Overview & Reviews

For more than 100 years now, Ford Motor Company has been selling mass-produced automobiles in the United States and around the globe. Known as one of the Big Three American manufacturers, Ford has attracted millions of loyal customers with a wide range of vehicles that offer considerable value. The automaker's trucks and SUVs have been especially popular. For decades, Ford's F-Series truck has been the best-selling vehicle in America.

The company was founded by Henry Ford in 1903. Ford dreamed of building a car for the masses, and that's precisely what he did, most notably with the immortal Model T of 1908-'27. The latter was bought by 16.5 million Americans during its 20-year lifespan and was affordable enough for Ford's own factory workers to purchase. Ford's early years were also distinguished by its introduction of the moving assembly line. It was the first to utilize this more cost-effective method of production, and its innovation became a mainstay of the manufacturing process.

Ford expanded into the luxury-car market with its purchase of Lincoln Motor Company in 1925. Over the next few years, the company broadened its focus even further by creating the Mercury division to produce mid-priced cars. By the late '30s, Ford had unveiled the stylish Lincoln Zephyr, introduced a low-priced V8 engine and built more than 25 million vehicles.

The 1950s saw the introduction of the legendary Thunderbird. Offering sleek styling and spirited performance wedded to available luxury features like power windows and a signal-seeking radio, the car was a huge hit. Another model of that decade, the Edsel, met with a somewhat less enthusiastic reception. In the wake of abysmal sales, the Edsel was discontinued just a few months into its third model year.

Ford regained its footing in the early 1960s with the introduction of the compact Falcon, a model that was warmly received by the public. By the middle of the decade the automaker had given enthusiasts something to cheer about with the launch of the sporty Mustang, a car that went on to become one of the biggest sellers of its day. Buyers adored the Mustang's low price, available powerful V8 engines and sporty styling. The Mustang even created a brand-new vehicle category: the pony car.

By the 1970s, Ford, like other domestic automakers, was starting to suffer the effects of changing consumer tastes and new government regulations. Many of its cars became shadows of their former selves. But the seeds of rebirth were planted in this decade. In 1979, the company acquired a stake in Mazda; this move would later aid Ford significantly in co-development projects. The company also emerged with a new mindset of global competitiveness.

By the mid-to-late '80s, Ford was showing new strength with its popular Escort and Taurus models while further expanding its empire with the purchase of the Aston Martin and Jaguar brands. Meanwhile, its full-size LTD sedan (later renamed the Crown Victoria) remained a staple of taxi companies and police forces throughout America.

Ford rode a wave of popularity in the 1990s, thanks in part to the huge success of its Explorer midsize SUV. The truck played a huge role in ushering in the era of the SUV. In 1999, Ford expanded its family yet again with the purchase of Volvo's car division, and, in 2000, it acquired Land Rover. For awhile, there was talk of Ford even taking General Motors' spot as the No. 1 automaker in the world.

But the new millennium initially saw a downturn for Ford. Increased competition, a continuing operating loss for Jaguar, legacy costs and a reliance on SUVs for profit took their toll. To compensate, the company sold Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo and introduced a wave of successful new products. Models like the F-150, Fusion, Fiesta, Focus, Flex and Mustang have allowed Ford to regain its health and standing as a very competitive manufacturer.

User Reviews:

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  Transmission failure @ 85,000 - 2002 Ford Windstar
  By Tim - May 28 - 4:41 pm

  Bought it new as a dealer orphan and got a good deal. Have been satisfied with reliability, economy and utility until now. O/D light started flashing and check transmission warning came on. The dreaded Windstar tranny failure strikes. Very disappointing because we were hoping to push to 100k before major repairs. The van has been dealer maintained, garaged all its life, well cared for, and 50% of the mileage is long distance. Well suck it in and pay $3k for a remanufactured tranny with 3yrs / 100k miles warranty. And then pray the engine isnt next. Time to start using high mileage additives for safety.

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  Im Escaping Ford to get a Yugo - 2003 Ford Escape
  By Bill - May 28 - 3:03 pm

  Ford, dont know what youre doing, but I know youre not building a tough, reliable vehicle. Within 35k miles: trans. shot, paint shot, brakes shot. Stalls periodically. The geniuses at dealer, at the ones who could form complete sentences, cant find anything wrong. Will never, ever, so much as drive by another Ford dealership. Im done with them.

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  BAD 2007 427R Roush Mustang - 2007 Ford Mustang
  By Donna Olson - May 27 - 11:49 pm

  I bought this car brand new payed over $50,000 for it and have had one problem after another with it. After 3 weeks of buying the Super Charger failed, the the stripes started to rust, new expensive tires were wearing all to fast but Ford said we had no problem even though it also had a knocking noise but we still had no prob all 3 times. If that was not enough our warranty expired and they sold us a SERVICE agreement that was the only waranty they said when we purchased it would cover the Roush parts well not true the computer portion of the Roush failed and this SERVICE agreement supposed to be extended waranty will not cover this because it is an after market part. I am sick

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  Transmission - 2007 Ford Focus
  By Lawrence - May 26 - 12:55 pm

  I cannot believe my Transmission needs replacement. Yes, I have a lot of miles. That should not make a difference.

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  Loaded interior, but a lemon engine - 2010 Ford Focus
  By features, but slow - May 26 - 10:28 am

  I have only owned this for 2 weeks and I love all of the features. SYNC, USB port, Aux, its great. It also looks pretty good on the outside with the gunmetal rims and the tinted lights. Driving though, is awful. The car is hideously slow. My last car was a Honda Civic and it was nothing special but it had no effort performing regular acceleration. My Focus though, seems to struggle to keep up with traffic and it takes a lot of gas just to maintain speed. They claim average MPG around 28, but driving just normally I am getting 24 or worse. I got 14 seconds on my 0-60 run! they claim 8.5. Did I buy a lemon? For a car with only 2800 miles on it, I dont see how it is performing so poorly.

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  Dont buy this ever - 1997 Ford Explorer
  By Donovan - May 25 - 8:51 pm

  The car is alright. I made mine look awesome. Thats the only reason I like to drive it. Loved it when I got it until the transfer case went out. And the back doors dont open from the inside. Rear end has a problem with become lower than the front struts? Who knows I see a lot of the 95-97 like that.

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  Transmission is poorly designed - 2010 Ford Edge
  By John - May 17 - 8:40 pm

  I now have 11,000 miles on this vehicle after six months and I cant say enough how I dislike this car. The biggest problem is the transmission. This car hesitates at the worst time and its usually when you are changing lanes. Step on the gas and nothing happens for a second or two. And with six gears it is always changing gears and you feel every shift in gear up and down. My manual 1967 Beetle had a smoother transmission then this car. Ford said nothing is wrong with it so I guess it drives like they designed it to...very poorly. Also you cant see anything out the rear when backing up because its not physically possible. This is an underpowered car that looks like an SUV.

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  Engine Problem - 2004 Ford F-150
  By Eric - May 17 - 5:41 pm

  I have a 2004 XLT 5.4 Crew Cab something in the engine broke around 77,800mi when I was doing about 45mph. Tow it to the dealership to have them look at it. They believe the crank broke because it does not turn. The dealership contacted Ford to see about help with the problem and Ford said out of warranty its their problem. New engine thru Ford around $5,000 then labor it would cost $7,400. I also talked to the reginal rep. for Ford that takes care of Gorno Ford and she said youre out of warranty. I told her that I know I am out of warranty but I should get more then 78,000mi after spending over $32,000 dollars. I ask to talk to her boss and said she has no boss to answer to. FORD TOUGH

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  My Financial Ruin - 1995 Ford Probe
  By whitetree - May 16 - 8:58 pm

  I enjoyed driving my ford probe. It was fairly comfortable with responsive handling and decent acceleration for a standard 2L 4cyl. However the car broke down numerous times. I had to put thousands of dollars of repairs into this car in only one year. I had to replace tie rods, sway bars, clutch slave and master cylinders, both CV axles, muffler, catalytic converter, etc. I finally got rid of the curse when I saw foam and rust on the oil dip stick. I sold off the car at $130,000 miles for a couple hundred.

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  built not to last - 2007 Ford Fusion
  By importado71 - May 13 - 7:27 am

  interior, the door hand panel broke off with a minth of haveing it, the wheel (1 of 4) is slightly larger diameter, giving it an out of balnace feel when you drive., the riviet that attached to the sunroof came off a 1 1/2 after i bought. the cd player started acting up 2 yrs after i bought, the electronic sys (fuses,etc..) went out on me little over a months ago. had to change out a few fuses but now i have no a/c and for a few days i had no working fuel gauge. the same door hand panel broke off again, extremely poor turning radius, the molding on top of the roof by the doors started cracking a few months ago, the O2 sensors went started acting up before i even hit 50K miles,