Dear Ford: Service & Reliability Experience

[69cuda340s]

I was actually shocked at both the lack of quality and lack of dealership experience a friend of mine received with a 23 pilot., to back up the forum claims. An engine failure & incompetent dealership to the level that you’d be put off if it was Ford. I think he finally has it back on the road now, but it was some difficult getting there for him. He expected another Toyota out of the Honda & was sadly mistaken.

Saw a post over on Pilot forum brand new Pilot Elite has front suspension clunk. Dealer not able to resolve. Corporate Honda tells dealer find another Elite Pilot see if it clunks to see if its normal?? Dealer doesn't have that trim in stock. So customer is told sorry your mega dollar SUV clunk isn't going to be fixed? Like that might actually be worse then Ford service???? And the nightmare new Honda lemon stories they aint real hard to find those either. Ppl saying never buying Honda ever again, plenty of those out there.

Reason I have been on Honda forums is wife wants larger SUV and eyeing up Pilot or Passport. Not sure I am on board with a new Honda based on what I been reading. I am ex Honda owner. Bought new '09 Pilot and new '14 CRV, both were pretty good overall but neither was defect free.

Do your research. Buyer beware be careful out there folks.

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[MJE]

Saw a post over on Pilot forum brand new Pilot Elite has front suspension clunk. Dealer not able to resolve. Corporate Honda tells dealer find another Elite Pilot see if it clunks to see if its normal?? Dealer doesn't have that trim in stock. So customer is told sorry your mega dollar SUV clunk isn't going to be fixed? Like that might actually be worse then Ford service???? And the nightmare new Honda lemon stories they aint real hard to find those either. Ppl saying never buying Honda ever again, plenty of those out there.

Reason I have been on Honda forums is wife wants larger SUV and eyeing up Pilot or Passport. Not sure I am on board with a new Honda based on what I been reading. I am ex Honda owner. Bought new '09 Pilot and new '14 CRV, both were pretty good overall but neither was defect free.

Do your research. Buyer beware be careful out there folks.

Good luck with the shopping! My folks have always had Acuras & had good luck with them. But man oh man, his story is pretty similar to the suspension clunk. Just terrible service, whereas I get great service from Ford.

His Pilot developed a leak. He took it in. Got told it was condensation from the air conditioner… but the fluid is green… and oily…. Into the shop. It needs a head gasket. Now it needs a head. Now we don’t know how to fix it. Now it’s sat in the shop a significant portion of the ownership time. So they phone him, hey did our loaner vehicle get hit by the hailstorm? No. What about our car sitting there & not being repaired? Yep. Far worse than anything I’ve ever had to deal with at Ford. He’s now wishing they’d bought the Explorer ST they were looking at.

 

[TNewm22]

Just to update on progress of repairs…. I got the car back on Monday 9/9. (Again it was first dropped off at Dealer on Monday 8/5). They replaced both sets of fuel injectors. This morning the Powertrain Malfunction Code returned… it’s headed back in.

Latest Update: I brought the car to a new dealer who diagnosed that the issue is internal to Cylinder #2. They have ordered and are replacing the entire Engine. Less than 36K miles and we’re getting a new motor…

 

[TNewm22]

Engine has been replaced. I will keep everyone updated on reliability moving forward

 

[69cuda340s]

Latest Update: I brought the car to a new dealer who diagnosed that the issue is internal to Cylinder #2. They have ordered and are replacing the entire Engine. Less than 36K miles and we’re getting a new motor…

Hopefully better luck then last dealer who was obviously incompetent which is common with Ford service. But there are some Ford dealers with good service, some, key is to find that exception to the rule. Also Lincoln dealers will do warranty work on Fords so thats an option too.

 

[TNewm22]

Hopefully better luck then last dealer who was obviously incompetent which is common with Ford service. But there are some Ford dealers with good service, some, key is to find that exception to the rule. Also Lincoln dealers will do warranty work on Fords so thats an option too.

The dealer I brought it too seems much more competent. The tech who replaced engine is a 31 year senior mechanic and he sent me a 3 min video walking me through the diagnostic and replacement process as well as all the fluids, belts and bolts he checked for functional operation.

 

[TNewm22]

The dealer I brought it too seems much more competent. The tech who replaced engine is a 31 year senior mechanic and he sent me a 3 min video walking me through the diagnostic and replacement process as well as all the fluids, belts and bolts he checked for functional operation.

Now headed back into the shop for an Exhaust Leak… smells on cold startup.

 

[TNewm22]

Now headed back into the shop for an Exhaust Leak… smells on cold startup.

Joined the 1.5L cracked catalytic converter club

 

[Dude]

Joined the 1.5L cracked catalytic converter club

Just to summarize, your 2023 Big Bend that’s about 2 years old has so far had all of these problems?

cracked catalytic converter
engine failure (entire engine replaced)
2 water pumps replaced
fuel injectors replaced
gear shift module replaced

That is a pretty extensive list if I captured it correctly.

 

[TNewm22]

Just to summarize, your 2023 Big Bend that’s about 2 years old has so far had all of these problems?

cracked catalytic converter
engine failure (entire engine replaced)
2 water pumps replaced
fuel injectors replaced
gear shift module replaced

That is a pretty extensive list if I captured it correctly.

You are correct. Absolutely ridiculous. Hasn’t cost me any $, all warranty repairs and all different components so doesn’t qualify for lemon law in PA to my understanding.

 

[Dude]

You are correct. Absolutely ridiculous. Hasn’t cost me any $, all warranty repairs and all different components so doesn’t qualify for lemon law in PA to my understanding.

Right but quite the hassle for you!

 

[TNewm22]

Right but quite the hassle for you!

Dealerships don’t seem to sympathize! They act like this has been normal and they’re doing me a “favor” with repairs, it’s been pure comedy.

 

[sajohnson]

You are correct. Absolutely ridiculous. Hasn’t cost me any $, all warranty repairs and all different components so doesn’t qualify for lemon law in PA to my understanding.

What was the total time out of service?

Did you receive a free loaner during the period you were w/o your BS?

 

[TNewm22]

What was the total time out of service?

Did you receive a free loaner during the period you were w/o your BS?

1 month for Fuel Injectors and 1 Month for Engine Replacement. Was provided loaner both times, and it occurred outside of 1st 12 Months and 12,000 miles.

The Gear Shift Module and Water Pumps were always quick turnaround times.

 

[Quashish]

is it too late to trade in for a badlands?

Hasn’t cost me any $

yet! is it too late to trade in for a badlands?

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