Ford vs Chevy! Careful! This thread means war!!!

[QuickSilver]

Ok, too much Found On Road Dead crap going on in these forums! You got a problem with my Blue Oval? Let's go Bowties Boys! LOL.

[foghat46]

Watch out, here comes a hand grenade from a Dodge driver!

[Hi Ho]

Ford is simply the best quality. My 1977 F-250 has 460,000 miles on it. (it's in my signature) All the recent GM vehicles I have been in have been cheap looking and feeling. Take a look at the long term tests at Edmunds.com. They had a multitude of problems with just about all GM vehicles they have tested.

[Mr N8]

My '92 Crown Vic is the most reliable car I have ever owned. Of course, the '90 Aerostar was a pile of poo.

In general I am a lot happier with Ford than I am with GM. Both of my previous GM cars have had significant problems pretty regularly.

[QuickSilver]

Ok, so Aerostars are crap, but hey, at least they ain't a Chevy!

[HpiSavage21]

I like Chevy/GM alot better. I think Ford's are crap. GM has some nice SUV designs but Ford makes mazda and the Mazda3 is awesome. Its a personal opinion. One person may of had a bad experience with one of those companies and then bias them for the rest of there life.

[Andrewxcav]

Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

[Hi Ho]

^VERY un-true.

[Miz]

I had a '91 Ford 1/2 Super Cab, short bed pickup, then a '94 SLT Dodge 1/2 ton short bed pickup, then a '98 SLT Dodge 1/2 ton, short bed extended cab pickup, and now an '01 Chevy 4-door, short bed 1/2 ton pickup. All bought brand new.

I have concluded that among the four of them, somebody could put together one really good pickup.

Hated the Rams' mph (13 on a really good day) and the cramped back seat, loved everything else. They had the best sound system of all (I got the top-of-the-line sound system on all of them). The '98's front seats were redesigned and they sucked. The tie-downs in the bed were handy and it pulled the 4200 lb. (empty weight) gooseneck horse trailer fairly well.

Liked the Ford's back seat (after the conversion kit to raise it to a normal height) and the way it folded flat for great cargo area. The gas mileage was okay, even with the smaller engine (V8) but it used a quart of oil every 1500 miles. It's the only one that had to be towed into the shop...corroded battery wire at 20,000 or so miles. It had to be repainted when it was 2 years old when the sliver gray paint started falling off. Was not really adequate for pulling the trailer.

The Chevy I have now gets good mph (avg. around 18), love the extra doors and it has a usable back seat but it doesn't fold flat. Has 16,000 miles on it and rattles like it's 10 times that, the CD player is next to worthless and when the temp is below 20F, it won't shift out of first gear (auto tranny) until it's warmed up, which takes about 10 minutes of slooooow driving.

I'd buy a Dodge next time, no question, if only they'd fix that gas mileage problem.

[QuickSilver]

I have a highly modified 1992 Fox Mustang, I have never had any trouble with it. I have a 2000 Ford Excursion with a V10 that I have yet to have a single problem with, not so much as a fuse gone out with 65,000 mile on it. I will gladly play tug of war with any Chevy hooked to my Excursion!

[Hi Ho]

91 was a very bad year for Ford paint. If you saw the new seats in the F-250 and 150 you would be greatly impressed.

[not important]

Originally posted by HpiSavage21 I like Chevy/GM alot better. I think Ford's are crap. GM has some nice SUV designs but Ford makes mazda and the Mazda3 is awesome.

Actually Ford doesn't "make" Mazda's. Ford uses some Mazda engines and other parts. Mazda does however make some Fords automobiles.

[Hi Ho]

That used to be true. Now it is the other way around. The Mazda 6 uses a Ford engine, the Mazda B Series is a rebaged Ford Ranger, and the Mazda Tribute is a Ford Escape. It used to be the other way around. The Ford Curior, for example, was built by Mazda. Today Ford makes more Mazda's.

[QuickSilver]

Here is a good link! http://www.truckworld.com/Truck-Test...werstroke.html

[HAL9000]

Yup... Fords are great vehicles... here's mine that I babied and how it repayed me.

[Colonel Sanders]

I'm proud to support GM/Chevy/Pontiac.

Case in point- friend has '88 Ford Bronco- broken down every other weekend... Friends Dad has 2000 F-250- more problems than you might imagine...

But for my personal experiences, I used to own a '94 F-350 1ith 120,000 miles on it- had a new problem every week.

Now I own a '95 Firebird with 90,000 miles, have had the car 3 years- no major problems yet(well, theres a fuse blown now but I can/will replace it tomorrow).

L J

[QuickSilver]

Hal, there is a corse for guys like you, it's called drivers ed! LOL.

[foghat46]

I have a '97 Dakota with 55K miles on it that has never had anything more than normal maintenance done on it. I put in a heavier battery because of the sound system. My work van is a Ford with 195K that gets the crap driven out of it, and it's had normal maintenance, a fuel pump and tires. Out of 28 service vehicles owned by the company I work for, 0 are Chevys. Too many problems with them.

[Panama Red]

Bowties Rule! Reason I like Chevies is because that's what I bought new when I got home from Vietnam in 1970. Turned it (1970 Nova) into a full time race car a few years later. Had the opportunity to work on every other domestic manufacturer out there and hands down Chevy parts were (and are) cheaper, more readily available new and used, easier to work on and much easier to make horsepower gains. Funny thing is my Chevies were almost always towed to the drag strips around the midwest with a Chrysler tow vehicle. First a 69 Dodge Charger then a 75 Dodge "hippie" van. Today I drive a Chrysler PT Cruiser and the car before it was a Chrysler Cirrus. I like Chrysler quality, but for pure racing horsepower, you get more for your money with a Chevy. However, the greatest racing engine ever invented is the Chrysler Hemi.

"And on the 8th day God created the Hemi" - from the back of 426 Hemi powered 'Cuda

[SonicVanguard]

A good friend of mine works for Ford public relations - he's PR manager of powertrain. He drives a 2004 Tundra extended cab. Before that he drove a 2000 4Runner. Before that he drove a 1997 Explorer (when he started with Ford). It died multiple times. The engineers he works with on a daily basis are the first to say Ford's quality is far from job 1. It's more like in triple digits. At Ford, the bottom line is job 1 - meaning wherever they can make a buck, they will.

The story's I've heard from him have ensured I will never own a F-O-R-D. And it's not that he hates the company - he thinks it's a great company. He just thinks the products they put out for the most part are junk. The higher end the car, the better the quality. But most of their cars are waiting to fall apart.

Dave.

[xbenjix72]

i prefer chevy's. the power in chevy pickups are top notch. F1,2, or 3 somethin cant beat a chevy pickup in my eyes. i use to like the look of the f150's now they look like toys. chevy pcikups still look really nice esp. with a 8 inch lift.

[HAL9000]

Originally posted by QuickSilver Hal, there is a corse for guys like you, it's called drivers ed! LOL.

That has NOTHING to do with my driving... the car was actually PARKED and TURNED OFF in front of the university when it burned down only one month AFTER getting the ignition switch recall done.... it's due to undersized wiring and a crappy plastic connector on the alternator that overheats and grounds out. It affects almost every Ford manufactured from 1987 to 1992. If you own one... I wouldn't park it in a garage if I were you... it's a VERY common problem... so common that the gas station garages stock the part for cars that survive without going up in flames.

[QuickSilver]

Uh, sorry, but new F150 is far from being a toy. It now has a full box frame, and far more towing capacity, payload capacity, horsepower, and torque than any other 1/2 ton on the market. I had a chance to ride around in one for a day, and wow! We even took the thing out into a field with some rolling hills that where full of about 2 foot of snow and had some good sized drifts in places. It drove around in that field wherever we pointed it with stock tires and never slowed down!

[QuickSilver]

Originally posted by HAL9000 That has NOTHING to do with my driving... the car was actually PARKED and TURNED OFF in front of the university when it burned down only one month AFTER getting the ignition switch recall done.... it's due to undersized wiring and a crappy plastic connector on the alternator that overheats and grounds out. It affects almost every Ford manufactured from 1987 to 1992. If you own one... I wouldn't park it in a garage if I were you... it's a VERY common problem... so common that the gas station garages stock the part for cars that survive without going up in flames.

Sorry Hal, not trying to get personal. I'm just teasing you!

[HAL9000]

Didn't take it personally... but Ford = Crap... I have literally run GM products to death... totally abused them.. and they keep going. My old wagon that I got rid of a few years ago... picked it up with about 150,000Km, drove it hard for 4.5 years... I think I changed the oil twice... had 347,000Km on it when I sold it.... ran it down to less than 2L in the oil pan a few times... overheated it once... drove it pedal to the metal on a back road for 3 hours to get home from a job quicker.. drove it in the underpass that was flooded in a rainstorm, had water coming in the bottoms of the doors all over the floor. That thing took me wherever I wanted it to go and back again... didn't matter how cold in the winter, started every time without being plugged in.... and boosted a few Fords in its day in the process

I've had my Pontiac Sunfire GT now for 2.5 years.. bought with 67,000Km on it, now has 131,000Km and going strong.. no issues.

[Hi Ho]

Chevy parts were (and are) cheaper, more readily available new and used

Maybe that's becaus they breka down so much. My brother had a 1999 Chevy Malibu and it was towed twice and in the shop 23 times in one year. He takes EXTREMELY good care of all his vehicles. He now owns a Honda Accord and has had ZERO problems with it. Chevy quality has really dropped in the ninety's.

Take Edmunds.com's long term test of the GMC Sierra. Here is the problem history after one year and 39,000 miles and 25 days out of service:

Problem History: The passenger-side A-pillar trim popped off in June 1999; we reattached it with limited success and subsequently heard wind noise emanating from the pillar's vicinity. It was finally re-secured under warranty in March 2000. The driver door hinge started making a popping noise when the door was opened or closed in June 1999. The apparently loose hinge was re-secured in March 2000. The hinge began squeaking in November 2000 and was lubed under warranty later that month. The passenger window fell into the door (and would not rise again) in July 1999; it was immediately repaired under warranty by Martin Cadillac-Pontiac-GMC's body shop (a new regulator was needed). The window began clunking during opening and closing in March 2001; apparently, the regulator mounts were loose. The regulator was remounted under warranty. The driver-side window squeaked when opening and seemed to be off its track starting in November 1999; it was lubed under warranty in March 2000. In January 2000, we noticed that the truck was pulling to the right. It was aligned to factory specs in March 2000. After an accident and subsequent body repair in July 2000, we noticed that the truck was again pulling to the right. We took it back to the body shop in October 2000, and another alignment was performed free of charge. However, we noted that it was pulling to the right again in November 2000; the problem was corrected by another alignment in February 2001. But in late March, the pull resurfaced again! We noted a slight miss at idle in January 2000 and suspected a possible engine misfire. When the truck was serviced in March 2000, the dealership did not find a problem. No other editors reported this problem. Editors reported premature ABS activation in January, April, July, September, October and November 2000 and February 2001. While Parkway GMC told us that this behavior was "normal" and could not be repaired, one of our readers informed us that a new master cylinder had completely resolved this issue in his truck. We noted looseness and shaking in the steering column that suggested a problem with the steering or front suspension in February 2000. One dealership said that everything was operating within manufacturer's specs in March 2000 but adjusted the torque on all of the front suspension bolts anyway. But within a month, the problem was back in force. When we took it back to the same dealership in June 2000, technicians could not find a problem. A second dealership found the problem in February 2001 (after two attempts) and replaced the steering shaft under warranty. In March 2000, we noted that the headlights were misaligned. These were aligned under warranty later that month. We noted excessive wind noise coming from the rear quarter-windows in April 2000. The latches were replaced under warranty in June 2000. But the problem returned in November 2000. The latches were adjusted in March 2001, and the improvement was significant. We noted brake squeal from the right rear in June 2000, but the brakes checked out OK later that month. Eventually, the problem subsided — we suspect it was caused by excess brake dust and debris. The driver's window fell into the door in June 2000; it was immediately repaired under warranty (a new regulator was needed). We noted wind noise from the passenger-side A-pillar due to a faulty door seal in September 2000 — the problem was mentioned only sporadically in the logbook, so we never had the seal checked out. The overwhelming source of wind noise in the cabin was definitely the rear quarter- windows. In October 2000, occasional rattling from the speaker convinced us that it was partially blown. Since it only occurred occasionally, we never brought it to a service department's attention. One editor noted that the tailgate hinge was squeaking in November 2000, but we forgot to ask a dealership to lube it under warranty. We noted that the driver-seat power lumbar adjustment wasn't working in November 2000. Since parts had to be ordered to repair it, the new lumbar wasn't installed until February 2001. Afterwards, we determined that technicians might have forgotten to bleed all the air from the bladder before installing the new hardware, because the new lumbar felt "Super Size." We noted clunky transmission shifts during downshifts at low speeds from either third gear to second or second to first in November 2000. One dealership was unable to duplicate the problem in February 2001. A second replaced the valve body in March 2001, and that seemed to solve the problem, though the transmission seemed to downshift more slowly. Later that month, an editor observed that the clunky shifts had returned, particularly when selecting reverse or downshifting into second. The driver's seatbelt bezel popped off in November 2000 after a seatbelt replacement recall was performed. A technician popped it back into place for us the same day. But the fix lasted only a few minutes. We put up with the detached bezel for a few months and then had it permanently re-secured in February 2001 when we returned to the dealer for the 30,000-mile service. The driver and passenger door panels worked themselves loose and began creaking and rattling with little provocation in November 2000 and February 2001, respectively. Both panels were repaired under warranty in 2001. One of the Sierra's daytime running lights burned out in March 2001, but the truck was 800 miles out of warranty and near the end of its lease — we didn't want to foot the bill for a replacement. We observed that fluid was leaking from the vicinity of the transfer case in March 2001; we did not have an opportunity to have this checked out by a dealership.

Compare that to the problem history of the Ford Explorer with 0 days out of service:

Problem History: 1. We noticed occasional clunks from the transmission during low-speed driving starting in about November 2002. 2. We observed a ringing noise coming from the rear differential when traveling between 55 and 60 mph as of December 2002.

There is also the Cadilac Seville with 11 days out of service and the Oldsmobile Intrigue with 40 days out of service.

[MxDawg4223]

DODGE RULES!!!!!!!!!!!! woooooooo! and Hal, never in my life have i seen a 5 liter mustang in such bad shape.

[Karnevil9]

I drove my share of fords, chevies, dodge's, Toyota's, and even isuzu. If I were to be completely honest, I would say they all make their share of quality cars and trucks and all have their share of Lemons. I had an 85 chevy full size blazer 350 with over 120,000 miles on it. I donated it because the body needed to much work, but the egine was still strong> At same time I had a 93 chevy conversion van 350 that's timing chain broke and seized the engine at 86,000. I have a 2000 ford mustang now, that I like very much. No matter what you drive, take care of the routine maintainance and change the oil very 3,000 and the car should last a while. The only two vehicles I would not buy now are Dodge (which is unfortunate because I like there vehicles but they don't honor their waranties and have terrible customer service), and Isuzu, because the chassis on the trooper I owned started to rot away.

[HAL9000]

OK.. wanna talk prices on parts... Ford seems to think they're worth a mint. I need a license plate bracket for that Mustang... a molded chunk of plastic... $60... needed one for the Sunfire.. .$6... needed a piece of fender trim that was maybe 10 inches by 2.5 inches on that Mustang... $90!!!!. Clutch cable went on it... a steel cable in a nylon jacket with a pin and cotter key on one end, a ball on the other... $190... gimme a break, the thing was worth $20 tops.... lets see what else went on that car

Ignition module... gimme a break you Ford guys... EVERYONE I know with a Ford keeps one as a spare cuz those things are ALWAYS crapping out. Doesn't matter if it's from the 70's, 80's, 90's whatever... they still cant get that right.

Idler pully... just another overpriced part.

Recall - catalytic converters
Recall - Ignition switch
Should have been a recall - peeling paint.. they recalled the trucks, but would only pay for half on the cars IF you complained enough.
Timing belt
Mufflers... I put 6 fricking muffers on the thing cuz they can't keep the heat shield from rattling.
2 fuel pumps
2 alternators

Now those are just the things off the top of my head. Towed to the shop quite a few times. My Sunfire has yet to see a towtruck.

Now lets talk depreciation... dang Fords are worth NOTHING after as little as two years. Check out the leases. Get a GM or Dodge at the same price as the Ford product and the lease at the same intrest for the same duration is always WAY higher... why's that.. cuz at the end of the lease the thing isn't worth the scrap metal it's made out of....scrap metal... there's a ridiculous statement... gotta cut the rust out first

[enhanced08]

i agree with Karnevil9, they all make some good quality cars. but i'll take my chances with a chevy or dodge anyday over a ford!! NASTY!!!!!!!!! EWW!!!! Found On Road Dead, Fix Or Repair Daily, Found On Russian Dump (don't really understand that one, but it works), F***in, Old Rebuilt Dodge (even tho i like dodge too) ford in reverse: Driver Returns On Foot!

my 1962 Chevy Corvair is my baby!!!