Problems with Ford and new car designs

numenor27 said:

how so? higher quality costs less?

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Absolutely.

I'm not talking about "quality" as in more leather, heavier sheetmetal, etc. I'm talking about quality of an item as designed and built.

In any manufacturing environment the cost go down as the quality of the design, manufacturing techniques, etc goes up. You have less factory rework, less recalls, less warranty work, more customer satisfaction, etc. All of those will impact the bottom line.

Example: Ford had a quality problem with driver side head on early '03 Cobras. A cooling passage on the 7-8 cylinder area was either designed too small or not casted properly. The result was a "tick" that developed on those engines. (Not all, but many, probably due to normal manufacturing tolerances) Ford issued a Technical Service Bulletin (no recall as of yet) and has been replacing entire head assemblys to the tune of several thousand dollars each, all of which drops immediately to the bottom line.

Better design QC or fabrication QC would have caught the problem and saved Ford a bunch of money.

Excellent posts on quality, guys. Yes, it does cost less to "do it right the first time". Another aspect of higher quality in the factory is that it takes fewer people, because you do not need inspectors just to fix problems, if the employees are empowered (and motivated) to get it right on their own!! Of course, you have to have pride in what you are doing and that comes from the top. That's where we have often dropped the ball. And there are organizations who work against this.

I've been in Detroit's plants, and I've been in the BMW plant here. The difference in employee pride and motivation is instantly recognizable.

Here's an example of quality: I worked for a denim manufacturer a few years ago (we all wear the stuff at times, don't we??). When 5 defects per hundred yards was bragging territory, that plant was making denim with 0.5 defects. While we didn't have the repair work to do therefore a lower cost to us, we could sell it to the pants manufacturer for a slightly higher price, and it cost him less to make his pants, even at the higher price, because he did not have to stop and remove the defects in assembly!!

The same principles apply in all manufacturing. Now if we can just get American manufacturers to bring the plants back here, and do it my way!!! :o)

scottie1113 said:

Not to mention maintain in the long run.

Good to see another older guy here, especially one who likes to sail.

Fair winds and following seas, my friend.

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Fair winds and following seas to you..... now if I could just get the Mustang rebuild done, so I could spend more time on s/v Dreamcatcher!!! :o)

Hmmmm... maybe in the garage with the Filly when it's raining, and on the water when it isn't. That could work........

Sounds like a good plan to me.

Generally you wait till after the first year of production with any new car model. They can real world test with mules and computers all they want, but odds are with several thousand times the amount of cars driving on the roads, something else could easily pop up in the first year. It's just a plain general rule of thumb for any new model of car.

Boganz45 said:

So Ford is notorious for new car designs flaws?

A lot of people keep stating they are waiting a while until the new Stang is well into production so all the kinks are worked out of it before they purchase it.

Are Ford's brand new platform's so error filled? I find this hard to believe. Not all new designs have problems. And even if the car has problems, would not the warranty fix the problems?

Throw me opinions people, and preferably specific personal examples (with Ford).

I do not like to think a new car I am going to purchase is going to have a ton of problems, ao I ask, where is your faith in "BUILT FORD TOUGH"?!?

Ford's quality control and quality in general has gotten substantially better, and although nothing is perfect, I feel this 2005 Mustang will be damn close...

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One example to think about is the focus, it used to be horrible but now has better quality and reliability ratings than any foreign car. It seems to me like american companies are finally catching up.