Rusting bodywork

[2021 Mach 1]

Interestingly corrosion of Aluminium panels (which these are) is more common than corrosion of steel panels. Many car makers have experienced the same problems (Jaguar in particular) and it is a lot harder to fix than rust as well. Unlike rust it is cosmetic and rarely becomes structural, but repainting will only be a temporary fix as in the pre-facelift Mustang the issue is contamination of the aluminium under the paint before painting. Any stone chips should also be repaired as soon as possible whereas these days steel panels even when chipped only rust slowly if at all.

I'm not defending Ford, but don't assume they are the only car maker having problems with Aluminium.

Regarding paint finish - the cars coming out of Germany and Spain are way better than those coming out of Flat Rock. The paint on my son's Fiesta is the same colour as my Mustang (Magnetic) but far better applied and a much deeper lustrous finish. Our Valencia made Kuga is also much better.

The paint work on my Focus far exceeds that of my Mach 1.

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[wenklaw]

The paint work on my Focus far exceeds that of my Mach 1.

As does it in my focus.

 

[Veteran]

My mustang had what looked like sand sprayed over on the LHS door sill. When I picked at it with my finger nail, the paint would chip off to reveal a black sand looking granule. This easily broke off. I probably had 100 or more of these.
I painstakingly scratched them all off with a plastic scraper, one at the time.
once cleaned I used a magnifying glass to exactly touch up each dot. Its kind off invisible now.
But understand it’s a Ford. So I accept it , because as so many have said. It’s a cheaply built car..

 

[Gregs24]

My mustang had what looked like sand sprayed over on the LHS door sill. When I picked at it with my finger nail, the paint would chip off to reveal a black sand looking granule. This easily broke off. I probably had 100 or more of these.
I painstakingly scratched them all off with a plastic scraper, one at the time.
once cleaned I used a magnifying glass to exactly touch up each dot. Its kind off invisible now.
But understand it’s a Ford. So I accept it , because as so many have said. It’s a cheaply built car..

But the point several of us are making is that the cheapest Ford made in Europe (Fiesta) has paintwork 10x better. So why can't they do that at Flat Rock?

 

[Veteran]

But the point several of us are making is that the cheapest Ford made in Europe (Fiesta) has paintwork 10x better. So why can't they do that at Flat Rock?

true. I have a Ford van, a Tourneo Custom and the build quality is superb. Built in Europe.
There is no good reason for poor quality from Dearborn’s plant.
I suppose the work ethos of management sucks. You cant blame the workers. It’s those in charge that are rubbish.
Top management should be held accountable for their incompetence.
Fwiw, almost without fail, every single new car my dealer sells has to go for complete panel realignment and spray touch ups.

 

[Gregs24]

true. I have a Ford van, a Tourneo Custom and the build quality is superb. Built in Europe.
There is no good reason for poor quality from Dearborn’s plant.
I suppose the work ethos of management sucks. You cant blame the workers. It’s those in charge that are rubbish.
Top management should be held accountable for their incompetence.
Fwiw, almost without fail, every single new car my dealer sells has to go for complete panel realignment and spray touch ups.

Have you seen pictures from inside Flat Rock? It looks like a 1970's plant not a modern one. Filthy dirty plant, blokes in jeans nailing cars together. The difference to Valencia is night and day.

 

[raptor17GT]

Have you seen pictures from inside Flat Rock? It looks like a 1970's plant not a modern one. Filthy dirty plant, blokes in jeans nailing cars together. The difference to Valencia is night and day.

ah but freedom........... or some bullsnizzle like that. The quality is crap, we know this. First time I've ever gone to buy a car knowing it's unlikely to be straight panel gaps. It is what it is. As for rust, sucks indeed but if us folks keep buying them then they'll make them as bad as they can get away with

 

[Gregs24]

ah but freedom........... or some bullsnizzle like that. The quality is crap, we know this. First time I've ever gone to buy a car knowing it's unlikely to be straight panel gaps. It is what it is. As for rust, sucks indeed but if us folks keep buying them then they'll make them as bad as they can get away with

Not so sure about that. People kept buying crap cars in the 70's and 80's until they realised cars didn't have to dissolve after 5 years and break down every 10 minutes. The frustration is that if they built the Mustang at Valencia it would be much better. Remember we just get the leftovers of Mustang production so they build what they can get away with in the US, which for all the litigation over there still seems to be inferior.

To be fair mine was pretty well built, or at least by the time I got it it was OK.

Warranty costs alone are enough of an incentive to sort it out for Ford.

 

[raptor17GT]

Not so sure about that. People kept buying crap cars in the 70's and 80's until they realised cars didn't have to dissolve after 5 years and break down every 10 minutes. The frustration is that if they built the Mustang at Valencia it would be much better. Remember we just get the leftovers of Mustang production so they build what they can get away with in the US, which for all the litigation over there still seems to be inferior.

To be fair mine was pretty well built, or at least by the time I got it it was OK.

Warranty costs alone are enough of an incentive to sort it out for Ford.

i'm not old enough to remember the 70's cars not for driving anyhow but yes things have improved a lot since then. V8 muscle cars, not many options and anything decent from Japan is at least 20yrs old (with rust!) and costs stupid money thanks for F&F. I guess the yanks just don't want to build decent cars. Who knows the reasons for that, it is what it is.

true. I have a Ford van, a Tourneo Custom and the build quality is superb. Built in Europe.
There is no good reason for poor quality from Dearborn’s plant.
I suppose the work ethos of management sucks. You cant blame the workers. It’s those in charge that are rubbish.
Top management should be held accountable for their incompetence.
Fwiw, almost without fail, every single new car my dealer sells has to go for complete panel realignment and spray touch ups.

management dont help but when you see what some workers get up to instead of doing their job, aye us consumers pay the price and pick up the pieces.

 

[Veteran]

Do you folk think it would sell more if quality was better?
We all know the quality from Dearborn just sucks arse. Yet we keep buying them. Me included.
Ze Germans would have a cadenza if one of there cars left their factories like the mustangs do !
Still love my very second hand new car haha.

 

[Silver Dragon]

When the S550 GT came here it was a circa £30 k car and some quality issues might be forgiven.

However as it migrates to £50k customers will be less forgiving at that price point although admittedly competitors have increased also.

 

[Gregs24]

Do you folk think it would sell more if quality was better?
We all know the quality from Dearborn just sucks arse. Yet we keep buying them. Me included.
Ze Germans would have a cadenza if one of there cars left their factories like the mustangs do !
Still love my very second hand new car haha.

Yes. They could sell a lot more in Europe with better build quality and a better quality interior. It is a 2 generation old interior (Focus circa 2006) in terms of quality. Moulded plastic stitching - seriously! My Mondeo Vignale was way better inside.

 

[hinch]

Yes. They could sell a lot more in Europe with better build quality and a better quality interior. It is a 2 generation old interior (Focus circa 2006) in terms of quality. Moulded plastic stitching - seriously! My Mondeo Vignale was way better inside.

my wildtrack ranger is (built in south africa) lovely leather real stitched dash and seats and paint that thick i accidentally knocked a door on a wall and there's not a mark on it

also a bird flew into the side of it a few hours after i got it on the motorway bird dead as it gets expected car to be dented/scratched something not a mark on it if it'd hit my mustang that hard i'd be needing a new wing.

 

[2021 Mach 1]

ah but freedom........... or some bullsnizzle like that. The quality is crap, we know this. First time I've ever gone to buy a car knowing it's unlikely to be straight panel gaps. It is what it is. As for rust, sucks indeed but if us folks keep buying them then they'll make them as bad as they can get away with

Gee, now that you guys mention the panel gaps, I did think the other day that my hood (bonnet) has an odd gap to the fenders, almost like it sits too low. I'll take a pic later today.

 

[WD Pro]

Gee, now that you guys mention the panel gaps, I did think the other day that my hood (bonnet) has an odd gap to the fenders, almost like it sits too low. I'll take a pic later today.

Mine was low.

Check the height of your bumper top to the front edge of the hood. I had to move my hood latch right up to the top of its adjustment to get the curvature to match :

It had the added advantage of making the front shutline much more even (not pinched in the middle) :

It’s an easy DIY fix if you need to do the same

If you hood has sat low, also check that the throttle body elbow hasn’t rubbed / damaged the hood liner (although mine was exaggerated by other problems) - I appreciate that under hood area is a little different on a Mach

WD

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