Ford Quality Control

[JeffCJ]

I noticed a couple of relatively minor fit/finish issues with my truck.

1. The negative battery terminal was not tightly secured (very loose nut). Easy fix.
2. The driver's lower dash panel (below the steering wheel) was not clipped in all the way. The bottom-left clip was not clipped in at all. A quick whack with my hand pushed the bottom half into place.

Neither of these are really critical items, but I thought I'd post up my experience after giving my new truck a detailed look.

This is my first Ford. Is stuff like this typical? I come from the RAM/Jeep world where you're lucky if all the engine parts make it into the vehicle build. So, all things considered...no complaints.

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[FULLSCALE]

I don’t think it’s typical but nothing is ever 100% perfect. The plastic part beside the tow hook was popped out when I picked my truck up. I did the same thing, just popped it in and all is good!

 

[P. A. Schilke]

I noticed a couple of relatively minor fit/finish issues with my truck.

1. The negative battery terminal was not tightly secured (very loose nut). Easy fix.
2. The driver's lower dash panel (below the steering wheel) was not clipped in all the way. The bottom-left clip was not clipped in at all. A quick whack with my hand pushed the bottom half into place.

Neither of these are really critical items, but I thought I'd post up my experience after giving my new truck a detailed look.

This is my first Ford. Is stuff like this typical? I come from the RAM/Jeep world where you're lucky if all the engine parts make it into the vehicle build. So, all things considered...no complaints.

HI Jeff,

No...these things should not be acceptable. The Vehicle as built should be such these sort of things are not found by the customer. Sad you had this experience this. We should get it right out of the box. Supplier quality issues are one thing but when you experience assembly issues like you had, this is unacceptable.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[JeffCJ]

HI Jeff,

No...these things should not be acceptable. The Vehicle as built should be such these sort of things are not found by the customer. Sad you had this experience this. We should get it right out of the box. Supplier quality issues are one thing but when you experience assembly issues like you had, this is unacceptable.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

Thanks Phil. These minor things really don't bother me, but they do make me think about other types of buyers. As an example, my mom or grandmother wouldn't whack a panel with their hand to put it in place or give the engine bay a quick inspection after delivery.

 

[HenryMac]

Only thing I found, factory related, was the clear protective film on the front of the drivers side rear wheel well was installed crooked, such that it was flapping in the wind. I carefully trimmed off the excess with an exacto knife.

I'm impressed with the factory fit / finish and assembly.

Now the dealership... not impressed at all with them. The tire air pressure was 48 psi and the front license plate bracket was about to fall off... go figure.

 

[joeb427]

I had a couple of dealer issues with no washer fluid and 45 lb of air in tires.
I have a pinhead size dirt speck under the paint on my door. I also had to adjust my driver's side fender to line up better with the hood. Tailgate has a bigger gap on one side and passenger side wind noise at highway speeds.
Other than those items, a great truck.

 

[JeffCJ]

I had a couple of dealer issues with no washer fluid and 45 lb of air in tires.
I have a pinhead size dirt speck under the paint on my door. I also had to adjust my driver's side fender to line up better with the hood. Tailgate has a bigger gap on one side and passenger side wind noise at highway speeds.
Other than those items, a great truck.

Washer fluid was almost empty on my truck as well, but that's on the dealer. They did at least have the correct air pressure in the tires.

 

[Toytec]

I'll tell you what. The quality of their business is sure improving. I haven't found my Ranger yet, but I'll sure be looking here. We have a local dealer moving as we speak to just a stone's throw from where I work.
This place is state of the art. With a diner and huge kids play area to boot! Once I get over there, and they have the one I'm looking for, I'll be just like you. Checking quality control top to bottom. But seems these days, Ford's on top of their game.
Here's a look at this impressive dealer.

 

[dmeyer302]

I'll tell you what. The quality of their business is sure improving. I haven't found my Ranger yet, but I'll sure be looking here. We have a local dealer moving as we speak to just a stone's throw from where I work.
This place is state of the art. With a diner and huge kids play area to boot! Once I get over there, and they have the one I'm looking for, I'll be just like you. Checking quality control top to bottom. But seems these days, Ford's on top of their game.
Here's a look at this impressive dealer.

I like the diner idea. I wouldn't mind an excuse to go to the dealer once in a while to look at new stuff.

 

[WVmanowar]

I had a couple of dealer issues with no washer fluid and 45 lb of air in tires.
I have a pinhead size dirt speck under the paint on my door. I also had to adjust my driver's side fender to line up better with the hood. Tailgate has a bigger gap on one side and passenger side wind noise at highway speeds.
Other than those items, a great truck.

So, I told the salesman about some of the problems found on trucks at delivery. They got one transferred from another dealer and delivered it to my house two weeks after purchase. I told them about air pressure, seat latch, etc.
Neither dealer did a pre-delivery inspection (PDI). Had they done the PDI, they would've caught the 44 psi in all four tires, wiper fluid really low, all four windows has some sort of goo or film smeared on the window edges...maybe from inside the window track (windown cleaner didn't work), there was some more goo by the fuel refill door (buffed out) and there was an indentation on the rear seat (like something was sitting in that sport for some time before delivery. They were supposed to pay half for the spray in bed liner, but paid it full because it took them so long to do the transfer from the other dealer. The Billet Liner looks great, but there were two tow hooks missing (the 2 next to cab were missing; not in the middle due to shortage).
I told the salesman before purchase that they need to ensure the rear seat back latches. He said he checked. At delivery, I asked him. He said see. I told him to pull the latch and try to relatch the seat back. His response after finding out it won't re-latch..."oh, it won't re-latch."

When you do the research and tell them up front to verify before delivery and it fails right in front of you... I was not happy with that, how late they were in getting it to me, finding the goo or film on the fender while he was there & on the windows after he left, and finding out on a 5 hr drive that the window wiper fluid was really low.

The customer service department is trying to rectify and asked me what I wanted that'd make this better. Not sure what to say about that or what to ask for since they're in MD and I'm in Northern VA; don't want to drive through DC traffic to go get free oil changes...40 miles here can take an hour or two depending on traffic. Not sure I trust the Service Department since they didn't do the PDI in the first place.

Thoughts?

 

[Floyd]

I noticed a couple of relatively minor fit/finish issues with my truck.

1. The negative battery terminal was not tightly secured (very loose nut). Easy fix.
2. The driver's lower dash panel (below the steering wheel) was not clipped in all the way. The bottom-left clip was not clipped in at all. A quick whack with my hand pushed the bottom half into place.

Neither of these are really critical items, but I thought I'd post up my experience after giving my new truck a detailed look.

This is my first Ford. Is stuff like this typical? I come from the RAM/Jeep world where you're lucky if all the engine parts make it into the vehicle build. So, all things considered...no complaints.

While mine was perfect , like the last dozen new Fords I have bought, I must say that your "problems" are not really "fit and finish" issues. They are more akin to leaving the gas cap door open. Same is true of low windshield washer fluid or high tire pressure, which are merely oversights of courtesy items during dealer prep. They washed my truck and installed the license plates and dealer sticker. I had to remove the plate frames and the sticker, but they weren't fit and finish issues either.

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