Are Fords Reliable?

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Ford Mustang

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When you’re in the market for a new vehicle, arguably the most important step in the process is doing your initial homework and research. Once you decide the type of vehicle you’ll want to get, the next step is often looking at reviews and reports for the brand you’re interested in. There are plenty of independent automotive reporting groups that provide insight into automakers to give consumers the best information possible. If you have to ask yourself: “are Fords reliable?” There are a few important things to consider. 

Ford is an American multinational vehicle company with headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. Founded by the famous Henry Ford and incorporated in 1903, the company is famous for using highly structured manufacturing sequences characterized by moving assembly lines for peak efficiency. Ford was a trailblazer and created ways for large-scale automobile manufacture and large-scale administration of an industrial workforce. It is known for power and toughness, but are Ford’s reliable?

According to J.D. Power, a handful of domestic automakers have lower issues per 100 car numbers than the industry average. According to the 2012 J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram are the least reliable, with GMC and Chevrolet also falling short of the industry average.

Consumer Reports and J.D Power have regularly ranked Ford near the bottom of the dependability scale. Ford is the most expensive of the American manufacturers, but they are far from being the most reliable. Ford’s overall reliability is now rated a 2 out of 5 by J.D Power. This is below average, and it does not portray Ford as the most trustworthy brand. However, several of Ford’s vehicles have a high level of dependability.

Based on 2015 car production, Ford is the second-largest U.S. automaker (after GM) and the fifth-largest in the world (behind Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and GM). Ford moved to introduce a range of new vehicles, including “Crossover SUVs” and in 2018, Ford announced that, with the exception of the Mustang, it would phase out passenger cars in the North American market over the next several years due to declining demand and profitability.

In the 1990s and 2000s, there was a fad for SUVs. American manufacturers gave up the sedan market to imports in order to increase profit margins by selling more trucks and SUVs back then. When gas prices rose again in 2005, however, no one was interested in buying fuel-guzzling SUVs, and the popular domestic vehicles were left behind. Domestic automakers rushed to produce smaller automobiles to fulfill market demand, but they were not as well made as the foreign competitors. Domestic automobiles were much behind the market leaders from Japanese automakers at the time.

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Are Fords Reliable - Numbers To Know

  • Average reliability score of 3.5⁄5
  • Ranked 21st out of 32 major international automaker brands
  • Average repair cost of $775 compared to the industry average of $652

Ford is America’s second-largest carmaker and also the least dependable, according to 64,000 Google searches based on a yearly average. Despite the fact that Ford is the least trustworthy car manufacturer (based on Google search data), none of its individual models make the top 15 least reliable car models in the United States. The reason Ford ranks so high is that it has so many models at the bottom of the model rankings like the Edge, Escape, Expedition, Explorer, Focus, Transit, and EcoSport. These all rank in the top 20-50 for least reliable models, and their combined Google searches rank Ford as the least reliable manufacturer.

Are Fords Reliable Compared to Other Brands?

The most unreliable, according to Google searches by brand, overall searches about vehicle issues, and the aggregated score for poor reliability. Ford is the fourth-least reliable and largest manufacturer based in the U.S.

  1. Mazda, 107,000, 86.08
  2. Vauxhall/Opel, 66,130, 81.78
  3. Volvo, 50,510, 71.59
  4. Ford, 269,290, 64.11
  5. BMW, 129,980, 64.09
  6. Land Rover, 28,750, 49.65
  7. Kia, 126,690, 48.72
  8. Audi, 75,130, 44.38
  9. Tesla, 21,660, 43.58
  10. Nissan, 206,670, 41.92

All Ford models have an average yearly repair cost of $775. In comparison, all models cost $652. This includes both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. Ford is one brand that has experienced some dependability issues. Domestic automakers are at the bottom of the field in terms of dependability and satisfaction ratings, with the traditional American brand consistently scoring poorly in reliability studies and being consistently outperformed by its Japanese counterparts. Individually, Ford comes out on top with an uninspiring average score of 63.1 for the same time period, followed by GM at 56.1 and Chrysler at 48.

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What Are Fords Reliable Models?

According to J.D Power, some of the best models that routinely get higher average rankings and projected dependability:

  • Ford Edge
  • Ford Mustang
  • Ford Ranger
  • Rated 4 or 5 stars consistently
  • 5 out of 5 for projected dependability

On the contrary, the Ford vehicles that have historically been the least dependable are:

  • Ford Fusion 
  • Ford Fiesta 
  • 2 out of 5 rating from J.D. Power and a spot in the ‘Rest’ category

It’s probably no coincidence that the least reliable models are sedans, which Ford acknowledged poor success within recent years. While they may not specialize in small cars, Ford does have two of the top engines on the market today that can be found in the F150 and Mustang, according to Hot Cars.

  • The Ford F150: Quality & Reliability:77⁄100 and total score of 8.7 out of 10
  • Ford Escape: Quality & Reliability:72⁄100 and total score of 7.7 out of 10
  • Ford Focus: Quality & Reliability: 4 out of 5 and a total score of 8.6 out of 10 
  • Ford Fusion: Quality & Reliability rating of 87⁄100 and total score of 8.3
  • Ford Fusion Energi: Quality & Reliability rating of 87⁄100 and total score of 7.8 out of 10 
  • Ford Expedition: Quality & Reliability rating of 75⁄100 and total score of 8.5 out of 10
  • Ford Edge: Quality & Reliability rating of 82⁄100 and total score of 7.4 out of 10 
  • Ford Explorer: Quality & Reliability rating of 74⁄100 and total score of 7.5 out of 10
  • Ford EcoSport: Quality & Reliability rating of 83⁄100 and total score of 6.4 out of 10
  • Ford Mustang, while a routinely high-selling vehicle, hasn’t been officially rated on reliability in many years. 

All information is from the most recent U.S. News and World Report ranking. In conclusion, the answer to Ford’s reliability will depend. Ford’s long-term viability is a mixed bag and largely depends on the vehicle model. Some models are quite trustworthy and receive ratings of 5 out of 5 on J.D Power, while others are completely unreliable. Ford has routinely received poor ratings from Consumer Reports, and smaller SUVs and sedans are routinely at the bottom of the list.

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