2020 Ford Reliability / Quality Ratings from J.D. Powers & Consumer Reports

[North7]

I was just reading the new 2020 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study that was released and was shocked to see how Ford is rated. Ford is rated #16, BEHIND Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Chevrolet and Toyota. I have not looked at FCA Quality for a few years always knowing it was junk, but somehow, they stepped up their game. Jeep, Dodge, Ram are now rated above Ford, how can that be, maybe we better understand now why Ford is a $5 stock. At least Ford got a few kudos with the Top models in key segments: Midsize sporty car: Ford Mustang and Midsize pickup: Ford Ranger.
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2020-initial-quality-study-iqs

A huge reason I decided not to buy Jeep when I last searched in the 2015 - 2016 timeframe was how FCA Jeep came up on the bottom of every quality survey. So perhaps FCA Jeep actually did something to start improving their quality? I did read recently about Jeep shipping problem vehicles and just letting the dealers fix them but I'm not sure what that was about.

So now, concerned about what this means for the quality of the new Ford Bronco, I searched further to better understand where Ford is rated against other brands, I found these two additional J.D. Power studies.
In the 2020 J.D. Power U.S. Customer Service Index (CSI) Study at least Ford beat out Jeep, but Ford is listed as #14, behind Chevrolet and Toyota.
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2020-customer-service-index-csi-study

According to the J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, Ford is listed #10, again behind Toyota and Chevrolet but at least ahead of Jeep.
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2020-us-vehicle-dependability-study

As consumers, the only data we can look at is J.D. Power and Consumer Reports for product quality, reliability and dependability. I know some do not care for either of them but since they have tens of thousands of data points for statistical analysis, it is vastly superior to anything else consumers can go by.

So I think we should be concerned about what Ford is going to do to step up the quality of the Bronco. I understand those who bleed Ford blue will disagree, but remember, Ford wants to breakout to achieve 200,000 Bronco sales so they must reach beyond Ford owners to grow the sub-brand.

(I've added Consumer Reports ratings information in a below post.)

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[Escape_Artist]

JD Power doesn't tell the whole story.

Here is an old article about it

https://www.caranddriver.com/featur...with-jd-powers-initial-quality-study-feature/

And another

https://instamotor.com/blog/why-you-should-take-reliability-studies-with-a-grain-of-salt

 

[North7]

JD Power doesn't tell the whole story.

Here is an old article about it

https://www.caranddriver.com/featur...with-jd-powers-initial-quality-study-feature/

And another

https://instamotor.com/blog/why-you-should-take-reliability-studies-with-a-grain-of-salt

Good links, thank you, a few interesting points they make:

"Sure these reports are good for pointing you in the right general direction in terms of reliability and they can give you a good idea of what kinds of issues you may face if you decide to purchase a new-to-you vehicle"
https://instamotor.com/blog/why-you-should-take-reliability-studies-with-a-grain-of-salt

"But while J.D. Power won’t reveal the breakdown of problems on individual models or brands, Festekjian does allow that Ford’s plummet in the rankings was primarily due to design problems rather than defects. “Ford tried to do too much, too quickly.”
https://www.caranddriver.com/featur...with-jd-powers-initial-quality-study-feature/

As the C&D article points out "Initial Quality Study tells you less about vehicle defects than you might think". Which brings up a key point, defects vs non-usable designs, regardless of which, the public will perceive poor quality. Sometimes user-friendliness is key to accecptance to the public yet sometimes engineers design stuff not understanding how the average joe or jane will use it (I say this as an engineer myself who has designed consumer products).

As with all these articles, some of which are written by marketing apologists for the low rated companies, we can use the data as the start of understanding. The thousands of data points, applied the same to each car company each year, are more data then you, I or a few article authors will ever have to reach statically significant analysis.

 

[Escape_Artist]

As the C&D article points out "Initial Quality Study tells you less about vehicle defects than you might think". Which brings up a key point, defects vs non-usable designs, regardless of which, the public will perceive poor quality. Sometimes user-friendliness is key to accecptance to the public yet sometimes engineers design stuff not understanding how the average joe or jane will use it (I say this as an engineer myself who has designed consumer products).

As with all these articles, some of which are written by marketing apologists for the low rated companies, we can use the data as the start of understanding. The thousands of data points, applied the same to each car company each year, are more data then you, I or a few article authors will ever have to reach statically significant analysis.

My problem with JD Power and the like is they don't call out specific defects. As you pointed out in the C&D article. There is a HUGE difference in voice activation of infotainment not working vs some serious mechanical failure.

But as far as Bronco quality goes the Ford Ranger was highest rated Midsize truck on JD power and the assembly plant recieved a silver grade. With the Bronco being on the same platform that bodes well for mechanical quality and being in the same plant gives me confidence for assembly quality.

Ford's quality can be lacking in some areas but I believe they try very hard on the cars that make their image, F-Series and Mustang, and believe the Bronco will be added to this.

 

[North7]

I do like Consumer Reports for where they do go into specific details of rated issues and do call out specific defects. For example, below are the 2020 Ranger and Explorer (when there is an x listed under a year that means there were not enough responses to their survey's to reach statistical significance.) I believe you may have to have a website membership to see some of their information.

For overall ratings, as compared to J.D. Powers, CR looks like this:

Which Car Brands Make the Best Vehicles?
Ford is rated #23, behind Toyota but ahead of Chevrolet and Jeep.
https://www.consumerreports.org/cars-driving/which-car-brands-make-the-best-vehicles/

Car Brand Reliability Rankings
#16, behind Toyota but ahead of Chevrolet and Jeep.
https://www.consumerreports.org/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/who-makes-the-most-reliable-cars/

https://www.consumerreports.org/car...faction/consumer-reports-car-reliability-faq/

 

[Escape_Artist]

Yes I think you need a membership to see that info. I do not have one with consumer reports but that is nice to see they break it down!

 

[Carolina Jim]

"But while J.D. Power won’t reveal the breakdown of problems on individual models or brands, Festekjian does allow that Ford’s plummet in the rankings was primarily due to design problems rather than defects. “Ford tried to do too much, too quickly.”

One indisputable law of the universe is when revenues go down, so will overhead. And most often the overhead cut is that which is not immediately visible to outsiders. Perhaps the quote above really means, "Ford tried to do too much, with not enough".

There are inherent risks in dealing with a financially stressed company - so hopefully Ford gets their shit together soon.

 

[Nickp]

JD power sucks.

 

[Escape_Artist]

JD power sucks.

His videos are great!

 

[Bronc-O]

I was just reading the new 2020 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study that was released and was shocked to see how Ford is rated. Ford is rated #16, BEHIND Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Chevrolet and Toyota. I have not looked at FCA Quality for a few years always knowing it was junk, but somehow, they stepped up their game. Jeep, Dodge, Ram are now rated above Ford, how can that be, maybe we better understand now why Ford is a $5 stock. At least Ford got a few kudos with the Top models in key segments: Midsize sporty car: Ford Mustang and Midsize pickup: Ford Ranger.
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2020-initial-quality-study-iqs

A huge reason I decided not to buy Jeep when I last searched in the 2015 - 2016 timeframe was how FCA Jeep came up on the bottom of every quality survey. So perhaps FCA Jeep actually did something to start improving their quality? I did read recently about Jeep shipping problem vehicles and just letting the dealers fix them but I'm not sure what that was about.

So now, concerned about what this means for the quality of the new Ford Bronco, I searched further to better understand where Ford is rated against other brands, I found these two additional J.D. Power studies.
In the 2020 J.D. Power U.S. Customer Service Index (CSI) Study at least Ford beat out Jeep, but Ford is listed as #14, behind Chevrolet and Toyota.
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2020-customer-service-index-csi-study

According to the J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, Ford is listed #10, again behind Toyota and Chevrolet but at least ahead of Jeep.
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2020-us-vehicle-dependability-study

As consumers, the only data we can look at is J.D. Power and Consumer Reports for product quality, reliability and dependability. I know some do not care for either of them but since they have tens of thousands of data points for statistical analysis, it is vastly superior to anything else consumers can go by.

So I think we should be concerned about what Ford is going to do to step up the quality of the Bronco. I understand those who bleed Ford blue will disagree, but remember, Ford wants to breakout to achieve 200,000 Bronco sales so they must reach beyond Ford owners to grow the sub-brand.

(I've added Consumer Reports ratings information in a below post.)

They don't tell you what problems. That could be anything from a seat wrinkle to a bad transmission.

 

[FirstOnRaceDay]

I was just reading the new 2020 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study that was released and was shocked to see how Ford is rated. Ford is rated #16, BEHIND Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Chevrolet and Toyota. I have not looked at FCA Quality for a few years always knowing it was junk, but somehow, they stepped up their game. Jeep, Dodge, Ram are now rated above Ford, how can that be, maybe we better understand now why Ford is a $5 stock. At least Ford got a few kudos with the Top models in key segments: Midsize sporty car: Ford Mustang and Midsize pickup: Ford Ranger.
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2020-initial-quality-study-iqs

A huge reason I decided not to buy Jeep when I last searched in the 2015 - 2016 timeframe was how FCA Jeep came up on the bottom of every quality survey. So perhaps FCA Jeep actually did something to start improving their quality? I did read recently about Jeep shipping problem vehicles and just letting the dealers fix them but I'm not sure what that was about.

So now, concerned about what this means for the quality of the new Ford Bronco, I searched further to better understand where Ford is rated against other brands, I found these two additional J.D. Power studies.
In the 2020 J.D. Power U.S. Customer Service Index (CSI) Study at least Ford beat out Jeep, but Ford is listed as #14, behind Chevrolet and Toyota.
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2020-customer-service-index-csi-study

According to the J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, Ford is listed #10, again behind Toyota and Chevrolet but at least ahead of Jeep.
https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2020-us-vehicle-dependability-study

As consumers, the only data we can look at is J.D. Power and Consumer Reports for product quality, reliability and dependability. I know some do not care for either of them but since they have tens of thousands of data points for statistical analysis, it is vastly superior to anything else consumers can go by.

So I think we should be concerned about what Ford is going to do to step up the quality of the Bronco. I understand those who bleed Ford blue will disagree, but remember, Ford wants to breakout to achieve 200,000 Bronco sales so they must reach beyond Ford owners to grow the sub-brand.

(I've added Consumer Reports ratings information in a below post.)

JD power is a joke. Not only do I not know a single person that has ever completed a JD power survey. It is only for the first 90 days after purchase. I guarantee you if you interview those people after their warranty expires this chart will look completely different.

because I don’t know about you, but FCA and Kia are near the bottom after that

 

[Jomo]

What the Ford reliability data says is to not be the first adopter of new Ford technology.

The dry dual clutch Powershift automatic transmissions were an abomination. All new tech that was never fixed. No wonder the Focus/Fiesta was dropped from the US market.

The MT-82 manual transmission was a mess as it was a new design without a gearbox tailpiece that required significant shift linkage to the gearbox. Ford learned over years to correct most of the problem. The new Bronco manual box is similar, but at least it's been tried and fixed before.

Sync 1 was awful. The Bronco will likely be on Sync 4. Hopefully the over air updates pose no issues. Software should be fixable nevertheless.

The good thing about the Bronco is no new engines. However, it would be highly desirable to add port injection to the 2.3L, just like all the other Ecoboosts. I think it's ridiculous that you have to worry about carbon build-up on the valves.

 

[Motorpsychology]

What the Ford reliability data says is to not be the first adopter of new Ford technology.

The dry dual clutch Powershift automatic transmissions were an abomination. All new tech that was never fixed. No wonder the Focus/Fiesta was dropped from the US market.

The MT-82 manual transmission was a mess as it was a new design without a gearbox tailpiece that required significant shift linkage to the gearbox. Ford learned over years to correct most of the problem. The new Bronco manual box is similar, but at least it's been tried and fixed before.

Sync 1 was awful. The Bronco will likely be on Sync 4. Hopefully the over air updates pose no issues. Software should be fixable nevertheless.

The good thing about the Bronco is no new engines. However, it would be highly desirable to add port injection to the 2.3L, just like all the other Ecoboosts. I think it's ridiculous that you have to worry about carbon build-up on the valves.

Ford's #3 best seller, the 3G& 4G Escape has been plagued with problems since it debuted in the 2013 model year, and it is continuing for 2020. Mustang has issues with the 6-speed manual. Ford has overall been fairly diligent with these issues, but still too many not-ready-for-primetime model intros in a short time span.
Should JDP have included trivial problems like Sync operation in their studies? If trivial problems are recorded for other brands that scored higher, then yes.
I think the Bronco will be well received and scored on its first 90-day Initial Quality review. I don't have any sources in the Glass House, but it seems to me that Ford really knows what kind of auto manufacturer they want to be and put the best people they have in charge of the franchise vehicle programs.
Wrong forum, but I anticipate a sizable difference in the rankings of the Bronco Sport and the Escape even though they are closely related under the paint.

 

[NoBigDeal]

I'm amazed at how well Land Rover did. Is this real life?

 

[Bronc-O]

I'm amazed at how well Land Rover did. Is this real life?

They last long enough to get past the initial quality ratings, then the fun begins. Ask Doug DeMuro.

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