1999 Ford Econoline E-250 from North America - Comments

My Air conditioning went at 4000 miles. Fixed 3 times. Was told it must have leaked out. Recharged 3 times no luck. Keep leaking out. Then was told it was the rear blower switch. We argued they agreed from the troubles that it couldn't be this (after about 45 minutes then having one of their mechanics look at it. Problem was fixed just to leak out again. still not resolved

Running board rubber lining has started to peel.

This vehicle has done pretty good over-all it only has 12000 miles. The driving is kinda rough and the air sucks, but other than that its fine.

The only thing I can say about this is that besides the obvious- Not really great on mileage and being a van is that Ford customer service sucks. It is amongst the worst out there. I would recommend Plymouth, Chrysler, and Jeep customer service over fords. Not saying much there either.

Also This has the 5.4 liter v8.

I agree. I own a ford Van 2001 E-150 and I had problems with my front brake since the day I bought it. I went to the dealers and they couldn't find the problem. I wrote to Ford and they said they would put my letter in file.

I'll never buy another Ford again.

This comment is for the ford owners out there. I have been a mechanic for years. I have worked at a ford dealership also. I understand how frustrating it can be dealing with a service department. Believe me when I tell you that the mechanics get just as frustrated with service advisors and warranty/companies.Please don't let shady service advisors discourage you from buying a ford product. while I worked for ford I worked at an hourly rate. Everyone else would work for flat rate. Now you might think what does this have to do with my situation. Well ill tell you this hourly guy would get all of the squeeky brakes on the ford focuses, explorers, engine skips, hard to determine check engine lights, shimmies, shakes, and rattles. Flat rate guys don't make money with these vehicles. however it helped me become very good at helping frustrated customers to reduce those mountains into mole hills. Now for some answers to those troubling questions. Ignition coils such as a coil setup on a 5.4 litre triton engine in my opinion was not the smartest design. Each coil has circuitry and complex parts that under the conditions of cold to hot temperatures water, intrusion, and constant use short out. ford will not recall these items because that would cost them billions plus they can make more money selling parts. whenever a person would come in for an engine misfire the recommendation would always be to change all 8 coil packs to avoid more and more return trips for further diag costs. numerous times I would change 1or2 coil packs only to have the customer come back a few weeks later only to find out that more coil packs had to be changed. I would most of the time explain the benefits to the customer of changing all of the coil packs at the same time.benefits, warranty on parts and usually most people won't expierience problems for 40 or 50 thousand miles. as far as brakes go the metals used today on vehicles could be from your melted down 1992 toyota cressida. you can only recycle metal so many times before the tensile strength becomes broken down. my suggestion brand name rotors and drums by wagner or rabestos. also brake pads and shoes that are made from ceramic. low heat friction and less dust. could mean the difference between having your brakes done every 3500 miles or 35000 miles.

Why I see your point, the reality is some manufacturers place greater emphasis on customer service than others, and I have never ever had a good experience with Ford.

In fact, when I first bought a slightly used Festiva and took it in (under warranty) for an oil changed I asked about the rattles in the dash. FIRST thing out of the mechanic's mouth was that I was out of the basic 12 month/12K warranty for "rattles" and that I was s*** out of luck. Charming. Luckily I found a competent independent mechanic whose #1 goal was not to bleed the customer dry.

Friends have told me similar Ford stories. You are always treated with contempt when you attempt to resolve even the smallest issue.

That said, I've had horrible Scion, Toyota, and Honda dealer experiences. But those are really individual dealers vs. every dealer as with Ford.

If there is a good Ford dealer out there that will actually back up a warranty claim and not say "they all do that" with every issue, I've yet to find it.

Yes, dealers are independent businesses separate from the manufacturer, but Ford can set the standards high for customer service and refuses to. Which explains why they are where they are now:

Lousy cars + lousy dealers = lousy market share.

Hello I own a Ford E450 van, with the Triton V10 engine. I’ve have had nothing, but great luck with it. We put 30,000 miles since I bought it and not a single problem. It a pleasure to drive and ride in. Ford did mail us a recall notice, I took it into the dealer and everything was done real quickly. Great power for the mountainous terrain does real well in the rain.

I have a "02 e-250 with 76k.I have not had any trouble with the 5.4 triton yet, other than changing the oil.However, I have had many trouble with my brake rotors warping. I had then ground down twice and still can feel that they are warped.: (

As far as my dealer experience. The dealer where I bought it was fine. I had a few problems that were resolved under warranty. The way it should be. I took my vehicle to another dealership and I must say they were the worst. They and Ford Mo Co are the reason why I will never ever buy another Ford. My van has now cost my business over 5 grand in repairs in the last 18 months (Rebuilt tranny+bad catalytic converter) Big ticket items that should last at very least 100k.I had no vehicle for 4 months waiting for a dealer only part from Ford. Then just getting lip service from Ford/dealership.I do not beat on my truck and do above and beyond in upkeep. Its too bad, I like their trucks.

NO MORE FORD'S FOR ME EVER!

I'd like to thank the mechanic who posted above, explaining flat rate verses hourly at a dealership. Flat rate definitely does not lead to quality repairs.

I used to work as an auto technician, was factory trained and everything, but left the entire profession because I could not deal with not being given enough time to do the job right. I refused to send something out the door if it was not right, but by taking the time to do the job the way it needed to be done, took a lot of hits on my pay and had a lot of angry service writers on my back. Yet I was one of only a handful of people in the shop who never had a customer come back.

I left the dealership because I could not cheat the customers. Opening my own shop was way too expensive. I went back to school for the next nine years, got a masters degree in engineering, am practicing in that profession and am much happier for having done that. But I still remember my days at the dealership, and as a result will NEVER bring my car to a dealership for anything.