Driving an EV pickup

[sly_karma]

Mick went to the dealership yesterday for some recall items and an underbody/front end/brake inspection. $80. I'd already done the tire rotation myself, and I declined their offer to replace the cabin air filter.

These filters are widely available, as they're common with all current series F150s. Changing them is a 2 minute job that requires no tools. At Napa or B2B you'll pay about $30 for the filter. I bought online because I change them twice a year due to dusty jobsites, got six filters for $100. When the dealer called to report the cabin air filter was dirty and should be changed, curiosity got the better of me and I asked how much. "$80, the part alone costs us $50."

Just so you guys know.

 

[-Jim-]

@sly_karma your post remined me of having a Service #3 done on my wife's 2017 Lexus NX-200t a week ago in Port Moody. (It has only 72,000 Kms) The Dealer quoted me $684 for it which included inspection of the engine and cabin air filters, which I assumed would include their replacement as needed. I was wrong. The dealer advised they don't include them (only the engine Oil and Filter) in any of their Services, and wanted an additional $167 (plus taxes) for them. I was so annoyed I declined and went to Canadian Tire and bought both for $61 including taxes, and changed them both out in less than 10 minutes.

I know dealers need to make a buck, but this was gouging. I bet their cost on those filters was less than $30. I can't see how Ford's Cabin Air Filter (which they don't make - none of the OEMs do) can "cost" $50.

Just sayin....

 

[wildmanyeah]

Wow they must of unleashed the cyber trucks, seen a bunch yesterday

 

[sly_karma]

@sly_karma your post remined me of having a Service #3 done on my wife's 2017 Lexus NX-200t a week ago in Port Moody. (It has only 72,000 Kms) The Dealer quoted me $684 for it which included inspection of the engine and cabin air filters, which I assumed would include their replacement as needed. I was wrong. The dealer advised they don't include them (only the engine Oil and Filter) in any of their Services, and wanted an additional $167 (plus taxes) for them. I was so annoyed I declined and went to Canadian Tire and bought both for $61 including taxes, and changed them both out in less than 10 minutes.

I know dealers need to make a buck, but this was gouging. I bet their cost on those filters was less than $30. I can't see how Ford's Cabin Air Filter (which they don't make - none of the OEMs do) can "cost" $50.

Just sayin....

There's going to be increasing pressure on the dealer model in coming years. Service is where their money is, and that will fall off steadily as EVs become numerically significant. Dealer service facilities will eventually find they’re just glorified tire and brake shops, and that's already a competitive space now.

Tesla recognised early on that parts and service will never be the revenue stream they are with ICE, so their prices are modest. Their profit centres are vehicle sales and charging. This sets a precedent for EV parts and service pricing, and owners of other EV brands will learn of it and decline to pay dealer markups on parts they realise cost a fraction. Like what I did this week with the cabin air filter.

 

[sly_karma]

Cooler weather is upon us and I'm enjoying the remote climate button on the Ford app. This arrived a couple of updates ago. Lightning always had the preheat capability by setting a departure time, but this is great for casual use. Hit the little fan icon in the app just before you put on jacket, and toque, and it'll be warm by the time you get in.



If ice is detected on the windshield, it engages max defrost and just blasts that stuff away. All I bother scraping now is the rear seat windows. By the time those are done, the fronts and windshield are melted. This is what I found this morning at -4, windshield melted and front windows already on the way.

 

[kaelc]

What is the white stuff on the windows? I'm in Victoria I don't understand. I better not joke i don't want to have to winterize anything.

Pretty nice feature. Hard to go back once you have creature comforts like that.

 

[sly_karma]

The fast warmup is an EV secret. Makes them better in the cold, not worse.

I'm equally lucky in the south okanagan. We've had snow line just above us for weeks but only once down into town. We got a foundation completed this month with very little extra work due to winter. And I can go skiing 30 minutes away. Best of both worlds, play in winter but don't really live in winter.

 

[-Jim-]

This kind of shocked me: 10 Least Reliable New Vehicles of 2025

I've been a fan of Consumer Reports since I was a teenager.

 

[sly_karma]

This kind of shocked me: 10 Least Reliable New Vehicles of 2025

I've been a fan of Consumer Reports since I was a teenager.

At the risk of appearing to be defensive, I suspect a lot of the issues with the electrified vehicles in that top 10 stem from a very high proportion of first time EV owners. The two Lightning owners' facebook groups are inundated with posts from new owners wondering why their truck isn't showing the "proper" range at full charge. Then the longer term owners respond explaining how km range is a moving target, just focus on % charge. I dropped out of the US group because it had so many members with so many of these posts, aint nobody got that much time to read.

CR mentions 'issues with charging'; again I wonder if that is new EV owners still figuring out how to live in this new world. We're pretty spoiled in southern BC with heaps of chargers available, but I know it's not like that in most of the rest of nth america. Still, is it the vehicle's fault if someone buys an EV without planning how or where they'll charge it? Yet 3-4 times a week I see FB posts with pics of brand new Lightnings with questions about what kind of charger they need, how much do they cost, is fast charging OK, etc.

Having said that, Lightning has had some legit problems. There was a batch of faulty 12V batteries that caused problems because all the regular vehicle cabin equipment like door locks, windows, audio, climate control, and infotainment are powered from it. Full recall on affected vehicles to replace that battery. I believe it was most of MY22 and early run 23s. There was/is a high voltage battery control module customer service bulletin (aka a recall) that more or less all Lightnings received, mostly a reprogram at the dealer, possibly a replacement module in some cases.

I have friends with an ID4 and they like driving it, but acknowledge that VW have no clue about software updates. Lots of little glitches, but only 1-2 updates a year, and not all the little things have been addressed yet.

 

[Bill 310]

The front lights on the CyberTruck are blinding, even more so when both the Lightbar and the round Foglights are powered up to 11.

I suspect that that that owner had ordered the Nigel Tufnel Light Package.

We saw two Cyber trucks today that were wrapped. One was wrapped in Arrest-Me-Red, and the other in Fanta Orange.


It seems inevitable that someone is going to wrap their CyberTruck in "Baby's First Solid Food."

 

[kaelc]

Crazy the Colorado has been such low quality for so long. Jeep has really shot themselves in the foot increasing prices and lowering quality.

 

[Thunder21]

I drive a brand new powerboost hybrid for work and twice now the dash has lit right up while trying to start it. Both times I had to pull battery terminals off and reset the truck to get it to start so I’m not surprised to see it there. Have had it for 7000kms. My wife has a new Tundra and it has weird tech issues and has a possible full engine replacement coming up under warranty so they aren’t much better.

 

[kaelc]

I drive a brand new powerboost hybrid for work and twice now the dash has lit right up while trying to start it. Both times I had to pull battery terminals off and reset the truck to get it to start so I’m not surprised to see it there. Have had it for 7000kms. My wife has a new Tundra and it has weird tech issues and has a possible full engine replacement coming up under warranty so they aren’t much better.

Your Ford, sounds like a Windows computer. I guess I should be happy with 10 years and 150k km and just had to change my stock batteries on my F350, which fixed the service advanced trac warning light. Hated to delete it, but sure ran well since.

Tundra's are not cheap, what a disappointment.

Interesting to see that Tesla is not on the list and the drop in prices of Tesla due to so many used evs, lower battery prices and more competition. Offering free Supercharging for life on their model S. I'm not a fan of the Cybertruck but their cars are looking better and better.

 

[sly_karma]

Crazy the Colorado has been such low quality for so long. Jeep has really shot themselves in the foot increasing prices and lowering quality.

Hard to fathom, Colorado/Canyon has been around for ages yet they don't address the problems. Jeep, that's an owner problem. You buy an offroad vehicle for all-purpose driving... that's on you. Lol

 

[-Jim-]

It was surprising to see the Lightning there on Consumer Reports list, but maybe I've become a fan and don't see the data. I thought Ford would have had it sorted by now. I saw some websites saying the the Silverado EV is the best EV Pick-up out there. I wonder how true that is, or is it just more marketing.

 

[sly_karma]

If the Sierra/Silverado had been available when I was ready to buy, I'd probably have one. Double the range, but not double the money.

Nonetheless, I'm not sad it worked out the way it has. $6000-7000 in front from the fuel I didn't buy while waiting another year plus for the GM trucks to arrive, plus mine qualified for rebates whereas Chevy is over the ceiling.

 

[CiscoCat]

Im a Chevy guy all the way but they missed the mark with not offering any power supply options in the Silverado and hummer. Since owning the lightning it impresses me daily. Ive had zero issues Best A to B vehicle Ive ever owned.

I will Say that the new Hummer commercial has me wanting one big time!!

 

[sly_karma]

Im a Chevy guy all the way but they missed the mark with not offering any power supply options in the Silverado and hummer. Since owning the lightning it impresses me daily. Ive had zero issues Best A to B vehicle Ive ever owned.

I will Say that the new Hummer commercial has me wanting one big time!!

No onboard power in the Chevy trucks? Wow.

 

[CiscoCat]

No onboard power in the Chevy trucks? Wow.

Oops I take that back. Looks like the silverado ev come with 10.5kw onboard power. I was going by what someone I know told me.

 

[sly_karma]

Oops I take that back. Looks like the silverado ev come with 10.5kw onboard power. I was going by what someone I know told me.

Of course they had to go a bit more than Ford, lol.