A couple begged Ford to buy back their defective Fiesta. Years later, the company is paying them $49K.

Robert59

Robert59

Well-known Member
Location
Now I live in Tennesee. Did live in Michigan.
I made British Leyland Motors buy back my first car in 1969. It was the biggest piece of crap ever made - Austin America.
It overheated at every stop light. It needed a new water pump, radiator & hoses every 5,000 miles. Then the transmission went out at 15,000 miles. We sued British Leyland & the judge made them give me a complete refund of the purchase price - $1,900.
I learned that if you want it to work, make sure it's made in Japan. I bought a Toyota Corolla & drove it 225,000 trouble-free miles.
 

My partner always claims FORD stands for Fix Or Repair Daily
I’m in fully agree ,I WATED money on a Ford once
 
I remember an American automobile salesman being
interviewed on British TV, probably a news item, he
was asked, "what is the difference between a Japanese
car and a British one"?

His reply was "we have to rebuild the British car between
the bumpers, the Japanese ones, we just stick plates on and
send them out the door"!

The worst ones were reputed to have been made on either
a Monday, or a Friday.

I had a new Morris Marina and that was a disaster, too long
to put here.

Mike.
 
win231 said:
I made British Leyland Motors buy back my first car in 1969. It was the biggest piece of crap ever made - Austin America.
It overheated at every stop light. It needed a new water pump, radiator & hoses every 5,000 miles. Then the transmission went out at 15,000 miles. We sued British Leyland & the judge made them give me a complete refund of the purchase price - $1,900.
I learned that if you want it to work, make sure it's made in Japan. I bought a Toyota Corolla & drove it 225,000 trouble-free miles.
Click to expand...
Yep. Went Japanese in 1973 and never looked back.
 
Interesting. Almost sounds like a vaccine.
The lawsuits brought by injured people and their survivors uncovered how the company rushed the Pinto through production and onto the market.

In 1972, a Ford Pinto driven by Lilly Gray stalled as she entered a merge lane on a California freeway. Her Pinto was rear-ended by another car traveling about thirty miles per hour. The Pinto's gas tank ruptured, releasing gasoline vapors that quickly spread to the passenger compartment. A spark ignited the mixture, and the Pinto exploded in a ball of fire.
Gray died a few hours later. Her passenger, thirteen-year-old Richard Grimshaw, suffered disfiguring burns and had to endure dozens of operations. He underwent surgery to graft a new ear and nose using skin from the few unscarred portions of his body.

https://www.tortmuseum.org/ford-pinto/#:~:text=The Pinto, a subcompact car,production and onto the market.
 
We had a Ford Escort in the mid to late 90's and it took our little family of 4 on several rather nice family car trips as well as being my main commute vehicle with a daily 45 mile round trip commute. We never had any mechanical problems with it but the older it got the noisier it got. We finally parted ways with it when it got to be too much of a rattle trap for us. That was our only Ford.

Except for the Corolla she had when we met my wife has always had Toyota Camrys and absolutely loves them. We've never had any mechanical problems with them.
 
win231 said:
I thought it stood for Found On Road Dead. :giggle:
Click to expand...
No it’s on Found On Rubbish Dump :ROFLMAO: @win231 I had one ……never again nothing short of a huge waste of money ,it was serviced o the dot when it was due it cost me in excess of $600 for repairs / service each time it was due . ( it was purchased brand new ) it had never ending electronic issues, it was so unreliable:(

Will stick to Toyota
 
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Anyone who buys small cars from an American mfg is either pinching pennies or doesn't pay attention to cars.

Ford makes some very good cars/trucks, but they are not subcompacts. This is true for GM as well.

Ford made a commitment to build better quality cars a couple of decades ago and has done a very good job on the trucks, and a good job on the compact/intermediate models.

Unlike most people we have alternated between Ford and Honda/Acura and Hyundai/Kia. By far the worst customer service comes from Honda/Acura - they have problems with certain models, and absolutely refuse to admit it unless the issue becomes so bad the NTSA steps in.

Hyundai/Kia are okay in customer service: not great, and they shade certain things (like horsepower - they are infamous for that). Ford has been excellent in customer service, especially if you find a good dealership service facility, which we were fortunate to do.

I dislike driving Toyotas, personally. Yes, they are "bullet-proof". But they are the GM of Japan and make really boring cars to drive. Their CEO is trying hard to turn this around and hopefully he will. But I found neither the Camry nor the Lexus SUV worth considering when I comparison-shopped for a new vehicle in 2016-17.

My Ford Edge Sport has met all my requirements: great handling, excellent brakes, wonderful comfort and quiet, has all the safety and tech I wanted, and goes 0-60mph in 5.7 seconds. Whenever I bring it in for its service appts, one of the service reps invariably remarks, "Oh, you've got the Edge! That's a really good car."

Yes, I know. One of the ways I researched potential cars was talking to different company service managers and asking them about specific models and what they thought of them. That was VERY enlightening!
 
Lethe200 said:
Anyone who buys small cars from an American mfg is either pinching pennies or doesn't pay attention to cars.

Ford makes some very good cars/trucks, but they are not subcompacts. This is true for GM as well.

Ford made a commitment to build better quality cars a couple of decades ago and has done a very good job on the trucks, and a good job on the compact/intermediate models.

Unlike most people we have alternated between Ford and Honda/Acura and Hyundai/Kia. By far the worst customer service comes from Honda/Acura - they have problems with certain models, and absolutely refuse to admit it unless the issue becomes so bad the NTSA steps in.

Hyundai/Kia are okay in customer service: not great, and they shade certain things (like horsepower - they are infamous for that). Ford has been excellent in customer service, especially if you find a good dealership service facility, which we were fortunate to do.

I dislike driving Toyotas, personally. Yes, they are "bullet-proof". But they are the GM of Japan and make really boring cars to drive. Their CEO is trying hard to turn this around and hopefully he will. But I found neither the Camry nor the Lexus SUV worth considering when I comparison-shopped for a new vehicle in 2016-17.

My Ford Edge Sport has met all my requirements: great handling, excellent brakes, wonderful comfort and quiet, has all the safety and tech I wanted, and goes 0-60mph in 5.7 seconds. Whenever I bring it in for its service appts, one of the service reps invariably remarks, "Oh, you've got the Edge! That's a really good car."

Yes, I know. One of the ways I researched potential cars was talking to different company service managers and asking them about specific models and what they thought of them. That was VERY enlightening!
Click to expand...
"the worst customer service comes from Honda/Acura"
That has not been my experience.
I bought a new Camry in 2002. At the time I was between jobs & wasn't driving much. At 46,000 miles, during a service, the mechanic said my Timing Belt was glazed & should be replaced. He explained that it wears over time as much as use. The car was out of warranty by 10,000 miles. I spoke to Toyota of North America & they replaced it under warranty anyway. It was a $450.00 job.
Later, I came out of a market to find my rear windshield with a baseball-sized hole in it & glass everywhere. It's likely kids were playing catch nearby. Toyota replaced the windshield at no charge, even though it wasn't a warranty situation. $750.00.

In 1991, I bought a new Honda Accord with manual transmission. The clutch started slipping at 55,000 miles. Again, the dealer contacted Honda & they replaced the clutch under warranty, even though the warranty is 36,000 miles. $800.00 job.

In 2012, I bought a new Honda Accord. The Power Steering started to leak at 13,000 miles. It was still under warranty. Honda replaced the entire rack & pinion steering system & paid for a rental car for 4 days.
 

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