At Ford Quality is Now Problem 1

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Interesting article on Ford's struggles with QA. The long and the short of it is:

1. Ford is spending $1047 per vehicle in warranty costs compared to GM at $713 per vehicle. This is up nearly 25% from five years ago and it's costing billions.
2. Ford is leading absolute recalls by nearly 3x that of the number 2 manufacturer Tesla with 6.82M recalls
3. Too many new models with too many new parts
4. A culture where meeting the deadline is more important than identifying and correcting problems early in the design and engineering phase.
5. Too many last-minute changes just before launch.
6. They brought in someone from JD Power to correct these problems. They are monitoring social media to identify problems.

IMO Ford has a cultural problem of profits above all else which caused these problems. This may seem like a noble effort but in my estimation, that same culture still exists because it seems the only reason they want to fix these problems is because the QA issues are hitting the bottom line and affecting profits.

 
Yup, not surprised. Both of my company vehicles have been disasters. Blown engine at 82K on the Fusion (known issue. Most of the money probably went to these 1.5 Eco boost engines.)

15K on my 2021 Escape and there have been 5 recalls, one is still outstanding after 8 months (no parts....and it's brake pads.) 3 recalls on the engine.

I would NEVER buy a FORD. Ever.
 
My business partner has a 2016 F150 with the 3.5EB @ 90K miles that has had a couple of very minor issues (peeling chrome on side steps and power side mirror stopped working that was replaced under warranty) but no major issues - 100% dealer maintained. It's too bad because Ford does have some compelling products IMO.
 
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What’s their profit per vehicle? Might be a drop compared to that.

Might cost too much to fix the problem(s), cheaper to just push it out the door and deal with later. Shoddy process but we know it happens.
 
I owned a 2011 Fiesta with the 6-speed duel clutch. The clutch plates failed every 25,000 miles, at 125,000 miles it needed its 5th set of clutches. The tech at Ford told me the only way to fix this car was to sell it. Never again, they knew the transmission was bad and continued selling these junk cars.
 
Interesting article on Ford's struggles with QA. The long and the short of it is:

1. Ford is spending $1047 per vehicle in warranty costs compared to GM at $713 per vehicle. This is up nearly 25% from five years ago and it's costing billions.
2. Ford is leading absolute recalls by nearly 3x that of the number 2 manufacturer Tesla with 6.82M recalls
3. Too many new models with too many new parts
4. A culture where meeting the deadline is more important than identifying and correcting problems early in the design and engineering phase.
5. Too many last-minute changes just before launch.
6. They brought in someone from JD Power to correct these problems. They are monitoring social media to identify problems.

IMO Ford has a cultural problem of profits above all else which caused these problems. This may seem like a noble effort but in my estimation, that same culture still exists because it seems the only reason they want to fix these problems is because the QA issues are hitting the bottom line and affecting profits.

Interesting. Thanks. I think Fords problem is they introduce new things all at once. Like new engines, transmissions, info system etc., unlike Toyota which gradually does only one thing at a time. All these changes at once take time to sort out and warranty costs shoot up.
 
Interesting. Thanks. I think Fords problem is they introduce new things all at once. Like new engines, transmissions, info system etc., unlike Toyota which gradually does only one thing at a time. All these changes at once take time to sort out and warranty costs shoot up.
They touch on this in the article - too many new vehicles over too short a period of time with an emphasis on meeting deadlines. That is a recipe for disaster IMO.
 
An iconic pillar in American manufacturing and history employing J.D. Power people to "monitor social media to identify problems", is just too funny for words.
I am trying to understand what they are attempting to accomplish by monitoring social media. 94.8% of drivers do not understand the mechanical side of cars and the 5.2% that do are not on social media (for the most part).
 
This is on the new Bronco Sport. The paint issue isn’t even one of them.

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I am trying to understand what they are attempting to accomplish by monitoring social media. 94.8% of drivers do not understand the mechanical side of cars and the 5.2% that do are not on social media (for the most part).
It's not a bad way of screening for potential problems both with the vehicles as well as public perception. Obviously, you can't take anything at face value but there is some info that can be mined on social media. I questioned the removal of the transmission cooler on the Tundra on social media and Mike Sweers actually responded..lol.
 
It hasn't been for a long time. Although, I have to say my old Mercury Sable wagon was not a bad car.
Quite a while sadly. I gave up on them years ago. I love my 88 E-150, but as I mentioned before odds are it will be my last Ford.
 
My 2021 Ford Ranger has done pretty well. There were some minor recalls (one to check the seat belts, the other for a child seat mount) but it's been steady so far. Of course, the model got a lot of "field testing" around the world before Ford brought it back to North America. That's one of the reasons why I chose it.
 
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