FORD PAINT QUALITY - UNMASKED?

What kind of paint quality can you expect from your new Ford, Lincoln or Mercury product? That's a good question that BlueOvalNews can now possibly provide the answer to.

BlueOvalNews recently obtained Ford internal documents that we believe detail the quality of paint jobs from some of Ford's major car assembly plants as rated by Ford and J.D. Powers.

The results presented below will most likely surprise most people; however, it' first important to understand how some of these paint problems occur.

Most paint problems within the plants are caused by contamination from dirt, grime and hair. Others are caused by bubbles in the paint, overspray, roughing, primer popping and fisheyes.

Once outside of the assembly plant, fallout is often confused with overspray and in-transit paint damage is known to be a prevalent issue. The figures presented below more than likely include paint problems that occurred outside of the assembly plant. It's unknown how much of a percentage the figures presented below are out of assembly plant damages as compared to inside of plant defects.

We understand the graph shown at the end of this page to detail the average amount of paint problems per 100 Ford-Lincoln-Mercury cars assembled at that specific plant.

We figured out that Ford's overall average is 4.51 problems per 100 cars.

The plant with the highest paint quality was unquestionably CHICAGO. The Chicago Assembly plant posted the lowest average of 1.6 defects per 100 vehicles assembled. Chicago's score is so low that no other Ford assembly plant even comes close. Their 1.6 average is amazing considering Ford's overall average is 4.51/100!

#01) Chicago. Ford Taurus/Sable =1.6 per 100

The plant that consistently produced the best quality product with the least amount of defects was the Chicago Assembly Plant! Chicago is recognized within Ford for consistent high quality products that are the envy of other Ford assembly plants. Chicago currently produces the Taurus/Sable models (expect SHO) for the Midwestern and Northeast states.

Chicago's Taurus/Sable have the highest paint quality of any Assembly plant in the U.S.

#02) Wixom. Lincoln Town Car = 3.7 per 100

Even though the Lincoln finished in the #2 spot, the margin between first and second is actually quite large. Consider that Lincoln Town Cars are 2.3 times more likely to have paint problems than a Chicago assembled Taurus/Sable. The Town Car's average of 3.7 is close to Ford's overall average of 4.51 per 100. . . .this is hardly impressive since the Town Car is Lincoln's flagship vehicle. Another stunning point is that the Town Car finished only .01% higher than the #3 rated Ford Escort.

Is a Lincoln Town car is likely to have 2.3 times more paint problems than a Taurus/Sable?

#03) Wayne. Ford Escort = 3.8 per 100

The Third spot went to the Wayne, Michigan assembly plant - home of the U.S. made Ford Escort. The Wayne produced Escort scored a 3.8. . .only .01% behind the Lincoln, which is very impressive! This is important since the Focus will inherit the Wayne plant after mid July '99. BlueOvalNews spoke with several employees at the Wayne plant, which are all excited and have high expectations for the Focus, which will help to insure a quality build.

#4) Wixom. Lincoln Continental = 4.0 per 100

The Lincoln Continental, also produced in Wixom was below Ford's overall average of 4.51, but barely. Once again the Lincoln premium brand was beat out by a Ford product, actually two of them - The Taurus/Sable and Escort.

The Continental 's paint quality score below that of the Ford Escorts?

#5) St. Thomas. Crown Victoria/Marquis = 4.4 per 100

Went to the St. Thomas, Ontario-Canada plant. St. Thomas makes all Crown Vics and the Grand Marquis. It will also soon be home to the Mercury Marauder. <More St.Thomas News>

#6) Kansas City. Ford Contour/Mystique/F-Series = 4.7 per 100

The Kansas City plant will shift from making the Contour/Mystique and start making the Lincoln Blackwood, U204 Escape and SuperCrew F-150. The Number 6th spot is where the quality begins to gradually go down hill. It's expected that Kansas City will improve their quality before the two new products begin assembly there.

#7) Hermosillio. Ford Escort = 5.0 per 100

This will become the only plant making the Escort after mid July '99. All ZX2 models are assembled there - Hermosillio's paint quality is well below the average of Ford's overall 4.51.

Are ZX2's plagued by paint quality problems?

#8) Atlanta. Ford Taurus/Sable and SHO = 5.2 per 100

Well past the average of 4.51, the #8 position went to the Atlanta Assembly Plant, which makes the Taurus, Sable and all SHO models. It's interesting that the two Taurus/Sable assembly plants have such a high difference in paint quality - especially considering the assembly processes are the same. The Atlanta assembled Taurus/Sables experience 3.2 times the paint quality problems than do Chicago assembled models.

#9) Wixom. Lincoln Mark VIII = 6.3 per 100

The ninth spot is important because it's another place in which a Lincoln product exists. Even though the Mark VIII is discontinued, Wixom produces the LS there and will soon add Thunderbird production as well. Wixom-Lincoln's overall average is 4.7/100, more than Ford's overall average of 4.51 - not impressive for a premium brand vehicle.

The Mark VIII finished a disappointing 9th.

#10) Cuautitlan. Ford Contour/Mystique/F-Series = 8.3 per 100

Went to Cuautitlan, Mexico. This plant makes some F-Series products, Contour and Mystique models. It's score of 8.3 is almost double that of Ford's average of 4.51! Cuautitlan will soon be the sole source of Contour and Mystique production.

#11) Dearborn. Ford Mustang = 12.5

The assembly plant that produced the product with the worst paint quality went to our own Dearborn-Mustang Assembly Plant. A Dearborn assembled Ford Mustang has a paint quality that is 7.8 times worse than Ford's best plant (Chicago) and 2.8 times Ford's overall average. Ford has taken notice as a new, state of the art paint shop is being constructed that's said to rival the best in the world.

The Dearborn-Mustang assembly plant finished dead last in their paint quality, as rated by J.D. Power and Ford.

Internal Ford documents obtained by BlueOvalNews.com

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