We all know about Ford troubles of late and the AFA is taking credit for it!
http://www.afa.net/ford100207.htm
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/03/a...slump-at-ford/

I don't really know what to say about this, besides what autoblog has already said.

 

please, the afa are a bunch of losers....getting all wild up about something that someone else is doing that has zero effect on their lives.....losers.

 

Wait till them bastids find out I was rear-ended in my Exploder! They'll have pickets out front of my house!!!

 

The blog is wrong, the AFA is right.

I had a friend get rid of her F-150 for a Tundra.

Of course it helped that the 2005 F-150 she had that was traded in had the mod motor and needed spark plugs (I wasn't going to do a spark plug in that nightmare and have one break) and it had the infamous brake pulse. Plus, my scanner couldn't read the new system Ford switched to = Ditched!

My last new Fords were my 1997 Ranger and 95 Aerostar and the last two new Fords I had family or friends buy is a 2007 Ranger and 2004? Explorer. No more new Fords here. I might never buy a new Ford again no matter what they do now.

Though I will probably still buy older used Fords. Unless one of these companies start making nice full sized vans and trucks.

<TABLE style="FONT-SIZE: 105%" width="65%" border=0 Non-gay-friendly companies?><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=bottom bgColor=white height=17>Acura

</TD><TD vAlign=bottom bgColor=white height=17>Hyundai

</TD><TD vAlign=bottom bgColor=white height=17>Suzuki

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=bottom bgColor=white height=17>BMW

</TD><TD vAlign=bottom bgColor=white height=17>Kia

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=bottom bgColor=white height=17>Honda

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

not to start a p---ing contest here but you need to go hang out on the toyota forum. so far the reasons you listed are not enough reasons to diss a ford. if you dont want to change her spark plugs let someone do it that knows how to deal with the removal for you-chances are they would not have the problem. as far as brake shudder i have seen MANY MANY cars that do this and it is usually how they have been driven rather that a product defect.
as far as the other cars you mentioned , other than honda and acura (both a pain to work on) the others are a big joke and have a lot more service headaches than the ford products do. i sell and manage cars for a living and deal with 40_+ cars at a time so i get to see all different kind of car issues at any given time
jim

 

rebocardo is one of the most bigoted people on this site. It's got nothing to with mod motors or spark plugs.

Couldn't agree more.

 

Hey Andy, where've you been...I haven't seen much from you in the club (Or anywhere for that matter) lately...

Tim

 

Been pretty busy lately. Just got back from vacation where I was computerless for a blissful week. Work has also had me running around a lot lately.

Good to see you're still around Tim.

You weirdo.

 

Until today I've never heard of the AFA, so they are not doing to good of a job getting their word out. I discovered their web site and jeez get a life.

 

> how to deal with the removal for you-chances are they would not have the problem.

Do yourself a favor and educate yourself about the spark plugs for the 5.4. The local dealer will not guarantee they will not break them or have to remove a head, why should I? Nothing like a Ford dealer telling a customer their tune up "might" cost $1000+. One person here on FTE actually paid more ($1200?), if I remember correctly.

> as brake shudder i have seen MANY MANY cars that do this

Do yourself a favor and educate yourself about people that think they solve this problem by replacing everything including the spindles, and it still comes back. This has been a problem since 2000. Simple enough, go to each forum 2004-2008, 2003-2007, etc. and search for +brake then refine your search to +brake +shudder and see how many more posts there are in the 2004-2008 forum.

> i sell and manage cars for a living and deal with 40

Obviously NOT at a Ford dealer.

> it is usually how they have been driven rather that a product defect.

Maybe you should download the TSB on the spark plug problem (available here on FTE) and learn the special tool for removing the rest of the plug, after it breaks is only $140. Nothing like a $18 spark plug either, is there?

> sell and manage cars for a living and deal with 40_+ cars

If that is meant as a point to validate your argument, on my lot at Ryder I was responsible for 400+ trucks (as in class 8 tractor trailers). So, I guess my point is more valid then yours, not to mention I worked in all positions (except maybe OWNER) at various Ford dealers including one that sold 800+ new Fords a month.

> but you need to go hang out on the toyota forum

I will as soon as I can stomach the idea of buying one myself, from a company that helped kill 200,000 Americans in the Pacific. Though Honda has come a long way from building WWII tanks.

Learn to separate FACT from OPINION.

> so they are not doing to good of a job getting their word out

They are getting better.

 

again--not to get in a p---ing contest but if you oversee that many vehicles then you should understand what it am saying.
the brake rotor problem does not involve ALL or even the majority of 150 trucks therefor it is an indication of a driver problem rather than a bad design problem.
the spark plug problem is a poor design-you are right about that. however until 100000 miles it really doesnt matter as it will likely be just as expensive if you change them out early. and as i said a tech who does the change day in and day out will be far more likely to have success than a guy doing it one time in his driveway regardless of what tools he has. you know as well as i do that the tech doesnt want to deal with a broken plug either.
as far as dealing with 40 cars the ones i have to manage usually are older units with over 100k on them not one or 2 year ols cars typically seen on rental lots i also have been involved in all facets of the car biz including high volumn lots-i just chose not to work in that type of atmosphere.
i agree with your sentiments on jap cars and that is why i will never own one no matter how good they are perceived to be. we need to take care of the us not japan.
lastly i know ford has problems-it is a mass produced item but they still are better than most automotive products including some that sell for a lot more!
jim

 

> therefor it is an indication of a driver problem rather than a bad design problem.

Yea ... all those people that spent $30,000+ for their trucks are problem drivers and the problem just got worse from 2000 to 2008. Evident by the number of people that exploded with BRAKE questions in the forums when most people do not own newer vehicles. The demographic of a F-150 buyer is anything BUT a problem driver.

Not everyone had a blow out with Firestone or ATX tires. I ran mine (VDHL?) until almost bald to get brand new replacements when I worked at Ford. Does that mean everyone that had a blow out and was badly injured a problem driver? I think not. If they weren't on my 1997 Ranger and were on an Exploder, I surely would have swapped them out. The tires were defective and under spec for that type of vehicle and its intended use.

imo, Just like the brake system on the F-150 to have so many problems on a new vehicle.

> however until 100000 miles it really doesnt matter
> as it will likely be just as expensive if you change them out early.

ROTF! Now to support your argument you are saying a spark plug design should be defective or it doesn't matter? It matters a lot.

> i said a tech who does the change day in and day out will be far more likely to have success

Try reading the forums again.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...park+plug+tech

"The dealer broke all 8 plugs, and then informed me that they have not been able to change plugs on a single 2004 or 2005 in this mileage range without them breaking. Funny they didn't mention that before they broke mine off. "

"At 50,000 miles, I took my truck to Ford for them to change the plugs and 5 broke"

Those direct quotes are only a small sampling. FWIW: Waiting until 100k makes it much worse, if you read the boards.

Or better yet

www.flatratetech.com

I just had a customer come by the other day with a 6.0 Excursion (it was sweet) that blew the intercooler and dumped oil all over the place. Luckily Ford covered the repair on that one even though he was a second owner. Want to do a search on 6.0 problems?

The fact is Ford is doing things that are not nice and as long as they keep doing it, they will keep stepping in it and will slowly bleed to death until they see the light.

Especially when former loyal customers have reached the point of going from "not wanting to buy" to "hope they go out of business if they don't change their ways".

 

I fail to see how poor spark plug design and brake problems (whether that's true or not) makes the AFA "right"? Am I missing something here? Do the brakes work fine and the plugs not break in only the trucks of same sex partners due to some devious conspiracy on the part of Ford? Can someone help me out here?

 

> Am I missing something here?

Yes, you didn't follow the thread.

My quote

"I had a friend get rid of her F-150 for a Tundra.

Of course it helped that the 2005 F-150 she had that was traded in had the mod motor and needed spark plugs"

His quote
"so far the reasons you listed are not enough reasons to diss a ford."

I listed enough reasons right from the FTE.

See, even Barney Frank could follow that

 

But what NewEnglandHerdsman was trying to say (and what I've been wondering this whole time) was what does that have to do with the afa boycotting ford?