Aluminum Body Repairs Part 1 (With Video) - 2015 Ford F-150 Long-Term Road Test

Comments

• zimtheinvader Member Posts: 580

  January 2015 edited January 2015

  um, I think they could have given you the same estimate if you had just hypothetically asked what it would cost...
  
  In fact they sort of did:
  " A job like this on an F-150 with steel panels "would take half the time." "
  
  
  And in reality to truly find out the difference you'd have to take a 2014 F-150 and hit it with the same force in the same places and see what it costs. Would the hammer have done even more damage to a steel panel? If it would have then that would have had an effect on the price.

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• kirkhilles1 Member Posts: 863

  January 2015

  Nice article. Of course, what's up with the cliffhanger. You got an estimate but... "tune in later to find out the amount!". Come on. Just take a picture of the estimate and then you can fill us in on the details later. I'm proud of you guys for doing this - this is very interesting. There has been a lot of discussion about the Tesla repairs and the aluminum body is part of that equation.

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• thedewfisher Member Posts: 1

  January 2015

  Lol looks like zimtheinvader is a ford boy

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• zimtheinvader Member Posts: 580

  January 2015

  thedewfisher said:

  Lol looks like zimtheinvader is a ford boy

  Nope, actually I don't like Fords much at all. The only one I'd consider would be the Mustang and even then I'd be worried about long term reliability. Years ago I worked at a Ford dealer and saw first hand how little Ford cared about the customers. Granted since then they've probably gotten better and other makes have probably gotten worse but still, not a make I consider when shopping.
  
  I just like 'experiments' that make sense. Rather than stunts designed to get Youtube views.
  
  How can you compare repair costs if you don't compare damage levels?
  

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• miata52 Member Posts: 114

  January 2015

  You need a control for an acurate test. Find a slighly used steel truck and give it a couple of whacks...

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• legacygt Member Posts: 599

  January 2015

  zimtheinvader is right. A meaningful comparison would need to understand how much more/less resistant aluminum is to this type of abuse. Let's say that similar punishment did twice as much damage to the steel panels of the old F-150. Well then you'd be even. But if similar punishment did more damage to aluminum than it would have to steel then you're even worse off than the "twice as long" estimate.

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• fomocotosho Member Posts: 1

  January 2015

  So what is the estimate?

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• marcos9 Member Posts: 96

  January 2015

  If you really wanted to know how much it would cost to repair damage to an aluminum body, you could have just checked body repair history on an Acura NSX or Audi A8. Both of those have been using aluminum for over a decade. And you would avoid stealership markup. Just my two cents...

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• morey000 Member Posts: 384

  January 2015

  In my experience, the one person who reliably knows less than me about what it takes to repair my vehicle... is the dealership "Service Adviser". Or, at least it always 'seems' that way. Maybe they really do know, but always hide that info. hard to tell.

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• stever Guest Posts: 52,454

  January 2015

  While I think it's a good idea to key your new car and get the first scratch "out of the way" (especially with a utility vehicle like a truck), this isn't exactly what I had in mind.

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• mittzombie Member Posts: 162

  January 2015

  You should have just said you cheated on Carrie Underwood.

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• kokomojoe Member Posts: 150

  January 2015

  You guys have to much fun

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• mittzombie Member Posts: 162

  January 2015

  I am sticking with my initial thought that an aluminum body makes no sense on a work truck. But so many yuppies use a 150 to commute to work these days it might make sense for them although the weight savings did little to improve mpgs.

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• jstrauch81 Member Posts: 64

  January 2015

  mittzombie said:

  I am sticking with my initial thought that an aluminum body makes no sense on a work truck. But so many yuppies use a 150 to commute to work these days it might make sense for them although the weight savings did little to improve mpgs.

  I see a lot more "yuppies" in diesel Dodges where I live. The true/real ranchers generally drive ford products.
  
  

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• misterfusion Member Posts: 471

  January 2015

  I admire the experiment, but there is no way I'm watching that video. I think it might make me cry.

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• jfroe Member Posts: 3

  January 2015

  Would be interesting to do the exact same thing to the long term Ram and see how much it costs to repair it!

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• shrek1988 Member Posts: 1

  January 2015

  Do the experiment to all of the truck brands and last years F-150. Might as well in order to compare.

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• belennm Member Posts: 2

  January 2015

  In 2007 (prices have risen some since then) I dented my Aluminum 2005 Audi A8L. I did a pretty good job on the Right Rear Quarter Panel, much worse than you did to the truck. I took it to my local body shop on Magazine Street in New Orleans and they repaired it for $874.32 (I still have the receipt). Looked perfect when finished. Since I had $1K deductible I happily paid the bill with no increase in Insurance rates. I guessed that if I had paid increased Insurance rates it would have paid the 800+ dollars in about 5 years. I drove the car another 2 years and the repair was still perfect at that time. Of course California prices are usually inflated but I still think a local shop could have done the job as well for a lot less money. The Audi shop wanted almost 4K to fix my dent and I know it would not have been any better.

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• djfunkmasterg Member Posts: 4

  January 2015

  I own a 2014 F-150 Tremor, the rarest of the F-150 trucks, and while people complain about MPG on F-150's my Tremor went from 12.9mpg HWY to 16.5 over the course of 6000 miles. I guess the myth is true that the Ecoboost twin Turbo V6 needs a long break-in period to establish MPG. and Just for the record I am a 75-80mph driver on highways, and this truck was stock equipped with 4.10 gears in a 4X4 configuration.
  
  So any instant improvement in the 2015 is nice but with break in it will improve over time. Even our 2.0 Ecoboosted Escape improved 5mpg with the addition of 4000 miles on the clock from 23.1 to 27.5

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• djfunkmasterg Member Posts: 4

  January 2015

  As far as the aluminum body 2015, I don't care for the appearance changes made to the truck so the weight savings is not going to make me trade my tremor anytime soon.
  
  If they gave it the Tremor treatment for 2015, which they said they won't (Tremor was a 1 off for 2014 only) I don't see myself purchasing a 2015 F-150 anytime soon... unless I wreck my Tremor and can't find another.

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• suretyguy Member Posts: 2

  April 2015

  A test that is totally meaningless, granted this hair brain promo was fun & got a lot of media coverage, if that was the purpose, great. This was a non-test, first off you would need both an aluminum & a steel bed for a fair test. Then you would need a device that impacted both beds with identical force, angle & location. Without a comparison, your test is pure conjecture & junk science. Who knows perhaps one of the bed metals would have more or less damage, perhaps the aluminum might have less damage & consequently receive a lower repair bill. As far as the cost of the tail light assembly with the blind spot monitor in it, aluminum would not be a cause that affected cost. Three estimates of each vehicle repairs & then the results would have shed some light on you pointless point. Next time think before you trash a new vehicle.

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