21st Apr 2006, 17:35
Sorry, but when I buy a car and pay for the privilege of owning it I don't expect to be a beta tester for Ford.
If Ford wants me to beta test their cars they can pay ME.
22nd Apr 2006, 04:19
As much as no-one likes to be the beta tester, this is reality. The engineers will design the car components with a reasonable degree mechanical perfection. Trouble is in execution or circumstance. One jig 0.50 millimeter off spec making a rubber seal at a parts supplier can cause a major mechanical problem for that batch of cars. Some component designs may not even show problems until well after it's out there in the real world, at times years after.
22nd Apr 2006, 10:07
Okay, so you'll have to explain to me why I was NEVER a beta tester with any BMW, Subaru, or Korean car I have owned, yet the Focus I had I was beta tester #1 with 20 recalls and 10 times in the shop.
Funny how Dr. Deming knew how to avoid customer beta testing in 1945 yet STILL American car companies are clueless.
13th Jun 2006, 11:55
The transmission is not usually a problem in the 3L. Must just be one of those freaky things.
19th Jun 2006, 17:44
Couldn't have said it better myself, I bought a Ford Contour and that car had 18 recalls and severe problems, I had enough sold the car for pennies on the dollar and bought a BMW 3 series and I didn't have a single problem. I bought a Scion tC (first year model) with no problems on it and I drive an 80 miles a day. The Contour was driven 15 miles a day, and it had so many problems it was unbelievable. If an American car company ever makes a good car, FORD has ruined it for them.
2nd Aug 2006, 07:22
Are you really comparing a Contour to a BMW 3 series? Really, you could buy two and a half Contours for what you paid for a BMW. I agree that the Contour is not Ford's claim to reliability fame, but really, we're comparing apples to Filet. On the other hand, I can fix my Ford for less than $100 dollars every 4 to six months, I seriously doubt a BMW as old as my ford could claim that title. I don't think Discount stocks everyday parts for Euro's.
3rd Aug 2006, 00:15
Where I live in Minnesota, I could buy 47 Ford Contours for the price of one BMW 3 series. I think I know a good deal when I see it and I would happily take those 47 cars for my crushing amusement.
28th Aug 2006, 11:14
My first car was a 1990 Ford Tempo that I got used with 60,000-miles. I drove it till right at 300,000 miles and sold it. The car is still on the road today with about 350,000 miles. This Tempo, since new, has had one alternator, one water pump, one starter solenoid, both transmission mounts replaced, and a few dash bulbs replaced along with all new o-rings in the a/c. Not bad for a “Cheap disposable car”. This Tempo had not one repair until it got up to almost 200K miles.
My second car was a 1995 Ford Crown Victoria that I also got used. I bought this one from a dealer, so I didn’t know the complete history on it, like I did on the Tempo, that my aunt bought new. When I got the Crown it had 18,000-miles on it and I was told by my insurance company that the car had a $7000 collision claim paid out on it in 1995, but the repair was unnoticeable to me. I drove this car up to almost 250,000-miles with only one window regulator replaced, one worn belt tensioner, and having to have the EGR ports cleaned out every 50,000-miles due to carbon making the Check Engine light come on. Also this Crown Started to consume lots of oil, like a quart every 800-miles around 100,000 miles. I sold the car to a friend who drove it up to 300,000 miles and her 24 year old son pulled out in front of a truck and got hit in the driver’s door. He lived, barley, but the cops said that if he had been in something smaller, he would have been killed. He was hit so hard that the dash bowed up through the windshield.
My third Ford Product was a 2003 Taurus that I got in 2003, used with only 5,000 miles. I drove the car till it hit 40,000 miles and it got totaled by a cement wall falling on the car at an apartment complex. No problems at all out of the Taurus.
I now have a used 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis that I got in 2004 with 17,000 miles on it. And I found out that it was a rental, after I had bought it, anyway, it has 62,000 miles on it and has been trouble free.
I think that Ford products are reliable and even very safe. They are very inexpensive to buy, especially used, so I would not hesitate to buy another Ford. I think I might look into a Town Car or a Montego next, that is when my Grand Marquis get up to like 300,000-miles and I decide to upgrade to a newer car.
2nd Oct 2006, 09:53
I actually compared the Contour to the Scion TC (both were first year models). I bought the Contour new in 1995 and had 18 recalls (which included the wiring harness among many other things.). I bought the Scion TC in 2005 new in 2005 and it only had a moonroof problem that was taken care off by the dealer with no run around.
I bought the BMW 3 but I did not compare it to a Contour.
4th Jan 2007, 13:49
I had the shift problem that you mention, there is a recall on it and they reprogram the transmission. It works great and you'll find your acceleration more spirited.
Good luck with it.
4th Jan 2007, 17:14
Don't they include a recall manual along with every Ford these days? I mean, the cars break down with such regularity I'm sure it's easy to predict them.
6th Jan 2007, 01:23
Ooh...does this affect their much publicized attention on their outstanding reliability? I spose now they did not realize that maybe reliability cannot be determined in the first 30,000 miles. I mean cause all the Fords we have had in our possession have had all their problems beyond 60,000 miles like transmissions, engines, and tappet noise concerns... Ford has cried wolf too much for me to believe that they now build bullet proof vehicles like Toyota. yeah complain all you want about Toyota's recent recalls but at least their cars do not cause destruction to property or people by catching on fire.
9th Jan 2007, 11:51
Pardon me, it isn't a recall, it is a TSB. Go to the dealer to see about getting it reprogrammed. It doesn't present a hazard, therefore isn't a recall.
10th Jan 2007, 13:38
I can't imagine anyone seriously maintaining that Toyota is a "quality" car maker. Let's see, where to begin? How about the defective transmissions, peeling paint, sticking accelerators, defective brakes, coolant leaks or premature engine failure? oh, I forget, someone had a Ford that the cigarette lighter stopped working on at 350,000 miles, so it must be "crap".
21st Apr 2006, 16:55
Oh, yeah... read those reviews about the Focus in Europe and you'll be shocked. They love those things over there. And over here they're not nearly as great. Sad to hear about a transmission on a brand new car... especially a new model like the Fusion. Here's hoping Ford gets that ironed out for the poster.