Subject: 
Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer


Mon, 12 Feb 2007 12:17:56 +0800
Date:    





Thought you guys might like to hear someone from another part of the 
world who has the same damn problem with the quality of Ford 
vehicles......By the way, I live in the Philippines and my car is less 
than 2 years old with less than 15,000 km on the odometer. Let me tell 
you my Ford horror story.

My Ford Explorer 2005 has brought nothing but problems for me since I 
took it out of the showroom in 2005. The frustration never seems to 
end!!!!! I got myself the top of the line Eddie Bauer 4x4 Ford Explorer. 
 Upon delivery, I noticed there were traces of adhesive materials stuck 
on the wooden trim of the dashboard but I was quickly assured by the 
salesman that they can easily take them out when I go for my 1st 1000 km 
checkup. During the 2nd day after delivery of the car, I noticed there 
was a rattle on the trunk lid of the car. I brought it to Ford and they 
told me there was a plastic that they neglected to remove somewhere on 
the back which was causing the rattle. After that was fixed, I began to 
notice that there was a rattle under the car, underneath the steering 
wheel and the back window. This all happened with less than 5000 km on 
the odometer. The rattle underneath the car turned out to be  the lack 
of insulation between the running board and the part it is connected to 
which creates metal to metal contact but I had to go back to the dealer 
5 times before they finally found what was wrong. As for the other 
problems, I was so frustrasted I took it upon myself to fix the other 
problem because the mechanics at the Ford dealership couldn't find what 
was causing all these strange noises my car was producing. The rattle 
from the back window turned out to be caused by a plastic assembly 
underneath the interior quarter panel that wasn't installed properly. 
The people at Ford removed that quarter panel and they didn't see the 
problem. On top of that, they didn't put back the seatbelt assembly 
properly. I had to fix all of that myself. I had to disassemble that 
quarter panel because I was so frustrated I didn't want to send the car 
back to the dealership without any results. Now we go the noise from 
underneath the steering wheel. I also had to find the solution myself. 
The problem turns out to be a metal clip that came loose. This all 
happened with less than 5000 km on the odometer. Before I forget, let's 
go back to the traces of adhesive that were left on the wooden trim of 
the car. I went for the 1000 km checkup but the people at Ford didn't 
seem to have any idea how to take them out so I called the salesman and 
he told me to take a picture of it so that he can show it to his boss 
and he told me to wait for a response from his boss. I didn't want to 
wait so I just decided to fix the problem on my own. I had to spend a 
couple of thousand to have my new car detailed and had them take out the 
adhesive traces. So much for Ford reliability and service.I was such a 
regular fixture on the dealership that I know most of the service reps 
there already. I've had a host of other problems with the car from 
owning it for less than 2 years. At present with barely 15,000 km on the 
odometer, the brake pedal has an irritating screeching and rubbery 
sound, the sunroof cover is misaligned, the cover on the sun visor 
mirror doesn't stay open if open it, and the smoke from outside comes in 
even when the air recirculation system is switched on. As we speak, the 
irritating brake noise is still there and I was told by Ford that it is 
the way the car is designed. I told the service rep if the car was 
designed that way then it should be there already the 1st time I got the 
car. The car is still under warranty so it is their responsibility to 
maintain the car the way it was from the 1st time I got the car. The 
problems obviously stems from the mediocre quality of Ford and not from 
the usual wear and tear. The people at the dealership refused to do 
anything about it until I had a very influential relative of mine who is 
in the media business call the dealership and ask them to repair the car 
or risk having the Ford on the editorial of a major newspaper the next 
day. They finally agreed to replace the brake booster of the car but the 
noise is till there although not as loud anymore. I've been reading up 
on the internet about ford brakes and came across a thread of other Ford 
owners who have the same brake noise and apparently the master cylinder 
has to be replaced as well to completely get rid of the noise so I think 
it will be another struggle to get them to replace the master cylinder. 
The plastic piece missing from the sunroof is a few weeks away from 
being fixed as the part has to be ordered. Good thing the sunvisor was 
replaced after a few days. All of these problems surfaced even though 
the car is hardly used and has low mileage. For Christ's sake, it's the 
first time I've heard of a car that has a defective brake booster and 
master cylinder. I've had a lot of cars over the years and this is the 
first time I've heard of the brake booster and master cylinder breaking 
down not to mention the sunvisor!!!!!!! I hardly use the explorer  
during the day as I have a very reliable Toyota which I've been using 
for work for almost 8 years now. No squeaks or rattle whatsoever from 
the Toyota given it is used everyday. The explorer which I use only as a 
leisure car and for out of town trips is giving me all these problems 
after only a year and a half of being barely used. Imagine if I were to 
use it everyday in the heat and heavy traffic of Metro Manila streets. 
The most depressing part of this whole thing is the explorer will only 
sell for half of its price after just one and half year. Apparently, I 
am one of the few people crazy enough to take a gamble on Ford when 
everyone else buys Japanese cars. Now my dilemma is if sell the car I
can only get half of what I paid for it. If I don't sell, I might end up 
like one of these unfortunate Ford owners stuck with more serious 
mechanical problems. I've always bought Japanese cars and never had any 
problems with them. Just oil, gas, regular tune-ups and the Japanese 
cars gives you no problems at least for the first five years of 
ownership. This is my first American car and will definitely be the 
last. No more Ford for me even if they sell it to me for a third of the 
price. No wonder Toyota and all the Japanese brands are kicking Ford's 
butt in car sales worldwide and even in the Ford's own American market. 
In my opinion, Ford should just sell the company to Toyota maybe and 
maybe then will Ford will produce better cars........