2000 Ford F350 XL V10
Summary:
Not reliable enough to be called Super-Duty
Faults:
-5 bad spark coils total
-bad upper and lower ball joints on one side
-tire rod end fell apart on one side
-Rear brake rotors had a bunch of big pieces fall out of them
-Did not come with back-up beeper or mud flaps, even though the dealer's state inspector said it they were required by law. I had to install them myself before the dealer would put a state inspection sticker on it.
-seat belt sensor wires broken at seat belt due to insufficient strain relief
-emergency brake sensor switch rarely works
-"door ajar" switch thinks that one door is open (it's not)
-front tires went at 30,000 miles (probably due to the bad tie-rod end)
General Comments:
-Couldn't believe the condition of the rear brake rotors. Truck is a dually, rarely used for anything heavy. Rear rotors should not wear out that fast, never mind fall apart.
-I have never replace an upper ball joint under 100,000 miles on anything before. This one was bad at 20,000.
-Other than the problems, I do like the power and size. Gas mileage is 13mpg, which is pretty much what I would expect.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 13th July, 2004
27th Sep 2004, 06:45
I agree completely with the comments made about the "Super Duty" being far less than super. I have been through 3 sets (6 tires) of tires in under 50k miles. This is due to faulty tie rods, ball joints, improper wheel alignment and numerous other things told to me by every dealer I've taken my truck to (over 10 different Ford dealerships/service dept.). One dealership even told me Ford designed my truck to have the front tires leaning in on the top. He said "Ford figures if your going to buy a truck like that, your going to be hauling a lot." Two things to note.
1. Having the tires toed in, /--\ then putting a load on them only makes the angle more extreme.
2. In the 50k miles I put on the truck it was all highway without pulling anything. I have yet found anyone to remedy the problem. The only thing which keeps me from ruining more tires is to get an alignment every 3 to 5 thousand miles.
3. If a truck can't hold up to driving empty what will happen when it is put to the test?
Now for the other problems:
The electrical is another story all together. When I stop moving the interior light comes on. When I start again it goes back off.
Also the windshield wipers come automatically, whether it's raining or not.
The electric door lock switch only locks and unlocks two of the four doors (sometimes).
I've also had to replace the master window switch and the mirror adjustment switch.
The turbo sticks and won't work every so often.
The ABS light keeps coming on and nobody knows why. Overdrive shuts off when ever it wants and know one can tell me why.
If I don't crank the truck daily the battery runs down and it won't start.
It refuses to release from 4wd and "automatic" 4wd refuses to work.
But it looks good.