Toyota: I Spit on Ford's Quality Claims!

by Frank Williams

Published: May 12th, 2008

Last month, Ford released the results of a self-commissioned study claiming their initial quality is as good as Toyota's. Well, Toyota ain't gonna take it; no! They ain't gonna take! On their Open Road Blog, corporate mouthpiece Mike Michaels goes to great lengths to explain that the Ford survey isn't the J.D. Power survey– which places Toyota above Ford. However, Michaels points-out that all of these initial quality surveys "deal with problems that surface only in the first 90 days." They're "useful, maybe, if you're going to rent the car for three months" (and God knows how many times we've done that.) Michaels then proclaims that brand loyalty– where Toyota and Lexus rank at the top– is the only true indicator of quality. That's the only way to know "how your car will treat you long after that new-car smell is gone." It's also a great way to know which car company has the most effective ~~brainwashing~~ marketing or the most risk-aversive customers. But there's one question Mr. Michaels left unanswered: why should we believe a survey that placing Toyota over Ford is any more accurate than one placing Ford on the same plane as Toyota when the methodology behind both of them is clouded in smoke and mirrors? Enquiring minds want to know.

Frank Williams

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4 of 44 comments

Mfgreen40 on May 12, 2008

quasimondo Are you sure the two valve head has more threads.I know the 3 valve head has lots of threads. I have seen 2003 with the problem. I think what you are missing is the fact that ford is not helping the customer. A spark plug should not blow out of the head.There are thousands of these customers that after spending $3000 to fix a spark plug will never buy another ford. Plus they tell their friends. This is why ford and gm and crysler are in trouble.

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Geeber on May 13, 2008
Orian: I’m talking about the Crown Vic and Grand Marquis, and no, they do not pass. I am curious - what other vehicles can survive a 75-mph rear-end collision without a ruptured fuel tank? None to mind immediately... Orian: The State of Ohio just spent close to a million dollars retrofitting the State Patrol’s Crown Vics after 2 (that’s two) officers lost their lives to fires caused by their cruisers being rear-ended. Again, I would like to know the speed of those collisions. The accidents I've read about all had Crown Victorias hit by vehicles traveling at well over 70 mph. The reason you don't hear about other vehicles with this problem is because they aren't used for highway patrol duties, and thus aren't routinely parked along a highway where they can be rear-ended by vehicles traveling at over 70 mph.

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Quasimondo on May 13, 2008
Are you sure the two valve head has more threads.I know the 3 valve head has lots of threads. I have seen 2003 with the problem. It's been documented that with the two-valve and three-valve heads, the cause of the spark plug blowoutws was an inadequate thread count that leaves very little space for the plugs to grab on to. I think what you are missing is the fact that ford is not helping the customer. A spark plug should not blow out of the head.There are thousands of these customers that after spending $3000 to fix a spark plug will never buy another ford. Plus they tell their friends. This is why ford and gm and crysler are in trouble. That is true and that is unfortunate. However, Ford should not be singled out for this type of action. The 95-99 Eclipse Turbos have a well documented history of eating up crankshaft thrust bearings, killing the whole engine. Mitsubishi never acknowledged a problem. The 92-94 Nissan Sentra SE-R was known to pop out of gear while cruising in 5th, and they've never acknowledged it. 96-99 Subarus with the 2.5-litre engine were notorious for blowing head gaskets and all they recommend to the owners was to throw some special conditioner in with the coolant. I didn't bring up these examples to down Nissan, Mitsubishi, or Subaru, but to highlight the fact that Ford isn't the only company out there who likes to step back from their products when the clock runs out on the warranty.

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The nicholasdale on Jul 06, 2009

I own Fords and Hondas and perfer the Fords for style and they're more fun to drive. The Hondas are very practical but I'm more of a fun person and have never been practical (or cheap). Yes the Honda maintains its value but over all I put more money into the Honda than the Ford. BTW, I have never had a single problem with the new Fords or new Hondas besides recalls. Every Toyota and Honda are nothing special to look at and don't turn any heads. The only reaosn the resale or Honda and Toyotas are higher is because of demand. I bought a used Honda Accord for $4000 and felt it was way over priced and it was a piece of junk. I would never pay high dollars for a used Honda again. Yes it ran if you didn't want air conditioning, didn't mind a rusted out exhaust, it shifted wierd and the suspension was shot.

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