The Car Care Nut (Auto Mechanic) Reviews the F-150

[sporkfed]

This guy has a great channel, and he's an experienced Toyota/Lexus tech and really knows his stuff, although he's always careful not to trash talk anything too much. If he says "interesting" it means he doesn't like it.

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[HammaMan]

He's pretty much spot on, but didn't drive it long enough to adapt to the hybrid's driving style, particularly on the acceleration side. Is what it is on that front though. Needs more usable capacity on the HVB and a more powerful traction motor. Didn't even mention the approach / 360 lighting capability of it so I do question just how much he drove it. An unusual amount of grease pencil underneath it. Must be a loaner that ford services. Particularly the under engine crossmember, TC, and diffs w/ dates on them like they were serviced.

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

Rather well done and very accurate review. I would say I was amazed that he didn’t know about the “George Jetson” fake engine sound. But I do agree with his assessment of it as being in my opinion very cheesy and tacky however, there are avenues too read that feature via ForScan or add on devices.

 

[Polo08816]

This guy has a great channel, and he's an experienced Toyota/Lexus tech and really knows his stuff, although he's always careful not to trash talk anything too much. If he says "interesting" it means he doesn't like it.

He's pretty much spot on, but didn't drive it long enough to adapt to the hybrid's driving style, particularly on the acceleration side. Is what it is on that front though. Needs more usable capacity on the HVB and a more powerful traction motor. Didn't even mention the approach / 360 lighting capability of it so I do question just how much he drove it. An unusual amount of grease pencil underneath it. Must be a loaner that ford services. Particularly the under engine crossmember, TC, and diffs w/ dates on them like they were serviced.

I watch his Youtube channel. His videos are usually pretty good and informative.

 

[Samson16]

What was his precious verdict?

 

[Buyer2021]

What was his precious verdict?

I watched it all, but you can skip to the end ... my take-away (of his opinions), in a nutshell ....

• The F150 is good
• 99.9% of what makes it good is available on lower / less expensive trims
• The Platinum value is questionable, at best

 

[Samson16]

Better auto hvac control. Better remote phone interface. Factory rear sway bar. Higher GVWR for the PB.

Most of all better competition to drive innovation and improvement.

 

[sporkfed]

He made a good point that the Platinum should have a different suspension and ride better than the lower trims. Maybe upgrade it to multi-link and coil springs, for example. In fact, with those ginormous rims and heavier rear spring for the added PB weight, it probably rides worse than my XL.

 

[Polo08816]

@10:00

"... build quality here is moderate/average at best. These trucks are not meant to last 20 years, but for the time they are meant to last, they are meant to do their job and do it exceedingly well. That's what this system does. Don't expect this to last 20 years without having issues, but this is the reality of modern trucks that are hybrid and all that. Look at this hood - there is a lot going on..."

 

[HammaMan]

@10:00

"... build quality here is moderate/average at best. These trucks are not meant to last 20 years, but for the time they are meant to last, they are meant to do their job and do it exceedingly well. That's what this system does. Don't expect this to last 20 years without having issues, but this is the reality of modern trucks that are hybrid and all that. Look at this hood - there is a lot going on..."

That's where he got it wrong. Solid state electronics are the most reliable part of a vehicle. If issues don't show up under warranty, they'll last substantially longer than any of the other driveline components. The PB doesn't have an alternator nor a belt driven AC clutch. All of its HV electronics are water cooled sans the traction motor which gets sprayed w/ trans fluid. The clutch that connects the motor to the torque converter isn't yet serviceable which is of concern, particularly if w/ the 24s that the ICE is clutch-starting via the traction motor and not just starting with the flywheel and speed matching. For 21-23s the rev matching is perfect w/ no clutch slipping.

 

[Polo08816]

That's where he got it wrong. Solid state electronics are the most reliable part of a vehicle. If issues don't show up under warranty, they'll last substantially longer than any of the other driveline components. The PB doesn't have an alternator nor a belt driven AC clutch. All of its HV electronics are water cooled sans the traction motor which gets sprayed w/ trans fluid. The clutch that connects the motor to the torque converter isn't yet serviceable which is of concern, particularly if w/ the 24s that the ICE is clutch-starting via the traction motor and not just starting with the flywheel and speed matching. For 21-23s the rev matching is perfect w/ no clutch slipping.

So hybrid powertrains (to include the ICE part) should be more reliable than powertrains that just have the ICE portion?

 

[Snakebitten]

I'm OK with using years (time) to make a point. Because I get the point being made.

But vehicles are more about mileage than time. There are Powerboosts with well over 100,000 miles already. So 20 years is a tall order for that particular Powerboost. And at that rate of mileage, we are talking about 500,000 miles, so very few vehicles will last 20 years for that driver.

I see no reason why a well cared for Powerboost can't give an owner 200,000 miles. At 10,000 miles per year........ 20 years

At 20,000........ 10

I spread mileage over various vehicles. Average about 12,000 on the truck. I'm happy with 10 years of meticulously cared for owner experience. Statistically speaking, I believe I am very likely to hand the keys to the second owner someday and they rave about how nice the truck looks and runs.

Nothing in the video would make me believe otherwise.

 

[ReverendQ]

That's where he got it wrong. Solid state electronics are the most reliable part of a vehicle. If issues don't show up under warranty, they'll last substantially longer than any of the other driveline components. The PB doesn't have an alternator nor a belt driven AC clutch. All of its HV electronics are water cooled sans the traction motor which gets sprayed w/ trans fluid. The clutch that connects the motor to the torque converter isn't yet serviceable which is of concern, particularly if w/ the 24s that the ICE is clutch-starting via the traction motor and not just starting with the flywheel and speed matching. For 21-23s the rev matching is perfect w/ no clutch slipping.

My biggest concern remains the 10R80, but after that I do have concern about what appears to be an excessive amount of 20/22 gauge wire. Too many ways for it to fail bouncing around in a truck. Heck I am afraid to break wires behind the glove box when changing the cabin filter.

Maybe because I hate de-pinning but seriously why so much wire where buses could be optical? Is the automotive industry still so far behind in not just IC lithography but wiring, connectors, and communication?

I also noticed the trailer wiring connectors moved over to the same side as spare access. In addition to bothering my thinking of symmetry, might someone poke the trailer wires while trying to hit the tube of the spare?

BTW, it was noticed how he called out the PRB? I love my F250 take-offs drop and swing-out way more than the F150 PRB.

I liked this review and like most reviewers he isn't aware of many of the features and functions of the F150 i.e. he totally missed the beer openers while admiring everything else about the powered tailgate. @FaaWrenchBndr that was a bigger miss than Jetson's sound

@sporkfed , thanks for posting, good stuff.

 

[ReverendQ]

I'm OK with using years (time) to make a point. Because I get the point being made.

But vehicles are more about mileage than time. There are Powerboosts with well over 100,000 miles already. So 20 years is a tall order for that particular Powerboost. And at that rate of mileage, we are talking about 500,000 miles, so very few vehicles will last 20 years for that driver.

I see no reason why a well cared for Powerboost can't give an owner 200,000 miles. At 10,000 miles per year........ 20 years

At 20,000........ 10

I spread mileage over various vehicles. Average about 12,000 on the truck. I'm happy with 10 years of meticulously cared for owner experience. Statistically speaking, I believe I am very likely to hand the keys to the second owner someday and they rave about how nice the truck looks and runs.

Nothing in the video would make me believe otherwise.

And imagine how many more miles your BEST vehicle would get if you weren't galivanting in one of the other three here and there. LOL

 

[HammaMan]

So hybrid powertrains (to include the ICE part) should be more reliable than powertrains that just have the ICE portion?

Do you know why the auto industry hates EVs? It takes less man hours to assemble so less potential labor for the UAW and there's a tiny fraction of the service department revenue to be had. The PB has additional parts to its part count, but those parts are more reliable than the other parts on the vehicle, and the more reliable parts offset wear and tear on the parts that are less reliable.

What that translates to in terms of future reliability, well we're currently running that experiment and there's nothing out of the ordinary to report, especially seeing as how PB owners are way over-represented on the forums, and outside of ford's early software issues that hit a few trucks during startup, there's nothing of note to report.

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