2008 FORD F-150

POWER TRAIN

The contact owns a 2008 Ford F-150. The contact stated that after turning off the vehicle, the contact attempted to restart the vehicle and became aware that the gear shifter was not in park(P). The contact inspected the gear shift lever, and the gear shifter was in the park(P); however, the contact was unable to move the gear shift lever. The contact depressed the brake pedal, moved the gear shift lever, and was able to restart the vehicle. A mobile mechanic arrived at the residence and replaced the shifter cable, and the vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, while arriving at her sister's residence, the failure reoccurred. The shift indicator displayed that the vehicle was not in park(P). However, the gear shifter lever was in park(P). A neighbor stopped by and assisted the contact by going underneath the vehicle and manually shifting the gear. The vehicle was restarted and driven to the residence. The failure had progressively worsened, and the vehicle was no longer driven. The vehicle was parked at the residence. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHSTA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 135,000.

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

The grab handle on drivers side that is put there to assist the driver to enter the vehicle is the issue. On 4/17/2025 I was attempting to enter my truck. I am severely disabled. I grabbed the handle that is attached to the A pillar as I have hundreds of times since I bought the truck in 2008. I am the original owner. Vehicle only has about 36,000 miles on it. As I was pulling myself in the entire handle detached from the A pillar sending me into a bad fall onto my driveway. Luckily I was not seriously injured. I'm 6'4 190 pounds, so its not like I'm terribly heavy. The next day I went to see just what happened and removed the the handle assembly. I was shocked to find that it is not attached to the steel A pillar. A steel plate is attached to the pillar under the handle but the handle is anchored to that plate only by two plastic wells that the screws go through. Both of the bottoms of those wells broke clean off which then allowed the entire assembly to pull away from the A pillar. I did some research and there is like a 5 year period of this being a known issue. I found dozens of examples of the exact same failure online. There is no "better" replacement part available either. I'm shocked that Ford would not secure this handle into the frame. Something thats meant to assist people entering the vehicle that will be pulled on anchored with PLASTC?? Ford needs issue a recall for this and provide a fix. If i had been 4 inches closer to my brick wall corner of my house I would not be here now to report this. I have included pics. the red circled parts are the plastic that hold the handle to the pillar that broke.

FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING

The truck has a body frame that was cracked in several spots and welded back together in more then 5 different spots and the welding job is very poor. The truck has a power steering line leak, cvs axle leaks and a exhaust manifold leak. The dealership fixed upper ball joints when we agreed on lower and upper in the front. They added a exhaust but did not do the job correctly with completing the job and the welding of it. Ive made a complaint with the loan company and i as well have talked to the owner of the dealership and he fights that none of those things are wrong with the truck and im lying but i have had a inspection done on the truck. When i got the truck i looked it over and so did my brother i pointed the issues of what needed fixed that i could see and that was not done. I then started having issues with the truck and took it to a mechaninc and had an inspection done

STEERING

The truck has a body frame that was cracked in several spots and welded back together in more then 5 different spots and the welding job is very poor. The truck has a power steering line leak, cvs axle leaks and a exhaust manifold leak. The dealership fixed upper ball joints when we agreed on lower and upper in the front. They added a exhaust but did not do the job correctly with completing the job and the welding of it. Ive made a complaint with the loan company and i as well have talked to the owner of the dealership and he fights that none of those things are wrong with the truck and im lying but i have had a inspection done on the truck. When i got the truck i looked it over and so did my brother i pointed the issues of what needed fixed that i could see and that was not done. I then started having issues with the truck and took it to a mechaninc and had an inspection done

STRUCTURE:BODY

The truck has a body frame that was cracked in several spots and welded back together in more then 5 different spots and the welding job is very poor. The truck has a power steering line leak, cvs axle leaks and a exhaust manifold leak. The dealership fixed upper ball joints when we agreed on lower and upper in the front. They added a exhaust but did not do the job correctly with completing the job and the welding of it. Ive made a complaint with the loan company and i as well have talked to the owner of the dealership and he fights that none of those things are wrong with the truck and im lying but i have had a inspection done on the truck. When i got the truck i looked it over and so did my brother i pointed the issues of what needed fixed that i could see and that was not done. I then started having issues with the truck and took it to a mechaninc and had an inspection done