Originally Posted by osbornk
I might have agreed with you had not my son-in-law owned one of the mid 90s V6 Toyotas that had the oil sludging problems that they claimed was caused by the owner for years before finally admitting a problem. Once they acknowledged it, they limited the remedies to far fewer than actually had the problem. After my son-in-law had to buy a used engine because Toyota wouldn't help (he has always changed his own oil at 3,000-4,000 miles but they still blamed the sludge on him). His other vehicles have always rant 200-300K without sludge problems.
Do you recall the recall on standard cab trucks when they "forgot" to install the extra straps for child seats. The recall was not to add the straps but to disable the airbag cutoff switch so the owners could not use a baby seat in the truck at all.
Better than Ford?
The sludge issue was a bad example of corporate arrogance and refusing to admit that something could have been designed badly. Not Toyota's brightest moment I will admit.
However if you want to get into a pissing contest for which company (Ford vs Toyota) has the longest history of crappy products, cover ups, refusals, and poor customer service we can do that.
How about the Ford Pinto remember that one? Where Ford figured it would be cheaper to fight lawsuits from next of kin that it would be to cut some bolts shorter at the factory?
How about the F series trucks that would catch fire for no apparent reason, that Ford was finally forced to admit was a problem.
Ford 5.4L V8's launching spark plugs that Ford still refuses to admit is a design flaw.
You might also remember the previous generation F-150 that would crumple up like a beer can in a head on collision. Safety first!
Now on to personal experience with crappy Ford products.
Case one: 1995 Ford Contour 2.5L DOHC V6. This car died at about 85k on the clock with a siezed engine. Before that the car had four catalytic converters replaced (the fifth one needed to be as well, but we just put up with the light on the dash). One transmission had to be replaced 57k miles I think. All the spark plug wires within 45K miles. The car also had a defective starter that managed to grind off some of it's gear teeth and the corresponding teeth on the flywheel. This was discovered and fixed when the tranny failed.
Case two: 1998 Ford Taurus SHO 3.4L DOHC V8. All coil packs at least twice in 70K miles. One transmission at 52k if I recall correctly. Steering rack/CV joints at 33k going out again when it was traded off. Window regulators. Trunk release. Door mounted tweeters, twice on the driver's side, once on the passenger side.
Case three: 2001 Ford Focus 2.0L DOHC I4. Transmission fialed at 62K. The car had some body damage as well, and was deemed not worth fixing. Scraped.
Family experiences with Toyota products have been the exact opposite thus far.
The Tundra is too new to report on, so far no issues.
My mother drives a 2004 Lexus ES 330, so far it has about 48k on the odo. It has been in the shop only for oil changes and routine service, there have been no problems. None. The car doesn't even have squeaks or rattles. The interior looks new still. This car replaced the SHO. Good ridance to that turd.
My father and my wife both Drive Scion Tc's. My dad has more miles on his (about 25k) and has had no issues from any parts failure. Neither has my wife's car with about 13k on it. Admitedly both cars are still really low mileage right now, but they are tighter and noticebly more well made than the cars they replaced (the 1995 Contour for my dad, and a 1991 Buick for the wife). The cars both have had a voloutary recall perfomed on the side impact air bag sensors. The work took less than an hour.
My brother replaced the crappy Focus with a Toyota Matrix in November. The Matrix is a 2003 with right around 60k on the odo. He has reported that the car is much more well made than the Focus ever was even when new. Beyond that I have nothing else to say about the Matrix as I have never seen the car in person.