the bad side of ford

[Karrmann]

you have to check this out, I will never buy another ford after reading this.....
http://www.tgrigsby.com/views/mystory.htm

[SIMPLETON]

This a relatively old car. You cant judge a whole company just because of 1 car. If we do that what would happen to Kia :)

[Karrmann]

you mustof not read the storys from other owners

[NoOne]

There are always problems with cars, and the more a car company sells of a certain model, the more complaints you will hear about it.

They are/were not a great car, but they were a cheap, decent car that was supposed to keep buyers buying domestic cars, it worked ... to a point, and thats where Ford messed up, they had to significantly improve the car to keep buyers interested.

Ford, GM and Chrysler all made the same mistake they didn't up the quality then and they still haven't closed the quality gap between them and the imports now.

I think it is very hard to regain a customer after losing them to the imports, they have doomed themselves, imports are slightly more expensive but you get a better built car that retains its value in resale.

As far as the Escort goes, take a look and you'll still see them on the roads - looking rough - but still driveable 15 yrs later

[Karrmann]

well, get a load of this. Ford recalled a plastic manifold on the Crown Victoria in 1996. In 1998 when they redesighn the Crown Victoria, they put the EXACT SAME manifold on it that they recalled 2 years ago for cracking. now, think about that.

[NoOne]

I see your point , I went through hell and back with Chrysler for my 1996 Plymouth Voyageur minivan, 5 transmissions and various other related replacements in the 4 yrs I owned it. A friend of my brother bought a 2004 Chrysler minivan and has had it in twice for tranny problems in less than a year. Is it any wonder the imports are taking such a big marketshare of the auto industry?

[Karrmann]

well I know, american cars can't seem to match the quality of the imports. here's how lots of stories go. They buy an american car. They have it in the shop every other day, it drives like shit, they send it to the junkyard, they buy an import. My Dodge caravan is becoming a handful. I have to have the air conditioning belt every summer, it continusly drips grease, it's suspension and brakes can't hold up, and now, I gotta take it in monday to get the brakes repaired because of a grinding noise. And now the tires keep coming outta balance and it has a bad pulling problem, I'm this close to trading it in for a prius.

[HemiCuda500]

I've been a car guy for a while. I'm not an expert, but I've built up some theories after being interrested in cars for the past 10 years or so.

#1. American cars are about style and performance.
They keep the same series of cars for generations without significant changes/updates. Eg: Mustang, Cavalier, K-car, crown-vic, ...
They change the style to keep people buying, update the engines, but leave the guts of the vehicle the same.


#2. Japanese (and Korean) cars are about value, fuel economy, and quality.
They are more reliable, but harder to fix, than american cars. The parts cost more, but they change their cars every 4 years or so, to stay on top of quality manufacturing.

I feel that saying something like: "American cars are crap, buy a Japanese one" is being very short-sighted, and doesn't look at all the factors. When buying a car, one must weigh many factors. The following list has an "A", a "J", or "both" beside it, depending on which I feel has the advantage, according to my research. Note: I include Korean cars with the Japanese.

-cost A
-resale value J
-warrenty both (Chrysler's and Hyundai's are amazing)
-engineering J
-parts cost A
-labour cost A (more space around the engines, easier to fix)
-fuel efficiency J
-performance A (bigger engines in the same class)
-insurance A (goes along with cheaper parts and labour)

So, when buying a car, keep these factors in mind, and do your homework, preferrably from someone unbiased and informed.

[doylede]

I've been a car guy for a while. I'm not an expert, but I've built up some theories after being interrested in cars for the past 10 years or so.

#1. American cars are about style and performance.
They keep the same series of cars for generations without significant changes/updates. Eg: Mustang, Cavalier, K-car, crown-vic, ...
They change the style to keep people buying, update the engines, but leave the guts of the vehicle the same.


#2. Japanese (and Korean) cars are about value, fuel economy, and quality.
They are more reliable, but harder to fix, than american cars. The parts cost more, but they change their cars every 4 years or so, to stay on top of quality manufacturing.

I feel that saying something like: "American cars are crap, buy a Japanese one" is being very short-sighted, and doesn't look at all the factors. When buying a car, one must weigh many factors. The following list has an "A", a "J", or "both" beside it, depending on which I feel has the advantage, according to my research. Note: I include Korean cars with the Japanese.

-cost A
-resale value J
-warrenty both (Chrysler's and Hyundai's are amazing)
-engineering J
-parts cost A
-labour cost A (more space around the engines, easier to fix)
-fuel efficiency J
-performance A (bigger engines in the same class)
-insurance A (goes along with cheaper parts and labour)

So, when buying a car, keep these factors in mind, and do your homework, preferrably from someone unbiased and informed.

This is a well reasoned post about a complex subject.

There is a vast range of cars available to buyers. I saw posts here by someone that bought a Ford Excort and was disappointed because it didn't last for ten years.

The Escort is a bottom of the barrell, cheap car. This reminds one of a Beatles song about gum on the bedpost.

I've owned American cars that lasted forever. My 59 Caddy Coupe de Ville was indestructible. A 63 Chevy hit it while the Caddy was parked. The Chevy was totaled, the engine was in the front seat. The Caddy never moved.

I owned a 78 Datsun 810, the precursor to the Maxima, that I kept 14 years. It only lasted that long because I put up with decreasing function because I had to.

When I broke out of that financial clamp, I bought a 2000 Corvette C5 Coupe. This car has had some problems, but they were handled under warranty. All in all, the Vette is the finest car that I have ever owned including a 1969 Ferrari Daytona.

Escorts have such a minimal function when new, it seems peevish to whine about their decline with age. Given the price, what do you expect?

As you rise in price, expectations should also rise. Actually this is a bell curve as are most things in life. On the high edge are the Enzo Ferrari at $660,000 or the McLaren F1 at $1,000,000. On a cost benefit basis, these cars should clean your house, cook breakfast, and have sex with you. They don't. This is the bleeding upper edge of the bell curve.

The Escort along with the Yugo, the Russian cars, and others with which I am not familiar make up the bottom edge of the bell curve.

Pick a car somewhere in the middle if you wish to be satisified. If economics prevents this, have enough pride to not whine.

[Guibo]

Wow. This is terrible. There must be at least 150 horror stories on that page. No wonder Ford is losing marketshare. Waitaminute...let's see...that's 150-ish stories, most of which are by anonymous authors who leave no contact information, and some of them have more to do with poor dealership service rather than any inherent problem in the car. See this one about the CD player:
http://www.tgrigsby.com/views/johnr.htm
And this one: http://www.tgrigsby.com/views/leighh.htm
"I drove it 640 miles when it overheated."
I'd be truly amazed if you could drive even 10 miles in a car without coolant without it overheating. All it takes is just a few minutes of idling at a stoplight, and there'd be some obvious signs. Also sounds like they bought the car without first taking it for a test drive...
150 stories...how many vehicles has Ford sold in the past 20 years? They sell about 285,000 vehicles in a bad month.

Yeah, overall Ford's quality does lag behind GM, and the Japanese automakers.

[Karrmann]

yeah, but I think that the worst american cars are made by chrysler/dodge. I have a 1998 caravan and I was not satisified. There were sooooooooooo many problems I can barely afford to keep it running.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Remember the Pinto? the main reason that was such a flop was because of poor design that meant, in a rear-ender, a bolt could pierce the fuel tank and ignite. Which it did on many occasions. one boy, whos mother was killed, suffered 90% burns to his body, but survived enough to sue ford for well over $ 500 Million, in 1975? this was unheard of.

Now, when GOMD is in the white house, automakers are lobbying so that automobile accident victims are to be payed, if it was a vehicle design fault, $250,000. Pitiful.

It's not just Ford, obviously. Holden in Australia would not acknowledge it had a power-steering design fault that meant, after hard driving, the pump could seize, melt, or both. Until recently, when it went into a voluntary recall, and now fits power-steering pump coolers as an option on high-end, Performance models.

Car Makers have to contemplate there product may be faulty, most set aside a fund to pay for potential victims, which some predict is around 180 per year. It's really sick to be playing numbers with peoples lives, but big business sucks...........

[Karrmann]

I remember the Pinto, It all went downhill from there