IF you are having your car in the shop that often, you have the wrong car.

The problem is that good service is now something better than 95% problem free outcome. That’s one in 20. You can easily go a long time without seeing a problem with one in twenty. At the same time, if they have a one in 1000 failure rate, you could be that guy. If you have more than one bad experience, it means something, but failing to have a bad experience means little.

It’s like how people assess risk. We have a good experience, and we think our action must be okay. We then repeat this a few times, and then we no longer feel any danger. The next thing is we do it again and find that the 1 in 20 chance of getting killed is for real – oops, too late. This happens to pilots who push into marginal weather too many times. It can happen to us as consumers if we rely simply on our own experience.

Use your network, and your gut to help make these decisions or you can lose the game.

Shaker: I bought and service my Mustang at Moon Township Ford near Pittsburgh International Airport. It has been an exceptional dealership—the service department has been great…I have nothing but good things to say about their operation. It certainly meets or exceeds the level of service I was getting at my BMW dealer.

In April 2000 I bought a 99 Taurus wagon at my local Ford dealer (she was a fleet throw off). As part of the deal they threw in free lifetime oil changes and filters. They only meant to include oil filters but when I pointed out to them in the contract it said filters, they sucked it up and have provided all filters as required. No problems.

Every time I go to the dealer they welcome me by name. My regular service advisor is good guy that both my wife and I trust.

A couple of months ago when I was in for an oil change I mentionned that we were shopping for a new vehicle. He (the servcie advisor) brought me into the showroom, introduced me to a saleperson and wished me luck. When I told the salesperson what I was looking at she had one warmed up and waiting outside the door in about 5 minutes. Except for my first name, she didn’t ask me for any other personal information, she didn’t even come with me on for the test drive. She said to go as far as I wanted to the tank was just filled.

When I got back she asked if I had any questions which she answered promptly and professionally. Then I said goodbye.

I don’t think I could expect a better dealer experience. Unfortunately for Ford, they just aren’t building anything that turns me on right now.

I don’t know, maybe Ford is just run differently up here in Canada. I wish I could find a reason to buy a car from my Ford dealer.

The ownership experience of the last Ford I owned, a decent if unremarkable Taurus, was damaged enormously by a don’t-give-a-damn dealer and zero follow-through from Ford. After a ridiculous attempt to have the car serviced by the local dealer, I took the time to send a letter to the then-President of Ford, copied to the owner of the dealership, suggesting that a decent car like this deserved better than the representation of this dealership. I received a no-action form letter from “Ford Customer Service” and no acknowledgement whatsoever from the dealership. While this is one issue, one person and one dealer, my experience with personal complaints to Mazda and Volkswagen dealerships (which were also elevated to management) was totally different from that with Ford. In both cases, the response was always consistent with the idea that my business was important to both the manufacturer and the dealer.

When I rented a Lincoln LS shortly after its introduction, I was very impressed with the car and wrote the head of Ford’s “Premium” division to say that it was a great move but just needed to have some niggling details addressed so that it would be cross-shopped with high-end German or Japanese cars. Even though my letter was 85% positive, the form-letter response I received said that they were sorry to hear of my complaints and hoped that I would once again look at Ford for my new car needs, period. Ford’s response did not suggest they were particularly interested in whether or not I liked the Lincoln or not. Their total failure to follow through on the LS (whilst pouring money into development of ever-more luxurious versions of the Excursion and Expedition)was punctuation that they simply didn’t give a damn about a market where they desperately need credibility. What they wanted was profit at the expense of future business. One can only compare the difference between Toyota’s entrance into the luxury market and their willingness to minimize profits as their superior product achieved recognition.

The problem at Ford is not different from that at GM. Each have a corporate accountant culture that believes the objective is to “market” a cost-engineered product as a means of establishing a successful market share. In fact market share is created through superior products.

Several months ago, Phil made the point that the Cadillac XLR was indeed a superior product and that we owed it to ourselves and our larger community to see if U.S. manufacturers could fit our needs when the time came to purchase a new car, and as importantly to leave behind our views of what our neighbors might think when we drove by in a Cadillac instead of a Benz.

In the end, however, I think many of us are going to have to hear stories from friends and colleagues about how their Ford/Chevy/Chrysler dealership has gone the extra mile in customer service. Personally, I’ve heard virtually no evidence in this regard, and the decline of each of the manufacturers says that it is probably not going to happen soon enough to save them. I totally agree with Phil that to reject a new Ford out of hand is neither serving our interest as individuals nor is it serving our interest as a national community. I agree that it is worth our time to look past old stories and take a fresh look at Ford assuming they have a product which meets our needs. After that, it is up to Ford and their dealership to demonstrate that they have provided a decent product and are willing to treat us as desired customers.

No kidding. Between 1983 and 2006, I owned a total of 10 Ford vehicles at various times, bought and driven in three different widely-separated metropolitan areas. Every one of them was completely, utterly, anvil reliable, driven into six figures on the odo. Routine dealer service along with a smattering of minor recalls were handled with dispatch and a smile. No doubt some have not had the same experience, but all of the Ford dealers I’ve encountered have been excellent and fielded responsive, professional services.

Phil

Red Dawg: Quite frankly—I have no idea how to respond to your rant—-but then I am one of those idiots who actually buys Fords and have been satisifed by high quality product and great dealer service. Then again…I rode the short bus to school so what do I know ;)

All i can say is GOOD LUCK! At the rate FoMoCo is going, they will be lucky if they retain their current customers let alone attract new ones or even more unbelievable is FoMoCo taking conquest buyers from the Asians. The thought of FoMoCo taking customers from Honda and Toyota is laughable at best!… How much lower can Ford go before it hits rock bottom? Should we line up someone to write the obituary now?

I’m not quite that cynical. But Ford is losing U.S. market share to car companies with satisfied customers. Given Ford’s overheads, it’s unlikely they can downsize fast enough to “right size” enough to live off of existing Ford owners– assuming there are no more defections.

If FoMoCo wants to stay in business, they have to offer Honda, Toyota, Nissan, GM, Chrysler, Kia, Hyundai, etc. customers a reason to buy a Ford. Not four reasons. One. One good reason why people why they should drive one, as opposed to anyone’s else’s car.

People said the same thing about Honda and Toyota taking customers away from Ford

All i can say is GOOD LUCK! At the rate FoMoCo is going, they will be lucky if they retain their current customers let alone attract new ones or even more unbelievable is FoMoCo taking conquest buyers from the Asians. The thought of FoMoCo taking customers from Honda and Toyota is laughable at best! Honda and Toyota taking conquest sales from FoMoCo is more likely to happen. But, the way customers are jumping ship and buying better tells me the public is getting wise to how bad FoMoCo really is. They want quality, reliability, and resale value plus a company that will be around in a few years to honor and back up the warranty. How much lower can Ford go before it hits rock bottom? Should we line up someone to write the obituary now?

You make a really key point about all the reasons to buy that are beyond the test drive.

Only when we are sure of better reliability, dealer service, and depreciation will we all be back. My only Ford had to go to the shop almost quarterly, and I sold it before it hit 50k. For the brake job I had to go back three times to get it done right (the first time they gave it back to me with the left front brake not working and almost sent me into a curb a stop from no more than 35 mph).

Most of us are waiting for someone else we know to take the plunge and report back that all is safe before we head down the Ford (or other 2.8) path again.

We cannot depend on JD Powers because they measure too young cars. We cannot even hope to find a good dealer shop because THEY have turned their own quality surveys into a science of getting good grades at the expense of actually getting a proper review from their customers which would help them improve.

No, we wait for some brave, ignorant, or foolish souls to go buy one of their products and tell us that everything is now better. Latest report from my social network is still not good.

Seriously though folks—lets let the plot (re: full plan) roll out before we claim failure. While I agree that singular focus via a simple and clearly stated single minded proposition is paramount for competitive trial and conversion—-I think the goal of this campaign is to retain CURRENT Ford user by giving them 4 good reasons for staying in the franchise and making them feel good about owning a Ford….call it tablestakes….call it share retention….call it Phase 1.

If they are able to convert a Toyota / Honda owner during Phase 1…great and call it gravy. But IMHO—-this type of conversion aspiration will have to wait until 2010 when the product line gives better permission to believe in the Ford message….call this Phase 2. As Robert said—its all about product. If the single minded proposition does not tighten once the new product comes—I’ll be the first to step up and call Farley out.

So, I have no car payment, and I can wait for a plug-in hybrid in a couple of years (I wonder if it will be a Ford?)

Ford already has a template for clawing for traction in a market it neglected: the 2005 Mustang launch. Not only did they reconnect the car itself to its original appeal, the advance and launch marketing pinged the emotional resonance of the car’s purpose in life. How they could grasp that and then be so dim as to build the Edge campaign around….a modestly artful CUV…..driven on two wheels…..on ledges……is unfathomable. How does an organization nail marketing on one product and wander aimlessly on another?

Every Ford product has a connection to its past, and is a step on a roadmap to Ford’s future. In America Focus is connected to Falcon’s accessible simplicity, not Escort, and it’s informed by the company’s long-established expertise with small cars in Europe. Explorer is connected to family freedom and Country Squires. Edge is connected to Bronco (not in an off-road sense, but the beach sense); Fusion to 1980s Taurus; 2008 Taurus to 1960s/70s LTD. And decline in trucks or not, there’s still lots of money in F150. Then, Ford itself must be connected to the Ford of the “Have You Driven a Ford Lately” era.

Some will say that the emotional connection to past is irrelevant to young buyers. Well, there’s no choice. The company has to find its traction with the points of grip within its grasp. Ford cannot argue its way into the hearts of young car-buyers. It has to first regain the hearts of people who remember Ford’s emotional place as alternative to GM. The buying population that recalls an emotional link to Ford is the bridge to the rational market. Ford needs more street presence to make owning a Ford seem like a possibility to more people. People who own Fords now are the first group to be retained at all costs. Then pull in the marginals for whom some distant fondness still resonates. Then go for mavericks who just don’t like to buy whatever’s “in.” And finally pick and peel away at skeptics’ resistance to the idea that a Ford can be trusted. You can’t win back trust overnight from people who don’t trust you, but you can claw away at market share from people who buy on affinity and emotion.

Someone suggested a personal touch, in the manner that Lee Iacocca once sold America on doing business with *him*. This is correct as a tactic. Toyota is faceless. GM is diffuse. Honda is probably the brand hardest for Ford to pull customers from. They can’t out-humane Honda, nor out-simple that brand. But a lot of Toyota’s buyers are lightly committed and would enjoy something more engaging. Conformity breeds fatigue. Really, would it be so hard to make Ford products be perceived as more engaging than Camry’s, Ravs and Corollas? No, not even with the outward blandness of Ford’s current lineup. While product updates and upgrades come online, Ford’s only path out is to establish the human connection, person-to-person on behalf of the company, riding the rail of fond cultural memory into hearts of buyers. The collateral-appeal mavericks will deduce Ford’s fit to them, by themselves. Farley got his ears dried off learning how to argue his way to success in a data-driven sub-market. Wrong background and lessons for Ford’s near-term problem.

“Drive One” hopes to combine the brevity of “Quality is Job One” with the sentiment of “Have You Driven a Ford Lately.” Net result is it pings neither resonance. Its brevity leaves it difficult to interpret. Is it “Drive one,” or “Drive 1?” Stop. How about illuminating how Ford and its products relate to the way I live?

If I were a Ford dealer with no traffic, I’d have my staff up early on Thursday through Sunday mornings to fill curb parking spots, in front of my nearby Honda and Toyota dealers, with a string of Ford sheetmetal, doors unlocked, stocked with brochures, and staff keeping a respectful distance allowing the curious to choose when to engage. If I were at Ford itself, I’d be scrounging for cash-flow-neutral ways to put more new Ford sheetmetal on America’s streets and roads, under the butts of retail customers. I would boost customization services. Seek in-production upgrades to interior materials. Increase special order options and decrease time for delivery of such. I’d pay the differential fuel and depreciation costs for dealers to send idle staff out on the roads to make immaculately-clean new Ford vehicles more visible. I’d help dealers find more polished but gregarious field marketing people who can drive unscheduled to malls and get people interested in looking at my cars without holding out their hand for a prospect’s money. I’d put ombudsmen in every dealership, for onsite factory presence every hour a dealership is open, authorized to resolve problems, handle customer complaints and gain front-line insight about buyer state of mind now.

Advertising crystallizes marketing to most people, but it’s just a piece in an integrated initiative. But the message discipline advertising demands, in order to be effective, forces clarity and resolve that is transmittable to both the troops and the market at-large. So far, Farley seems to have no grasp of this, or if he does he moves too slowly. He has the Boss’ backing. Move the market with heart, not head, and get a move on.

Phil

I went into this really, really wanting to like the stretched Mazda6 chassis in the Ford. It’s not that I’m a rabid Ford fanboy, it’s just that I’ve always found good value under the blue oval. I’m sort of frugal (I think that’s what my friends mean when they call me a “tightwad”).

Camry – something went wrong there, Toyota. A new Camry shouldn’t feel cheap inside. The seat creaked in my test drive, weird lumpy feeling steering. Maybe it was just that one example. Maybe someone had beaten the living tar out of it on a test drive. I wasn’t impressed after I drove the Honda.

Accord? Superb, a strong contender for my dollars. But an inconveniently located dealership and the high-pressure puckered anus for a salesperson turned me off of the deal.

FoMoCo Fusion/Milan? Drive a Malibu with the 4, then try a Fusion 4 cylinder – I think you’d go back to the Chevy regardless of trim level. The Ford 4-banger transmits it’s valvetrain sounds through the dashboard with enough volume to be distracting. Wind noise intrudes. The handling was sharp, the transmission eager to provide the needed revs. That and a low price point was the redeeming value, even my meager budget could add a few options – and would have wanted to, at the very least to get a half-decent sound system.

The Malibu trounces the Fu/Mi in feeling like a higher quality item. The interior has more appealing lines. The base seats are more comfy. More points for the long-wheelbase, with its languid, controlled ride that still handles well. It’s damn near as quiet as a Q-ship. It won me over on the superb NVH control, smooth ride, and fit and finish fronts. Plus, it got the thumbs up from the family to boot (Apparently, style is everything to the under 18 crowd).

I look forward to many quiet miles of mindless, lemminglike commuting bliss in my new motoring appliance. Perhaps, in four or five years, when I’m ready to pass it on to one of my spawn, I’ll take a peek at rejoining the Motorcraft parts fold – but for this half-decade at least, my disposable income went to the General. And my wife was gazing longingly at an HHR while we were out tire-kicking……

The point I think I’m going for is that, just like fuel economy, unless there is some horrendous flaw, it’s just as much about how you drive and treat your car as it is about what you drive. My Ford has never let me down in the four years it’s been mine, while my sister’s Scion is throwing check engine lights at under 60k, the girlfriends Mitsubishi is doing the same, and the mom’s Nissan is starting to show electrical problems at 110k. I think with cars from the 90’s to present, once they started getting EFI right, if you’re good to them, they’ll be good to you.

I should add that the Mitsubishi, Scion, and Nissan, are a 2000 Galant, 2004 Xa, and 1997 Quest.

The company also has opted to bring some interiors development back in-house to retain the “Fordness” of a vehicle, Kuzak told reporters on the sidelines of the SAE International 2008 World Congress in Detroit.

“I like to call the interior the second home on wheels,” he said. “So we are very focused on making that second home on wheels completely Ford, improving the perceived problem in the choice of materials, the fit and finish and bringing in a lot of comfort and convenience.”

The automaker wants customers to know they are sitting in a Ford by the feel of the seat, the sound of a door shutting and an engine starting, even if they are blindfolded, Kuzak said.

“They will all be distinctively Ford and every Ford world wide will sound look and feel the same way,” he said.

Um….yeah. This guy clearly has absolutely no idea of the depths of the brand has sunk. Ford is toast.

You never worked as a mechanic or partsman for a Ford dealer did you?

still, i see plenty of old tauri (taurus plural?) on the road even today. at least it was a design that appealed to people. i don’t think the camcord is the unassailable target that people believe it to be. give the public a better value proposition than the japanese competition and they will look at your product. hyundai is doing that successfully right now.

The reason you see so many of them is because after the initial reliability woes were fixed, the cars were capable of lasting for many years. Our 92 Sable, now a station car, has 209,000 miles on it and is still reliable. The so called self destructing tranny did die – at 165K. With basic care, they simply last a long time, and when they need repair, they are easy to fix and parts are relatively cheap.

That said, Ford should do one better than Hyundai’s warranty. Perceptions take years to mend, and Hyundai’s finally reaping it’s just rewards. Ford sadly squandered their chance to do the same.