Wish I had never bought my Ford car

[merryweather20]

Seriously? My Toyota has been a jewel. It's 10 years old now, with 178,000 miles on it. I did have to replace the engine 2 years ago, and I realize that's very major, but everything else has strictly been maintenance.

Now, Fords on the other hand. I've owned two, my parents have had numerous since 1974. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM has had brake and air conditioning problems. Every one! No thanks, I'll buy another Toyota.

Yup! Growing up my family always owned Chevy. So I was used to being able to take a car in for repair, and getting it back the same day right away without alot of $$$.

That doesn't happen with Toyota's unfortunately. Every time they had an issue the car would need to be in the shop for a week + (a very major issue when you are under 25 and too young to rent a car to get to work etc.). Every time it was ooooh thats a special part we'll have to order that in, its only on this model, its a special size etc. They also had to deal with much higher insurance premiums, they finally asked why and were told it was because of the high cost of replacement parts (we could beleive that). One of them had a Honda but same thing.

Its not as though it was a dealer issue because it happened to several different people in different cities. Watching them struggle like that certainly swore me off Toyota's for gooe.

A couple weeks ago I was reading an article, where some Toyota execs were patting themselves on the back for having high resale values. Not a word about building a quality car, it was all about monkeying around with production numbers, some of which would result in higher parts costs (I wasn't surprised). On the other hand I know plenty of people who have been able to maintain their Chevy's and Ford's for 15 + years.

 

[manning]

181,000 plus and going strong on my '93 lincoln.

It even got rear ended a couple of years ago. Had to have it towed to the dealer only because the tail pipe got jammed into the tire and couldn't dislodge it. Car didn't even look like it was hit. The guy who hit me couldn't open his front doors. His front end folded on him like an accordion. Two tow trucks had to pull us apart. One of the tow drivers took one look and said "yup, built ford tough". Biggest cost of the repair was the rear bumper that had to be replaced.


















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[Planogirl]

Our 2004 Taurus has done all right (knock on wood). It has about 90,000 miles right now. It's a dog though and I sometimes worry a little when I get on freeways. The thing needs a running start!

 

[luvmy3]

Or "Found On Roadside Dead"!

That would be my Ford.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

I've owned 3 Ford Escorts and currently own a Ford Focus. No problems with any of them.

Now DH had a Chevy Beretta once - OY! That car was nothing but trouble from day one.

 

[golfgal]

Of all the cars we have owned the ONLY one that gave us problems was the Ford. Never again will I buy one.

 

[wdwmom2]

I just sold my 1988 Ford Tempo, it had 145,000 miles on it and going strong!!! Replaced it with a Honda Accord. May have held off a little longer but like the fact that we can deduct the sales tax off of next years tax return.

My DH has a 1998 Ford Expedition and had to replace the motor before 100,000 miles. A few years after he had to replace the transmission!!!!

So we have had good AND bad luck with Fords. I also own a 1997 Ford Mustang, but it only has 40,000 miles on it. So far, so good!

 

[apirateslifeforme]

My first car was a '91 Ford Escort. Had it for 11 years until it died, but no problems at all in the meantime! I literally cried when it finally gave up.

Now, my '02 Hyundai Sonata...if I had a job, I'd be trading in that thing yesterday. I call it Christine...I swear it's possessed. The doors lock and unlock by themselves, the radio goes on and off and switches stations, the speedometer will drop to zero while driving - among numerous other problems the car has had in the past 7 years...

 

[MerMom60_94]

Funny you should bring this up.......I own a 2002 Ford Escape. On April 27th I was driving home from work and had just exited the highway when it died on the side of the road. I had it towed to my mechanic who discovered I needed a catalytic converter - a part that is warrantied by Ford. He sent my truck to the nearest Ford dealer to handle the repairs. It is now May 28th (and close to $500 in rental car fees later). I still do not have my car back. The dealer claims to be having trouble getting parts. I have been told it should be fixed tomorrow. Then again, I was told the same thing last Friday, and then it was going to fixed on Tuesday, and so on. My husband has asked for reimbursement for the rental fees and he has been told they can't help us. He has gone past the dealer to Ford and had no luck with getting our car back or getting reimburesement. If I have this car back tomorrow I will be car shopping Saturday - not for a Ford though!! Things sometimes go wrong and cars sometimes break down - fine. When that happens, though, I expect the manufacturer to stand behind their product and their customers and that hasn't happened at all. As a matter of fact, I filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General just yesterday to see if they can help get this resolved. I am not a happy camper!

 

[Disneycrazy!!]

I hope nothing else goes wrong with my car. I talked to a man yesterday who has a 500 and has had it 5 years and never had 1 problem.

I could see if my car just needed routine maintence with high miles but having only 40,000? I bought a new car because I travel every weekend and wanted to feel safe but the security I had is gone.

 

[OctMtnWoods]

Grew up in a Chrysler family. Was brainwashed to think they were the best.

Met DH. A Ford family.
2 Ford Tempos in the mid 80's. Different years. Both developed problems of slipping in & out of gears. Later learned they use PLASTIC gears that just wear down. Not good if you life in hilly country & always need to be shifting.

Then it was onto a Mercury Tracer. A leaky heater core that dumped anti-freeze all on the drivers side carpet. Nice & sticky.

Learned my lesson & moved on to Subaru 7 yrs ago.

DH tried Toyota, Honda & Nissan. Problems too.

He's now joined me with Subaru. We are a 2 Subaru family now.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

We've love our Tauruses. We had two wagons and I currently have a 1995 sedan with 68,000 miles.
Three months ago we bought a used Ford Focus for my DD. So far she likes it.

 

[ead79]

My family has had 2 Ford's and both of them needed pretty major and/or pretty frequent repairs. DH and I now both drive Hondas, and we couldn't be more pleased with them. They are super reliable, and repairs on them are typically very reasonable when they do need to happen.

I would suggest reading Consumer Reports. They have details reports on both new and used cars to help you make the best choice. They have tons of historical data on which cars are the most reliable. Also, for the used cars they have reliability data for each model year so you can avoid a year that might've been a "lemon year" if that makes sense. You can just register online rather than subscribe to the magazine--I've found that to be an easier way for me.

 

[KristinBelle]

I love my Ford Focus, runs great.

 

[luv2sew]

Driving Fords for 28 years and no problems.

1983 Escort, purchased new and had over 200,00 miles on it when we ran out of room in it with our growning kids and bought a new 1992 Taurus Wagon and that gave us over 200, 000 miles on it and over 10 years when we purchased a 2004 Taurus Sedan which is just fine, thank you, for our $13,000 we paid for it (it was a demo car with 7,000 miles on it) and is now reaching 100,000 miles. In the middle of that time my husband purchased a 1994 Ford TEMPO and still is in our family with over 200,000 miles on it. We purchased a 2008 Ford Focus in December of 07 for our daughter when she turned 21 and she loves it especially that "Sync" system in it.

So for us Fords are just doing fine.

My brother in law just purchased a Ford Edge....he hated his Lexus he had for 2 years and tried all different crossovers and settled on the Edge, so far he has no complaints.

 

[puffkin]

I love my '03 Escape, I haven't had a single problem with it except brakes....but I am REALLY REALLY hard on brakes so that was to be expected. My DH almost cried when we traded in his Ranger for a better commuting car and a car with a back seat. My mom drove an Explorer for 14 years and had 200k+ miles on it with no major problems just maintenance.

We also have a Corolla. I agree with others about trying a different dealership for service. The one Toyota dealership near us is TERRIBLE but the one a bit further away is fantastic and it wins all sorts of service awards. We have never had to wait for parts (like the time my DH's side view was hit and we needed it replaced) and friends have had similar experiences there.

 

[suejai]

We have been driving Ford since DH was a service advisor for a Ford dealership. We have driven an Escort wagon, a Windstar, an F150, and I currently have an Edge, which I love and DH drives an F150, which he needs for work. We had one major problem with our Windstar but it was covered under warranty and they paid for our rental for a month while they waited for the part from Texas. We are also very impressed withFord financing.

I like Toyotas but for some reason they always feel short in legroom, I have fairly long legs and the seats never go back far enough for me. And if you feel like driving with a very cranky man put DH into a Chrysler product. We rented our car through Dollar on our last trip to Florida, they use Chrysler. It was a running dialogue about all the things he had issues with while driving, I finally had to ban him from talking about it

 

[etoiles]

Our family has gone through many, many Fords and after so many bad experiences we will not be back. New, used, we've tried them all and the Fix Or Repair Daily term fits perfectly.

I am surprised though to hear so many wonderful stories about them though after my family's experience.

LOVE my Toyota Corolla though!

 

[Golf4food]

Funny you should bring this up.......I own a 2002 Ford Escape. On April 27th I was driving home from work and had just exited the highway when it died on the side of the road. I had it towed to my mechanic who discovered I needed a catalytic converter - a part that is warrantied by Ford. He sent my truck to the nearest Ford dealer to handle the repairs. It is now May 28th (and close to $500 in rental car fees later). I still do not have my car back. The dealer claims to be having trouble getting parts. I have been told it should be fixed tomorrow. Then again, I was told the same thing last Friday, and then it was going to fixed on Tuesday, and so on. My husband has asked for reimbursement for the rental fees and he has been told they can't help us. He has gone past the dealer to Ford and had no luck with getting our car back or getting reimburesement. If I have this car back tomorrow I will be car shopping Saturday - not for a Ford though!! Things sometimes go wrong and cars sometimes break down - fine. When that happens, though, I expect the manufacturer to stand behind their product and their customers and that hasn't happened at all. As a matter of fact, I filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General just yesterday to see if they can help get this resolved. I am not a happy camper!

Sorry about your situation, but they probably are not trying to pull your chain on this. Everything in the car industry is down and that includes the suppliers, who are mostly smaller companies that don't have billions of dollars in revenue or loans or investors (or the government) to back them up. When sales dropped and the makers stopped making, they stopped ordering parts, too and that caused major problems for the parts suppliers.

We've had a little bit of everything in our family over the years. Currently have a 2008 Ford Escape that we love and have had zero problems with.

Ford quality in recent years has been very good and by far the best of the US makers, and almost as good or as good as the Asians. Toyota quality has dropped in recent years - they got fat and happy and stopped some of the things that made them top for so many years.

With most any new cars, just do your homework, don't trust any single source (even Consumer Reports - who are often behind on their testing and never test every possible option or make or model anyway), talk to some independent mechanics, and go with your gut.

 

[binny]

I had an 89 mustang that was the best car I've ever owned. I never had one issue with it. Loved that car!

Then we bought a Contour in 97. That was a lemon. In and out of the shop and we finally just traded it in for a Hyundai.

In addition to the Hyundai we now have a Freestyle that we love. No problems so far but it's only 3 years old.

I agree I my Freestyle!!