Subject:  Built Ford Tough?  MY ASS!!
Date:     5/29/2003

I recently purchased a 2003 F-150 FX4 Off Road. I should have
never done it. After only driving 4.4 miles from the dealership
the transmission oil cooler line fell off. So my brand new truck
sat at the dealership Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and I
finally picked it up on Tuesday. I was assured everything was
fine. A week later I returned the truck to service because it
was slipping and making a knocking noise. The mechanics test
drove it after it sat for another day and said, "We feel the
problem is fixed, and everything should be fine." I drove it
again for one week then brought it back in with the same
problem. I ordered the service manager to replace the trans and
they did so after 10 days. OK, I can finally get on with my
life; or so I thought. I brought the truck back because of
knocking, vibrating, and what seemed like a miss-fire. They told
me it needed a new EGR valve so they replaced it. I took the
truck back 3 weeks later for the same problem with the added
bonus of stalling for no reason. They test drove it and couldn't
find the trouble shooting guide for those problems. The service
tech. contacted Ford directly and Ford said that the slight
knocking noise, and intermittent varying vibration were normal
for a 5.4L engine. I believe the word for that is BULLSHIT!!
They couldn't figure out why the truck was stalling and knocking
and vibrating and so on. So they told me to drive it for a while
and see if the problem would go away. NOT!!! I brought it back
in and they installed a vehicle data recorder, I am still
waiting for the results of that data to this day. I am going to
take the truck back for the 4th and final time and I have
already contacted an attorney. Also, the black paint has problems
like shinny blue spots all over it. In conclusion I have my own
business so I have roughly lost $4,000.00+ in income, had 7
rental cars which they made me pay for
the tax and insurance, and countless hours are now gone from my
life because of a total lemon. One more little thing, I leased a
2000 F-150 4x4 off road for 24 months, wasn't sure if I wanted to
buy it cause it never had a problem and ran smoother than a
Cadillac, so I extended the lease 3 months. You see, Ford
lease-end dept. never relayed all the info to Ford credit, so the
lease-end dept. didn't know what to do with the three payments I
made and Ford credit never received the three payments and thus
my credit was destroyed because of a miscommunication. I have
currently won with that but it is going to take the credit
bureaus 2 months to fix. FORD HAS DESTROYED MY LIFE!, to an
extent single handedly.

Sincerely,
Michael W
One severely pissed off and soon to be ex-Ford owner