Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Ford comes in LAST in Quality, big 7 makers

Like many others here, I have been a "Ford Guy" - not in the strictest sense (I have owned other makes), but other than my '70 SS Chevelle, I have always picked Ford over GM and Mopar. I've only bought two cars new, an '88 Mustang GT, and my CSVT. The quality really has seemed to have gone downhill. The Mustang was a well-built car, and took tons of abuse without a whimper. In 135k, the only things that went bad were a wiper motor and an alternator. I can't say the same with the Contour. It is only 8 months and 12k miles from new, and I've had over 20 - yes, twenty! - problems; new tranny, paint falling off the doors, trunk won't latch, A/C condensor was smashed and leaking (not sure if it happened at the factory, or when the tranny was replaced), weatherstripping falling apart, and no straps holding passenger airbag in place, to name but a few. There is no excuse for such absymal quality. Corporate greed is all I can think of, resulting in decontenting, cutting corners and poor quality control. Unfortunately because of the horrendous depreciation, I'm probably going to have to hold on to it for a while (unless I can find a sucker). But my next new car will NOT be a Ford product. I may buy an older (88-93) Mustang as a toy, but my next main car will either be a new Japanese car, or a low-mileage BMW or Audi.

Wow, I don't post much on here, but I am very suprised to read so much ford bashing on a contour "enthusiast" group site. I realize that ford has had its problems in the past few years, but they have made some pretty awesome cars, my contour has had its share of problems, but I still love it, and I am going to do a lot of work to it to make it my own. Ford is just now starting to merge its companies platforms together, the Lincoln LS is the Jaguar platform, as is the Thunderbird and the soon to be remade mustang will be the same platform, Ford also owns Mazda, which the contour pretty much is, and volvo and aston martin, I think ford is going to suprise us in the next few years, but maybe that is just me being optimistic. It seems like the optimism was a little lacking in this topic anyways.

Ford does design some great cars, and the Contour is certainly one of them! The problem is that they don't build great cars. They skimp and cut corners wherever they can, and seem to have very little quality control measures in place.

Amen.

I think the engineers that designed the contour should get a handshake, but the ones who built the contour should be smacked in the face!

I used to be a serious supporter of FORD until I started reading about the BS people have with their cars, now I have become a FORD basher, I want to get rid of my CSVT in the worst way.

But my 1978 F-250 is unstoppable, 351M, NP205 box, 4 on the floor, DANA 60 rear with locker and a very rare DANA 45 limited slip front. 185k, engine bearings so bad you can watch the harmonic balancer "dance" 5 MPG on a good day, but it goes any where and is more reliable than my SVT. I'll try and post pictures on my monster, you'll see its nothing to look at

It's perfectly summed up in:

They've engineered some good cars, but they don't build them with the same level of care.

Although, some of their engineering decisions are questionable (check out this high-tech plastic impeller we have on this W/P)

Actually, Americans work more hours and take the least amount of vacation time than any other country in the world. American productivity is also among the highest in the world (a close number 2 to I believe Germany). This is American industry overall, not just the auto industry, which may have different results.

Another thing to consider: MOST of the Japanese nameplate cars sold in the U.S. are built by Americans! And the ones built in Japan have about the same level of defects as the ones built here. Goes to show you its not American workers that are the problem, it's American management and production philosophies that are the problem.

If American workers couldn't put out a quality product with high productivity, the Japanese wouldn't be building production plants here in record numbers.

Another thing: Japanese manufacturers maintain close relationships with their suppliers and monitor supplier quality very closely. Most American companies do not. It makes a big difference in the final product. Chances are many of the problems you had with your Ford were caused by a faulty part made by an outside supplier to Ford. But its Ford's responsibility to monitor the quality of its suppliers. Because in the eye of the consumer, its not some supplier's part that failed them, it was a Ford product that failed them, and that's all they know or care about.

Huh? The Contour has absolutely no relationship to Mazda. There's not a single part or design of the Contour that is from Mazda.

Don't worry, the Board is well aware of the probems. There will be some massive management changes real soon. Watch.

This is exactly the conclusion my mechanic friend came to when working on my engine. Well designed on paper, poorly executed in practice.

He also complained a lot about how hard to work on it is, but he's used to trucks.

This forum makes me sick. FORD really went into the poop house in terms of quality. I plan to sell my SVT soon before it starts having problems. Luckily my only problems NOW are a squeeky rear end, and a leaky trunk.

Honestly, I have doubts I will ever buy a FORD again. It makes me sad to think the car I once almost wet myself over now makes me cringe in disgust.

And we all owe it to money hungry fat a-- mother Fers at FORD who sit around in their cooshy GUCCI seats, driving non-ford cars laughing all the way to the bank every week with a 'way too big paycheck' while they whistle "zippity doo da" and think to themselvs "suckers"

I'd like to send them a x-mass card THAT TICKS he, he, he.