Raptors built during COVID

[codeman]

Hey as much as these guys are being rough, I have to be honest and say I came from a handful of Audi's myself. Back in 2006 I bought a Mustang GT which was an awesome car, and the most car for the $ I could afford on my budget at the time. Tons of fun, but ultimately a cheap toy. Granted, Mustangs have come a hell of a long way since 2006 these days ...

Point being, I've been a bit annoyed with a laundry list of fitment issues and a handful of TSB's and recalls right off the lot with my new Raptor. I had an inkling this is what I'd have to set my standards at with Ford, but c'mon boys ... I'm going to agree. I don't care if it's a "$35K base truck with $40K of upgrade parts" - something coming out of Ford's performance division should be treated for what it's meant to be ... a luxury vehicle. A luxury vehicle simply means it's purposely built and intended to more than strictly get you from point A to B. The Raptor is a Ford "halo" product, and the majority of people do indeed buy them in part for that reason. It's a Raptor, and it's cool ... and it's definitely not cheap.

The truck costs more than an Audi S5 Sportback loaded to the teeth, and I can tell you first hand that my S5 hasn't had a single issue at all and everything is as rock-solid at 40,000 as it was off the lot. I know all cars can have issues, and they are mass produced ... but isn't that what automation and robotics has done for vehicle manufacturing, taking human error out of the picture as much as possible? You charge that much, it should be worth that much. Period. The other sore spot with Ford, is they absolutely take you to school in the finance department ... 7% interest compared to 0.9 or 1.9% on an Audi, and with the Audi you get free Audi care meaning you have ALL of your schedules services paid for and included with the car.

I see the OP's point ... just the truth, and kind of a trade off with this Raptor. I love my truck for what it is, and it is a truck ... but I'm still annoyed at the lack of QC from Ford. That to me, is valid.

 

[jamanrr]

Audi is a different animal, I owned an Audi and they are excellent cars. What is weird is that they are owned by VW but the fit and finish on the Audi is light years ahead of VW. The cookies the dealerships give you also make you feel good about your service appointments.

Ford is a mass selling domestic car company. They figure they sell as much as they want and do not care really about their customers so much as putting a lot of vehicles in the market. In the halo vehicles very few are hand built any longer with just certain parts being hand built. For example, Nissan hand builds the GTR engines in Japan but the rest of the car is factory assembled. Subaru sends most STIs down the factory line as standard WRXs with the exception of the S209 which is built in the actual STI factory but I have a feeling very little of it is actually built by hand other than the modifications they make to a standard STI.

What all this means is that the more examples of something being made results in less ability to catch defects in production.

 

[Xtinct]

I have zero fit/finish/quality issues on my 2019.

Quite unlikely, sounds like you are perhaps lacking a detailed eye. Of course color makes a big difference, if the primer is gray and the truck is gray you may not notice it.

I see primer all over the place in the door jambs, so why could the robotic sprayer, spray primer and clear in the door jambs but not enough color?

Ford has repainted a few areas of my 2019 under warranty, but I left the primered door jambs as is.

 

[FordTechOne]

Quite unlikely, sounds like you are perhaps lacking a detailed eye. Of course color makes a big difference, if the primer is gray and the truck is gray you may not notice it.

I see primer all over the place in the door jambs, so why could the robotic sprayer, spray primer and clear in the door jambs but not enough color?

Ford has repainted a few areas of my 2019 under warranty, but I left the primered door jambs as is.

How is it “quite unlikely”? I’ve go over every aspect of my vehicles very carefully, there are no fit/finish/quality issues. Certainly no primer in the door jambs either. I also had no issues on my previous F-150 Lariat Diesel or my XLT. All have been blue or red in color.

You are making assumptions based on anecdotal evidence. If Ford had to repair fit/finish issues on every truck they’d be bankrupt.

 

[FordTechOne]

I drove a Nissan Frontier SC 4x4 for a few years and it IMO was a cool truck. Nissan's v6 is NICE and the supercharger made it sound mean. It could a lot of offroad stuff. Granted I am not a fan of the Japan full size trucks as they are not really full size. They make the Titan in Mississippi and they have lots of support in the south for their trucks.

Nissan factory employees can’t afford to buy the products they assemble because they are paid low wages with minimum benefits. Not that they’d want that junk anyway. Nissan, like all Japanese companies, are anti-Union in their US plants, but all of their Japanese plants are unionized. You can tell where their priorities are.

As far as support, Not even people in the south are buying the Titan. It’s a failure, just like Nissan, which is on the verge of bankruptcy.

2020 Sales:

Titan: 19,404
F-Series: 713,325
Silverado: 517,604
RAM: 495,548

 

[jamanrr]

Nissan factory employees can’t afford to buy the products they assemble because they are paid low wages with minimum benefits. Not that they’d want that junk anyway. Nissan, like all Japanese companies, are anti-Union in their US plants, but all of their Japanese plants are unionized. You can tell where their priorities are.

As far as support, Not even people in the south are buying the Titan. It’s a failure, just like Nissan, which is on the verge of bankruptcy.

2020 Sales:

Titan: 19,404
F-Series: 713,325
Silverado: 517,604
RAM: 495,548

Do you actually read the posts you make before you post them? Nissan is almost bankrupt because of poor management decisions from Carlos Ghosn not necessarily the products they make. I realize Detroit is on a sort of resurgence but Mississippi is a lot different place to live in and the Canton MS plant is doing great. The Titan truck is very popular in Mississippi as the locals support the local economy and Nissan is a part of that. They came into a rural setting where the people could be working hard on farms or in fast food. Instead they provided an economically suppressed area jobs and a future. As you put it down, I assume it is better than the alternatives they had and probably better than the other job options in the area.

Again, I am not a fan of Japanese full size trucks but why don't you post the sales figures for the Tacoma or Frontier? I am sure they are a lot better.

 

[zombiekiller]

Do you actually read the posts you make before you post them? Nissan is almost bankrupt because of poor management decisions from Carlos Ghosn not necessarily the products they make. I realize Detroit is on a sort of resurgence but Mississippi is a lot different place to live in and the Canton MS plant is doing great. The Titan truck is very popular in Mississippi as the locals support the local economy and Nissan is a part of that. They came into a rural setting where the people could be working hard on farms or in fast food. Instead they provided an economically suppressed area jobs and a future. As you put it down, I assume it is better than the alternatives they had and probably better than the other job options in the area.

Again, I am not a fan of Japanese full size trucks but why don't you post the sales figures for the Tacoma or Frontier? I am sure they are a lot better.

agreed. you see an awful lot of people driving Nissan vehicles around Jackson, MS. That plant has also brought a ton of economic development to the state. While I choose not to drive a titan, I can appreciate what that plant and Nissan have brought to the state. Nissan has done a lot more for Mississippi than Mercedes has done for Alabama.

 

[Xtinct]

How is it “quite unlikely”? I’ve go over every aspect of my vehicles very carefully, there are no fit/finish/quality issues.

It could be that you got a pristine example and are one of the lucky few. From my experience there are almost always some issues, and there are plenty of examples on this forum with visual evidence. As far as Ford being bankrupt:

1) Most people do not see or even notice these items. If you point them out they may or may not notice them on future vehicles.
2) Those that do notice them, due to how painful it is to get it fixed do not even try to approach Ford. And Ford does decline many of the repairs unless you are persistant and/or escalate.
3) How many posts have we seen saying "its a truck" or "it will get dinged the first time off-road" so most just dont let it bother them.

I agree it is sad but true. I am excited to know that you got a great Raptor with no issues, now if they could just keep up that level of quality we would all benefit.

 

[FordTechOne]

Do you actually read the posts you make before you post them? Nissan is almost bankrupt because of poor management decisions from Carlos Ghosn not necessarily the products they make.

Nissan is on the verge of bankruptcy because they’re been selling poor quality, outdated, unreliable products for decades. Ghosn was the only reason they didn’t go bankrupt in the late 90’s. They rely on rental car companies and consumers with poor credit for the volume of their sales.

I realize Detroit is on a sort of resurgence but Mississippi is a lot different place to live in and the Canton MS plant is doing great. The Titan truck is very popular in Mississippi as the locals support the local economy and Nissan is a part of that. They came into a rural setting where the people could be working hard on farms or in fast food. Instead they provided an economically suppressed area jobs and a future. As you put it down, I assume it is better than the alternatives they had and probably better than the other job options in the area.

How can you call the Titan “very popular” when they’re selling less than 20k per year? It’s been a failure from day 1, including the diesel when only lasted a few years before being discontinued.

You’re making a lot of assumptions. Why would you not support those same employees having higher wages, better compensation, and profit sharing?

Regardless, Nissan has been furloughing employees and slashing jobs since last year. Being contract employees, those works have no protection from being let go without pay.

Again, I am not a fan of Japanese full size trucks but why don't you post the sales figures for the Tacoma or Frontier? I am sure they are a lot better.

Considering how much you bring them up, it’s hard to believe that. As far as the Frontier, it doesn’t even make the list of top 40 selling vehicles. They’ve only managed to move 44,258 of those antiques in 2020.

 

[4rdFan]

I find this thread ridiculous. There is absolutely no difference between a Raptor built pre-COVID and one built during COVID. If there is an issue or suspect there being an issue, take it to the dealer. That's why all trucks come with warranty.