Nah, ever since that whole Firestone Tire/Explorer thing, the media has hounded Ford on any quality issue they can.

It's pretty damned lame. As for them stopping production for 2 weeks because of a quality issue...so? It's a first run car with a unique powerplant and suspension, and there was a problem in production that they had the audacity to FIX before sending out more cars?

I mean the GM-Ford rivalry is older than me, so any time there's a weakness in a Ford, GM guys jump all over it, and vice versa. But really, this stuff is just "hey, the 2003 Cobra is as fast as a Corvette for less money, let's find a crack"

I mean before the car comes out, people go "oh it won't have the hp, just like the 1999 Cobra..." then it comes out with 390hp at the wheels, so people are just trying to find something else about it they don't like. It's natural, and expected, but there's no point trying to mask it as something else.

It'd be great if the first run of the Cobras went off without a hitch, but a 2 week stop in production is far from the end of the world, and I hate to break it to you guys, but they're still going to sell every one they can make, and they're still going to be outrunning C5's at stoplights.

You folks get together and you're worse than a sewing circle.

Chevy: We Make the Cavalier :-D

 

Gotta agree with MunchE on this one.

Us laughing at Mustang is like starving Ethiopians laughing at western capitalism when we have a recession.

 

Ok, time to clear up my personal feelings here...

MunchE, I didn't mention Explorer as part of Ford's past problems, because it's still debateable whether or not Explorer itself was at fault. I mentioned the rediculous amount of Focus problems..this is not some "media creation", the NTSB has a record number of investigations open on that car. I also think it's natural to at least remember the '99 Cobra and wonder hmmm what's going on again? I'm NOT a Ford basher, I honestly think if you step back from a non-partial point of view you'd have to at least wonder....RE5.0, you are correct we don't know what the quality issues are, but completely shutting down a production line for 2 weeks doesn't suggest a lose-fitting screw in the cupholder or something. It's just disappointing that Ford as a whole has fallen into a pattern of botched product launches.

 

I'm just trying to take the realistic route in my arguments. So what if there is a quality issue or a glitch in the new cobra? do we know what it is? if it's small or large? the number of Cobras effected? A new car can have problems/flaws in it's 1st year of production. The cobra is no exception.

Quote:

Originally posted by Darth Xed And a FIFTY horsepower 'droppage' is rather major in my book.

50hp drop? Are we still dwelling on what happened 3-4 years ago?:P.

Some comments i got from those articles.

I stand by my previous comment, every little flaw on this Cobra will be over-sensationalized and over-dramatized.

 

So if the rest of delay is so that they can order new parts for a "low volume car"...that would mean it almost certainly is driveline specific. Cadillac had the Northstar engine plant up in a week when it went down..and the Northstar has a much more complex design and systems. Anyway it is funny how Ford routinly lies to it's buyers and they still belive it. I mean they lied for like a year over the 99 Cobra all though documents prove that they knew plain as day. You wanna talk about ****** to a ***** factory.

I will belive Ford when they start cranking Cobras out again.

You say that Ford is getting a bad rap over recalls..well lets see what are their cars becoming known for...

Focus= bout 10 recalls now...pretty much its repution is destoryed..which is a same..bet american small car ever

Explorer= We won't even go down this road..

Mustang=Get Rear Ended get Roasted

Crown Vic= See above...especially if your a cop

Thunderbird= Spontaniously combust....due to tire iron inadequatly secured above unprotected battery terminals.

Taurus SHO..eats engine every 40K.


the list goes on and on...

 

Looks like they are recalling the Ranger too...

http://www.bonforums.com/trucks/rang...call103002.htm

 

Formula79, your source for anti-ford propaganda™

 

Sorry Werm, I think you're being a little unfair. What is he saying that isn't truth? If speaking the truth is propaganda then so be it. I reiterate the point that I'm not a Ford basher, and I'll back it up by saying the Crown Vic stuff is kinda funny...I think any car that takes rear end collisions at high speeds are a great risk to catch fire. I'm also starting to think Mustangs with Pinto-like problems are more BON than anything else, I haven't seen any investigations or even hard evidence of that. But again to quote a cheesy early 90's dance song some of these other problems are things that make you go hmmmm

I had forgotten about the SHO cars with crankshaft gear slippage...there was an article in the Detroit Free Press on that whole fiasco that has infuriated a lot of DIE HARD Ford enthusiasts. To be fair though, that motor was built by Yamaha....

 

No...all I am doing is stateing that those are associations that people are starting to make with Fords product line...I don't see GM with any cars that some say "Don't buy one of them...they have 8 recalls." Seems like every product ford makes gets a similar title in a month though.

I actually have owned 4 Ford cars and 2 GM cars...and have Ford stock and not GM...I want Ford to do goo since I got thier stock *** cheap

 

I agree: The best thing for Ford is to get their lines going again and shipping Cobras. That will do a lot to close the credibility gap on their quality.

 

Ok now..... lets get back to reality.

If you would bother to read what is said on the '03 Cobra, you would see that the problem has been fixed...... the cars on hold have been shipped...... and the only reason that production is not going on them is that another run of Mustangs was started when they stopped Cobra production. That run will be done on the 11th, which will allow the Cobras to start again. Yes there have been a few issues with a few cars......... for the most part they have been solved. I have seen nothing about any cars showing less than 400fwhp, and nothing about any engines letting go (actually kinda amazing to me considering the massive amounts of mods that have gone on in a short time). So, enough of this.

Focus--- most of the recalls were for the first model year (2000). There were 2 for 2001, and 1 (which covered 547 cars) for 2002. The car has gotten rather good, but it will take a while to overcome the early glitches. Investigations are also for the first model year cars.

Explorer--- if you would bother to look into things yourself, instead of reading the sensationalist media, you might learn something. Look at the rollover statistics for the Explorer. If you do this, you will find that they statistically rollover no more, and in most circumstances, less than other SUV's. Admit it, most drivers are idiots...... and alot of them should not be allowed to drive anything bigger or more powerful than a John Deere lawn tractor.

Mustang--- what is the official number now???? 14 cases over the 23 years of the current platform. Even BON (the National Enquirer) has been hard pressed to find these. Yep..... they sure are dangerous.

Crown Victoria--- this one tops the cake. 13 instances of vehicle fires since 1982 in cop cars. Of course they don't mention that the positioning of a police car makes it more susceptible to a hellacious rear end crash than any civilian will ever see (a little factoid for you..... more officers are killed standing at the side of the road giving tickets...... due to being hit by cars...... than die in gunfire. It is the most dangerous thing that they do). Let me hit about any vehicle at 70-80-90 miles an hour in the rear and see how they fare.

The Thunderbird issue I am not aware of, as I have never heard it.

I did hear about some problems with the SHO's. Again, not much (maybe because there are not many of them out there).

The sensationalizing of everything Ford, since the Firestone fiasco has been nothing short of amazing. You sure don't see headlines about GM saying burning 1 quart of oil per 1000 miles is acceptable. Or that they blamed the drivers for this problem. You don't see front page news about the 5 recalls so far (and many TSB's) on the Trailblazer/Envoy/Bravada. You don't see any front page news about BMW M-series car engines blowing up...... or X5's spontaniously combusting in peoples driveways.

Does this mean it doesn't happen...... no !!!!! It just means that the witchhunt is on Ford currently. If an executive farted in the bathroom it would make front page news....... and the stock would go down.

Enough of my rant. I am done with this subject.

 

They are under so much scrutiny everything they do wrong is all over the press. Stopping production to deal with quality issues is not new - the Japanese have done it for years. Stuff gets on the front pages that wouldn't even get mentioned if it were other automakers. I don't mean to offend, but it just looks like every post is "look what dirt I could find on Ford". They are not the only ones with massive organizational issues - remember GM's recall of the new Trailblazer that instructed buyers to have their new SUV TOWED to the dealership because it was unsafe to drive? What about the recall of hundreds of thousands of trucks for airbags (didn't this just happen?). It's not just ford.

 

One thing about the Crown Vic, the NHTSA ended their investigation and came to the conclusion that they are no more dangerous then the Caprice cruisers and that they are infact safe cars.

 

Fords problem lies in the fact of what they're recalling and how they're doing it. If they would have recalled all the Explorers at once instead of having a pissing match with Firestone, that problem wouldnt have been nearly as big. Then they're stopping production of their flagship car now, sure its going to make news. If C5 production stopped tomorrow it'd be all over everywhere.

Its unfortunate it happened, but it'll be back and this stoppage will be forgotten about in a few weeks unless they have to recall all the other Cobras.

 

quote from 94LightningGal: Hmmm, maybe because you are... Incorrect.

Here's a direct quote from GM TSB 01-06-01-011 from my alldatadiy.com subscription:

I seem to recall needing to correct you before on this, on another site. Your lessons will continue until the facts are learned!

Umm - why not? Poor maintenance and driver abuse are known causes of excessive oil consumption. I still recall my old neighbor, whose girlfriend was proud she had never changed the oil in her Firebird, but had instead "saved a bunch by just topping it off as needed"