Ford layoffs

[JTK]

That's the sad thing and it's not just Ford. They create problems that dealer service isn't equipped or prepared to fix. People are paying ~$40K for a new vehicle at the low end, tacking a $6K extended warranty on top of that and dealer service still either doesn't know how to fix a problem, doesn't have the people to do it, or they simply can't get parts.

 

[Fla]

I remember you posted about your son’s leaking sunroof.

Very sad Ford would not replace for free and try to keep a future customer.

It's not just Passport's son, Ford has had thousands of failures of their sunroofs and that they refuse to honor the warranties. It's another one of their ongoing problems that they won't fix in design and/or production and won't warranty and that each repair is costing the owner's thousand of dollars to fix. That has been a pattern with Ford and Ford Stealerships since at least the early 2010s.

My best advice: 1: Never buy a vehicle with a sunroof or anything else that penetrates the roof! 2: Get a vehicle, fix the bugs in it and drive it until the wheels fall off. If you can't get the bugs out then trade it in and try with something else. 3: Don't buy overly complex vehicles that are difficult to understand and difficult to service. 4: And most important, NEVER buy the first year model of any vehicle or first year model of a new engine or first year model transmission or the first year model of any critical system in the vehicle. Wait till they've been on the market for a while and see what kinds of problems they have.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

IDK about that. My 98 F150 4x4 Lariat has never had any mechanical problems that aren't normal wear items (ball joints, bushings etc). Never chucked a plug, transmission still good etc.

They have priced me out of ever buying another new one though and I wouldn't anyway with all the turbos and DI engines these days.

Seriously? My 01 F150 4x4 lariat has had all of the "affects some" problems over the years. Bad paint, leaking rear window, leaking engine (replaced and leaks again), intake manifold cracked, exhaust manifold cracked /broken studs, instrument cluster issues, hub bearings and steering parts fail often but thats somewhat due to larger tires.
I have the "should have bought a Toyota" syndrome often.

 

[Fla]

That's the sad thing and it's not just Ford. They create problems that dealer service isn't equipped or prepared to fix. People are paying ~$40K for a new vehicle at the low end, tacking a $6K extended warranty on top of that and dealer service still either doesn't know how to fix a problem, doesn't have the people to do it,

or they simply can't get parts.

The really funny thing about that is that if it's a warranty repair they can't get the parts but if the customer is paying for it, they can usually find parts for it somewhere. Stealerships don't like missing out on thousands of dollars worth of business due to a lack of parts.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

My Grandson has his Ford Focus in for a transmission problem 6 months to get the part!

 

[Oillover]

What A LOT of companies still can't seem to figure out is the fact that this isn't the 1950s any more, and today the news about "inferior" products can literally spread over night and to hundreds of thousands of other potential buyers.

You should see how things are unraveling on the Volvo forums.

Folks with the popular XC90 are crying in their soup.
I guess the 4 popper engines (with at least 1 turbo) offered in the late models are only good for about 100k miles before failure.
Most are still making payments on them while the vehicle sits in their driveway...and there's obviously no help from Volvo.

I swear, you can't make this stuff up.

Yep, folks realize they really don’t need a $75,000 pickup truck.

Nobody makes money building hatchbacks with manual transmissions!

 

[SC Maintenance]

Ford lost my new vehicle business after they screwed me on warranty repairs. After the second large, multi day repair, I got a letter in the mail from Ford Corporate stating that “The repairs performed on your vehicle exceed the underwriting limits of your factory 3Y/36K warranty. As such, your vehicle is now considered to be out of warranty.” It was one friggen year old with 11K miles!

Did they offer to buy it back or what became of this?

 

[bullwinkle]

I remember you posted about your son’s leaking sunroof.

Very sad Ford would not replace for free and try to keep a future customer.

Unfortunately, Ford's customer "retention" comes straight out of the PT Barnum playbook-but the suckers are finally wising up!

 

[IveBeenRued]

Did they offer to buy it back or what became of this?

It didn’t qualify for a buyback because it never had a third repair for the same issue. I consulted an attorney who said that Ford and the dealer had blatantly anti-consumer language in the purchase agreement. It would have been a big upfront fee to fight the invalidated warranty and I wasn’t ready to lose sleep over it so I started repairing it myself out of pocket.

It took me about $6K to limp that Ford to 80K miles, with me doing a majority of the work. I sold the Ford and bought a 2020 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. I’m happy to report that my Toyota has had zero issues and is currently at 70K miles.

I still get the carfax updates on the Ford because I never removed it from the app. It appears that it is still a maintenance/repair pig. Based on the geography changes/frequency of oil changes, I think it is on to its fourth or fifth owner at this point (pretty bad for a 2013).

 

[CarDoc66]

Car makers are doing some strange things lately and I think there is a lot of uncertainty going on in those meetings. I read that Stellantis is reducing the North American workforce by 33,500. I believe the total Chrysler N American workforce is less than 60,000 so that's a significant number. The writing is on the wall folks, it was great while it lasted.

 

[JeffKeryk]

This stuff kills me. Ford is a legendary American Company. 120 years old... Henry changed the world with the Highland Park plant; he put the US on wheels. Car companies employ his assembly line approach to manufacturing to this day.

We hear, "Wait till the big boys get in." The problem Ford and the others have is their legacy factories and practices. Factories all over the world makes for a change over and logistics nightmare. Slow and expensive. Then there is the dealership sales model; all cost and no benefit.

I wish CEO Farley well. The cost of new cars today is flat out insane and the quality seems to be a crap shoot. Worse than that, their margins do not allow for action. "No money no honey."

 

[Torrid]

Poor business decisions have this result. This is an age old story, always with the same result.

I suggest hiring the most competent people possible, produce a competitively priced, desirable, quality product and avoid making poor business decisions.

As a long time fan of the F150, I can't see myself purchasing another. They are no better than they were 15 years ago, and the price is an inflation adjusted 50% higher. They are no longer competitively priced, nor are they more desirable. And, do you think me, a pilot, aircraft owner, big bore dirt biker, all American man, wants to see Ford promoting a flamboyant, multicolored Raptor? Not a chance. I want to see a rough and tough, mean looking truck.

They can enjoy the loss of market share those poor choices cause!

Yes:
View attachment 163577

No:

And, let's be clear, I wouldn't pour Bud Light on my arm if it was on fire.

I'll never understand being so bothered by this.

 

[Number_35]

My Grandson has his Ford Focus in for a transmission problem 6 months to get the part!

Is that the infamous DCT?

 

[Fla]

I guess that I just got lucky in that I bought an F-150 when Ford was still trying to improve their quality and their image. My 2010 150 has been great (KNOCK ON WOOD!). A lot of companies seem to operate like this, they build a good product for a few years and then built SHIIT for a number of years. Then they realize that they're in danger of going out of business so they return to making a good product but a few years later then return to building junk. What is it with these companies? Or do they just hire a new CEO that doesn't know anything of how big companies operate and the dangers of them getting a bad reputation so he decides to cut corners and make a fast profit?

 

[Wrenchturner44]

That's the sad thing and it's not just Ford. They create problems that dealer service isn't equipped or prepared to fix. People are paying ~$40K for a new vehicle at the low end, tacking a $6K extended warranty on top of that and dealer service still either doesn't know how to fix a problem, doesn't have the people to do it, or they simply can't get parts.

Well said.

 

[cb_13]

Seriously? My 01 F150 4x4 lariat has had all of the "affects some" problems over the years. Bad paint, leaking rear window, leaking engine (replaced and leaks again), intake manifold cracked, exhaust manifold cracked /broken studs, instrument cluster issues, hub bearings and steering parts fail often but thats somewhat due to larger tires.
I have the "should have bought a Toyota" syndrome often.

My dad’s 99 f150 lasted him from 02-22 with just routine maintenance a blend door actuator, alternator and one coil before he sold it.

My 98 never needed anything but maintenance I only had it for a few years though.

USUALLY those 10th Gen F150s are extremely reliable. There are always exceptions though. I’d be buying another brand as well if I had your experiences.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

My dad’s 99 f150 lasted him from 02-22 with just routine maintenance a blend door actuator, alternator and one coil before he sold it.

My 98 never needed anything but maintenance I only had it for a few years though.

USUALLY those 10th Gen F150s are extremely reliable. There are always exceptions though. I’d be buying another brand as well if I had your experiences.

I still have it but definitely will never get another. Luckily all the repairs have been semi cheap except having the paint stripped and redone.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Is that the infamous DCT?

Define DCT?

 

[Redhawk454]

during an earnings report in 2022, jim farley said he was going to lay off engineers who design and biuld internal combustion engines so they can hire electrical engineers for EV's...

he also bitched about how their wasnt an electric super duty yet

these were the highlights from the 2022 earnings report:




-Our truck sales profits will be used to expand EV production. It will be difficult for some employees working on the truck development side to know that they are being used to expand EVs, which will eventually kill off the area they work in (he really said this).
-I am frustrated that Super Duty trucks can't be all electric by next year, or at least a hybrid. But at least they make us money to expand EV production.
-People want to sleep in their vehicles, we need to pursue that technology.
-We no longer need to hire Mechanical Engineers, we need to higher Electrical Engineers instead that can build EVs. We need to replace ICE experts with EV experts (he already started doing this).

With that type of mentality recalls will persist and quality will decline, since it is a stark departure from building what is practical and cost efficient. This CEO is serving the government.

 

[Number_35]

Define DCT?

Dual-clutch transmission - sort of an automated manual, with no torque converter. Very problematic in the Focus.