Ford vs Volvo quality
 

Over the years I've probably made myself unpopular with a few fellow members as I've often commented on the quality issues that impacted some Volvo's during Ford ownership.

If you service a P1 XC90 and a XC60 back to back - as soon as you start you realise the FoMoCo based vehicle has self tapping screws into plastic plugs holding the engine undertray in place rather than the M8 bolts into captive nuts on the XC90...... I usually get berrated by someone whose still driving their dads B-reg Sierra and never had a problem...

Anyway I've just changed my pickup for a 12-plate Ford Ranger, the new shape one that's actually a Ford not a Mazda and I've joined the appropriate Forums.

F*** me what a crock of sh*t.

Piston failures between 40k and 100k not uncommon. Oil pump failures at any time - quite common - usually resulting in engine destruction. Ford know about the problem as they recalled all 2012 transits with the same engine but not the Ranger. EGR valves failing and draining the coolant down the exhaust, as the temp sensor is in the plastic thermostat housing sudden loss of coolant doesn't always register so - engine destruction.

This is the 2.2 engine that was in the Jag X-Type, Current XF & XE, Transit, Freeloader 2 etc. And it's cheaply made - the font timing cover is a steel plate pressing for cheapness and needs to be fitted with a centralisation tool, it's not a casting.

We moan about alternator pulley clutches not making it past 150k on D5's or Swirl flap arms coming off.... a worrying proportion of them don't make it to 100k on the factory engine. The only plus side is as they are made from cheese the bits to totally rebuild one cost less than £500.

Etc. etc.

It's rare that I regret being a lazy sod at school but I know now if I'd have worked harder I might have been able to afford a Hilux or a D-Max. Sorry for the rant but it makes me feel better (which is selfish I know).

They've gone downhill since my '65 Corsair then?

I remember them!
My boss at the time, had a Corsair with I think a V4 engine. I have worked out it would have been around '67 or '68.
I remember as it was the first car I reached 100mph in!
My boss trusted me to drive it now and again.
Silly man!

Ford = Fix Or Repair Daily. I serviced a Ford Focus yesterday and had to drill the airbox screws out because they literally fell apart due to rust. It's a shame because Ford certainly have the ability to make decent vehicles, but they choose not to. There are lots of reports already about 2019 and 2020 models rusting to bits both cosmetically and structurally. The new Ford Ranger is also getting ripped to bits by owners because of its bad build quality. Misaligned rear axles seem to be very common on the newer vehicles despite Ford being aware of the problem with earlier models. They make the same mistakes again and again yet they are somehow still in business.

Some guy over on Piston Heads posted that a tuning company who tuned his Focus ST (with the Volvo 2.5T engine) said the engine was one of the best designed engines they had ever worked on.

All I can say is that my 152,000 mile S40 T5 sounds brand new when you start it up, as did my previous 145,000 mile S60 2.0T

And my 430,000 Mile V70 D5 could do with a new injector, and the engine mounts have worn causing cabin vibration, but if I fix those it feels like it'll be on the road for another 10 years.

Always felt most cars now feel good/decent when new, its when you come back at 50k, 100k, 150k miles when the difference starts to show between quality and penny pinching.

Ford are THE masters at penny-pinching, if they can save 64p on the build then they will go for it. Every problem I've had with my S40 has been because of the Ford suspension components. TBF all the Ford wiring etc has been good.

It was a shame when all new 4-cyl Focus ST's head gaskets failed but I guess they sorted it out and it probably won't affect their reputation at all.

My Father has ran Fords for over 30 years and never had any issues whatsoever....but then he runs them from 0 to 30K miles so no surprise really. I've tried explaining that the massive depreciation hit he takes would likely mean it would be more economical to run a BMW/Merc but he won't do that.

I think it's high-mile Fords that'll be the worst but no-one cares about that they just want us to buy a new one with all that lovely spare cash we have lying around :confused_smile:

....and the other thing that Ford insist on doing and have been doing for 30+ years is using bolts that have a hex head that’s two or three sizes too small for the thread diameter - I.e. the water pump to block bolts on this are M8 but with a 10mm head where you would expect a 13mm, and they’re made from old washing machines so it’s very easy to round them off.

I have owned and driven Volvos continuously for the past 47 years starting with a 145S and going through various models up to my current two. One 360GLT covered 270,000mls without any issues and my previous V40 370,000mls 2.0lt petrol still on all original components.

My son bought a 2004 Volvo V50 T5 several years ago based on the reputation of the T5 and my ownership experience - to say we were both dissappionted with the quality is an understatement, I do not expect to buy a Volvo and then find FoMoCo stamped on every major component. Needless to say son is no longer a Volvo owner, he now has a Skoda Superb and that really does live up to its name.

If we’re talking diesels, the 2.2 in the X-Type is a Ford “Puma” engine that appeared in the Mark 3 Mondeo and that had all sorts of reliability issues. This is an engine to avoid and I feel your anger, BUT is it still used by Ford for new vehicles?

For instance.....

The 2.2 diesel that was used in the XF was a different and far more reliable Ford/PSA engine that was also used in the Mark 4 Mondeo in 2.0 and 2.2 capacities. The 2.0 version was also installed in some early P3 V70s.

The current XE and XF use Jaguar Land Rover engines that have nothing to do with Ford.