Detailer found this HUGE gash and dent in between the cab and bed from factory.

[easyheimer]

Are you sure that's a gash? Can you actually feel a cut in the metal? To me it looks like someone marked the dent with a marker at assembly, and QC let it pass.

Yes, definitely a gash. My fingernail gets caught in the groove.

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[HighDesertRanger]

Ouch! That sucks.

It will have to go to a body shop and be repaired. The nice thing is it should be completely fixed when they're done and Ford or the dealer will cover it. Not a huge repair, but it is definitely unfortunate you're having to go through this.

How long have you had the truck?

 

[Onceaneagle]

What is disturbing is that the vehicles left the plant in each of these cases after supposedly being inspected, possibly multiple times. The gash and dent repair might require removing the bed. Do you really want that truck or should you demand a replacement, as the repair becomes a matter of record and may affect resale?

Ford QC is not becoming a problem, IT IS a problem. My wife's new 2024 Escape Hybrid AWD left Louisville with a very audible half shaft clicking noise. It went to a dealer in Indiana who did not notice it. He traded it to a dealer in Missouri who did not notice it. We bought it through dealer trade. The driver drove it 210 miles from Missouri to Kansas and said nothing. Our Kansas dealer prepared it and did not notice it. We signed the paperwork, took possession, and drove it 1/4 mile. I noticed it. I turned around, took it to service. They said, "Oh, yeah. We have a bulletin on that. Some Escape AWD have a half shaft sticking problem. We have to replace six bolts and add some grease. The bolts are not in stock but we have them in the warehouse. Just drive it home and we will call you." My wife was in tears. She refused to drive it so I did. And it sat in our garage until they fixed it, ten days later. Why didn't they fix the known problem in Louisville during assembly? Well, just because.

For the first time in a decade, I did not put that new vehicle, the Escape, on a lift at the dealership with my salesman and a service tech present and go over the entire undercarriage with a spotlight, plus the engine compartment before signing. I have in the past found loose wires that got fixed on the spot. I found rust because Ford does not undercoat and when vehicles sit on lots, then rust happens. In those cases, I demanded the rust be removed and the dealer pay for under coating and rust proofing. I only had one dealer refuse, so I backed out and went somewhere else.

When I acquire my new Raptor, same deal. It is going on a lift. I plan to get one, on a lot now or ordered, without a factory spray in as my dealer said they have had many issues with factory over spray on paint on F series and Rangers, not Mavs, but they are made in Mexico. Sometimes the dealer could get it off with a solvent. Other times, well, they had to do more abrasive things.

My future Raptor purchase, as it was on my 2021 F150, will come after I inspect the truck as above, and then it is going to the local Rhino dealer before I sign. Line-X closed in Wichita, they are using a product made by Phoenix out of Texas. I never heard of them nor do they have lots of national dealers. I get a premium spray in, undercoating, and rustproofing and I split the cost. Then I inspect and sign.

My new truck. My money. My way of doing business.

BTW, Ford reps monitor these sites. I am shocked no one from Ford has responded to that gash and dent or the steering wheel issue.

P.S. Forgot to add that if you don't have the cash to get the truck undercoated and rustproofed at purchase but you want it done, talk to your dealer. Some will do it for free to close the sale. Others will just add it to your financing. Either way, if dealers do it, they often times have agreements with local installers and you might get better pricing or at least priority service.

 

[easyheimer]

Ouch! That sucks.

It will have to go to a body shop and be repaired. The nice thing is it should be completely fixed when they're done and Ford or the dealer will cover it. Not a huge repair, but it is definitely unfortunate you're having to go through this.

How long have you had the truck?

I picked up the truck last Tuesday.

 

[easyheimer]

What is disturbing is that the vehicles left the plant in each of these cases after supposedly being inspected, possibly multiple times. The gash and dent repair might require removing the bed. Do you really want that truck or should you demand a replacement, as the repair becomes a matter of record and may affect resale?

Ford QC is not becoming a problem, IT IS a problem. My wife's new 2024 Escape Hybrid AWD left Louisville with a very audible half shaft clicking noise. It went to a dealer in Indiana who did not notice it. He traded it to a dealer in Missouri who did not notice it. We bought it through dealer trade. The driver drove it 210 miles from Missouri to Kansas and said nothing. Our Kansas dealer prepared it and did not notice it. We signed the paperwork, took possession, and drove it 1/4 mile. I noticed it. I turned around, took it to service. They said, "Oh, yeah. We have a bulletin on that. Some Escape AWD have a half shaft sticking problem. We have to replace six bolts and add some grease. The bolts are not in stock but we have them in the warehouse. Just drive it home and we will call you." My wife was in tears. She refused to drive it so I did. And it sat in our garage until they fixed it, ten days later. Why didn't they fix the known problem in Louisville during assembly? Well, just because.

For the first time in a decade, I did not put that new vehicle, the Escape, on a lift at the dealership with my salesman and a service tech present and go over the entire undercarriage with a spotlight, plus the engine compartment before signing. I have in the past found loose wires that got fixed on the spot. I found rust because Ford does not undercoat and when vehicles sit on lots, then rust happens. In those cases, I demanded the rust be removed and the dealer pay for under coating and rust proofing. I only had one dealer refuse, so I backed out and went somewhere else.

When I acquire my new Raptor, same deal. It is going on a lift. I plan to get one, on a lot now or ordered, without a factory spray in as my dealer said they have had many issues with factory over spray on paint on F series and Rangers, not Mavs, but they are made in Mexico. Sometimes the dealer could get it off with a solvent. Other times, well, they had to do more abrasive things.

My future Raptor purchase, as it was on my 2021 F150, will come after I inspect the truck as above, and then it is going to the local Rhino dealer before I sign. Line-X closed in Wichita, they are using a product made by Phoenix out of Texas. I never heard of them nor do they have lots of national dealers. I get a premium spray in, undercoating, and rustproofing and I split the cost. Then I inspect and sign.

My new truck. My money. My way of doing business.

BTW, Ford reps monitor these sites. I am shocked no one from Ford has responded to that gash and dent or the steering wheel issue.

That’s a good point about the repair being on record and affecting resale. I will look into this as well.

I’m also surprised no one from Ford has addressed this here.

 

[HighDesertRanger]

That’s a good point about the repair being on record and affecting resale. I will look into this as well.

I’m also surprised no one from Ford has addressed this here.

Unless your dealership handles things VERY differently from anywhere I've ever worked, this won't show on the carfax.

 

[easyheimer]

Unless your dealership handles things VERY differently from anywhere I've ever worked, this won't show on the carfax.

Thank you. I appreciate this.

 

[Onceaneagle]

Unless your dealership handles things VERY differently from anywhere I've ever worked, this won't show on the carfax.

That is interesting because every routine service I have had at my dealer is associated with my F150 VIN on CARFAX. I check CARFAX periodically to see if what they have matches my maintenance records and what my dealer has in Ford's database. Understand CARFAX is a for profit business. But when my Ford dealer replaced a faulty backup camera under warranty it appeared in CARFAX. So, informing CARFAX is dealer optional and the next buyer might not know because the dealer handled it back channel and off the record.

But will Ford's vehicle database show or not show the repair, since the dealer gets reimbursed from Ford? The next buyer can request Ford's vehicle history by VIN. Someone at Ford besides this dealer should have a record of the repair to inform the plant of the damage, and to protect easyheimer, if other issues develop from say removing and reattaching the bed, and the owner requires other work down the road. Not saying that will happen. Asking simply because I don't know.

Easyheimer, if you decide not to demand a new truck, you might want to ask your dealer about how they are going to make a record of that repair, especially if they tell you they have to remove the bed.

 

[easyheimer]

Dealer is going to put in a claim with Ford and get this fixed and replace my steering wheel at the same time. Just can’t believe this passed QC at the factory.

Also, some people are telling me the factory bed liner will get ruined if they have to take off my bed. I will be very angry if that’s true as a factory bed liner was a requirement with any truck I bought.

 

[superj]

It will because they have to get the bed bolts off.

They will have to have someone touch it up and i dont know how you could do that without it being noticeable

 

[Onceaneagle]

So sorry that you are going through this. I feel for you after having bought my then dream car brand new, a 1980 Corvette, which turned out to have many problems. As superj noted, the bed bolts will have to come out. No guarantee that any touch up is going to match, adhere properly, not leak/rust the steel around the bolt holes when reinstalled, or worst case the bed itself will not have issues. To me, your situation is way above dealer level. Nice they are scrambling to do something. But IMO this needs to be brought immediately to Ford's regional sales rep or higher because the OEM bed liner may need to be removed using soda blasting, which will not damage the underlying metal, and then you get Line-X or similar put in on Ford's dime. Still wondering why a Ford rep who monitors these forums has not contacted you. Please keep us posted.

 

[ChronciallyChronic]

So sorry that you are going through this. I feel for you after having bought my then dream car brand new, a 1980 Corvette, which turned out to have many problems. As superj noted, the bed bolts will have to come out. No guarantee that any touch up is going to match, adhere properly, not leak/rust the steel around the bolt holes when reinstalled, or worst case the bed itself will not have issues. To me, your situation is way above dealer level. Nice they are scrambling to do something. But IMO this needs to be brought immediately to Ford's regional sales rep or higher because the OEM bed liner may need to be removed using soda blasting, which will not damage the underlying metal, and then you get Line-X or similar put in on Ford's dime. Still wondering why a Ford rep who monitors these forums has not contacted you. Please keep us posted.

This is the approach you need to take. On the positive side, if there is a positive to this, Line-X or Rhino spray-in bed liners are significantly superior to the factory bed liner.

 

[Mystic]

So sorry that you are going through this. I feel for you after having bought my then dream car brand new, a 1980 Corvette, which turned out to have many problems. As superj noted, the bed bolts will have to come out. No guarantee that any touch up is going to match, adhere properly, not leak/rust the steel around the bolt holes when reinstalled, or worst case the bed itself will not have issues. To me, your situation is way above dealer level. Nice they are scrambling to do something. But IMO this needs to be brought immediately to Ford's regional sales rep or higher because the OEM bed liner may need to be removed using soda blasting, which will not damage the underlying metal, and then you get Line-X or similar put in on Ford's dime. Still wondering why a Ford rep who monitors these forums has not contacted you. Please keep us posted.

The Ford rep stated that they were no longer monitoring the forum quite a while back.

 

[Onceaneagle]

That is a shame. Thanks.

 

[POULINR]

I had a small cut in the steering wheel sent a picture to dealership and they ordered it and had it replace in about two weeks

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