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Am considering a new Ford Hybrid??

Ninety-9 SE-L

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Hear me out!
Am considering a new Ford Hybrid??
Because... They say 22MPG and towing capacities of 12000 + and a home generator if I need it besides my Ram is a 2019 and 65,000 miles with a bad front axel and needing brakes and tires, not top mention out of warranty. I expect some flak but like I said I am considering since the Ram 5.7 doesnt compare very well.
What say you???
I don't have enough brand loyalty to tell you what to get. My Ram is only just sitting at the dealership and I don't pick it up until next weekend.

I had 3 requirements when I shopped for a new vehicle:
1. Big, Comfy, Quiet, Feature-packed, Family Roadtrippin' Vehicle
2. Can Tow about 8K+
3. Fuel Efficiency isn't going to be great, BUT, I'm going to find the best of the breed.

I started with body-on-frame SUVs, hoping that a long-roof would give me the first 2 without the MPG hit. Then I realized that some pickup trucks had the edge.
I cross-shopped Ford, Chevy, Ram, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, etc. I even waited for the Tundra/Sequoia to be fully released.

What can I tell you about the experience? I'm not that impressed with the Hybrids and Hybrid/Turbos. For all that work that has been put into Toyota and Ford's new Hybrid Engines, you'd think they both could do better than 22/23 combined mpg. Why did I buy the EcoDiesel Ram? Because it pretty much beats everything else on the market for ALL 3 of my requirements.

I'm not brand loyal...I don't even own one, yet. In fact, I've NEVER liked FCA or the 4th gen, probably the last thing I would put in my driveway, but the DT Ram and 3rd gen EcoDiesel is what brought me around. The other guys don't really seem to have the same focus. I was surprised that Toyota couldn't pull it off with their latest and greatest.
 

Michigan_E

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That being said I owned a 2013 F150 with the eco boost and the towing power was awesome. Unfortunately I ended up having it for only a year because of the common issues you used to hear about with the eco boost.

I have two close buddies who just bought new f150’s and they both avoided the ecoboost and powerboost and went with the 5.0, they are very nice trucks. I think the powerboost is a cool idea but I wouldn’t want to deal with repair costs on that when the warranty is up. But I guess you can say that with just about anything.

Was your ‘13 the 3.5? I hear bad things about that motor for sure. The 2.7 has proven itself pretty bulletproof; more so than the 5.0 in recent years.

RAM interior couldn’t be touched by Ford until the most recent refresh. It still didn’t feel great comparing ‘22 to ‘22 (Laramie to Lariat) when I was shopping them recently. I know this is a RAM forum, so people will be biased just like the F150 forum is biased towards Ford.
 

SnowBlaZR2

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I know this is a RAM forum, so people will be biased just like the F150 forum is biased towards Ford.
OK, time for my kind of serious answer.

I'm coming from nothing but GM products. My dad and my father-in-law both made careers at GM. GM helped feed me when I was a child. Put clothes on my back. Kept a roof over my head.

After years and years of brand loyalty, their interiors and constant desire to play catch-up to the competition everywhere else finally broke me. As much time as I'm going to spend in this truck, I had to at least consider what the other manufacturers had to offer. I looked at them all, or at least the ones that count....GM, Ford, Ram, Toyota.....eh, Nissan....

I can say as objectively as might be possible in a discussion between the two, that the Ram 1500 is absolutely a better truck than the Ford F-150 and I don't give a damn what they say about it on the Ford forums. They're wrong. :LOL:
 

djevox

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OK, time for my kind of serious answer.

I'm coming from nothing but GM products. My dad and my father-in-law both made careers at GM. GM helped feed me when I was a child. Put clothes on my back. Kept a roof over my head.

After years and years of brand loyalty, their interiors and constant desire to play catch-up to the competition everywhere else finally broke me. As much time as I'm going to spend in this truck, I had to at least consider what the other manufacturers had to offer. I looked at them all, or at least the ones that count....GM, Ford, Ram, Toyota.....eh, Nissan....

I can say as objectively as might be possible in a discussion between the two, that the Ram 1500 is absolutely a better truck than the Ford F-150 and I don't give a damn what they say about it on the Ford forums. They're wrong. :LOL:
I agree, the RAM still wins for now. I wonder if that will still be the case when the 5.7 goes away. The 8-speed trans is still better than the ford 10-speed, so that’s at least worth something.
 

SnowBlaZR2

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I agree, the RAM still wins for now. I wonder if that will still be the case when the 5.7 goes away. The 8-speed trans is still better than the ford 10-speed, so that’s at least worth something.
And I'd expect GM to follow along like they usually do. Wouldn't it be something if Nissan was the only truck manufacturer still offering a V8 as its most popular engine?
 

djevox

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And I'd expect GM to follow along like they usually do. Wouldn't it be something if Nissan was the only truck manufacturer still offering a V8 as its most popular engine?
That would be weird
 

tbnolefan

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I went back and forth on F150 hybrid vs Ram 1500 and ended up ordering a RAM. I’m coming from a Toyota I drove for twelve years without a problem and to be honest I would have probably just stayed with Toyota had this not been 2022 with the supply issues. I had a good friend in a brand new Ram 1500 and another with the new Powerboost so I’ve spent time in both. The RAM is just a nicer truck, period. I do wish the Ram had the generator option. That would be nice in Florida during hurricane season. The real world MPG on the powerboost are comically bad.

The plan is to drive it till I can get my hands on a Tundra or the 6th gen 4Runner but who knows, I might end up liking it.
 

CalvinC

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I’ll try to help. I’m coming from an f150, and very active in That community, to a ram (going the opposite way as you might).

I’m not brand loyal but always looking for the best for my current wants and needs. They all have something to offer and all will let me down in some ways.



I’d seriously contemplate your reasons for switching…. Objective vs subjective.

If you are after mpg, then the ford (or any) hybrid will only serve you well if ~80% of your driving is city miles; then you can expect 25 mpg. Otherwise highway mileage is same as any other truck.

If you are an active RV-er the propower on board can be incredible.

If you tow close to 10k lbs on the regular it will do well. Or if you routinely carry lots of payload, f150 is usually 300 lbs more payload trim for trim.

And if you like being the fastest non-TRX truck on the block for now, but sound underwhelming while doing so.

I think the new F150s are very nice and perfectly fine, and the PowerBoost is quite interesting. But, Outside of the above reasons I can’t see anything to choose a new PowerBoost over a ram for.

If you are after mpg but mostly drive highway then diesel is the way, and ford doesn’t offer one.

We know about the ride and interior quality differences…. Nuff said.

The 8 speed ZF in the ram is a vastly better all around transmission than the ford 10 speed, though it could use a sport mode (or pedal commander etc.)

If you plan to keep the truck beyond warranty, boy howdy get ready for them bills. Not saying more things are likely to go wrong with the ford, just that if/when they do the fixes are vastly more complicated and expensive.

And financially, f150 is generally more expensive feature for feature, trim for trim. Even if you bought a new ram for mpg, it probably would never make financial sense over fixing what you need on your current one and keeping it.


Those are the objective considerations. Beyond that just have do drive em both to fill in the subjective items they matter for you.

Good luck.
 

wallyuwl

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So you want a ford hybrid because your ram is out of warranty and you need an axle, brakes and tires? What are you gonna do when your Ford hybrid needs brakes and tires? Sounds like you are just cheap and should be considering maybe a honda or toyota car.
Or he should lease instead
 

SnowBlaZR2

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Another anecdote that made me happy...

When I stopped by a small town Ohio dealer that was both a Ram and Ford dealer with a combined service department, the service manager made a comment to me to the effect of "be glad you don't have a Ford transmission because most of them that come in with problems are the F-150." Looking around at the vehicles waiting for repairs, sure enough, the F-150s looked to outnumber the Rams by a good amount.
 

uncc_99xj

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Long time lurker, first time poster here. I currently own a 2017 F150 with the 3.5 ecoboost and if the market weren't the way it is right now, i'd have a Ram in my driveway. CalvinC nailed it above. For perspective, I bought my F150 brand new in February of 2018 with just a couple hundred dealer demo miles on it. I'm currently at 58,500 and have had these issues since ownership:

  • Oil pan replaced 3 times (mine is in the 1.5 year span where Ford used plastic ones. They went back to aluminum mid-2018 and still are to my knowledge.
  • Washer fluid pump replaced less than 1 year into ownership.
  • IWE (4x4 actuator on the wheel) is bad. Ford has officially given up fixing this vacuum operated system and their latest TSB calls for eliminating the hose going from the vacuum pump to the IWE lines and capping it off, thus locking the hubs 100% of the time (like most normal 4x4's have been for years). I did this TSB myself. Net result is about a 1mpg hit, but no more grinding itself to death. 2021+ still have this set up, but it's electric. Better in theory, still a stupid way to gain a little MPG. Too soon to tell how reliable it is.
  • Cam phasers replaced April of this year to solve the dreaded cold start diesel-like rattle. This was a 3 month process for me from the start of the required PCM updates (that don't work) to the actual repair. Partly due to the hoops Ford makes you jump through, and partly due to parts availability thanks to the current world situation. Two pages worth of seals, bolts, and other materials. Plus there was a 1 month backlog at my dealer just on this repair alone. Supposedly fixed on the new ones, but i've seen a couple of reports saying otherwise.
  • Front hubs this month - this is becoming a common thing very quickly it seems. Many people have had theirs fail in the 40-60k range. There's currently a national backorder on Motorcraft hubs, so many trucks under warranty can't get fixed. I was lucky and got some decent ones on RockAuto, but there have been issues there as of late with inventory.
  • Various recalls for seat belt retractors that could start a fire in a crash, computer updates, and this month, a master cylinder that had the potential to leak into the brake booster, causing a loss of brakes.
  • Currently waiting on parts to come in to overhaul the main valve body on my 10-speed transmission that hasn't been right since the PCM updates related to the cam phaser update.
  • Pano roof is known for sticking and requires lubrication every 4-6 months (more or less depending on your climate). The whole mechanism is plastic and very fragile, so sticking roof + plastic parts = broken roof. I've been lucky here but my sunshade for the roof currently sounds like it's about to snap and roll up like one of those old school pull down projector screens from the elementary school days.
I'm sure i'm missing some things as i've honestly lost track of some of the issues i've had on this truck. I grew up with Ford's. Bled Ford blue. Wanted nothing more than an F150 and have been sorely disappointed in mine and would honestly switch to Ram today if I could find what I want and make the numbers work. That said, it's never left me stranded, and did take us and my Jeep from NC to UT and back in 2018, comfortably.

All of the above minus the hubs and IWE stuff were covered under warranty. Those two either weren't, or weren't worth my time to go across town and kill a day at the dealer. I've built up a good relationship with my service advisor over the years, and when in for the cam phasers I asked flat out "are the new ones worth a crap?" She looked at me and shook her head no. She then pointed to a stack of vehicles in house, all needing repairs with no parts in sight (all different models, mostly new stuff too). Then she pointed to a second stack of papers of recalls on new vehicles that hadn't even arrived from the factory yet, none of which they can sell or release to customers who had them on order because of the open recalls. This from a person who's been in the Ford service area for 40+ years. That pretty much told me all I needed to know.

To sum it all up, the technology and what Ford is doing these days is very cool. But, they tend to push the limits too much, and the quality as of late reflects that. I've driven several newer rams on work trips, and really like the hemi/ZF 8 speed set up, especially with 3.92. We have a 2020 Grand Cherokee with the 3.6 / 8 speed as well and it's been rock solid reliable in the 43K we've owned it (also bought brand new).
 

SnowBlaZR2

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I've driven several newer rams on work trips, and really like the hemi/ZF 8 speed set up, especially with 3.92.
my-man-my-man-denzel.gif
 

ferraiolo1

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It is by far the best feeling transmission in any of the full size trucks. One of the only ones I’ve not had the desire to crack the tcm to tune it.

Even if that gear ratio isn’t.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

uncc_99xj

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Having driven both, I couldn't see towing my Jeep and eventually a camper with anything but in a Ram set up. Not without hating life anyways. My F150 has the max tow package (36 gal tank, all the coolers, and gearing) and it does tow very well all things considered. It's everything else that's turned me off of it.

Something else to note on the F150 front, you can only get the 10 speed these days, no matter what engine. Even the N/A V6 gets it I believe. It shines when you tow with it, but it's too many gears for normal around town duty. It's always hunting.
 

uncc_99xj

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You're making the right decision, and don't let any "engineers" talk you out of it with tales of huge fuel savings.

:LOL:
Mechanical Engineer by degree here, and have been turning wrenches on vehicles since I was 13. I have a 99 Cherokee I bought in 2005 that is my first born and i've touched every bolt on that thing, including swapping axles and re-gearing them. I speak the lingo and can also apply common sense to shoot down those tales. I know exactly which thread you're referring to as well and did get a good chuckle from it. :LOL:
 

WilburNJ

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I wouldn't want an F-150 (way too bland/boring for me), but the hybrid idea (especially with the onboard power feature) is a great idea. I wish Ram would take the idea from Stellantis's jeep 4xe of a plug-in hybrid and bring it to the Ram. I would jump on that in a heartbeat. And given the size of the 1500, they should be able to install a sizable battery pack to give it some significant all-electric range. The Wrangler can do something in the lows 20s range on all electric. It would be great if a Ram 4xe could do 40+ miles of all electric range. Add the power outlets, including the ability to act as a backup generator for the home, and it would be perfect for me.
 

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