Ford equals Honda and Toyota in quality, sexy.

argatoga

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http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/07/ford-touting-quality-equal-to-that-of-toyota-and-honda/

The Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based RDA Group has found that Ford is on par with top-level stalwarts Toyota and Honda when it comes to vehicle quality. Ford managed 1,284 "things-gone-wrong" (TGW) per 1,000 vehicles during the first three months of ownership this year, statistically matching the two top Japanese brands, which are tied at 1,250 TGW. Though it certianly won't be the last word in the ongoing debate as to who makes the best cars, it is at least a good sign for Ford. Perhaps what's most impressive is that 36 of 40 Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo and Mazda nameplates improved this year versus 2007. Ford's performance in this study marks an eight-percent improvement over the previous year, at which time they were tied with Toyota, but trailing industry-leader Honda. While Ford is glad to see quality improving, every automaker would surely like to sit alone at the top of the quality rankings, and Ford is no different.

Ford builds some pretty good vehicles these days, but faces a large perceived quality gap, as only 41-percent of consumers consider Ford vehicles according to their own internal data. For that reason, expect Ford to tout these new quality findings as part of their Drive One campaign.
 
According to everything I have read, Toyota is slipping away from the top spots which are currently held my Honda and Subaru while Ford is on the rise.

I have no doubt that Ford is doing much much better in quality, but I don't think Toyota is all that great these days. Last year they had the most recalls and the most engine recalls of any company. Are we sure Ford isn't just waving to Toyota as they pass one another on the rankings - each going in their own direction? They may have the same number of TGW/1,000 vehicles, but from what I understand Toyota has been having more serious TGWs than the others.
 
Hey I'm from the city where that company is based.
Hopefully Ford can get its sales up. Volvo and Mazda has it's own sales niches. Mazda makes sports cars and generally affordable sporty vehicles and Volvo making entry level and mid range luxury cars.
I'd be surprised if Lincoln ends up doing anything interesting, I have a feeling that, if anything, it will end up being like Buick.
I can't see Mercury going anywhere at all, Ford itself has enough identity problems without having to worry about its dressed up twin. I don't know if this makes sense, but if Mercury was killed off then Ford would probably get all of those sales anyway. And then more people would associate the former Mercuries as Fords (if they haven't already).

We'll see where Ford is in 5 years, it'll be interesting to see if they can pull the turn around that GM has managed.
 
Ford managed 1,284 "things-gone-wrong" (TGW) per 1,000 vehicles during the first three months of ownership this year, statistically matching the two top Japanese brands, which are tied at 1,250 TGW.

OK, fine.

Now, how about a TGW average for SOMETHING OTHER THAN THE FIRST 90 DAYS OF OWNERSHIP? Like, oh, a year? Two years? Three years?

I guarantee that the numbers will change radically - and not in Ford's favor.

For that matter, "Things Gone Wrong" isn't a great indicator. It doesn't show severity of issues - "radio wouldn't take CDs any more" has the same rating value as "wheel fell off due to bearing failure" (Focus) or "car set itself on fire and burned down my house" (Ford SUVs).

Somehow, I would think that the CD player issue might be a little less important than, oh, a wheel falling off at 65mph or your car bursting into flames.

UAW = FTL.
 
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It's certainly good news for Ford, but I always wonder with these surveys how much customer expectations play a role. Not saying this is the case, but a customer may buy brand x and expect less, and therefore put up with more, so even though the vehicle has more problems, on a survey like this it shows up as being a fantastically well-built car.

You know, grain of salt and all that.
 
For that matter, "Things Gone Wrong" isn't a great indicator. It doesn't show severity of issues - "radio wouldn't take CDs any more" has the same rating value as "wheel fell off due to bearing failure" (Focus) or "car set itself on fire and burned down my house" (Ford SUVs).

Stop being such a Negative Nancy, those are features. The Focus featured Ford's tried and true Dynamic Weight Reduction technology which both lightens the car dynamically when in transit while providing the driver with an unforgettable and exciting experience. As for the SUVs, Ford, ever concerned for driver safety, decided that day-time running lights were not enough in preventing collisions, and thus added the Flaming Car of Noticement technology pioneered by their Detroit rival's Pontiac brand. With FCN other drivers are guaranteed to notice your flaming SUV and not collide into you.
 
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Nice to see Ford bolting their cars together better. Toyota build quality really isn't anything to trumpet about anyway. You only buy a Toyota if you want a charisma bypass.

yeah, here i think after the MKI focus facelift here fords quality improved no end.

the MkII focus, current and previous mondeos, c-max, s-max, galaxy, fiesta.... all are solidly built. not always the most appealing to look at (ie the older mondeo has a very very very bland, dark, dull interior) but well built non the less and their engines (whilst very old) are pretty good too. for example one of the diesels for the new mondeo can find its roots from the same engine installed in the really really old fiestas.

According to everything I have read, Toyota is slipping away from the top spots which are currently held my Honda and Subaru while Ford is on the rise.

I have no doubt that Ford is doing much much better in quality, but I don't think Toyota is all that great these days. Last year they had the most recalls and the most engine recalls of any company. Are we sure Ford isn't just waving to Toyota as they pass one another on the rankings - each going in their own direction? They may have the same number of TGW/1,000 vehicles, but from what I understand Toyota has been having more serious TGWs than the others.

yeah i think toyota arent as good as people say. we had a rav4 and it really was terrible. bar the ECU going completely haywire nothing else went wrong, but the quality of the interior was imo terrible. sure it was well bolted together but the plastics felt horribly hard and brittle, everything felt hollow, the cabin seemed to resonate road noise and engine/transmission noises passed through into the cabin a bit too easily as well.

we upgraded to a Lexus instead.

much better.

its probably a ploy, build toyotas with just enough quality to disappoint a few people and get them to upgrade to the more pricey lexus brand
 
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At least, referring to Ford Europe this is true. My Ford Escort it's already 22 years old and *crossing fingers* and the engine has never broken. EVER!
Of course It had little repairs but they were mostly external things like worn out brakes and things like that.

These things tell you a lot about a car manufacturer. And I'm going to stick with Ford for my next car :D
 
I have had 3 Ford products in the last 15 years, and I had very few complaints about them. Although, my number one complaint would have to be that the Ford Ranger I bought probably should have come with a jack that worked! We got a flat and I could not change it because the jack was completely broken.... yeah I was a bit miffed, but all in all that was a great little truck.

The other two cars were a 96 Taurus and an 88 Sable (a Taurus from Mercury). They were both AWESOME cars in terms of reliability and getting from A to B. They certainly wold not have won any races, but they served the purpose of grocery getter with great success. I would buy another one of those in a split second, and the 2010 Taurus actually looks pretty cool too!
 
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I think that they have got this about right - Honda, Toyota going down (a sad Verso experience in my case) and Ford on the way up, here at least. I agree that the Focus for example improved greatly between Mk1 and Mk2 as Otis has said. The new Mondeo I drove as a rental was a great car to drive and felt really solid.
 
These numbers are almost impossible to compare. Completely different QA processes.
 
I also heard that Toyota quality has decreased, and that's what put me off from buying a Corolla (among other things). Hyundai is doing very well also. I saw a chart that shows problems per 100 vehicles for individual makes and Hyundai was 2nd :blink:, just behind Lexus. That's why I'm probably gonna buy a 07 Sonata. :D

Here's the chart: http://www.swivel.com/graphs/show/16016515

I think it's from 1-2 years ago though.
 
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OK, fine.

Now, how about a TGW average for SOMETHING OTHER THAN THE FIRST 90 DAYS OF OWNERSHIP? Like, oh, a year? Two years? Three years?

I guarantee that the numbers will change radically - and not in Ford's favor.

For that matter, "Things Gone Wrong" isn't a great indicator. It doesn't show severity of issues - "radio wouldn't take CDs any more" has the same rating value as "wheel fell off due to bearing failure" (Focus) or "car set itself on fire and burned down my house" (Ford SUVs).

Somehow, I would think that the CD player issue might be a little less important than, oh, a wheel falling off at 65mph or your car bursting into flames.

UAW = FTL.

So Ford can get all the small things right, but the big things wrong, while Honda and Toyota get all the smalls things wrong, but the big things right?

If Honda can't make a CD player that works properly, then why would they build better cars then Ford?

I agree with you though, long term ownership stats would change the results greatly. Unfortunately, most people don't hang on to cars for very long. Seems it's the short term things that people care about most. Who cares if your engine could go 200k miles without maintenance, when you're going to trade it in at 60k miles anyway.
 
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