Ford Project Drive

[Noel Tidybeard]

57 minutes ago, Barry Cade said:

I always laffed at cars with a "stainless" or "aluminised" exhaust, but with steel pipes or hangers.. 

Always reminded me of the old joke when the man went to the dentist... your teeth are fine, but your gums will have to come out..

 

There's stainless and stainless..

I've not long put a back box on the ex Focus. Original exhaust from 2012. Box was perfect, the mild steel pipe that went into the box had rotted and snapped. 

my spaceship was still on original when it got traded in- 2007 model!

 

[HarmonicCheeseburger]

Been looking at the MK3 2.0 Auto Mondeo.  Are they hit by this project drive badly or tolerable for a beater for a few year?

[Timewaster]

Perceived quality vs actual quality is a trick VW learnt well.

 

My wife's 206 is a tinny, clangy, sharp edged thing made of brittle plastic and micron thin steel.

Touch wood, it has been almost faultless over 90k miles and 13 years of neglect. 

[artdjones]

43 minutes ago, Bren said:

I noticed with late 90's ford's they stopped painting the engine compartment properly - just primer and patchy topcoat.

Toyota have been doing that for decades too, it doesn't seem to make much difference to longevity.

[sierraman]

36 minutes ago, HarmonicCheeseburger said:

Been looking at the MK3 2.0 Auto Mondeo.  Are they hit by this project drive badly or tolerable for a beater for a few year?

It’s a 20 year old car... anything could be wrong with it... buy with your eyes!

[Barry Cade]

1 hour ago, Bren said:

I noticed with late 90's ford's they stopped painting the engine compartment properly - just primer and patchy topcoat.

This started in the early 90s with some makes. I remember in the bodyshop when it was a new thing- we repaired and refinished as normal, painting bonnet undersides and inner wings. The insurance assessor wouldn't sign it off and it had to be redone without masking etc and matching undercoat. . It actually took more time. Same with metallic where they only put clearcoat on the outside. Had the same problem with an e30 BMW. I replaced a quarter panel and brazed the join below the rear window as per factory.. insurance assessor said no, no brazing allowed so had to be welded.

[Matty]

Just now, Barry Cade said:

This started in the early 90s with some makes. I remember in the bodyshop when it was a new thing- we repaired and refinished as normal, painting bonnet undersides and inner wings. The insurance assessor wouldn't sign it off and it had to be redone without masking etc and matching undercoat. . It actually took more time. Same with metallic where they only put clearcoat on the outside. Had the same problem with an e30 BMW. I replaced a quarter panel and brazed the join below the rear window as per factory.. insurance assessor said no, no brazing allowed so had to be welded.

When I bought my first e39 and got it home, I noticed for the first time the primer finish under the bonnet and spent ten minutes convicing myself I'd bought a crashed repaired motor 🤣

[Barry Cade]

44 minutes ago, Matty said:

When I bought my first e39 and got it home, I noticed for the first time the primer finish under the bonnet and spent ten minutes convicing myself I'd bought a crashed repaired motor 🤣

Happened all the time with 205's.. 

[Mrcento]

I've found Ford to be the absolute masters of timed parts expiry.

Found anything blue oval around 110k miles, best to just get rid because as soon as one big repair is due, you'll always have 5 or 6 more just around the corner.

My old Mk3 mondeo got nicknamed clown car, because it spectacularly shat itself over the space of about 2 weeks. Suspension, clutch slave cylinder, turbo and alternator all letting go in 1 week a particular highlight on top of rupturing a boost hose and snapping a driveshaft.

Focus wasn't a lot better, Power steering pump, starter motor and a clutch line all went in a month.

[Barry Cade]

On 12/4/2022 at 10:49 PM, Mrcento said:

I've found Ford to be the absolute masters of timed parts expiry.

Found anything blue oval around 110k miles, best to just get rid because as soon as one big repair is due, you'll always have 5 or 6 more just around the corner.

My old Mk3 mondeo got nicknamed clown car, because it spectacularly shat itself over the space of about 2 weeks. Suspension, clutch slave cylinder, turbo and alternator all letting go in 1 week a particular highlight on top of rupturing a boost hose and snapping a driveshaft.

Focus wasn't a lot better, Power steering pump, starter motor and a clutch line all went in a month.

Funny you should say that.. My Focus was at 106,000 and I just had that feeling.. 

[sierraman]

I must be on borrowed time, ours has 106,000 miles on it. And I had to spend £26 on it the other week... 🤣

[Barry Cade]

20 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I must be on borrowed time, ours has 106,000 miles on it. And I had to spend £26 on it the other week... 🤣

Might just be the beginning.. 😆 mine was trouble free for 3 years, then......

[sierraman]

With the price of cars it’s worth persevering with. 

[Barry Cade]

17 minutes ago, sierraman said:

With the price of cars it’s worth persevering with. 

Up to a point. I've seen people get so far in the hole they will be stuck for years. The way fuel prices, ULEZ zones etc are going people need to do the maths. If you love the car and it's a keeper then fair enough, but if a car is just an appliance, you need to treat it like that.. not many people would spend £300 repairing a 5 year old washing machine.. 

It's taken me 30 years to think like this.

[Shite Ron]

I have had three Mondeo’s,  the first a 93 K 1.8LX I bought with full service history at auction and ran to over 130,000 miles with the only expense being it’s first clutch at 130,000 it still drove like new once replaced. The second Mondeo I had was a 2005 2.0 diesel Ghia estate, I ran this as a work car from 2007 (bought at 60,000miles) until 2011, at 135,000 miles the first clutch failed, soon after replacing it the chain tensioner failed causing major damage, I had the engine replaced but it was not the same after, it was sold at around 145,000 miles.  I replaced it with a  58 plate 1.8 Zetec diesel hatch, grim compared to the Ghia estate but cheap and did the job, bought at 70,000 miles at Blackbush auction and scrapped a few months ago at around 138,000 miles, It was an ex fleet car so had full history, still on the original clutch and no sign of slipping at 138,000! One set of brake shoes and front discs in my ownership (68,000 miles) and a back box. The only other expense was a belt at 100k, oil and filter changes and tyres. When it was no longer in regular use due to a change of job it didn’t like being parked up and had injector issues which led to it being scrapped.

My summary of modern Ford’s is they are dull and boring compared to the great cars Ford made in the seventies but still the best for trouble free low cost motoring. Based on my own experience I would not expect to do anything other than servicing on a modern car until at least 130k miles.

[sierraman]

19 minutes ago, Barry Cade said:

Up to a point. I've seen people get so far in the hole they will be stuck for years. The way fuel prices, ULEZ zones etc are going people need to do the maths. If you love the car and it's a keeper then fair enough, but if a car is just an appliance, you need to treat it like that.. not many people would spend £300 repairing a 5 year old washing machine.. 

It's taken me 30 years to think like this.

I should have probably scrapped it and saved the £26. 🤣

Theres nothing whatsoever worth having less than £1800-£2k now. Sense says sometimes better the devil you know and it being a known quantity. 

[sierraman]

11 minutes ago, Shite Ron said:

I have had three Mondeo’s,  the first a 93 K 1.8LX I bought with full service history at auction and ran to over 130,000 miles with the only expense being it’s first clutch at 130,000 it still drove like new once replaced. The second Mondeo I had was a 2005 2.0 diesel Ghia estate, I ran this as a work car from 2007 (bought at 60,000miles) until 2011, at 135,000 miles the first clutch failed, soon after replacing it the chain tensioner failed causing major damage, I had the engine replaced but it was not the same after, it was sold at around 145,000 miles.  I replaced it with a  58 plate 1.8 Zetec diesel hatch, grim compared to the Ghia estate but cheap and did the job, bought at 70,000 miles at Blackbush auction and scrapped a few months ago at around 138,000 miles, It was an ex fleet car so had full history, still on the original clutch and no sign of slipping at 138,000! One set of brake shoes and front discs in my ownership (68,000 miles) and a back box. The only other expense was a belt at 100k, oil and filter changes and tyres. When it was no longer in regular use due to a change of job it didn’t like being parked up and had injector issues which led to it being scrapped.

My summary of modern Ford’s is they are dull and boring compared to the great cars Ford made in the seventies but still the best for trouble free low cost motoring. Based on my own experience I would not expect to do anything other than servicing on a modern car until at least 130k miles.

I don’t think that’s realistic if I’m honest about having to do nothing for 130,000 miles. 

[Shite Ron]

10 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I don’t think that’s realistic if I’m honest about having to do nothing for 130,000 miles. 

As I said this is based on my own experience, the cars were not particularly well looked after but not abused, servicing, brakes and tyres were all they had, maybe I was lucky but facts are facts.

 

 

[egg]

I guess if you have to provide shareholders an ever increasing return on investment while working in a very mature industry without much scope for growth (because the growth is in south east asia) then cutting quality is one of the ways to do that.

Although, correct me if I'm wrong, but Ford are the only major US car company never to go bust?

With the MK1 Mondeo after my 'launch spec' car they cut the 7 speed wipers from base cars, also cut out the plastic surround around the boot/fuel release buttons on all cars that must have cost pennies per car and a few other odds and ends. So it goes on.

[Lacquer Peel]

All car makers go through "Project Drive" type cost cutting exercises but they aren't as publicised as MG Rover's efforts in their death throes.