How reliable is your Ford, whichever it maybe? Henry Ford wanted America to have affordable cars and wanted his Ford cars to be standing in every compatriot’s garage. The dream may have seemed impossible then, but slowly and steadily, the Ford Motor Company has become the second largest in America and the fifth-largest in the world. Of course, while Ford has launched memorable cars like the Galaxie, the Mustang and of course the Ford F-Series – it has erred aplenty too. And even for the cars that are still alive and well and making Ford pretty pennies, some common problems have become chronic.
The thing is, these problems don’t happen with every Ford car or even every example. It's just that they do happen in enough cars. It’s time Ford start paying close attention to quality control and become the great company its founder once envisaged it to be. Here go some common enough problems with Ford cars and trucks, in general.
15 Not Very Entertaining: Infotainment System Breakdown
While we agree that the infotainment system in a car is not everything, it’s not something that should keep breaking down either, right? But that’s what Ford infotainment systems are all about: issues, problems, and troubleshooting that never works. Probably why they had a settle a class-action suit over this for $17 million.
14 The Glitch Is In The Transmission
Which Ford cars have had problems with the transmission? Perhaps the question is which Ford car doesn’t have a problem with the transmission. Because mostly all do. Think Escort, Probe and of course the bestselling F-series trucks. For the latter, there has been a recall, to fix something caused by a previous recall, over transmission issues, of course.
13 Child Locks? More Of A Joke
You’d think that once you have activated the child lock, the apple of your eye is safe and secure in your Ford. Wrong. Ford has often faced problems with malfunctioning child locks that show they are deployed but in fact, are not. An unsecured child in the backseat can still end up opening the door from the inside. Reason for yet another recall.
12 The Power Mill With Issues
Yet again its America’s favorite truck that has the lead on this problem. Of course, the Focus comes a close second. The Ford F-Series has been facing engine snags on and off ever since inception, and the latest models are no better. Of course, we are not saying every Ford truck has an engine snafu – but there have been enough complaints to make this a worrying issue for Ford owners.
11 Everyone’s Favorite Rust Bucket?
2019 does not seem like a very good year for Ford since there has been another class-action suit filed against the company. This time, its for corrosion. The lawsuit claims that there is a defect in Ford paint as well as aluminum body panels that cause part of the car to rust and corrode like nobody’s business. Much of this often happens once the five-year warranty is moot.
10 Blowing Hot And Cold, Or Maybe Not
Imagine driving down a freezing road, and have the heater give up on you. Not a very happy scenario, is it? Or what if you are stuck at the wrong end of a traffic jam in the heat, and the air con conks off. Well, for many Ford owners, this is a sad reality. Plagued with air-con and heat issues, Ford needs to up its game.
9 Mask Up: It’s Ford’s Poisonous Exhaust
In the movies, sealing yourself in a closed space with the car on to let poisonous fumes in is often a sure-fire way to meet your maker. The Ford Explorer makes this even more possible with many complaints about it leaking carbon monoxide from the exhaust. While there is pressure on Ford to fix this, it has still not issued a recall for the same. But it does offer a free fix to anyone who has this problem.
8 Drivetrain Noise? Well, That’s Normal
You do know what the drivetrain is, right? The insides of the car that connects the engine to the axles and makes the wheel go-round with all that torque and horsepower. So if the drivetrain sounds wrong, there is something wrong with it. And again this seems to be a common enough problem with Ford cars. And causes more recalls.
7 On And Off. On And Off. On…
Having no engine problem but having the engine light come on, repeatedly, can be a cause of worry for many. The engine light does not necessarily mean a big problem though, sometimes these things can be triggered by nothing more than a loose fuel tank cap. But the problem is, you cannot ignore it. And the problem also is, that Ford’s engine light, lights up too often for comfort.
6 Let’s Stop Here. Wait, What Happened to The Brakes
This one is a doozy. Imagine barreling down the highway and wanting to slow down, only to see that your beloved Ford is now lacking brakes and just turned into death-trap. This happened to 420,000 Ford F-150s for the 2013 and 2014 models – where a defective master brake cylinder forced a recall to fix the problem. Luckily, nothing untoward came out of it.
5 Flickering, Ghostly Headlamp Lore
In 2015, Ford recalled over 310,000 cars because of headlamp problems that ended up being the cause of 11 crashes. The cars in question were Ford Victoria models from the early 2000s and if you remember, these were cop cars. So imagine having a cop car coming to help you, only for its headlamps to fizzle out, and have it crash instead.
4 The Oil That Leaks And More
Have an inexplicable oil leak? There is a puzzling problem with some models of the Ford Escape, where the valve cover gaskets keep blowing their tops. Leaking oil, the smell of burning oil and a continuous low oil should alert you to this problem. And there were some recalls around it in 2016 as well.
3 You Like Steering? Here, Take The Wheel
So in 2018, Ford recalled 1.4million vehicles because the steering wheels were fixed bad. They were so bad, they could sort of come off while you were driving. Leaving you with no steering and a very bad feeling about Ford in general. The bolt could come off, and then so could the steering. Mostly in the Ford Fusion, and a few Lincolns as well.
2 That’s One Sparky Fight
Some Ford engines just do not like spark plugs, even though they are as essential to the engine as oxygen is to us. Call them their own worst enemy, but for the owners of these Ford cars, things weren’t as funny as they sound. The result was a class-action lawsuit filed against Ford – my, don't they keep their lawyers busy.
1 All Geared Up? Not In A Ford
Two words: Ford Fusion. And okay, Ford Fiesta too. Why? Because the shifter cable of these cars was so poor in quality, many would break leaving the gear shifter completely useless. The Ford Ranger also seems to be developing this problem, though Ford did try to say it's not a safety issue – if your car refuses to go into or out of gear, simply coast to one side and stop. And then curse yourself for buying a Ford.