After making some really AWFUL cars in the late 70’s and early 80’s they seem to be finally getting their act together under Alan Mullaly. I truly hope they succeed. It appears that a lot of people (read the comments) would just LOVE to see the domestic auto industry fail. The bitterness is acrid and of no help to anyone. Do these people who do buy foreign cars (or transplants) realize the final “profits” return to the country of origin and cause great problems in our balance of trade?

Let’s look at South Korea. I understand they are making cars now (I’m being facetious). But Korea doesn’t play by the “rules” and only allows a very limited number of “foreign” (read American)autos into the country. No such rules exist for exports to the USA however. They can “dump” hundred of thousands of their products into the States and nobody seems to care. Last year the Korean auto workers went on strike when they heard that the Korean Government was going to allow American beef products into the country. (I think there was some sort of compromise, but I’m sure we got screwed) And so it goes…. I could start ranting about Japan and their restrictive trade practices too…but (I hope) you get the idea.

Plastic parts caused failures in my Explorer’s cam chain tensioner, which Ford fixed under recall, but only after I spent $600 trying to have it repaired before the recall.

The Firestone tire recall helped me a lot, as Ford bought me five new Michellin tires that took it 95,000 miles to the end of the truck’s useful life – it was still a Ford quality failure, though…

I spent five hours trying to change the spark plugs, something that should take half an hour, because Ford engineers routed hard lines in the way of the plugs. It’s apparently even harder to replace them on newer Fords and Mazdas now, as you have to remove the intake manifold to get to them. How is that quality?

My Explorer finally died at 153,000 miles, when the timing chain broke. A Ford dealer estimated repair costs at higher than the remaining vehicle value, and they wouldn’t warrant the repair, as they didn’t know “what damage the plastic parts might have done” to the rest of the engine.

No more Fords for me, until I’m sure they’re making it for those of us who keep cars for the long term – I want more than “reliable,” I want “maintainable.”

My personal fear for Ford is that their initial quality over the next few years will fall due to having to let go of quite a few of their engineering consultants due to budget constraints. Hopefully they do fine with what they still have in house.

Whoa! What’s with the hostility? The Fox body Mustang may have grown far long in the tooth by 2004, but in 1979 it was revolutionary. From this simple frame, Ford produced the Stang, Thunderchicken, Cougar, LTD, Fairmont, Continental, and Capri. It was a simple, strong platform that allowed for a variety of engines, trannys, and suspension setups. This allowed Ford to provide a true pony car again.

In 1979, Ford introduced a turbo 4 in the GT, which evolved into having the 302 small-block, the famous 5.0, into the engine bay by 1982. By 1985 the little Stang pumped 225 HP, enough to make the 180 HP Corvette of the same era seem outrageously overpriced. Ford also reintroduced the convertible, previously declared dead by GM in 1977. Without the Fox body, Ford wouldn’t be nearly what it is.

were there problems, yes, I worked with engineering to get windshield surround rubbers to bond better with the fiberglass cabs. We worked as a team, Assemblyman and Engineer to massage the kinks out of that problem.

The USA can build anything just as good or better than any where. Look at all the wonderful Hondas being made here now. It takes monumentous change at a company to do it, but the rewards are 1000 fold for both the CEO and the windshield man.

But here’s my question, is there a dealer that doesn’t have a registered sex offender selling cars? It would seem to go with the job description, no?

I think this one is based on personal experiences, my oldest brother has owned nothing but mazda’a (2) and toyota’a (several) since the 80’s, he put over 500k on his late 80’s 4-runner, his newest one will be his last toyota (he says it just isn’t the same < 100k). Based on his advice I bought a 2001 Camry, the interior started falling apart very rapidly (the mirror covers on the visors, the power outlet, etc), the speed sensor went bad several times after warranty and at 101k one of the main drive bearings blew up (despite the oil being changed every 3-5k w/syn.). I remember after buying, sitting in my co-workers previous gen. camry and being so much more impressed (interior quality and styling).

And I can tell you firsthand that Ford is building high quality cars. My ‘05 Focus has over 50,000 miles, and aside from one major repair caused by my ham-fisted driving, has needed nothing but regular maintenance and normal wear-and-tear items.

But I’ll also echo what others here have been saying: Ford has the quality and reliability down, but they need to sweat the interior details. Case in point: the new Fusion’s interior is a freakin’ black cave, albeit one that’s well made. No way that would ever pass muster in a Honda.

I would like to say I’ll remember go back and buy it when they finally do make it available on the Kindle, but truth is I’ll probably have forgotten about it by the time that happens.

“At one time Ford had three plants in Cincinnati, GM had two, and a few miles up I-75 Chrysler had a plant.”

Where was the Chrysler plant? The only one that I’m aware of in the area was an Airtemp plant in Dayton which closed in 1976.

If you’re going to include Dayton as part of Cincinnati, then you need to say GM had three plants: Norwood, Fairfield, and Moraine (Dayton).

SherbornSean: “I hope that folks will keep in mind that a single difficulty with a Ford product does not negate the incredible amounts of change … at Ford.”

And I do try to keep that in mind. However —

geeber: “It won’t ultimately help the customers (or the company) if those parts installed by motivated workers in shiny, clean plants still fail just after the warranty expires.”

I’ve always been favorably disposed to FoMoCo but I had an experience similar to the one reported by sellfone. My ‘03 Windstar’s transmission blew on a long uphill grade. Mileage: just over 60K, half by me. Repair cost: $1,600 ($2,500 at a dealership). Was it underengineered?

True, I bought it used. Perhaps it had been abused early on. Still, a part did fail; not wear out. And I notice Consumer Reports says Ford’s minivans of that period have relatively high incidence of major transmission problems. So although I like what Ford is doing now, I have a lingering doubt: has transmission durability improved along with the process by they are made?

The key question is whether the company has addressed the vehicle development and cost-accounting parts of the equation.

It won’t ultimately help the customers (or the company) if those parts installed by motivated workers in shiny, clean plants still fail just after the warranty expires.

So what you’re saying is that this was and IS a completely true statement. Two thirds of the jobs have disappeared in the last 30 years and – shocking – the people in the one third that remain have figured out they need to shut up and produce or hit the soup line. Ford management had it right all along. Fire enough people any the rest will wake up and get the message

Though I agree with the basis of your statement, you have to step back and away from the “details” of the article and think about ALL jobs… if you don’t produce (in whatever industry you are in) you will likely be fired.

I think the better point of this article is the worker friendly clean-up in this specific facility, more open management-worker relations, and reduction in the overtly wasteful use of FTE’s on maintenance.

And let’s focus on the real numbers too… Ford’s initial quality (from many sources, not just Consumer Reports and JD Powers) has improved to Toyota levels.

Personally, I have only owned one Ford product in my life and it was great for what it was (college commuter) and it never once broke down or went back to the dealer in 100K miles. Of course there was really not much to break: it was a 1987 Mercury Lynx 1.9L EFI with a 4-speed stick and the only OPTION it had was a rear window defroster.

I said – Well, actually, we don’t have smokestacks any more. The plant I work in is clean and brightly lit, and the people there are normal, smart and hard working; and they work in self directed teams where they do most of their own set-up, operation, inspection, and trouble shooting. In fact, I’m the one who has trouble keeping up with their demands.

When I said that, I could tell by the look on their face, they thought I was lying.

I worked with some really great people in automotive manufacturing. They’re all scattered to the winds now. I wish them all the best. You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.

Maintenance budgets are always compromised as they are an expense and do not generate any direct income, only cost. Ford-Toyoda-Sony-Nabisco-Molson you name it, they are all the same. It broke? you wait!

Do we have any data on that? Do the defects per 100 cars on a 5 yo car show that a 1999 5 year old Toyota had fewer defects than a 5 year old Toyota in 2009?

I don’t need to research data because as a long time Toyota owner (since 1985) I have many years of first hand experience. Over the years we have noticed a gradual cheapening of their vehicles, especially the interior quality. IMHO Toyota caught the “GM flu”.

If you remember not that long ago Toyota’s president came out and admitted they were having problems.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/toyota-falling-quality-is-job-one/

I hope that folks will keep in mind that a single difficulty with a Ford product does not negate the incredible amounts of change that have been sustained on the factory floor at Ford.

Do we have any data on that? Do the defects per 100 cars on a 5 yo car show that a 1999 5 year old Toyota had fewer defects than a 5 year old Toyota in 2009?