2008 FORD F-150

2008 F150 - good but a very rusting truck

Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 4 Reliability Rating: 3 Safety Rating: 4 Technology Rating: 4

Bought truck brand new. Has always been and continues to be a very smooth and quiet truck - more like a luxury car. Good stable handling as well. Lots of room inside and in the bed and great for towing and good in the snow. Mechanically has been very good. However, rust has been a relatively serious issue. The steering rack was the first to go - rusted out and got very stiff and erratic to steer. Had to replace that and was very rusty. The second was much more serious. The transmission cooling lines rotted out. They let go just after I got home from a long trip to Nova Scotia with my elderly father. There was fluid on the ground the day after I came home. We could have been stuck in the middle of the night in the middle of no where. We were fortunate, but cost me about $900 to fix. Checked the underside and there was a lot of rust on the frame and especially the bed rails. Not very happy about that. I've been spending a lot of time sanding, priming and painting the frame and rusty areas of the underside. I'm also using the 3M rust fighter undercoating as well. It's costing a lot of time and money, but I'm hoping it gives me a lot more years with the truck. Don't want another car payment! Looked at the underside of my wife's 2006 Toyota Sienna and noticed that it was undercoated from the factory and hardly any rust. Maybe Ford ought to consider that or they won't get any return buyers. If I get another truck, I'll be looking strongly at Toyota.