Interesting. I've always had very good service from the Fords I've owned, current Escape being a good example. If it wasn't for the minor but annoying oil leak, I'd just drive it till the wheels fell off.I had an Escort back in the 80s that ate a water pump about every 30K. Rebuilt transmission at 90k and got rid of it when head gasket blew at 110k. Never even considered another Ford after that POS.
Oh, on the Escort, forgot to mention the tie rods were shot at 70k. Luck of the draw I suppose. The car I had before this was an Escort that was trouble free until I traded it at 70k because it was a manual and I need an automatic for my wife to drive.Interesting. I've always had very good service from the Fords I've owned, current Escape being a good example. If it wasn't for the minor but annoying oil leak, I'd just drive it till the wheels fell off.
Friend of mine has a ranger as a daily driver, 340k and still going strong.
Contrary to most peoples experience, my MIL's Toyota is a never ending stream of minor failures.
I had an Escort back in the 80s that ate a water pump about every 30K. Rebuilt transmission at 90k and got rid of it when head gasket blew at 110k. Never even considered another Ford after that POS.
There's going to be a vast distribution of results, but some things are the result of poor design that Ford decides to throw in their vehicles. One might suspect even intentionally for the sake of obsolescence, as a lot of Youtube channels have mentioned this issue. Fords for the first 100k are ok. Even 200k will be reached many times, but come 250k, and something will not last, especially for their non-trucks. Check your flexible brake hoses, It seems like the cracking and splitting issue is not an isolated matter.Interesting. I've always had very good service from the Fords I've owned, current Escape being a good example. If it wasn't for the minor but annoying oil leak, I'd just drive it till the wheels fell off.
Friend of mine has a ranger as a daily driver, 340k and still going strong.
Contrary to most peoples experience, my MIL's Toyota is a never ending stream of minor failures.
Yea. My daughter had a Tempo. It was pretty good, actually, for the time. Lots of niggling flaws, but no major failures.Back in the 80's and prior, that was the story of most cars sold in the US.
There is a reason for those 5 digit odometers.
A lot of Fords from that era seemed designed with an 80K service life in mind (Former Tempo owner)
Nice. I think the Escape is a very nice crossover, sort of lost in the shuffle of Suburu/Toyota/Honda.So to end this story, I found and purchased a 2019 Escape for the wife. Not a bad ride, but it contains an absolutely astonishing amount of gadgetry.
I also need to make sure she doesn't see a new Bronco before we do this, cause the only car she loved more than her escape was her Bronco, and I don't want to shell out $70k for a new one.
Yea, rusting strut towers is what killed my Plymouth Voyager. One side rusted so bad the strut came totally loose and was resting against the firewall.If she was okay with the size of an Escape, a Bronco Sport would be a closer comparison and those MSRP from only $27K... if you could find one available that's that stripped down, but even more typical configs can be had under $40K new once the market entry excitement wears down.
Blower motor resistors, brake lines, radiator, water pump, etc, etc, meh if you DIY you can fix "most" things on Ford besides engine or tranny, for $150 or less. That is only true of the older vehicles, several parts on your new 2019 will cost more to repair once it gets to that age.
If you can't DIY, yes it makes little sense to keep *most* vehicles past 18 years, unless the model is known to have very robust engine and tranny, and fairly low rust buildup. Rusting strut towers (body not strut itself) is one of the big issues on an old Escape.
I'm able to repair most things on a car myself, I'm just not willing to.If she was okay with the size of an Escape, a Bronco Sport would be a closer comparison and those MSRP from only $27K... if you could find one available that's that stripped down, but even more typical configs can be had under $40K new once the market entry excitement wears down.
Blower motor resistors, brake lines, radiator, water pump, etc, etc, meh if you DIY you can fix "most" things on Ford besides engine or tranny, for $150 or less. That is only true of the older vehicles, several parts on your new 2019 will cost more to repair once it gets to that age.
If you can't DIY, yes it makes little sense to keep *most* vehicles past 18 years, unless the model is known to have very robust engine and tranny, and fairly low rust buildup. Rusting strut towers (body not strut itself) is one of the big issues on an old Escape.
I totally get it, and agree. The simple reality is that I'm tired of it. My wife's 18 year old escape is a perfect example. I could repair the one major and two minor issues it has over a weekend for less than $200 in parts, and drive it for at least another 50k miles. Instead, I wrote a check for $16k and walked away happy.^ Difference of opinion I suppose, but I won't let anyone touch my vehicles if I can help it. Too much to go wrong, whether misdiagnosis, incompetent repairs, or outright fraud, in addition to it taking less time to DIY. I'd rather DIY than have someone else do it for free.
So your experience with abandoned and broken cars has lead you to dislike Fords. Seems perfectly reasonable to me.Ford designs their stuff precisely you'd get annoyed with it and you promptly kill it off after a target mileage. Once you have one, you find out real quick it's a pain in the ass to even do many essential repairs, .and some of the stuff that breaks is really wasteful of time and can leave you stranded.
Such as:
power steering pump(2007 Mazda 6 a tenant owned and the abandoned and ultimately i and my mom had to junk it for him, and had to facebook a party willing to skirt Maryland rules)
Fluid pressures that blow valve body gaskets in the the trannies of many Rangers and old Explorers. (I and my mom bought a 350 dollar Ranger with that exact issue)
Hood latch getting stuck and thus the pull cable for it breaks(happened to above Ranger)
Spark plugs blowing out of their holes(no personal experience)
Also, without Ford, tools needed to loosen fasteners like the 15mm, 5.5mm, and 7 mm wouldn't move off the shelves in stores in the residential supply channel. .
I also need to make sure she doesn't see a new Bronco before we do this, cause the only car she loved more than her escape was her Bronco, and I don't want to shell out $70k for a new one.
Electric isn't the program for me just yet. The wife drives so little it doesn't make sense, and I need a full size pickup. The thing Tesla is going to sell as a truck is about as much use to me as a Toyota Camry.Hehe... its actually cheaper... 38ish
But if you want to think about electrical, I had the fortune to sit inside a MACH-E and well i would honestly get it over a Tesla as i know Ford would probably take care of you better in after purchase service.
But the MACH-E is a expensive car.