Deck Lid and Ford Quality Issues

[Atlas1]

I did notice German cars were on the bottom of the global quality ranking in the 15-20th spots.

according to who?

Every German car I had was in the shop so often with silly defects is was comical.

I'd rather have fit and finish defects than be in the shop 8 times a year (one diagnosis one parts & repair) wasting my non renewable time listening to some airhead SAs tell me my Russian TuneIn deep house station operated from UK is failing because it's from Russia LOL (turned out to be data modem after 3 years and 12 visits haha)

my audi is 5 years old and other than scheduled maintenance and an audi tsb to replace the seat motor, its never had a single issue. my wife is on her 3rd vw and again, nothing other than regular service. my parents have had MB, then audi, and now bmw's. funny, nothing other than service per manufacturers schedule. maybe you're just hard on your vehicles? the average german car buyer doesn't strike me as a car guy the way many of us are. i have a hard time believing suzy soccermom would tolerate her x5 or a4 constantly being down for mechanical issues.

I'd say Mustang probably has the shabbiest fit and finish of all big 3 but the paint finish shames Bentley haha.

tell me you've never seen a Bentley up close, without telling me youve never seen a Bentley up close

Sponsored

 

[Atlas1]

Czech Škoda (VW Group) has "spotless" alignment compared to my Mach.

yep. my wife has gone through a jetta, gti, and now a tiguan. panel fit and paint finish is impressive. and these are what i consider budget cars. step up to audi and its even better.

Yeah, and multiple engines over more than a decade's time with a defective piston ring design...

good thing thats never happened to ford. an engine with a track record of issues.......like oil consumption requiring replacements, sometimes more than once on the same car.

 

[GilmourD]

yep. my wife has gone through a jetta, gti, and now a tiguan. panel fit and paint finish is impressive. and these are what i consider budget cars. step up to audi and its even better.


good thing thats never happened to ford. an engine with a track record of issues.......like oil consumption requiring replacements, sometimes more than once on the same car.

One car or a class-action lawsuit inducing design flaw that causes consumption of a quart of oil in less than 200 miles?

 

[Atlas1]

One car or a class-action lawsuit inducing design flaw that causes consumption of a quart of oil in less than 200 miles?

You were saying?

 

[Veteran]

Yip, mines out too.I spent hours trying to line everything up but only partially succeeded. I just live with it now.

 

[murick]

Yeah, and multiple engines over more than a decade's time with a defective piston ring design...

This was not the point. The discussion was about the fit and finish and someone's claim that we should pay 6 digits to get the quality.

The fit and finish may depend on many things (the manufacturing tolerance of the panels, actual assembly work, the tools, etc.), but this is something even a brand consistently marketed as a cheaper cousin to VW can get right for the significantly lower price.

The whole point is that Ford does not care, or the people responsible in Ford do not care, because if they did they could change it. Design flaw built into a product (like an engine malfunction) can only be helped by redesigning the product. The craftsmanship can only be cultivated.

 

[IPOGT]

This was not the point. The discussion was about the fit and finish and someone's claim that we should pay 6 digits to get the quality.

The fit and finish may depend on many things (the manufacturing tolerance of the panels, actual assembly work, the tools, etc.), but this is something even a brand consistently marketed as a cheaper cousin to VW can get right for the significantly lower price.

The whole point is that Ford does not care, or the people responsible in Ford do not care, because if they did they could change it. Design flaw built into a product (like an engine malfunction) can only be helped by redesigning the product. The craftsmanship can only be cultivated.

Processes that care, management that cares and people that care. Miss any one of the above and quality will always visibly suffer. Quality will be best when the three have a synergistic relationship. What bothers me most is that they CAN and DO better on other models.

 

[Mark Arnold]

I recently discovered that my Deck Lid is off center by about 1/4 inch with barely a gap on one side and a little over 1/4 inch on the other. I can ‘t believe I didn’t notice earlier. Also my automatic driver side seat rubs when it is all the way forward. I’m short so it happens every time I get in the car. Finally there is a small pit in the paint on the passenger side groove on the top of the car. It’s small and in the groove so no one sees it but I’ll make a note with dealer in case of future problem. I’m sure these problems will be addressed under warrant but who wants to have there car at the dealership after waiting over a year for their car. Anyone else have a deck lid problem?

Yep. Mine is the same... Really annoying to look at. Even tried replacing the deck lid panel, but it did not work. I think it is a problem with the trunk metal shaping! Damn!!

 

[njlime]

Yea, mine is off just horizontally. Vertically the gaps are consistent, no gap on one side and over a 1/4” on the other. Just wondering, does the rear camera move with the deck lid or is it stationary?
As far as “ just living with it “ , if we all do that aren’t we just encouraging Ford not to fix things? I’ll probably give it one try under warranty. Thanks for input.

I had the same issue with my hood. Left to right seems pretty good but driver side of hood was below the fender line & passenger side was above the fender line. The dealership body shop adjusted it so it is level but now the driver side does not even hit the stop when you close it. Body shop said Ford is having these types of alignment issues since switching to aluminum for theses components.

 

[Atlas1]

I only had R8 V10 manual for 3 years and it was perfect if not a bit tight fit for my 6'2" 220 lb muscle.

My Mercedes were endless niggles. The C63 needed a $10K valve job ( defect) on warranty the MB refused and have class action.

Had a '69 Karman Ghia and motor blew.

The only German product worth looking at is all north of $100 K incl G Wagon, S vert, SL, AMG S. The rest all on par with Honda.

park a $30k vw or $40k audi next to an american car of the same price and tell me with a straight face that the german car is built to a lower standard. hell you could grab a Cadillac twice the price and it still would struggle to measure up. i'm not discounting your personal troubles with german cars but we can't necessarily apply that to the brand as a whole. i don't think a 69 karman ghia has much in common with a new german car, at least no more than a pinto or gremlin has with a new american car today.

2019 was last regular business year before elites COVID destruction.

that is a 2019 graph for germany. here's the 2021 graph for the US.
i don't personally look to jd power for my info but since you want to cite them, we can.
please note where the big 3, specifically ford, rank in comparison to german manufacturers.

 

[baazooka]

I recently discovered that my Deck Lid is off center by about 1/4 inch with barely a gap on one side and a little over 1/4 inch on the other. I can ‘t believe I didn’t notice earlier. Also my automatic driver side seat rubs when it is all the way forward. I’m short so it happens every time I get in the car. Finally there is a small pit in the paint on the passenger side groove on the top of the car. It’s small and in the groove so no one sees it but I’ll make a note with dealer in case of future problem. I’m sure these problems will be addressed under warrant but who wants to have there car at the dealership after waiting over a year for their car. Anyone else have a deck lid problem?

They just suck, if I push mine on the left it lines up so its definitely possible to achieve perfect, the panel itself gets cracks and scratches just from existing.

 

[Ogopogo]

here's the 2021 graph for the US.
i don't personally look to jd power for my info but since you want to cite them, we can.
please note where the big 3, specifically ford, rank in comparison to german manufacturers.

I agree the German results are not applicable to us in North America. Many different models and manufacturing plants. The US chart lines up anecdotally with what we tend to see in forums and social media. The bottom 4 are no surprise as they've been junk for quite some time. I am a big surprised at the position of VW and Honda though.... they must be slipping.

I have always drifted toward 'high reliability' products (only imports) since I absolutely hate taking vehicles to service shops and stopped buying Fords especially back in the '70s. I would have never bought another one except the Mustang is likely the best current value option for a 'sports' car. I have hopes my new Mustang will not disappoint as much as I read online in terms of quality and repair but I must also be a realist. I didn't feel like paying for a BMW Z4 as my old age toy but I may regret not having done so.

 

[coz0502]

park a $30k vw or $40k audi next to an american car of the same price and tell me with a straight face that the german car is built to a lower standard. hell you could grab a Cadillac twice the price and it still would struggle to measure up. i'm not discounting your personal troubles with german cars but we can't necessarily apply that to the brand as a whole. i don't think a 69 karman ghia has much in common with a new german car, at least no more than a pinto or gremlin has with a new american car today.


that is a 2019 graph for germany. here's the 2021 graph for the US.
i don't personally look to jd power for my info but since you want to cite them, we can.
please note where the big 3, specifically ford, rank in comparison to german manufacturers.

LOL at Alfa Romeo and Land Rover, I think both make nice looking vehicles that don't last. This chart certainly seems to support my view.

 

[IPOGT]

My car had a few cosmetic flaws (more significant than yours) when it showed up, but I was ready to accept them as a sacrifice to Ford's known poor quality.

To be clear I'm not at all advocating for Ford (like comeone dudes it's a $55k car it should have better fit and finish than a $30k Accord), but I am saying that if you can accept it for what it is, I think you'll have a better experience

If build, panel and paint quality was at the very least, like an Accord I’d be happy. Ford spent a ton of money to design a beautiful Mustang for the 50th Anniversary, to sell at the highest prices ever asked for a new Mustang only to have the plant not give it the proper panel quality and assembly/finish care. It’s insulting actually, both to the folks like us who love these cars and I’d imagine the same with the engineers who labored over this to give us this amazing design. An American Iconic car like this should be assembled better. I was pretty lucky with the Mach 1, my 2016 was a little messy. Ford did step up and had the body shop fix it all.

 

[Atlas1]

I agree the German results are not applicable to us in North America. Many different models and manufacturing plants. The US chart lines up anecdotally with what we tend to see in forums and social media. The bottom 4 are no surprise as they've been junk for quite some time. I am a big surprised at the position of VW and Honda though.... they must be slipping.

I have always drifted toward 'high reliability' products (only imports) since I absolutely hate taking vehicles to service shops and stopped buying Fords especially back in the '70s. I would have never bought another one except the Mustang is likely the best current value option for a 'sports' car. I have hopes my new Mustang will not disappoint as much as I read online in terms of quality and repair but I must also be a realist. I didn't feel like paying for a BMW Z4 as my old age toy but I may regret not having done so.

i was nervous about my order but the quality of it has been great. just make sure when it comes in you pay close attention to the paint and panel alignment and take photos. press the dealer to have their body shop or one they work with do some adjustments to get it right, at least as right as one can with a ford.

LOL at Alfa Romeo and Land Rover, I think both make nice looking vehicles that don't last. This chart certainly seems to support my view.

i've never had one but i've heard my entire life that land rover's are junk. at least the fancy ones we get.

Sponsored