visit the nearest Toyota dealership.

As such, I ended up with this last Friday. So far MPG is right at 14.5MPG, and that's driving it like I stole it. I have no doubt it'd get 16-17MPG on the interstate; and the torque down low is fantastic, as is the build quality.

 

[JLTD]

So, I literally just traded in my 2013 F150 for a 2020 Tundra; prior to the 2013 F150, I owned a 2004 F150. Here's my take.

I actually had no 'real' issues, in a sense, with either of my F150s. Both of them ran for miles (230K and still running on the 2004; 124K or so on my 2013). I didn't really 'need' a new truck. Why did I get rid of mine, and not go with another Ford, then? I'll list a few reasons.

1. I tow on a semi-regular basis - not enough to *need* a super powerful truck, but enough so that I need something powerful enough to handle it. My 2013 F150 had the 5.0L, and while it had plenty of power....it did NOT make it down low. Towing a 24' camper, I often had to go to 3rd (or 2nd!) to be able to maintain anything like a decent speed. Running at 5000+ rpm in 2nd gear at 55mph for hours is not the brightest idea, in my opinion.

2. It had plenty of tech....but said tech often failed me. I had the Sync system, and while I can't speak for the newest stuff, I can tell you that the Sync system in my truck was THE biggest piece of crap I have ever seen in my life. ...but after 6.5 years of stuff constantly just....malfunctioning for no reason, then 'fixing' itself, and the cycle endlessly repeating...it drove me nuts.

3. MPG ratings were not accurate. Granted, I live in the Ozarks, but I'm not exactly driving up a 90 degree hill all of the time. With about 75% highway and 25% city driving, I got a whopping 15.9MPG - and that's driving it like Grandmas was in the passenger seat with an open cup of coffee.

4. For me, the single biggest reason I got rid of it was because when it comes down to it, I don't care if it has the newest tech or not. I DO care if the tech that it has works well. For example, seat heaters, multimedia, etc, are nice, but if they don't work, I don't care.

Like I said, the truck never failed me; and even though I LOVE my new truck, I do have to say I miss the old one somewhat. It saw me through some hard times (wife's hospitalization, the loss of my father, etc.), and for that it'll have a place in my mind...but when the recent downturn hit, and given that I was looking for something with a bit more power, I decided to visit the nearest Toyota dealership.

As such, I ended up with this last Friday. So far MPG is right at 14.5MPG, and that's driving it like I stole it. I have no doubt it'd get 16-17MPG on the interstate; and the torque down low is fantastic, as is the build quality.

Nice truck! If I ever get another it'll be a Tundra.

I too am coming from an F150, (needed a larger back seat to fit new wife's teens plus her ex had trucks so 4Runner LOL) and what you said above is spot on. I had 2 2013s from 2014 to 2018. First one was stolen after less than a year and had nothing wrong AND a different set of software from the next. The second one never broke exactly, but....the rear window defroster did get intermittent and there were a couple of leaks starting, one at the rear glass and the other at the satellite antenna.

Commentary:
Point #1 - yes the 5.0 likes to spin...my experience towing a 5000# trailer was the necessity of locking out 6th and occasionally 5th. This was w-e across the rolling hills of Kansas and Missouri where we cruised at up to about 4000rpm all day with nothing bad occurring.

Point #2 - Sync never worked for me, tried 2 different phones and neither could be connected despite readings from the owner's manual and online tutorials. It was so weird in both trucks I never really used any of the features.

Point #3 - I got 16.5 mpg around town and if flat/empty/taking it easy (60mph was best) got up to 24 on the highway but probably had a tailwind that day since I only saw it once. Typical hwy mpg was around 19-21 and decreased rapidly with speed down as low as 14 @80 and a headwind. (In Wyoming where that's legal). Towing the trailer was around 11-12.

Point #4 - spot on. Simple and working beats fancy and intermittent any day.

My choice was between F150 and Tundra....and since hindsight is perfect, I should have chosen the Tundra.

 

[2012sr5]

I’ve been in the market for a while now, and I still haven’t bought a truck. I was set on an F150 for a while. The numbers are awesome—towing, hauling, stated mpg, etc. But then as I looked into it more, it seems that as the trucks get more complicated with more features and more advanced tech, they (Fords in particular) turn into near-constant headaches for some owners. And the way they designed it makes it apparent that Ford was not thinking of those of us who like to maintain our vehicles ourselves. I think they’re cool, but I don’t think Ford thinks that anyone needs to keep one running for more than 150-175k miles.

If you want the latest appointments, don’t mind the risk, and will probably trade it in every few years, I’d say knock yourself out with the Ford.

But if you don’t mind that your truck is just that—a simple truck for you to do truck stuff with—and if you don’t care to have the whole inside of your cab light up with a million buttons as if you’re piloting the Millenium Falcon, I’d go with a Tundra. Yes it has a big old-fashioned thirsty v8 in it. This is a good thing. It’s way cheaper to buy and own for 5 years than the Ford.

There are some Ford fanboys over on the ExPo forum who get into every single Toyota thread. One guy blocked me because I told him that Toyota vehicles are exactly as more reliable than Ford as they are behind Ford in the tech. He got all fussy insisting that Toyotas are “marginally” more reliable while being light years behind on tech. I sent him the data from Dashboard Light. He accused me of promoting my own site. Lol. I think tech and reliability are directly related. To some people, that’s apparently super offensive. :noidea:

My FIL has a 2016 3.5EB F150 that he bought new. 70k miles and zero issues. Hope he continues to have good luck!

 

[brianjasinski2003]

I would not own another Ford again.

 

[patkelly4370]

That why I don't take pics of the driver side. There's a giant dent in the bed (Grandpa did it)

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I finally did something about the dent

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[JLTD]

I finally did something about the dent

LOL that is PERfect!:rockon:

 

[Flyer]

I am not a fan of the twin-turbo trucks if I take them offroad though reliability has been average from want I read. The F-150 drives really well and is smooth. I just don't like it when on slow steep terrain (even in steep indoor parking garages) the turbo does not kick in and that weak V6 is lugging that fat body up...it struggles. If course, if the turbos suddenly kicked in at that low RPM, it would be problematic.

Anyway, when I buy another truck, it will likely be a V8 though I want to see what Toyota does with its Tundra. It will have a twin turbo setup but I want to drive it and see if it is any different from the F-150.