Sorry: Foreign next time

[Bigkondor]

Well sorry to say when my lease is up in 3 years I will be visiting a Toyota, or Lexus dealer. I leased my 06 Explorer in Dec. so I could write off the payment for my business. I figured what could go wrong in 3 years? The week after I got the Explorer I got the recall for the wipers( duh some $30/ hr. idiot didnt fill the wiper motor with lube.) Then after living with the miserable flyby wire system, the battery dies on Friday and it takes Ford til Monday afternoon to pick it up. So while its there I ask them to check the clunk (earlier post) to see if its normal. Guess what needs a new transfer case (at 5300 miles.) The service managers response was wow, lucky you didnt get stranded again (like with the battery.) No loaner nothin basically "sorry cant help you." In the last 12 years my dad has had 1 Infiniti and 2 Lexus, 1 trip to the dealer in that time ..... bad gas caused Check Engine light to come on, thats it.... Sorry American Autoworkers and Automakers ive bought American for 25 years.... Not next time the few extra bucks is worth it....... :fire:

 

[dreamr]

Sounds like you got a lemon, and a bad service writer. Don't judge a brand by it, there is a Toyota sitting in my drive way that is a bigger hunk of crap than my X will ever be. Sometimes you get lucky sometimes you don't. Now if I can just convince the owner to move his foreign scrap metal out of my yard maybe I can add another ford

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

As a former and current Ford owner... i will certainly consider another Ford or other American or ANY make within reason, honestly...

You do have one with issues it appears, things to remember, they are MACHINES and .... well... machines do fail.

Sorry you are having trouble but don't completely count out Ford or other manufactures.

 

[zeeman84]

Before I bought my X, I was very close to purchasing a Honda Ridgeline. Because the Ridgeline is popular, I got "attitude" from the one local dealership that had Ridgeline. They treated me very poorly. So I decided to go with the same dealership that I have delt with for the past ten years, which has always treated me with courtesy and purchased a Explorer. And yes, I did have a problem with a body side moulding comming loose. I took it in, the service mananger looked ant it and ordered a replacement. Two days later, it was installed and looks great. This great service made my experience with the defect a minor one.

I think that if you can find a dealer that treats you right from sales to service, that you have 90% of the battle won. All vehicles are made by humans that can and do make mistakes. I don't think it matters much what brand you buy.

 

[bitkahuna]

As someone who has gone from two Lexus to two Fords in the past couple of years, I'd like to comment.

Lexus makes high quality vehicles no doubt. But they're not perfect. My RX was great except trim that fell off on the rear hatch. My GS was great but had a bunch of squeaks and creaks the dealer had to fix.

Our '04 F-150 we got after the RX has been great. We had one 'shudder' in the drivetrain and the dealer swapped the diff. no questions asked, and it's fine since.

Our '06 Explorer Limited is pretty new but flawless so far. I did go for the V8 as I just didn't like the throttle response on the V6 and didn't find it as smooth or quiet as the V8 with 6 spd auto.

There's things about the Explorer I see where they cut cost but then it costs thousands less than a Lexus SUV. And it's very quiet and smooth so I'm pleased.

 

[IZwack]

I would say that you're making a good choice Bigkondor.

Lexus/Toyota has always been at the top as far as dependability goes.

To quote a JD Power & Associates study which tracked vehicle dependability over a three year period:
"Lexus, which ranks highest in vehicle dependability for the 11th consecutive year, improves 14 percent (23 PP100) compared to 2004."

Yes, elleven consecutive years

 

[V8Pete]

As someone who has gone from two Lexus to two Fords in the past couple of years, I'd like to comment.

Lexus makes high quality vehicles no doubt. But they're not perfect. My RX was great except trim that fell off on the rear hatch. My GS was great but had a bunch of squeaks and creaks the dealer had to fix.

Our '04 F-150 we got after the RX has been great. We had one 'shudder' in the drivetrain and the dealer swapped the diff. no questions asked, and it's fine since.

Our '06 Explorer Limited is pretty new but flawless so far. I did go for the V8 as I just didn't like the throttle response on the V6 and didn't find it as smooth or quiet as the V8 with 6 spd auto.

There's things about the Explorer I see where they cut cost but then it costs thousands less than a Lexus SUV. And it's very quiet and smooth so I'm pleased.

Hey, there's a name I recognize! I was Ex540Guy on ClubLexus. Just picked up an '06 XLT 2WD V8 to replace the unit in my sig, with 180K almost trouble free miles on it.

I've had a number of Toyotas (and the Lexus) and also American cars over the years. I've only had one really bad US car, an '86 5.0 that I bought new. We looked at all kinds of brands before we decided on the new Ex, and it is a killer value. I'm amazed how much more refined it is compared to the '96, though I'm still partial to the old styling.

BTW, replaced my Lexus GS400 with a new Dodge Magnum SRT8. A bunch of guys on the Lexus forum gave me grief for going "backwards", but the performance is light years ahead of anything foreign for the dollars. Yeah, the interior trim is cheap, but I'm OK with that.

Bottom line, you can get a bad example of any car, any brand. Overall, the new stuff these days is better than it's ever been.

 

[bitkahuna]

Hey, there's a name I recognize! I was Ex540Guy on ClubLexus. Just picked up an '06 XLT 2WD V8 to replace the unit in my sig, with 180K almost trouble free miles on it.

Hey there, fmr CL buddy.

I still hang on ClubLexus for the huge amount of good car info in Car Chat, and some other non-car forums. I'm now a mod in the photography forum.

Anyway, congrats on the new Explorer! Good choice on the 2WD V8 (same here)

BTW, replaced my Lexus GS400 with a new Dodge Magnum SRT8.

Wow, you dog - that must be a hoot. Why did you want a 'wagon' in addition to the Explorer? How stiff is the Magnum? Pros/cons?

Bottom line, you can get a bad example of any car, any brand. Overall, the new stuff these days is better than it's ever been.

Absolutely! My big concern would be buying a hugely complex car like an S class or 750 because there's just so many things that can go wrong and the German engineers seem to be struggling with the software end of things.

The Explorer is not really a complex beast.

 

[05Boxster]

The Volkswagen Touareg is foreign........go check out vwvortex.com or clubtouareg.com and see what kind of problems that foreign truck is having. Many, many buybacks. In fact, I was almost sold on a Touareg until I started prowling the forums......

 

[Bigkondor]

Ford Quality Strikes Again

Well I'm back. Passenger side rear window took a shi!!. Its down of course. :fire:

 

[CodePoet]

Same thing happened to a friend of mines Honda...evil pos fords though right!

It does sound like you got abit of a lemon though...

All cars have problems, even foreign, it's under warentee right? Get it fixed, get over it, trade it in as soon as you can can. I know what kinda of a pain in the ass it is when stuff like this happens. I'm not all that happy with my 05 f150 either though...i'm going to trade it in asap as well...but for a 3/4 ton gm

 

[Brandons]

Good ol ford quality That thing must have been built on a monday.

 

[PedroDaGr8]

Hahaha VW quality SUCKS ASS. I had an 86 VW Jetta that I loved that was great. I had 2 friends own early-mid nineties (one a mid nineties jetta the other an early 90s Corrado). The quality diff was like night and day. I have heard stories of parts not even being attached on jettas when they make it to the lots. Or windows just falling off the armiture and right into the door etc.
Hell there is even a site devoted to it http://www.myvwlemon.com/.

 

[biggs92EB]

luck of the draw?? im partial to my ford, 200k + on my explorer....and i beat the tar out of it day after day. doesnt burn or leak oil. 2nd trans, thats it. NEVER have i been left stranded. Everything else ive replaced was my fault it was broke. I do have a 90 honda accord beater w/ 260k on it too though. and its all original and still runs great. Guess im a lucky fella

 

[RFR2212]

Wel'll see where toyota goes...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0608080232aug08,1,5375940.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

 

[IZwack]

Please register or log in
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.

 

[RFR2212]

they just updated it and you've gotta be logged in, but there were actually 2 articles regarding toyota recalls and federal investigations.

 

[IAmTodd]

I would try a different dealer. Ours is great. And when the tranny was being replaced in our '02 we got a brand new focus. Which I litterally beat the crap out of

We had a huge number of problems with out '02 when it was new. It was a new style and there are going to be problems. Same with yours. Don't buy a new model vehicle and expect it to be problem free. You are basically the tester for the company.

 

[Bigkondor]

http://www.tribune-chronicle.com/business/articles.asp?articleID=7236

 

[IAmTodd]

The study gives all problems equal weight; the most common ones reported were wind noise and loud brakes.

Find me a real study. Those could hardly be considered "mechanical" problem. More like a bunch on whiny customers finding little thing to complain about.

Oh wait, it sounds like you! Ford has taken care of the problems that you've had. So I would suck it up, or take the loss and trade the truck in on some some Toyota. Next you'll be complaining about people sending the tech support and money over seas. Wait, what have you done? Buy Foreign.