Purchasing my 1st Lightning - a buyback lemon - HELP - service records attached

[justincsfl]

Looks like a jewel to me. I'd be comfortable with the extended warranty to cover future issues. The notes read like the tech knew what they were doing for troubleshooting. The replaced parts seems appropriate and heard of here on the forums. The short circuit on the instrument cluster and replacement made sense.


I got my truck unseen and drove it across the country. What you're doing of shopping without testing it, has been done.


For the weather stripping, my moon roof seal developed dry rot. That's what came to my mind when I read that on the uploaded notes.

My experience documented here: https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/warranty-repair-moonroof-gasket-decay.21137/

Appreciate your feedback and time. My truck doesn’t have a moon roof.

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[justincsfl]

If you have an experienced service provider, i’ld go for it in a second. If not, i’ld be careful

Experienced service center? Any recommendations for south Florida?

 

[Adventureboy]

I'd probably buy it. The screen issue would be the concern. Other items are minor, and appear to be caused by a faulty 12v battery, except the door trim/airbag repair - is that from the damage done by Ford Assistance opening the door?

If the screen blacks out after you buy, it may be a wire harness issue and would need some deeper investigation behind the dash, like a pinched or chaffed wire at installation. It should be covered under warranty, but an investigation could take some time to find. Consider the extended bumper-to-bumper warranty if it happens again.

 

[Bigisland Guy]

As a guy who is on his second F150L, I will say that I totally Love the truck! But I do caution that all buyers of Lemons take careful consideration if they find that there was a battery module replacement. In my case my first F150L had two bad modules on different occasions go bad. Check the part numbers that were replaced and from which of the many Module packs it might have come from. Also check the forums spread sheet regarding build dates. My build date was Oct 2022 as a point of reference. Good Luck in your research and due diligence.

 

[justincsfl]

I'd probably buy it. The screen issue would be the concern. Other items are minor, and appear to be caused by a faulty 12v battery, except the door trim/airbag repair - is that from the damage done by Ford Assistance opening the door?

If the screen blacks out after you buy, it may be a wire harness issue and would need some deeper investigation behind the dash, like a pinched or chaffed wire at installation. It should be covered under warranty, but an investigation could take some time to find. Consider the extended bumper-to-bumper warranty if it happens again.

I’m assuming the door trim / airbag is from ford assistance opening the door, the service tech did note damage when the truck was towed to the service center after the customer was locked out. Thoughts?

 

[justincsfl]

As a guy who is on his second F150L, I will say that I totally Love the truck! But I do caution that all buyers of Lemons take careful consideration if they find that there was a battery module replacement. In my case my first F150L had two bad modules on different occasions go bad. Check the part numbers that were replaced and from which of the many Module packs it might have come from. Also check the forums spread sheet regarding build dates. My build date was Oct 2022 as a point of reference. Good Luck in your research and due diligence.

Thank you - I posted the pdf file in the original post regarding the repairs this truck has been thru, I did not see any reference to the hv battery pack, did you?

 

[Bigisland Guy]

Quick review of your pdf, did'nt see anything specific. If you havent already yet check out Heller Ford in El Paso IL, they are a big buyback F150L dealership you can use there inventory to compare for more data points.

 

[flyct]

I’ve successfully filed Lemon Law 3 times in Florida. Twice with Ford, most recently with a 2019 F-350. I checked CarFax at least 1 year after it as sold as a RAV vehicle. All 3 times the manufacture was able to repair the vehicle where Carfax didn't report any further issues.

You will have remaining factory Warranty so I wouldn't be concerned about buying it. Be aware that the value if you trade will be seriously affected negatively.

Being it has a branded title I don't t know if there is any issue insuring it.

All this being said, It's a good deal if you plan on keeping it for long time.

 

[MachLightning]

I purchased a buyback ‘22 Platinum back in January and I could not possibly be happier. I did my homework and also purchased the extended warranty.

I’m currently typing this at a Tesla Supercharger during my return trip of a 4,300 mile roundtrip road trip to Moab, UT from Maryland.

Truck has been perfect!

 

[chl]

Edit: the vehicles title is branded buyback OEM

Go easy on me, I'm new here and considering joining the F150 lightning family. I had originally wanted one back in 2022 when they were first released, I just couldn't come up with the coin to pay for what dealers were asking. Fast forward to today and I found a 2023 Ford Lightning F150 XLT for $35k with 9k miles. It has the dual emotor-extnd range battery, and package 312A. Truck looks very clean from the photos shared and the dealer sent me the repair report from the ford dealers who worked on this truck. I'd be buying this car over the internet and having it shipped to me due to location so I cannot test drive it, but the dealer has said everything has been repaired. Reason it was bought back 'driver states screen goes black'. The truck has been fixed I'm being told and was reacquired thru fords buyback program, and I called ford to verify the factory warranty would remain, which it will, so it still has bumper-to-bumper till Jan 2026 or 36k miles, and the battery/ev components till 2032, along with the other remaining factory warranties. I do not drive a ton of miles so I expect the warranty to be in place till the dates I stated above.

My big question, and uneasiness of it is all - would you more experienced F150 lightning owners consider this truck? It is priced incredibly well compared to the online market I've shopped over the last 2 weeks.

Appreciate any insight, thank you all.

Edit again: I could spend another $2,500 for a bumper to bumper extended warranty from ford till 2031 / 60k miles. (I drive about 6-7k miles a year tops, so for the next 6 years, I figure to add another 40k miles on top of the already 9k miles).

It seems there were at least two short circuits 1) the rain sensor and 2) the display panel.
Either/both caused the 12v battery to over heat and swell.

Short circuits in the 12v battery systems can cause trouble much worse than a black screen, i.e., fires. Ford had some ignition relay/switch issues in Rangers a few years back that led to fires.

Anyway, if these electrical issues have been resolved, then the truck is a good buy.

However, any auto mechanic will tell you that wiring issues are some of the hardest things to resolve/repair.

It seems unusual to me that there were 2 short circuiting items in this truck. It indicates to me that the wiring may have been sloppily installed, which would make me wonder what else is lurking in the 12v circuitry waiting to fail. Maybe nothing else.

I have read about other electrical issues with some Lightnings, e.g., in the rear window defroster - overheating and cracking the window, replaced then happened again. Probably a manufacturing glitch with the electrical connection to the heating element which melted.

If you buy it, just watch out for electrical issues. Test every electrical thing right away, lights, radio, window defroster, heated seat/steering wheel.

Have all the CSP (customer service program) things done right away at your nearby Ford dealer in case they haven't been, there were some that related to the issues with 12v battery discharging and over the air (OTA) updates not installing.

Good luck. Keep us posted on how it works out.

 

[Marc]

I bought a factory certified non buyback in September. I searched long and hard for a non-buyback truck. That being said I would invest in the extended warranty but I would verify it covers buyback vehicles. Some do not.

 

[justincsfl]

I bought a factory certified non buyback in September. I searched long and hard for a non-buyback truck. That being said I would invest in the extended warranty but I would verify it covers buyback vehicles. Some do not.

This company provided a quote for extended warranty https://grangerfordextendedwarranty.com/

 

[abcut973]

I have the remaining factory bumper to bumperwarranty till January 2027 or 36k (truck currently has 9k miles) and all the other remaining factory warranties remain, EV battery 8/100k. I’m also going to purchase an extended warranty from the ford to take the truck to 2032 with 60k miles (I drive on avg about 7k miles annually). The dealer has been transparent, sent videos driving it, undercarriage photos, insides outside photos etc. it was bought back by ford and repaired by ford with the factory warranty in tact still, which is why I’m considering it.

Looks like you are taking the right steps to complete this purchase
Just report back with pictures

 

[abcut973]

This company provided a quote for extended warranty https://grangerfordextendedwarranty.com/

I purchased from them as well.

 

[justincsfl]

I purchased from them as well.

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