Buy now or wait until the bugs are out....

[jd4010]

Howdy my peeps. Wife and I have been looking at trading our '04 F350 Crew Cab 6.0 DRW 4x4 for a newer model. Last night we found a used '06 F350 Crew Cab DRW FX4 but the hours on the motor were high relative to the mileage. So the discussion began....

Anyway, she suggested that we just buy a new '08 customized to the way we want it. WHAT A LADY! But I'm concerned about the '08s because of the threads associated with the 6.4 motor.

Coming to you all.....should I wait another 4 to 5 months for the bugs to be worked out in the '08s and 6.4 line? Go with a 6.0 instead (if I can find one).

Bottom line....this truck has to last me MANY years so I need to do it right this time. Newer stuff is always exciting but can be a bigger headache too until things are ironed out.

Thanks for your feedback....

[Pooods]

I recently talked to a Ford rep in Atlanta at a show. In his opinion Ford jumped the gun by releasing the new engine. He said they were too eager to get it out and should have waited until 2009. He admitted to several small problems with them and a couple of large ones. I told him we bought a new one and had similar problems. He said some Ford workers hope the company will do something to help us 08 buyers out in a year or 2. I will not hold my breath. This guy could loose his job for some of the statements he made to me. He didn't get specific with the problems other than the flames and regen. we all know about. Fuel mileage was a concern with Ford according to him.

[99gt]

bugs..what bugs? I'd say if you want one now buy it now. This truck is pretty sound. No matter what year or manufacturer it is there will always be lemons. And of coarse you're going to hear more about the bad than the good...that's the way the world works. Everybody nit picks at one thing or another but i bet the consensus is that 99% of 08 SD owners are more than happy with their trucks.

I'd like to know what this Ford rep was admitting to? I do believe the the whole reason for the release of the 6.4 was because the 6.0l would not meet 2008 emission standards just like the Cummins 5.9 (correct me if i'm wrong).

[mjm]

There is always something that will go wrong.. I had a 2003 Duramax and traded it for an 05 and then I was told the 05 was prone to overheating. The 03 was prone to bad injectors. Both trucks had 30,000 miles on them when I got rid of them. Neither truck ever fell victim to the "known" problems. I also had an 01 fist year duramax that had 20,000 miles with no problems. If you find something you like and can afford it buy it. All the horror stories are the minority of cases and the odds are you will love the truck you pick. Chances are you will want a new one in a couple years anyway!
That is just my opinion...don't live in fear...just live

[lifewitlooie]

just get an 06 6.0. save yourself 10 or 20 thousand dollars.

[Pooods]

If you have to buy a brand new truck right now do it. Buy a new Duramax and wait a couple years for Ford to get the kinks worked out. That's what we would have done if given another chance. Or do like stated above and save several thousand bucks and just find a very nice 6.0.

[Pooods]

Originally Posted by 99gt

bugs..what bugs? I'd say if you want one now buy it now. This truck is pretty sound. No matter what year or manufacturer it is there will always be lemons. And of coarse you're going to hear more about the bad than the good...that's the way the world works. Everybody nit picks at one thing or another but i bet the consensus is that 99% of 08 SD owners are more than happy with their trucks.


I'd like to know what this Ford rep was admitting to? I do believe the the whole reason for the release of the 6.4 was because the 6.0l would not meet 2008 emission standards just like the Cummins 5.9 (correct me if i'm wrong).

I know of a few bugs. Axel seal blew out dumping much grease out the side of the rearend finally resulting in a Chevy hauling a loaded trailer home and limping the Ford back to the dealer. Dealer said it was a smart move on our part since the gearbox was very low at that point. It took 6 hours just to get oil residue off the whole side of the truck and trailer. This was at 2k miles.

Next, truck missing and smoking on many occasions resulting in a couple of trips back to the dealer. The fuel was the problem the first time but not the second. It may happen again tomorrow. Who knows?

And there was that time at 3.6k miles when it left us sitting on the side of the interstate with another loaded trailer at 1am in the morning. A rollback took it back to the dealer and a Chevy pulled the trailer back home. Injector wiring issue that time. Mechanic said it possibly could happen again but he hopes not.
I would call 9.5 mpg empty a bug myself when our 7.3 gets 16, our 6.0's got 18 and our former Duramax got 20! I just calculated how much it's costing us to run this truck per year versus the others and it was disgusting.

Would high idle 2 to 3 time per week be a bug? I think so.

I just asked the Ford guy in Atlanta if there was any good news for us 08 owners and he offered all this info. I finally had to walk away from him because I had no more time to chat. He might have went into depth if I gave him the chance. I have no reason to make anything up or lie about it. Sure sucks to have a $63k truck and be able to write about all the problems with it at just 9k miles.

Yes there are lemons. Reminds me of a 1999 Dodge dually once owned that was even worse than this new Ford. But, after talking to a couple of other 08 owners locally, a Ford rep in Atlanta and seeing the same Super Duties sitting at the local dealer for over 4 months with nobody buying them I think they may have a pretty high percentage of lemons currently.

I love Super Duties! I love their look and the cabs are the most comfortable out there. They also handle a load better than any other truck we have owned. But after 2 6.0's laying down on us and now all the problems with this current F-450 the love affair is fading.

Glad you are having good luck with yours. Hope the good luck keeps up for you.

[2008fx4]

knock on wood - i have no bugs. just keep up with the maintenance, and get your dealer to run an oasis report every now and then to keep up with the recalls, and you shouldnt really have any problems.

[Dave]

as far as the 9.5 mpg's i belieieve with the 450 youve got either 4.30 or 4.88 gears depending on how you ordered it. 9.5 towing is not bad with either of those gearsets IMO

[99gt]

Like MJM said..i've heard just as many horror stories about other trucks as well and just as many "so called bugs" with the 07 Dodges and Chevy's...I guess it all comes down to what manufacturer you favor.

Pooods, i really feel for you. I'd be one irate mofo if something like that ever happend to me. With the exception of poor MPG which seems to be getting better with mileage all of the 08's around here have had nothing but praise from their owners and have no reports of problems from the dealers.