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UNDERGROUND NEWS

MUSTANG WARRANTY TRENDS- 1996

Last week BlueOvalNews received, in the mail, some information concerning Ford and Lincoln warranty trends.

We decided to post one small section of an entire graph which details the 1996 Ford Mustang. We'll post other years in the next several weeks to follow.

It's important to note that the graph does not necessarily determine the overall quality of a Mustang produced within 1996 or even a certain month. For example, when looking at the graph to the right you will notice that Mustangs produced in the 8th month of 1996 (August) have the highest number of warranty claims for a specific issue(s).

Does that mean that Mustangs made in August of 1996 are lemons? Hardly. Warranty claims could be a result from an almost uncalculatable range of issues. . . .some not even attributable to Ford. Those certain instances that have an impact on the warranty charts, but do not relate to the build quality of a Mustang on Ford's part include supplier quality.

Is it possible for Ford to receive a batch of brake rotors that have an inconsistent rotor thickness variation from their supplier? Is it possible for Ford to receive contaminated gasoline from their supplier? CERTAINLY. Imagine the warranty costs if Ford sends off those Mustangs with contaminated gasoline in their fuel tanks. Want some more examples, go here.

It's without question that Ford's suppliers can contribute to the warranty trends detailed in the graph to the right, but we do not know the actual impact that they have.

What's interesting to follow is the way in which the charts trace a given month of production in comparison to the warranties incurred during the1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th months in which the vehicle was in service (on the road).

Naturally, the longer the vehicles were on road the higher the graph rises in terms of problems incurred. Sudden spikes in the graph can be a result from a multitude of problems related to either Ford or supplier problems.

It's occasionally not practical to trace the OVERALL warranty trends during the first and third months because many vehicles have not been delivered to customers yet - they are still on dealers lots. This means that the mix of vehicles is diluted on the graph.

Within the next several weeks, we'll look at some of the reported customer complaints and how Ford determines the root cause of the problem and how Ford solves that problem from occurring again. Even if it means incorporating a new design into the following years production model.

MODEL YEAR 1996. This graph only details 1996 model year Mustangs. The chart breaks down Mustangs into the month that they were produced for the 1996 model year. Many 1996 models were made in 1995, as indicated on the graph.

To use the graph:

Horizontal plane: The graph's horizontal plane are dates of production. The first MONTH shown is 8/1/95.

Vertical plane: The graph's vertical line represents the number of Mustang's that were warranted for a specific issue(s) out of a sample of 1000.

Graph lines: The lines represent the number of months in service. The legend for the lines are detailed in the graph below.

The line bars represent the months in service. For example, the red line with the blue diamond is for the first month in service, the black line with the black diamond represents the ninth month of service, ect.

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