Why I will never buy another Ford vehicle.

[Goanna]

Ford rangers have been made in thailand for some time now. Mine in Australia is 2011 4wd. No prob at all

[Thaiready]

I have a 2006 Ford Focus........210,000 k. Oil changes, brakes and tires. Been a very reliable car. Driven all over Thailand.

[rambling]

The age of 4 years or 100,000 km,.... whatever the car reaches first, then it's time to sell it, not to buy it. The humidity and the road conditions in Thailand destroy a vehicle faster than in European countries.

I have a 10 year old, 118,000 km Alfa Romeo here in Bangkok, aside from normal wear and tear such as replacing shock ups, and a few 3rd party parts like the Bosch fuel pump and ABS unit it has had no issues, no breakdowns. An old car will need more maintenance, that's just the way it is, and its price also reflects that.

So it depends on two things, 1. your level of expectations and 2. proper maintenance which many people here skimp on. Once the car isn't under warranty anymore they just fix things when they break, often with cheaper non original/OEM parts, no preventative maintenance, no scheduled stuff except maybe oil.

I don't think European winters are very kind to cars either, maybe even harsher for example starting and running an engine with cold oil which doesn't lubricate properly yet is one of the worst things you can do to an engine.

[Thaiready]

When I was a kid, FORD used to stand for Fix Or Repair Daily

First On Race Day

[rambling]

Fords are just mass produced crap !! Poor builds and poor parts.

Surely if you are going to buy a car you research it first right ? Go to any reliability table and Ford aren't going to feature - all the top slots will be taken by the Japanese manufacturers. Honda and Nissan have regularly led these tables for as long as I can remember

I guess that depends on which reliability table you're looking at.

Here's a well known one: http://autos.jdpower.com/ratings/dependability/cars.htm

For 2014

Top rated compacts: Chevrolet Volt (winner), Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic.

Top rated midsize: Toyota Camry (winner), Buick Lacrosse, Honda Accord

Top rated large: Buick Lucerne (winner), Toyota Avalon, Ford Taurus.

Toyota being the most consistent, no showing for Nissan in these 3 main categories, and one feature for Ford.

[oneday]

Typical customer service attitude in this country.

[bubba]

Assuming the OP is in BKK, keep in mind that 130K in BKK heat and traffic is a lot more stressful than 130K driving the highways of Texas.

I bought the top end 1.08M baht 2.0L Ford Focus about 18 months ago, and have had zero problems, although mine genuinely is low mileage. Dealer support and responsiveness has been great. Plus, compared to the similarly priced Toyota Altis competition, there is no comparison in terms of technology, performance and handling, at least to my driving taste. And with that performance, the Focus 2.0L engine gets better fuel economy than the Altis 1.8L engine.

IMHO, an Altis is just boring. As for details, even the interior hasn't really changed much in the last ten years. Check out the retro cheap LCD digital clocks they still use, even on the Camry. Sure, the depreciation it isn't nice on anything other than Japanese cars in Thailand due to Thai perceptions, but I really did not want to ride around in something I did not want because I was worried about depreciation.

Yes, everyone has their preferences and priorities, but there you go...just my opinion.

We have the same model, same age and pretty much the same reason for buying and similar experience except for having one issue with a relay box which needed replacing and was done under warranty.

Not only are those Altis and Civic boring but the Focus was also the only reasonably priced family sedan with full safety options such as 6 airbags. Not to mention things like moonroof, 9 speakers, advanced audio, better steering, high quality Michelin tyres, higher fuel economy but also enough power with 160 BHP.

6 airbags is such a basic thing these days in Europe but here the Altis and Civic top out at 4 airbags, I guess there are enough Thais who buy them anyway so why bother..

I think you will find that even the top-end Altis only comes with dual front airbags, for a total of two. The comparable top-end Focus has dual front airbags, side airbags and side curtain airbags, for a total of six.

This sort of sums up my impression of the 2.0L Focus. This is an Australian review, and the Focus now sold in Australia is made in Thailand from the same line as the ones sold here:

http://www.caradvice.com.au/238850/ford-focus-sport-review-4/

And regarding the Corolla (Altis) sold in Australia, they come with six airbags. I guess Toyota only do two airbags in Thailand just because they can.

[elgordo38]

I bought a Ford van and a Ford 4WD for the hotel I work in as well as a Ford for myself. Every single one has had repeat problems with the A/C, airbags, and ABS.

Never another Ford, that is for sure. A lady at the dealer told me they are assembled in Turkey and known for the poor workmanship...........

Did you buy this Turkey on Thanksgiving or Christmas?

[elgordo38]

Well this thread and the many answers remind me of one thing. There are a 101 reasons here why I would not want to own a vehicle in Thailand. Then there is the high price of gas, insurance, repairs, poor road conditions and poor drivers on the road here that make driving like Russian Roulette I also noted that the repair quotes are close to what you would pay in North America. I guess if you can afford to buy and drive one you can afford to fix it to. Ah prestige has its price. Besides I get more excersize riding my push bike.

[A1Str8]

Before you it probably had a Thai owner so obviously it wasn't maintained properly.

[elgordo38]

I'm from the US and I have to say that any expectations of going 250,000 miles without problems is not my experience. My personal experience is that 100,000 is the time to sell the vehicle. Things will start needing replacing after that. With that being said I had a BMW 325i go almost 300,000 miles without major repairs. Also a friend of mine had a Toyota pickup that went for over 400,000 miles. Highways miles, cooler climate, proper and timely maintenance will make a difference. Personally if I were to buy a car in Thailand I would go to the extremes. Either high quality brand new or old piece of crap. With the new one you know that it is serviced and driven properly. With the old piece of crap you just drive it until the wheels fall off then junk it and buy another POS. For now my motorcycle is all I really need. I did rent a car for 3 months during the rainy season last year. 30,000 baht total and didn't have to worry about a thing. May do it again this year.

Reminds me of my friend back in Canada. He would always tell me "G. if you paid more than a $100 for a car you paid tooo much" He was a postman as was I and he delivered in the one of the higher class parts of the city. His patrons loved him and having money they would of say to him "G. (his first name was the same as mine) here are the keys and the signed ownership to my old car. They will give me next to nothing for a trade in so drive it away" The funny part was when he scrapped them he got paid for the scrap. When he retired Canada Post did a video on him on his last day with his patrons shaking his hand and showering him with gifts. He did 35 years on the same route. He still goes back to some of them to trim trees and cut grass. He also does a chauffeur service to and from the airport now for some of his older patrons. He uses their car they trust him. What a guy. After retirement he has built a business on friendship.

[kannot]

I bought a Ford van and a Ford 4WD for the hotel I work in as well as a Ford for myself. Every single one has had repeat problems with the A/C, airbags, and ABS.

Never another Ford, that is for sure. A lady at the dealer told me they are assembled in Turkey and known for the poor workmanship...........

Try looking at the paint quality of Indonesian made Nissan Juke......................orange peel aint the word its more like a moonscape, but i see many Thai cars like this now also.

[naboo]

Fords are just mass produced crap !! Poor builds and poor parts.

Surely if you are going to buy a car you research it first right ? Go to any reliability table and Ford aren't going to feature - all the top slots will be taken by the Japanese manufacturers. Honda and Nissan have regularly led these tables for as long as I can remember

I guess that depends on which reliability table you're looking at.

Here's a well known one: http://autos.jdpower.com/ratings/dependability/cars.htm

For 2014

Top rated compacts: Chevrolet Volt (winner), Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic.

Top rated midsize: Toyota Camry (winner), Buick Lacrosse, Honda Accord

Top rated large: Buick Lucerne (winner), Toyota Avalon, Ford Taurus.

Toyota being the most consistent, no showing for Nissan in these 3 main categories, and one feature for Ford.

A USA review of Ford cars is not going to be very reliable, Ford sell a very different range in the USA to the rest of the world. A UK review would be more suitable.

This one ranks the top 100 used cars in the UK, the Ford Focus coming in at 77. The top 10 are:

1 Mitsubishi Lancer 6.00 2 Honda Jazz 6.00 3 Vauxhall Agila 9.00 4 Toyota Yaris 13.00 5 Suzuki Alto 14.00 6 Chevrolet KALOS 15.00 7 Hyundai Getz 16.00 8 Suzuki Liana 16.00 9 Mazda MX-5 17.00 10 Citroen SAXO 18.00

However, I can't find how many cars were in the survey. The best car, the Misubishi Lancer, had a reliability score of 6, where lower is better. The Focus was rated 60. Doesn't look good. But then if you look at the worst 10, found on the front page here,

1 Audi RS6 1125.00 2 BMW M5 776.00 3 Nissan GT-R 658.00 4 Porsche 911 996 630.00 5 Bentley Continental GT 603.00 6 Mercedes-Benz CL 584.00 7 Mercedes-Benz V-Class 575.00 8 Citroen C6 512.00 9 Mercedes-Benz SL 502.00 10 Mercedes-Benz GL 489.00

The Ford looks OK at 60.

Then there's the index of all manufacturers sold in the UK, out of 39, Ford is 7th. Very close to Mazda, with whom they are very closely tied.

Looking at the list, the Japanese look good, but the Germans look horrific! So much for German reliability!

[culicine]

Well this thread and the many answers remind me of one thing. There are a 101 reasons here why I would not want to own a vehicle in Thailand. Then there is the high price of gas, insurance, repairs, poor road conditions and poor drivers on the road here that make driving like Russian Roulette I also noted that the repair quotes are close to what you would pay in North America. I guess if you can afford to buy and drive one you can afford to fix it to. Ah prestige has its price. Besides I get more excersize riding my push bike.

Where in the Western world can you get service at US$10 per hour? Added to that good resale, it's more viable to own a car here than back home.

[rambling]

In the first link of reliabilityindex.com you have the Fiesta at 16 but the Accord at 18, Mazda 2 at 22 and Corolla at 23? And then you've got a Peugeot at 17 above those last three as well? I don't even want to talk about Vauxhall at number 3 :-)

Anyway, when I bought the Focus reliability wasn't a top priority for me, safety, tech features, fun driving, design were higher on my list. I did also get the extended warranty so aside from consumables I'm covered for 5 years. Who knows, maybe by then we'd all want an Apple (yuck) iCar lol.

[rapom]

The bearing will run continuously which is what fails, same as a turbo. Over time in can increase failure. Do I do either myself ? Only because of getting the kids in and out the car.

It does not run all the time. The AC compressor only runs with the electric clutch engaged, triggered by the sensor. When not compressing it stops, engine running normally. Lift the hood and look. Hear the loud click - clutch engaged, AC compressor turns. Loud click, clutch disengages, AC compressor stops rotating.

Your right, the compressor does not run all the time but the pulley does, that pulley uses a bearing.

So does the water pump, alternator, power steering pump and belt tensioner. What's your point? There is no more heat or load placed on the AC drive pulley bearing, than any of the other units bearings. That's why the belt tensioner is used. The a/c compressor does not run all the time. It cycles on and off, depending on the temperature control setting inside the car. This happens, whether you are driving the car on the road or sitting still. Letting your car idle, before shutting off the ignition, will not extend the longevity of the compressor or any bearings.

[patrick1968]

sell it get yourself new car,,,

[rapom]

I think the first owner enjoyed a repair free car and now you just got stuck with all the fixing. Nice thing in America is you can see the car fax, the maintenance history. No car fax no buy.

Car fax will only tell you, if the vehicle has been in an accident and had repairs done at a auto body shop, that sent a report to Car Fax.

[rapom]

I have owned many makes of cars in the USA including Fords and Hyundai. All the cars I have owned have given me good service as I always took care of them. I am not sure if the Ford's in Thailand are made to the same standard as the USA, but I do know world wide Ford is doing very well. They were the only American car company that did not need to be bailed out by the government several years ago. My friend owns a Ford Focus for 3 years now and not had any issues with it. The use by the previous owner might have something to do with it, but 1,000,000 miles on a car is the norm I think, before you are going to have to stick money into it. Car's are machines and will wear out.

Better take a zero out.

[ableguy]

134,000 km??? "vehicle with so little mileage"???

I don't know where you are from, but in Texas, we don't think that a vehicle should need many parts, beyond normal service, until after it has reached more than 250,000 miles, about 400,000 km.

Are those stop and go city miles? Big difference between stop and go and open highway. 134,000 km that's about 80,000 miles is a lot to put on a vehicle in one year. That is about 220 miles a day. No time for servicing on the road constantly

On the other hand you could have got a lemon. How much had the previous owner put into it. Had they done the normal upkeep. Had they kept the fluid levels up?

A lot of unanswered possibilities here.

It would take twenty years to get that mileage in Bangkok.

[rapom]

Fords are just mass produced crap !! Poor builds and poor parts.

Surely if you are going to buy a car you research it first right ? Go to any reliability table and Ford aren't going to feature - all the top slots will be taken by the Japanese manufacturers. Honda and Nissan have regularly led these tables for as long as I can remember

I guess that depends on which reliability table you're looking at.

Here's a well known one: http://autos.jdpower.com/ratings/dependability/cars.htm

For 2014

Top rated compacts: Chevrolet Volt (winner), Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic.

Top rated midsize: Toyota Camry (winner), Buick Lacrosse, Honda Accord

Top rated large: Buick Lucerne (winner), Toyota Avalon, Ford Taurus.

Toyota being the most consistent, no showing for Nissan in these 3 main categories, and one feature for Ford.

JD Powers uses information supplied by to them by owners. Do you think every owner of these cars gives a review. Do you think surveys, can not be manipulated. The last 2 new cars I bought, when they were about 6 months, JD Powers sent me a survey to fill out. They included a $1 bill for my trouble. I kept the money and threw the survey away. Easy money.

[smotherb]

Fix Or Repair Daily

For Old Retired Drivers.

Found On Road Dead

[rambling]

We don't need every owner of these cars to give a review. I'm not familiar with their statistical methods. Sure, any piece of information can be manipulated.

[Traveller45]

400 000 km seems a lot even for European made cars in Europe.

Of course mileage is one thing, age is another.

Somehow Ford doesn't seem to hold up as well as other cars in the same market range, say, GM, for example.

GM will get rickety with age but safety and driving relevant parts will seldom fail until very old, if some minimum maintenance has taken place.

Ford has this "Nice-When-New" Policy to it that makes people want to change to the newest model regularly. Probably works for them

[Ulic]

I bought a new F150 4x4 in 1998. It ran great the first 3 years. Just before coming off warranty it started to break down.

For the next 5 years it averaged 7,000 dollars a year to repair. full brake job yearly, 2 transmissions, air conditioning compressors

twice starter solenoid every 2.5 years, the list was endless. The repair bills were 2,500 too 3,500 (dollars) each time. The truck was

road driven dealer maintained with oil changes every 5000k. When I complained to the dealer he just rolled his eyes punched up the

trucks dealer repair history and said <deleted>> you weren't exaggerating. I guess you got a lemon. His suggestion was I go into the dealer

show room and buy a new truck or car. The truck looked great and each time I sunk a bunch of money into it I thought OK that

will be it, it will run great from hear on. I did stopped having it dealer maintained, but was still costing about 4 thousand dollars

a year to repair. I did keep it until it had about 450,000 km's on the odometer (12 years) I gave it away when the transmission required

changing a third time. The guy I gave it to new the troubled history, paid for the transmission change and within a year had to

replace the gas tank when it fell out of the truck when the tank holding brackets rusted through and dropped the gas tank

onto the road, (six months later there was a recall but it was another 1000 dollar repair for him). He also had to replace the dip stick

as it had rusted through. He sold it six months later. He got all he had put into it back as the truck looked good.

The point I am truing to make is learn from my mistake. When you hit the point you even think you are going to be throwing

good money after bad sell the car. I was way way to stubborn thinking this will be the last big bill. Some cars will just keep breaking

down. I had the car from new and spent far more on repairs than on buying the truck to begin with. Your car being bought used

may have been in a flood and may have been completely submerged, who knows. Bust of luck with your decisions.

[catman20]

that's why I always buy new cars!!!!!!!!!!!! you get what you pay for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[stingray]

Better a old car, but it's paid for.

[naboo]

I bought a new F150 4x4 in 1998.

Sorry, stopped reading at that point, never sold in Thailand, and if I'm not mistaken never sold outside the Americas.

[Broeno]

134,000 km??? "vehicle with so little mileage"???

I don't know where you are from, but in Texas, we don't think that a vehicle should need many parts, beyond normal service, until after it has reached more than 250,000 miles, about 400,000 km.

Yes thats in the us, but not on a ford focus.

[flyingsaucersarereal]

Fix Or Repair Daily

First On Race Day