Consumer Reports List Powerboost On Least Reliable

[notabot]

Consumer Reports doesn't rate the vehicles, owners do. CR compiles owner survey data, which determines the reliability ratings and ranking. Every CR online member is prompted to take the surveys. Quote from CR below.

"Every year, CR asks its members about problems they’ve had with their vehicles in the previous 12 months. This year, we gathered data on over 300,000 vehicles, from the 2000 to 2022 model years (with a few early-introduced 2023 model years), that address 17 trouble areas, including engine, transmission, in-car electronics, and more. We use that information to give reliability ratings for every major mainstream model."

They've got 300,000 vehicles reviewed. How many verified F150 owners responded to their survey? Let's see that data...

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[Verdenc]

Consumer Reports doesn't rate the vehicles, owners do. CR compiles owner survey data, which determines the reliability ratings and ranking. Every CR online member is prompted to take the surveys. Quote from CR below.

"Every year, CR asks its members about problems they’ve had with their vehicles in the previous 12 months. This year, we gathered data on over 300,000 vehicles, from the 2000 to 2022 model years (with a few early-introduced 2023 model years), that address 17 trouble areas, including engine, transmission, in-car electronics, and more. We use that information to give reliability ratings for every major mainstream model."

I've participated in CR's surveys for maybe 15 years. The Q&A is structured in a very objective manner. I see no opportunity for CR to introduce bias. I believe that Jeep has challenged the rankings several times, and in each case CR's compilation of owner experiences have held up in court.

So what you're saying is there's is embedded selection bias because they only use CR subscribers.

 

[RT21KRH]

This is a bit scary. I thought these Ford Hybrid systems were ready for prime time. I’m having random issues with my 22 PB (climate controls, error messages, )

anyone having major reliability issues?

https://www.autoblog.com/article/least-reliable-cars-trucks-2022/

18 months and close to 35,000 miles… no issues still runs/drives great.
I don’t pay much attention to CR for vehicles. It’s a ranking of “issues” reported on a survey. I’ve filled them out before but did no receive one for the PB. Usually the number of issues is low for all cars.
To determine reliability go to any large Ford dealer and check out the parking in the back by service. Lots of F-150’s everywhere waiting for something to be fixed? Nope. 10’s of thousands are sold every month but you rarely see one out back. Exactly.

 

[MonsterTrucker75]

This is a bit scary. I thought these Ford Hybrid systems were ready for prime time. I’m having random issues with my 22 PB (climate controls, error messages, )

anyone having major reliability issues?

https://www.autoblog.com/article/least-reliable-cars-trucks-2022/

Received my 22' Powerboost Platinum back mid May, after waiting almost 6 months. Fast forward to the beginning of November where I get a check engine light out of the blue having only 6,300 miles on it. Turns out to be the infamous error code P0430 Catalytic Converter issue, and at the same time fuel economy just took a dive out of the blue.

Took my truck to the dealer, and the CAT is on back-order going to four weeks now with no ETA. Ford case manager is currently trying to expedite this part from the supplier while at the same time we're going through the approval channels to surrender the truck back to Ford for full reimbursement, plus monies on all upgrades we made after the fact. (Whichever comes first as we're not taking chances on an $84K fully loaded vehicle.) Paying this much for one of their top of the line luxury trucks, and having this dilemma on a brand new vehicle is unacceptable.

This may the only issue once replaced, but in my experience, this early in the game is not a good sign. Every thing else has worked perfectly. I try not to read too many articles, and usually treat CR with a grain of salt. There's just too much influential factors to rate vehicles, and sometimes articles are misleading.

 

[2mileshigh]

So what you're saying is there's is embedded selection bias because they only use CR subscribers.

I said nothing of the sort. CR doesn't select their subscribers.

If you contend that F-150 owners who subscribe to CR differ systematically from the the population of interest, all F-150 owners, I'm interested to listen.

 

[dolsen]

I said nothing of the sort. If you contend that CR subscribers who own F-150s differ systematically from the the population of interest, all F-150 owners, I'm interested to learn.

There is a certain price point at which people become very picky about the vehicles they own. This was talked about a lot when I was working on warranty issues between expeditions and navigators. Expedition owners are pickier than navigator owners. In fact limited and platinum owners were pickier than base and XLT owners

 

[Blueshound]

CR does a good job on the parts of the car they actually test, for example handling breaking acceleration. They test car after car in the same conditions on the same test track year after year. There's no other source that has been testing cars in the same way for as long as consumer Reports has.
But it doesn't test reliability. And as others have said it they rely on subscribers to submit reports. And reliability complaints can range from the niggling complaints you see on this forum about paint defects or misaligned body panels or God forbid halogen license plate lights. All those complaints get lumped together under the reliability factor for consumer Reports. And heavily favors people who are extremely picky about their vehicles.
CR is one of only two places I trust to test tires, the other being tirerack.
As others have said I wish they would give some information on the sample size and more details about the testing. They definitely used to reveal more about their testing methods than they do now which made me trust them more.
Basically I consider consumer Reports another source I can look at. Not necessarily unbiased but with a very different set of biases than any other source out there. And compared to all the garbage YouTube videos out there purporting to review trucks there's really no comparison.
And really compared to other vehicles I've had this truck has had more little things wrong with it than any other. So I kind of believe their reliability data.
One thing that's around now that wasn't when consumer Reports started was forums where you could actually find people who have owned things for a long period of time and determine how they hold up. I am so surprised to hear all the good talk about Bosch dishwashers on forum after forum. A previous posted mentioned that there's have been very reliable and there is tons of anecdotal information to that effect. Before internet forums there was no real way to get information from other consumers except from consumer Reports.

 

[Snakebitten]

CR after you already own the vehicle?

 

[DrZoidberg]

CR is just as reliable publication as the other reviewers. They even knocked the Tundra down for its QC issues.
The assessment of the f150 in general and the powerboost is pretty spot on.

 

[Verdenc]

I said nothing of the sort. CR doesn't select their subscribers.

If you contend that F-150 owners who subscribe to CR differ systematically from the the population of interest, all F-150 owners, I'm interested to listen.

Well, you kind of did actually. I dare say CR subscribers are not, as a group, likely to be representative of the broader population. They likely also reasonably fit a certain profile. By only surveying CR subscribers, the sampling is not properly randomized and therefore not representative of the population. And I would interpret your reaction suggests support for the bias hypothesis.

But we can just agree to disagree.

 

[Gros Ventre]

Doesn't match my experience. Been a CR subscriber for many years. When I was looking at buying an F-150 PB I checked out CR. Mine's a 21 and so there was really only straight F-150 info. It was good and I have a 2006 Escape Hybrid which is doing fine at 15 years, so I bought. My 21 is running fine... And my dealer, Lithia Ford of Idaho Falls, is very good.

 

[Snakebitten]

There is a healthy dose of members on this forum that would share the opinion of consumer reports. A forum, and consumer reports, have parallels. Problems are the driving force of both.

Having said that, there's also plenty of evidence that there are thousands of Powerboost F150's that are as reliable as the "most reliable" vehicle, according to consumer reports. (whatever it is) Or put another way, if you have a Powerboost that hasn't had any issues, then it's as reliable as a vehicle can possibly be? At least so far.

I have 2 Powerboosts and had a 3rd for a year. None of them have ever even seen a service writer at a dealership. I'm not naive. I could pop one of those max tow axle bolts tomorrow. Or spring an exhaust heat exchanger leak.

But "what ifs" apply to a Toyota Corolla too.

 

[SteveP150]

The CR reliability numbers are probably about as biased as this forum. Which is to say that people who have issues are more likely to speak up than people who are doing just fine. This is true of almost any review site. As a statistician, you can try to correct for this type of bias, but it's not the same as getting a random sample. Combine this with the fact that there's not a huge number of PB out there, and the fact that it is a significantly new and complicated system, and many of them were being built during the pandemic, and you end up with this kind of crummy rating. However, it's not as if the F150 and PB were being measured by a different metric than the Ram 1500, which got a better rating.
We'll see where things are after a couple years.

 

[erixgix]

As much as these threads tend to be repetitive, I appreciate the core of members who seem to understand comparative analysis or truly stay open minded.

CR doesn’t matter!

Human nature to defend ones choices. Biases and contradictions offered to aside, it’s good that Ford Corporate is able not be swayed by having paid for a truck and fighting to defend it.

Specific corporate reported financials around warranty $$ and bottom line effect, corporate claim %, and CEO commentary to address stock holders around those vs competitors pretty much are not disputable. They know and admit they have an issue with new tech.

Mr. Farley seems pretty clear on the above. I’d encourage folks to read his comments and directives for perspective. Fighting to downplay persists issues. you ONLY improve when you acknowledge and address the problem. It just so happens its how he and Ford will increase profitability. Fortunately Farley understands that more than his predecessors.

We need to more folks here to understand that. Its really a good thing folks, it’ll behove the brand and most importantly…resale & reputation.

 

[Vin]

...I appreciate the core of members who seem to understand comparative analysis or truly stay open minded...

How dare you. This is the internet and I demand that my outrage, obstinance, and opinion be heard in a vacuum from facts and reality. I certainly refuse to acknowledge ANY type of science or math. By the way, you're destroying our country.

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