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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  Good reliable truck for the money! - 2002 Ford Ranger
  By Bill Slater - November 13 - 2:17 am

  Very reliable truck Ive owned 5 rangers in my lifetime when I grew up my family has owned them dad and grandfather My recent ranger Ive owned for over 3 years 2002 4x4 fx4 great truck great in the snow 4x4 works awesome I get poor fuel economy 13 city lucky if I get 17 highway but no need to complain no 4x4 midsize truck will get good fuel economy I have 93000 miles on it besides brakes and replacing the shackle springs which my 93 ranger I had to replace common Problem on all rangers if I ranked my truck Id give it a solid 9 out of 10

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  Great truck. I recommend it - 1999 Ford Ranger
  By Paul Hammer - November 12 - 9:03 am

  It takes a little repair but it runs like a charm if you take care of it. My first car and now one of my favorite trucks. Had to do simple repairs like the alternator, flywheel, starter, clutch, and a sensor. All in all I recommend this truck

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  Crazy people - 2006 Ford F-150
  By Brayy - November 9 - 7:47 am

  My f150 has very few problems I had a few lags on the transmission a couple or times and the a/c went out but it runs perfect Id say for 270,000 miles the steering is beyond expectation honestly

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  Inner tail lights dont light up - 2011 Ford Taurus
  By David - November 8 - 11:17 am

  I just bought a 2011 Taurus SEL and was very dissatisfied to find out that the inner tail lights that are on the outside of the trunk are basically just there for decoration since they dont light up.

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  My 2014 Ford Truck - 2014 Ford F-150
  By Scott Smith - November 8 - 8:12 am

  I have had this Truck since 2/1/15. It is great in the snow. With the 4 wheel drive you can get through just about anything. With the 5.0 liter I range around 14 in the city and it will get 21 MPG on the highway at 70 MPH. Its comfortable and the back seat is huge especially with the seats up. The truck does many things right. It pulls my boat and trailer with ease which is probably around 4000 lbs. Even with the 5.5 ft bed, there is a ton of room since the sides are high. Here is a couple of annoyances.. In the STX model many times the rubber cup holder liner comes out attached to my coffee cup. I have never figured out how to retrieve a text when the blue tooth is on and I am a pretty techy guy. The manual does not explain the sync very well. Around 20,000 miles I started to get some vibration when braking. I assume it needs the rotors turned. I have driven a few new GM trucks my friends have and I still mine better than theirs. I dont know anything about the dodges as Chrysler as whole seems to have more reliability problems than Ford or GM.

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  Great truck that should have come with boat oars.. - 2010 Ford F-150
  By rabrothers - November 8 - 1:07 am

  I purchased this truck new on May 31, 2010. It now has 31600 miles. I have not had any issues with it in terms of mechanical or electrical. I love how the truck feels when I drive it, it is very comfortable, and roomy. The mileage sucks, but if I was concerned about mileage I would not have bought it. In Mar 2015, I noticed moisture on the inside of the windshield, and since my windshield had been replaced I thought the new one had a leak... so had the windshield replaced again.. but again months later I had moisture on the inside of the windshield. I finally started doing some research online and found out that Ford has known for years that the sat antenna, and third brake lights leak into the cab. According to TSB 10-4-7 Ford F150s made before Jan 18, 2010, have the antenna problem. The technical bulletin calls for a bead of silicone around the gasket of the sat antenna. Once the brake light leaks, the only fix is a bead of silicone or replacement since Ford decided not to make a separate gasket for the lens. The cost of fixing both problems is $740.00 if you take it to a Ford dealer. My dealer refused to follow the guidelines of the TSB for the antenna since when they removed the old one, it had a bead of silicone around the gasket direct from the factory ( my vehicle was made in Mar 2010) so it appears that once Ford discovered the problems and published the TB, they decided to use the same antennas on all the vehicles that came out after the publication of the TB, and following the TB, just placed silicone on the gaskets as the trucks were being built. This fix does not work, as I can attest by my repair bill of $440.00 just for replacement of the antenna. I replaced the third brake light for $100. but an after marked brake light can be purchased for $35.00. I dont mind spending money on my truck due to fail wear and tear or normal maintenance, but I am really pissed about the cost of these repairs. If these problems showed up prior to the basic 3 year, 36000 mile warranty, Ford would be required to fix them under the basic warranty, even if you purchased the Extended warranty you are not covered for these problems. Ford used faulty parts on this truck and many others, they should have issued a recall and paid to fix all the problems. This is as much a health and safety hazard as it is an inconvenience. When water enters the truck over time mold and mildew will grow. The water also gets into the channels and door thresholds were the wiring is run for lights, windows etc., causing a safety and fire hazard. And the leaks are going to stain your rear seats, and headlined , and destroy your carpet. Ford has known of these problems back to 1998, based on the information I have found on the internet. I contacted Ford about this problem and they did listen and give me a case number, telling me they would contact my dealer and see if there was a program to help pay for cost of the repairs.. I dont expect Ford to do anything. I would not recommend any one buy a Ford F150 new or used until Ford can prove the problems are solved.

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  Great car! - 2001 Ford Focus
  By Chayse G. - November 5 - 8:52 pm

  I got my blue 2001 Focus ZX3 for free, it needed an idler pulley, and it ran well! It may have the occasional stall and rattle, but it runs well!

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  Good for what it is, dont expect a luxury car. - 2014 Ford Focus
  By Evan Waller - November 4 - 9:46 pm

  I have owned this car for the past 10 months. I did my research on this vehicle before I bought it and I knew what I was getting myself into by purchasing the DCT transmission. Not going to lie this car absolutely sucks in traffic. It lurches and lunges along however Its the best car ever on the highway. My job sometimes has me commute a lot all over the city (and state) and the car is very smooth on the highway. Acceleration isnt an issue and it gains speed quickly (quickly enough to merge and pass cars safely that is). Ive put on close to 15 thousand miles on it so far and I still really like it. I have the SE hatchback (in the very nice Tuxedo Black) great for hauling all the stuff I need. The back seat is very small but I rarely have people sitting back there for long so space isnt an issue. It also does surprisingly well in the snow. Being from southern Ohio I had to drive it in a lot of it this past winter and not once did i get stuck. I get great MPG and average 32 mixed driving (mostly city). I have learned to live with this car and I hope the car will last as Im ok with the DCT quirks but Ive heard mixed reviews about DCT reliability in general.

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  An Engineers Perspective - 2011 Ford Edge
  By R. Eads - November 4 - 6:00 pm

  I bought this car new. My wife drives it primarily. Its now traveled just over 55,000 miles. We have owned mostly SUVs and trucks recently so this was our last venture into the land of unibody, transverse engine mounted vehicles. Overall, Im very satisfied with the vehicle. Its outstanding features are in the technology it brings to the segment. The adaptive cruise control borders on magical. It is very hard to fool and is very able to sense lane changes and switching of lanes. I find it very impressive and it makes long drives across interstates from state-to-state-to state a breeze during construction season. You set the distance between you and the next car. You set the speed. It keeps the distance and life is great. The Sony sound system is very good and the bluetooth integration is also great. It seems much more adept compared to GM, Toyota, Nissan, and Dodge/Fiat for the same year and then some. My edge is AWD and the torque vectoring is exceptional in keeping the vehicle aligned. With good tires, the vehicle does exceptionally well in snow, better than classic SUVs. Even a Jeep Grand Cherokee seems less capable in a snow/ice scenario than does the AWD Edge. Ford gets high marks here. From a reliability standpoint it has been excellent. There were two warranty items. First was the Accessory Protocol Interface Module (APIM). Ford issued an extended warranty on this module. It started acting flakey, the display would dim on its own. It was replaced at no cost. The second item was the brake booster. Again Ford issued an extended warranty on this item (up to 150,000 miles) it was replaced at no cost. The brake booster fail resulted from a failure in the rubber diaphragm of the brake booster. I suspect that the fuel tank vapor recovering lines that connect to the intake manifold are also tied to the vacuum supply for the brake booster along with the intake manifold. This loosely ties the fuel system to the brake booster system thus allowing fuel condensate to accumulate in the brake booster. Alcohol in the fuel is no friend of synthetic rubber materials in your vehicle and may be the ultimate root cause of this failure. The resulting failure manifestation is a very stiff brake pedal that gets stiffer over time. I would not be surprised if this leads to a recall as it is a potential safety issue. To me, neither of these two problems would be deal breakers if the question was "would I buy another one?" knowing what I know now. I would buy another one. I think it has many strengths for the price point and the things it does well (AWD, room, comfort, sound, technical aids like BLIS and Adaptive Cruise), it does very very well.

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  2008 Ford Escape XLT - 2008 Ford Escape
  By Rb_osu - November 2 - 9:51 pm

  Bought the 2008 Escape new in 2007. Loved it until about last year when we started to get nickeled and dimed on repairs. To be expected of an older car I suppose. Electrical in drivers seat went out. Front end rods needed replaced. Starter was going bad. Some of the interior was also wearing. Given the years we lived out west and now in the south, I suppose the oppresive heat likely accelerated these issues as I know people who have 2004 escapes and have had none of these issues. In the end we ultimately traded it in for a bigger vehicle as we added to our family & needed the space.