New Truck--Dependability

[rodney482]

2016 f150 2.7
22 mpgs
13 mpgs towing my 4000# boat
Aluminum body still looks new.
68,000 trouble free miles

 

[Billinsd]

Have you ever owned a modern Ram or are you just repeating "DODGE SUCKS" history?

No, I have not, thank you very much “grin”! My opinion is based on a few friend’s experiences with recent Ford, GM, and Dodge and mostly the diesel engines, their poor performance and even poorer warranty care. A year ago I had a Ram Ecodiesel or “Eco-Boom” on my shortlist. Ram had stopped making them and switched to electric instead. A good friend had one and he raved about it. I visited some dealerships and just couldn’t bring myself to buy one as hard as I tried, because of my gut and prejudice against them. A couple neighbors have the diesel 2500s friends have Rams and seem to like them a lot. Ram is a much better value than GM or Ford for the same reliability. A year ago a co-worker had an Ecoboom engine grenade under warranty and he said he never liked the truck. Recently my friend with the Ecoboom had his engine grenade on him. He took it in under warranty and they said it would be three months. He was angry at Ram and told me he’d sue them, then he dumped it for a new 2024 Platinum Tundra with the hybrid engine and 100,000 or 150k warranty. He used to by the highest end American trucks and cars and finally said enough was enough!!

 

[Bama67]

Yep, high pressure pump shit the bed

Having been involved with the super duty gas motors in the oilfield, they run forever with insane idle hours. Modern diesel reliability is basically a roll of the dice these days. I’m more than happy with my 16 mpg empty and 8-12 towing.
Not to mention you save $10,000 upfront and cheaper fuel and maintenance.
Unless you tow super heavy a diesel makes no sense. It won’t ever cover the fuel cost unless you run it hundreds of thousands of miles
I only miss my 6.7 maybe once a year when I do a long tow through the mountains.
If I owned the new 7.3 with 4.30 gears, I wouldn’t miss it ever.

 

[Billinsd]

I bought a 2020 Tundraw Crewmax in August of 2019. 82k miles on it now. Have done absolutely nothing to it other than gas and oil changes. "IF" I drive it like my grandpa drove, zero heavy acceleration and deceleration, 70mph interstate speeds and not speeding, I could hit 17 in it.

Yeah, it was a 13 year old design at the time, and that is exactly why I bought it. Knobs on the dash to grab and turn up the fan and heat instead of a stupid touch screen or push buttons. I never was one to care about an 'interior being outdated', its just a truck. I despise all the tech features on new vehicles. I don't know what half the buttons do in my commuter car or my wifes car.

Like all the others have said, all the modern failures are due to manufacturers trying to eeek out fractions of miles per gallon to meet govt mandates and tech features. Wife has an Infiniti QX80 right now and warning light is on for the washer fluid being low even though it isn't. The sensor is integrated into the reservoir and requires 3 elbows and a lot of cuss words and an inner fender liner removal to kind of access it.

I can get 17 mpg too on level highway. You want to replace your atf, front, rear, transfer case fluid, and coolant regularly. I believe Toyota has lowered the minimum maintenance on their cars and trucks to get them through the 5 year warranty. I’ve spent countless hours figuring out what maintenance I should perform as a lazy, clumsy, and cheap guy to keep my vehicles running long with diminishing returns of replacing fluids too much. I recently realized and I’m a civil engineer not to run the washer fluid dry or the gas, repairs are expensive!! I don’t really mind gadgets or sensors so long as they don’t add a lot of cost and/or reduce reliability. Like my dad my trucks have never been daily drivers, they sit a long time and get old and I’m cheap. I’m driving hundreds, often thousands of miles to hunt and demand reliability and simplicity most!! My daily drivers are bottom tier Hondas or Toyota's, because to me they have all the features I really want. Modern car failures is a very complex issue with many causes. Certainly companies cater to the majority of idiots that want sparkling, and complex systems that they won’t utilize more than a tiny bit. Lots of bragging on the Tundra forums, “your SR5 has cloth seats and basic interior so it’s worth NUTHING!!, my platinum, deluxe, leather, shiny gauges and interior that would make a pimp green with Envy shows I’m a winner!!” Car companies I believe tweak things for all kinds of reasons, probably some to make car less reliable. I believe Toyota is making their new trucks and cars less reliable on purpose. And they have lowered their minimum maintenance considerably on some things on newer 2nd year Tundras over earlier versions.

 

[Darryle]

10 speed Ford, make sure it has a Sept 2022 production date or be prepared for Ford to jerk you around while they decide to fix your transmission, 100k and they finally replaced mine, drives better now than when it was new.

 

[Billinsd]

Having been involved with the super duty gas motors in the oilfield, they run forever with insane idle hours. Modern diesel reliability is basically a roll of the dice these days. If I owned the new 7.3 with 4.30 gears, I wouldn’t miss it ever.

Which Superduty engines are you talking about? Damn shame about modern diesels, it’s the emissions. No other gas engine excels at towing and has such torque as diesel!! What do you mean you wouldn’t miss the new 7.3 with 4.30 gears forever? Do you mean the 7.3 Godzilla engine?

 

[WiscoHoundsman]

I have a 2015 ram 3500 6.7 diesel with the 6 speed manual. Pretty good overall except for the emissions stuff on it. Always seems to have check engine light on for that ever year or two. Recently replaced the dpf and scr. Had a turbo go at 85k but later found out it was likely just an actuator and the dealer might have screwed me on that.

New with the factory tires I was getting 20 -22 mpg but am getting 14-17 now with Goodyear dura tracks on it. Wish I knew how to get back to 20 mpg unless that’s purely a tire problem.

 

[Billinsd]

Do you have a lift/large tires? I currently have 17.5 but that’s from boise to the mountains and back. I can get 20 grandpa-driving the freeway.

I like my 21, but flat-out the build quality of the interior is much lower than my 02 that my kid drives. These nylon material seats suck, the plastic is low-density, and carpet is thin etc. my fabric 02 seats looks damn near new still and clean much easier.

I’m stock tires and wheels and 4x4. I can get a bit more than 17 going downhill.

 

[onlybrowning]

Go 21+ on the Ford 5.0l. 3.5EB is also a good engine.

Avoid the 2018 Ford 5.0. My F-150 has had the short block and cylinder heads replaced (so long block in all but in two different steps) for oil consumption. I spent like three years looking for my truck and it’s not been that great. Shifting sucks, it spark knocks with 87 octane, it’s geared too high after a small lift and slightly bigger tires, and the god dang doors freeze all the time in the cold weather. Oh, and randomly, or regularly, one of the back doors claims it isn’t shut, when it is. Oh, and it randomly has weird electrical issues like hit the off button on the radio and nothing happens or the screens just go black. I’ve had the running boards and 3 out of 4 wheels replaced for “chrome” flaking too.

I paid 30k for it in March of 2020 and it’s had more that 30k in warranty work done to it.

People say it looks nice….



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[longspeak74]

2011 Dodge Outdoorsman that I put 250k on with regular oil changes and a few small issues.
2016 Big Horn, V6 that averages 20 mpg. Just turned 140k with nothing more than oil changes and brakes/tires.
Guess I've been lucky with Dodges, but refuse to go Toyota.

 

[Harvey_NW]

Yep, high pressure pump shit the bed

Understood. But that's still anywhere from $500-2000+ for the pump. About 2 hrs book labor. If it was a catastrophic pump failure, that's a completely different story than just pump shit the bed.

Having been involved with the super duty gas motors in the oilfield, they run forever with insane idle hours. Modern diesel reliability is basically a roll of the dice these days. I’m more than happy with my 16 mpg empty and 8-12 towing.
Not to mention you save $10,000 upfront and cheaper fuel and maintenance.
Unless you tow super heavy a diesel makes no sense. It won’t ever cover the fuel cost unless you run it hundreds of thousands of miles
I only miss my 6.7 maybe once a year when I do a long tow through the mountains.
If I owned the new 7.3 with 4.30 gears, I wouldn’t miss it ever.

I'm not trying to convince you of anything, but I would have to disagree with some of your assessment. Here's an example of a modern diesel fleet vehicle (2019 Ford F-550) to support it. I've had the truck since new, in 123k miles it hasn't been in the shop for longer than 1 day of tire rotation, tranny filter change, or other etc maintenance. Zero issues. I'm an Ag mechanic and our fleet let's our rigs idle a LOT of the time, especially in the summer when we have to be there for hours in July triple digit heat. The Duramax's go in minimum once a year for DEF maintenance/replacement, or whatever else they need. Draw your own conclusion.

 

[fmyth]

No, I have not, thank you very much “grin”! My opinion is based on a few friend’s experiences with recent Ford, GM, and Dodge and mostly the diesel engines, their poor performance and even poorer warranty care. A year ago I had a Ram Ecodiesel or “Eco-Boom” on my shortlist. Ram had stopped making them and switched to electric instead. A good friend had one and he raved about it. I visited some dealerships and just couldn’t bring myself to buy one as hard as I tried, because of my gut and prejudice against them. A couple neighbors have the diesel 2500s friends have Rams and seem to like them a lot. Ram is a much better value than GM or Ford for the same reliability. A year ago a co-worker had an Ecoboom engine grenade under warranty and he said he never liked the truck. Recently my friend with the Ecoboom had his engine grenade on him. He took it in under warranty and they said it would be three months. He was angry at Ram and told me he’d sue them, then he dumped it for a new 2024 Platinum Tundra with the hybrid engine and 100,000 or 150k warranty. He used to by the highest end American trucks and cars and finally said enough was enough!!

I wish him good luck with that Tundra:

 

[Weldor]

What exactly do you mean happened? Did warranty cover it?

cooked turbos plus wiring burnt and cracked radiators, it was warranty work. Just not dependable as a daily driver for work. Like he told me loved my 20 but he needed a 4 wd.

 

[Weldor]

I can get 17 mpg too on level highway. You want to replace your atf, front, rear, transfer case fluid, and coolant regularly. I believe Toyota has lowered the minimum maintenance on their cars and trucks to get them through the 5 year warranty. I’ve spent countless hours figuring out what maintenance I should perform as a lazy, clumsy, and cheap guy to keep my vehicles running long with diminishing returns of replacing fluids too much. I recently realized and I’m a civil engineer not to run the washer fluid dry or the gas, repairs are expensive!! I don’t really mind gadgets or sensors so long as they don’t add a lot of cost and/or reduce reliability. Like my dad my trucks have never been daily drivers, they sit a long time and get old and I’m cheap. I’m driving hundreds, often thousands of miles to hunt and demand reliability and simplicity most!! My daily drivers are bottom tier Hondas or Toyota's, because to me they have all the features I really want. Modern car failures is a very complex issue with many causes. Certainly companies cater to the majority of idiots that want sparkling, and complex systems that they won’t utilize more than a tiny bit. Lots of bragging on the Tundra forums, “your SR5 has cloth seats and basic interior so it’s worth NUTHING!!, my platinum, deluxe, leather, shiny gauges and interior that would make a pimp green with Envy shows I’m a winner!!” Car companies I believe tweak things for all kinds of reasons, probably some to make car less reliable. I believe Toyota is making their new trucks and cars less reliable on purpose. And they have lowered their minimum maintenance considerably on some things on newer 2nd year Tundras over earlier versions.

Nice write up. I'm no expert but when you have plugs and no way to check fluids makes me worry. I like to see the tranny fluid and oil are at correct levels. Not just trust us and only change it at 100,000. LOL

 

[5MilesBack]

Just get the truck you want, take care of it doing the maintenance, and see how it goes. Don’t over analyze it.

You can close your eyes and throw a dart at chance, or you can analyze and over analyze and play the probability odds. Numbers mean something. Anyone can win in Vegas for a short run, but for the long haul Vegas always wins because the odds are set in their favor. Analyzing (or over analyzing) is done to set the odds in your favor.

 

[wapitibob]

Daily driver diesel, didn't even have a rattle when I sold it.




99,800 on the late 2020 F-150 3.5. Had a shift concern early on and the dealer change the tranny fluid, which they screwed up. Changed the fluid again myself and got the fill correct and it works fine. I change all fluid boxes every 30k and engine oil never goes more than 5k.

 

[Weldor]

Daily driver diesel, didn't even have a rattle when I sold it.

View attachment 710266


99,800 on the late 2020 F-150 3.5. Had a shift concern early on and the dealer change the tranny fluid, which they screwed up. Changed the fluid again myself and got the fill correct and it works fine. I change all fluid boxes every 30k and engine oil never goes more than 5k.

Yep.

 

[DangerRanger]

240k on my 2011 5.0 it’s needed a couple things, a coolant coupling leaked around 120k, eve purge valve (40$ and 10 min) around 215k radio messed up.

I’ve driven this thing hard as snot, when the coolant leaked it was hot as can be on the way to the mechanic, I couldn’t believe it survived, that’s was over 100k miles ago

 

[bojangles808]

The 2018+ ford 2.7L is solid.

 

[KenLee]

I have Ford Ranger, engine good, however ten speed transmission had to be replaced at 84,000 miles. I run into others with same issues. Blend door for HVAC in dash is susceptible to failure as well. My blend door replacement was covered under extended warranty, however, it is a about $4000 to fix if out of warranty.

4 grand for blend door replacement is insane!