I work at Edwards Air force base CA I am a Civilian employee working for the DOD.
The other day we were talking about trucks I was telling one of the young GI’s I just Purchased a new 2012 Ram 1500 Crew Cab big horn 4X4 with the Hemi.
Them the GI started in he has a Ford F150 with the Eco Boost and how much better it was I just looked at him and thought to myself only if you only knew what you talking about and all the issues the new generation Fords have you never got one.
The Air force GI then told me how many problems I am going to have with my Ram truck I told him this is my 5th Dodge truck and never had any problems with any of them.
I also told him I owned Ford trucks in the past and there a reason I own Dodge Ram Truck instead of a Ford I could purchase any truck I wanted to but I choice another Dodge and there a reason for it.
I was bored today and I looked Up Ford Eco boost Problems oh man there class action suits already and they have some serious problems with them and as normal Ford not doing anything about them and telling the Ford owners they don’t know how to fix them so go away more or less you purchased a POS now live with it.
Yes this is a good feeling sure glad I didn’t buy another Ford LOL.

 

I know there are complaints with fuel economy experienced by ecoboost owners, but that's possibly due to driving habits. There are some mechanical bugs that Ford is still working out.

My real issue is I am just not convinced that the ecoboost won't tear itself apart long before a V8 counterpart. But who knows, I could be wrong.

 

I agree, marv. I also read the F150 forums, and there are more problems posted there than on the two Dodge Ram forums I read. Not just with the Ecoboost, but also the 5L V8. I do have a F150, '02 model with the 5.4L engine I bought 4 years ago. The reason I got it was that it was like new, 47k miles and I needed a full size truck as well as my '93 Dakota. I couldn't afford to buy new. My Dakota - best vehicle of ANY kind I have ever owned! My avatar is the kind of car I learned to drive on - a 1949 Plymouth - now, that was a car!

 

I hear "you should have bought a ______" comments all of the time. Everybody has an opinion. I think there's a good argument for any of the full sized trucks, but I've been happy with my decision for over 3 years now (2009 Ram). If I decided to get another truck it'd be another Ram at this point.

 

I hear that from time to time from Ford owners as well. The truth if the matter is, I already own a Ford, a '07 3V 4.6 Ltd. Explorer we bought new.

From what I've read over on the Ford forums, the issue that resides currently with the F150's is the problem I had with the Explorer. Delayed hard downshift from 2nd into 1st gear after about a 5 second delay. It would literally feel as if you were rear ended, the lurch forward was that extreme, and if your foot wasn't on the brake firmly, it could cause the vehicle to creep forward.

The fix was reflashing the TCM, however that led to current problem, constant shifting between gears at low speeds. I've debated this with my local dealership for over a year, however Ford feels this is normal operating conditions. The other downfall is the midrange power had literally disappeared. Unless you floor it off the line, it's an absolute dog, which is disappointing to say the least.

I will say this though, it is a great winter vehicle, no matter how terrible the conditions are. I'll prefer the Explorer over the truck, just because the AWD traction control is absolutely phenomenal is snow/ice conditions.

The fact that owners have to belittle others because of vehicle preference leads me to believe they've got something to hide.

 

Belittling another owners choice means you are insecure about your decision. But anyway, back in 07 I was shopping for a truck, and my buddy was and is a service guy at the local Ford dealership. He strongly discouraged me from buying a Ford truck at that time, as he felt the transmissions were no good. I bought a Chevy instead. I loved that truck despite it being a stripped down model with no features. Without a doubt the most comfortable ride.

Anyway, my buddy says the newer trucks are much more reliable, as he never sees them come in, but he does say he gets piles of complaints about poor economy. To me it seems every vehicle has optimistic fuel economy numbers, and oddly the smaller the displacement the farther off the actual vs. printed numbers. Plus when the motor is small and weak I suspect people hammer the throttle which kills economy.