1988 Ford F150 lariat xlt from North America - Comments

I thought maybe I just had bad luck on the other 3 or 4 Fords I have bought. This will be my last for sure. I bought the truck and it ran great for 2 weeks tops, the first time I took it on a long trip it died. The IAC went, then the starter went the day I had that replaced. It appears that the IAC goes out a lot on these and is $100 a pop plus labour that the garage charges. I had a 79 ford truck as my last one and it did the same thing, ran fine for the first couple of months and everything went all at once. I also had a 74 ford truck and that truck was never safe to drive as it was always breaking something. That ford saying Found On Road Dead... or Fix Or Replace Daily. Is totally true, it's a constant battle just to keep these things running for more than a couple months and its always the same sorts of things that are going wrong. The electronics in it seem to be a hodge podge of whatever parts Ford could buy on sale that month of manufacture and nothing is the same between similar trucks. My local wrecking yard was making fun of the fact that Ford 4x4 trucks for the year 1988 have 70 different driveshafts for that 1 year alone, listed in his parts guide. God forbid I ever have to try and find one of those I might aswell just replace all the running gear with chevy running gear instead as it might be quicker and easier that way. I wanted to beleive in Ford and I wanted to try them out enough times to know if it was just my luck or if it actually was the way Ford builds things. This is my 4th in the past 10 years, and I have to come to the conclusion that it is the brand and not misfortunate luck on my part. I will not buy another ford truck ever again.thanks.

Rough handling, lots of room in the cab, but you pay for all that room with your gas bill each day.

Seriously think that they didn't make 2 trucks alike, each truck of the same model year has several different parts that do not match up.

The brakes were very quick to stop and felt strong.

Power steering pumps and starters are always going.

Flexplates need replacing often aswell which isn't a small job, especially considering all those stupid spacers ford uses between the tranny and engine, they build them to keep your mechanic rich, and so that you have to buy a new truck every year, even 2 year old Fords won't start when you need to use them.

I think it is just you, because I have an 88 F150 Lariat, and it runs like a top. I have never had to do anything to it except tires, brakes, battery and fluids.

Yes I think you've had bad luck with Fords. Many of my relatives have had many Fords over the past 30 years. Most were good vehicles. They had some problems when they got old, but that's to be expected with any car.

Both the IAC and the starter only require you to remove two or three bolts to replace, and maybe ten minutes if you have never done it before. The IAC doesn't even require you to crawl underneath or lean into the engine bay very far. Any older vehicle will have simple problems like these.

Proud owner of a 1988 f150 xlt lariat 351w 4x4.

I have a 88 extended cab. Bought it 5 years ago. 1 set of tyres, 1 water pump, and it still going with 475000 kms on it. Now 1 quart of oil between changes.