Ford Quality Control Problem

[ADK23]

I worked at a Ford dealership this past year and I can tell you that the amount of recalls, weird problems that take a few visits to fix, etc. are out of control. Customers are not happy! It is amazing how many problems there are. The quality control is not good. I hope they get their crap together.

My 2023 Bronco , a 2 door Sasquatch V6 is my very first Ford product I’ve ever owned. Coming up on three years of ownership in March 26 I have had zero problems. It’s been absolutely a joy to own, good reliability,, the fit and finish including the paint work are impeccable. As a matter of fact, the Paint is the nicest Paint I’ve ever had on any car with no swirl marks or blemishes. Matter of fact, I’m literally loading her up right now taking her out about a 1200 mile road trip to California this weekend. That said Ford absolutely needs to get their act together on the recall issue keep the damn actuaries and accountants out of engineering!!!

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[wjtinfwb]

It's almost a "pick your poison" type of thing.
The Subies we have had have tended to be pretty reliable overall, never leaving us stranded, but little things that start stacking up around 50,000 miles. Wheel bearings comes to mind. Then maybe the cv boots, then .... on top of expected things like brakes etc etc.

Usually nothing major, but smaller annoyances, somewhat spaced out as they occur.

I think somebody described them as "quirky", or something to that effect.
I found it to be something I could live with because of their other strong points.


EDIT: I think of it as, I can tolerate the easy mechanical stuff that wears out, if the issues had been in the electronics and the cars were becoming obsolete (unserviceable) due to all the inter-connected systems, I'd bail out on them at the first hint of that.

That is what unnerves me about the higher trim models, considering so many of Fords recalls are programming/code/electronics related.

My'23 Big Bend Sas has been absolutely perfect in 3 years and 23k miles. Buy, I've not allowed (or needed) anyone to touch it besides oil changes which I do myself. My son's '16 Focus ST1 had been perfect in 10 years and 100k miles, just brakes and battery's plus regular full syn oil changes. My daughter's '16 Crosstrek, while it's never failed her has needed wheel bearings, CVT services ($500!) drive belts and now front control arms as well as brakes and a couple battery's. The Subie has been by far the most expensive car I've owned since a few German brands in the '90s. One thing is in common, the dealer's have gotten absurdly expensive. Labor at the Subaru dealer is $225/hr! Everything other than an oil change is $500 or more. Not the cheap car to drive you'd hope for. Sure miss those old Celica's and Fox Mustang's you could fix in your garage and parts were dirt cheap, those days are long gone.

 

[Oldhippie]

Aside from fit and finish issues (that are crap) and the one time I lost lockers on the worst trail I’ve taken so far (Barrett’s lake) the only recall I know about on my ‘23 was the rear shock thing (I had already upgraded)…not as bad as the wife’s Alfa for sure…

 

[Scootsie Doubleday]

Recalls are a sign of good customer service. In the old days, car manufacturers didn’t care. Once you drove it off the lot, it was your problem.

 

[RoLyMa27]

Recalls must be cheaper in the long run than fixing the problem at it's source is the only thing I can figure. There is no way the higher ups at Ford don't know about these things before hand. Planned obsolescence explains why parts fail right around the time your warranty runs out. Gotta keep those revenue streams flowing. Just my 2 cents. I love my Bronco, quirks and all.

 

[helifino16]

I've worked on and off with Software that has been 'pushed out' to meet a specified delivery date. There is the attitude is that 'we can fix issues when they are found' by pushing out an OTA update. This is not surprising given the nature of just how complex and interconnected software systems are that end up exposing issues not dreamed up during testing - no matter how thorough it may have been. I suppose that the same can hold true for hardware as well. They seem to think that components can be swapped out easily when a flaw is encountered. Easy peasy, right? Until you're the lucky guy that finds the 'flaw' in your normal driving day and it leaves you stranded or at a loss of some functionality. This is the world we live in now.

 

[23OBX2.7]

This is what happens when 80% of global completion is blocked from market one way or another....one of the main reasons Soviet Union era vehicles also has serious quality issues...LOL.

 

[JustinsCustoms]

Why not feedback to the Mr-no-neck-jim-fartly CEO of Ford. Ever since he took over Ford, recalls been mounting and beating records each year! Over paid greedy lazy fat union workers are not helping either!

Whoa, lots of hate there for lots of people you don't know. I'm not fat, certainly not greedy, and I can say with pretty healthy confidence every time I've ever met someone with that kind of personal judgment on offer they've never been the strongest worker themselves. Pardon me if I don't think a day trader is a serious person calling someone that has to throw 2,000 tires a day, rip off 500 doors a day, etc lazy. I've done a lot of different kinds of work, probably a few jobs most including yourself wouldn't be able to handle and I see the parking lot daily and never once have seen a Raptor trim let alone a Maybach we're not rich. I also purposely spent nearly a year in the pool, purposely because knowing 30+ jobs is a leverage tool and now that I'm anchored I can negotiate if they want to move me, being in a union means that I have that right and not be taken advantage of it also means I am required to be paid more because of my capability not at the whim of bosses innept son in law. Now because I've been on almost every final line, I can also say that not one of those (permanent) jobs feels like gravy train and the Andon system really doesn't allow people to be lazy but rest assured there is over 1,000 people on a shift so I'm sure there are some ass holes but of the few hundred I've met, I've maybe seen two or three. Say what you want about the Temu fat guy in a little coat but just keep in mind that one of the reasons you have so many recalls is because there are people that care and are directly involved in the process that notice issues that the actual fat lazy idiots pulling a salary missed because if the regulatory recalls were the only recalls a lot would be missed.

 

[NORCALGXP]

This was a completely new model vehicle in ‘21 during an unprecedented global supply chain cluster F. I had 523 days of waiting to cancel my order and make a safer decision like buying a Toyota Corolla. But I accepted the risk and try now not to bitch about my fuel pump that has a recall on it. I’ve never owned a “year 1” vehicle before, but this experience is about what I was expecting.

The global supply chain issues lead to parts constraints in production in 2021 we saw this with Ford asking us who were wait for a build date to drop things like the hard top, tow package, the SAS pack and other things. I do not see how this effects the recalls.

I do not see how waiting 523 days has any bearing on recalls, I waited 508 days did not change my order due to parts constants. I could not foresee the future of Ford and amount of recalls to even contemplate changing to another vehicle . I would never buy a Toyota Corolla, did not even think about a Four Runner. I wanted the all new Bronco.

To use first year vehicle as an excuse for for Ford recalls is pathetic.
I have purchased first year vehicle in the past, not one had any recalls.
1983 Chevy S10 Blazer, 2000 Chevrolet Lumina, 1992 Chevy Blazer, 1999 Chevy Silverado.

If you were expecting this amount of Ford recalls, you have low standards.

Most of the Ford recalls are not that critical, only the fuel pump. Do not need that going out when on the Rubicon or any other trail.

Still love my Bronco.

 

[NORCALGXP]

Lol, chill Christmas post here, screaming into the void.

Nothing’s perfect. YOLO, yeet and repeat!

YOLO is an acronym for "You Only Live Once," popularized as slang for embracing spontaneity and taking risks.

This is my motto, had to google YOLO.

 

[DUSTYcazOREGON]

I worked at a Ford dealership this past year and I can tell you that the amount of recalls, weird problems that take a few visits to fix, etc. are out of control. Customers are not happy! It is amazing how many problems there are. The quality control is not good. I hope they get their crap together.

I have had Fords for 50 years. Most recently and F150 and the Bronco. Never any issues, maybe a minor recall (my Bronco only one). All brands have recalls and often it is due to a part that they purchase and not manufacture. My Bronco is near perfect. No paint issues...nothing. Beautiful rig that I plan to keep until I am in the ground. I recently bought a Yukon Denali and they are having engines die like flies flying into a cloud of insect killer (so I hope mine is a good one)... I almost wish I had gone with a Ford Expedition instead.

 

[Broncolander]

I worked at a Ford dealership this past year and I can tell you that the amount of recalls, weird problems that take a few visits to fix, etc. are out of control. Customers are not happy! It is amazing how many problems there are. The quality control is not good. I hope they get their crap together.

Never work for a Jeep dealership then
At least Ford actively investigates issues and actually fixes them. Successor models don’t always inherit the same problems because Ford addresses them.

Meanwhile, Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators have been plagued by the same issues since 2018, with nothing truly resolved. My Wrangler’s infotainment system died, the door hinges and hood started corroding, the battery constantly drained, and now the 4xe models have fire risks and dead batteries. It’s a complete shit show over there lol.

Not to mention I’ve had the displeasure of Jeep dealerships asking me, “Do you off-road?” and if the answer is yes, suddenly it’s not covered under warranty. I even had a dealer try to pull that on me over corroded tailgate hinges.

I’d much rather deal with four active recalls that have fixes just around the corner than watch the same generational problems go unresolved year after year. And I say this as someone that is not married to a brand or model.

 

[WarthogJr]

The global supply chain issues lead to parts constraints in production in 2021 we saw this with Ford asking us who were wait for a build date to drop things like the hard top, tow package, the SAS pack and other things. I do not see how this effects the recalls.

I do not see how waiting 523 days has any bearing on recalls, I waited 508 days did not change my order due to parts constants. I could not foresee the future of Ford and amount of recalls to even contemplate changing to another vehicle . I would never buy a Toyota Corolla, did not even think about a Four Runner. I wanted the all new Bronco.

To use first year vehicle as an excuse for for Ford recalls is pathetic.
I have purchased first year vehicle in the past, not one had any recalls.
1983 Chevy S10 Blazer, 2000 Chevrolet Lumina, 1992 Chevy Blazer, 1999 Chevy Silverado.

If you were expecting this amount of Ford recalls, you have low standards.

Most of the Ford recalls are not that critical, only the fuel pump. Do not need that going out when on the Rubicon or any other trail.

Still love my Bronco.

My career has been in supply chain. The issues in the past 5 years aren’t just a matter of availability, but timing, price and quality also. Sourcing parts from countries all over the world is as complex as you can imagine. It shouldn’t be a surprise that some of the parts in these vehicles are proving to be less than reliable. I’m just trying to adjust my expectations to match the reality I’ve chosen and keep my blood pressure under control.

 

[Way2Fast]

I am more concerned about the mechanics working at the dealership. I took my 2021 Wildtrak in for a service at 50k miles. I had just put four new tires and Hoss 3.0 shocks on about 200 miles ago. I told the service rep that the tires do not need to be rotated, since they are new. Later that day I get a text with a link to a video from the mechanic. He has my wheels off and says he will be rotating the tires. When I picked up my paperwork, the service rep had written in caps "DO NOT ROTATE".

 

[Fastmc25]

I recently watched my Ford service “technician” during a oil change on my ‘24 Bronco. He raises the hood and lets go of it…….since I installed support struts it was self supporting.
Then he tries to install the prop rod. For 3 minutes. He closed the hood and got a second tech to come look at it. They both were looking at it perplexed .

I had to tell him he doesn’t need to use the prop rod anymore

needless to say i watched the whole oil change after that.

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