Platinum Peasant
Well-known member
- First Name
- Mike
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2020
- Threads
- 79
- Messages
- 902
- Reaction score
- 953
- Location
- West Sacramento
- Vehicles
- 2021 Ford F150 Platinum 3.0 Powerstroke
- Occupation
- Neonatal Respiratory Therapist
- Thread starter
- #1
Just got done with a 75 minute interview with Ford engineers. I wanted to discuss some of things covered. The engineers had really good questions and seemed genuinely interested in feedback and making the truck better. I won't write an essay here but here are the issues we talked about.
Overall, I left the interview feeling like I was heard and that they genuinely are trying to make the truck and experience better overall. Im glad I did the interview with them!
- Rust on the axles. I mentioned how, after spending $81000 on a platinum truck (with mods), that every time I looked underneath my truck, seeing rust there after only 3 months of ownership left a really bad taste in my mouth as a loyal Ford customer. I brought up the official response Ford gave to this issue, and mentioned how a massive gash across the sync screen wouldn't affect performance or longevity of the item, but nevertheless is unsightly and shouldn't be there. They said Ford is aggressively looking into this and hinted at something coming soon, but stopped short of giving any promise of anything concrete. We shall see. They are certainly feeling the pressure and power of social media.
- Recall on the trailer and mirror modules was discussed.
- Transmission performance
- Ride quality and issues, turning radius, adaptive steering, and cabin noise.
- Spoke in length to the powertrain engineer about the Ecoboost, the power stroke, and lack of pro power with the 3.0 diesel. I also flatly told him I think the 3.0 diesel is the best engine offered in the F150 and would argue that all day long. I mentioned how lack of pro power, diesel delays, personal circumstances, and production delays forced me to go with the 3.5. Also begged engineers not to give up on the 3.0 and that if they do, to give a brother a heads up so he can buy the last one.
- All of my interior issues were discussed, including rear sliding window rattling, trim fitment issues, and passenger lumbar problems.
- Interior styling, likes and dislikes were discussed. I mentioned the 18 speaker system not being loud enough and how the front passengers get over 50% of the speakers and back is kinda left out.
- Build quality, 360 camera, driver assist features (especially the KEEP YOUR HANDS ON THE WHEEL message), all digital tachometer, and interior button placement were all discussed, as well as what I liked compared to the 18' platinum I had.
- Pro power onboard was discussed. I adamantly requested, on behalf of many forum members as well, that an update be applied to make it default to OFF when the ignition is cycled for me to choose when it comes ON, not the other way around. They agreed with me about my point and said the team responsible for this would hear about it for sure.
- Auto Start Stop was discussed and how they are getting a lot of feedback about people wanting it to default to off. Unfortunately they cant make that happen as it would jeopardize their EPA credits against emissions.
- Exterior lighting was discussed and I mentioned how the DRL's are bright enough on a side profile and how the rear C-clamp lights on the taillights should be on in conjunction with the DRL's upfront to give the truck a uniform look.
- Power tail gate pros and cons were discussed
- The amount of chrome on the platinum trim, inside and out, was discussed. Apparently they get a lot of feedback about this as well, as many are saying "cut down on the chrome".
- Seat comfort and styling were discussed.
- Features I wanted and features I wish the truck didn't have were touched on as well.
- My truck in comparison to the Ram 1500 I test drove before buying the F-150 was discussed.
- The engineers also asked me why I leveled my truck lol. This was a funny question given how many do.
- Power running boards were discussed. I did mention they are louder than the outgoing ones as mentioned by other forum members and how the courtesy approach feature get confused when I locked the truck and start to walk away, only to redeploy them immediately.
- I mentioned the lack of 4 one touch window switches on the driver door and how my 2003 Jetta had that, but my platinum truck doesn't.
- Mentioned that the courtesy unlock on the door handles should be extended to the rear doors as well, and this is a feature many wish they had.
- Ford pass app and functionality was discussed.
- All digital instructions manual was discussed.
- Sync 4 and apple car play use was discussed, including performance and layout of control and menus.
- The access to the wireless charging pad was touched on too and how placement wasn't ideal.
- Zone lighting use and the update coming for the battery drain issues was discussed.
Overall, I left the interview feeling like I was heard and that they genuinely are trying to make the truck and experience better overall. Im glad I did the interview with them!
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