FordBuyer Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I don't know how many of you read Mark Phelan's review of the MKX in today's Free Press, but one constant negative I do notice in these reveiws is fit and finish problems. The overall review is good, but excessive gaps drive some people crazy, and Oakville has history of this. I remember looking at Freestars when they first came out and seeing misaligned exterior parts that would be unaccepatble to me personally if I were buying the vehicle. Wayne Assembly seems to have some problems there too. Hermosillo seems to be better in that regard. Chicago has some trouble with this, but new Taurus seems real good..better than 500. On a $40,000 MKX, there should not be a dime gap between dashboard and window on one side and 5 quarter gap on other side. Like Phelan said, when you see that you wonder about parts you can't see and how they are aligned. Now maybe most are not like this and this is anomaly, but I have read other reviews where they remarked about interior gaps. IMO, Oakville needs to do better after Ford spent over $1 billion getting that plant ready for flexible manufacturing. Ford cannot afford to have problems like that and I don't understand how it got out of there like that. Gap should have been caught and fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admiral Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I just read that an hour ago. It's really the first positive review of the MKX I've seen. Motor Trend just savaged it this month. Yeah, the review was basically good, but Phelan carped about the door-to-dash gaps. Something about the driver's side gap being equal to the thickness of two dimes and the passenger's side as wide as five quarters! Sounds like an anamoly, I haven't seen/noticed this on either the Edge or MKX, but I haven't really been looking either. As for assembly plants, I think Wayne is the worst. Has anyone seen the fit and finish on the current body style Focus? It's absolutly TERRIBLE; easily amongst the WORST I've ever seen. Absolutly atrotious. I drive an '02 ZX3 and everything fits perfectly. The exterior gaps are a little wide but other than that everything is perfect. My friend has an '05, and most interior trim is crooked and poorly finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted July 5, 2007 Author Share Posted July 5, 2007 I just read that an hour ago. It's really the first positive review of the MKX I've seen. Motor Trend just savaged it this month. Yeah, the review was basically good, but Phelan carped about the door-to-dash gaps. Something about the driver's side gap being equal to the thickness of two dimes and the passenger's side as wide as five quarters! Sounds like an anamoly, I haven't seen/noticed this on either the Edge or MKX, but I haven't really been looking either. As for assembly plants, I think Wayne is the worst. Has anyone seen the fit and finish on the current body style Focus? It's absolutly TERRIBLE; easily amongst the WORST I've ever seen. Absolutly atrotious. I drive an '02 ZX3 and everything fits perfectly. The exterior gaps are a little wide but other than that everything is perfect. My friend has an '05, and most interior trim is crooked and poorly finished. Yep, I had a 2005 Focus ZX4 lastears a company car, and though I like the car and it was very relieable, the exterior fit was real bad. You have to wonder if Wayne will in line for new product once Ford finally brings out totally new Focus. Maybe with all the buyouts, they can find managers and workers who care about what comes out of that plant and do better. If not, I think Wayne Assembly will be on future closure list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2005Explorer Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 You know everyone likes to bash the CD3's because they are built in Mexico, but they do seem to have some of the best fit and finish in the Ford line-up. Is it just a better plant or do the workers take more pride in their product or is it just the engineering of the product itself? I am not sure, but they do seem well built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 (edited) Where was the Tempo built? I remember they used to advertise excellent fit and finish. Serious question, as I'm too lazy to look it up in the Std. Catalog of Ford 1903-2003. Edited July 6, 2007 by Roadrunner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furious1Auto Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 (edited) I don't know how many of you read Mark Phelan's review of the MKX in today's Free Press, but one constant negative I do notice in these reveiws is fit and finish problems. The overall review is good, but excessive gaps drive some people crazy, and Oakville has history of this. I remember looking at Freestars when they first came out and seeing misaligned exterior parts that would be unaccepatble to me personally if I were buying the vehicle. Wayne Assembly seems to have some problems there too. Hermosillo seems to be better in that regard. Chicago has some trouble with this, but new Taurus seems real good..better than 500. On a $40,000 MKX, there should not be a dime gap between dashboard and window on one side and 5 quarter gap on other side. Like Phelan said, when you see that you wonder about parts you can't see and how they are aligned. Now maybe most are not like this and this is anomaly, but I have read other reviews where they remarked about interior gaps. IMO, Oakville needs to do better after Ford spent over $1 billion getting that plant ready for flexible manufacturing. Ford cannot afford to have problems like that and I don't understand how it got out of there like that. Gap should have been caught and fixed. I own an Edge and don't have any fit and finish problems. In fact my wife parked it next to a Lexus crossover and It looks better and cost about $25,000 less. I would take the criticisms seriously and check the process, but it's still an excellent product! And it gets roughly 9 to 10 MPG better than the Explorer I owned previously. Edited July 6, 2007 by Furious1Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jillykg Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Where was the Tempo built? I remember they used to advertise excellent fit and finish. Serious question, as I'm too lazy to look it up in the Std. Catalog of Ford 1903-2003. The Tempo was built at KCAP!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OAC_Sparky Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 The Tempo was built at KCAP!! It was also built in Oakville. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topgun Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 You know everyone likes to bash the CD3's because they are built in Mexico, but they do seem to have some of the best fit and finish in the Ford line-up. Is it just a better plant or do the workers take more pride in their product or is it just the engineering of the product itself? I am not sure, but they do seem well built. I wouldn't say best to describe some fits on those CD3's,some do get out with very poor fit, like my right front door to the fender ,inboard by half an inch. Now how did that get out of the plant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF???? Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 I've talked to numerous Ford dealers in the past year and asked about their thoughts of the Edge and MKX. One constant was the same among all of them.....they all raved about how good the vehicle was and all felt the fit and finish was exceptional. I spoke with the manager of one of the dealers after he learned I was an employee of the Oakville site and he actually shook my hand and thanked me for the job we were doing in Oakville. It may have been BS but he said the Edge had the best fit and finish of any Ford vehicle he's seen in 10 years. Is it possible the MKX in this review had bad fit and finish? Of course it's possible but one thing that's worth keeping in mind in these reviews, the vehicles used are press fleet vehicles and as such often would fit the category of being abused. I'll let your imagination fill in the blanks as to how certain abuse could alter body gaps and such. Bad press is never a good thing but I'll say this: I've never let a car critic's review make my decision on buying a car.....I look it over thoroughly at the dealer, take the car for a test drive and let my own senses tell me if it's good or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Johnson Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Is it possible the MKX in this review had bad fit and finish? Of course it's possible but one thing that's worth keeping in mind in these reviews, the vehicles used are press fleet vehicles and as such often would fit the category of being abused. I'll let your imagination fill in the blanks as to how certain abuse could alter body gaps and such. Ford must realize that these reviews are seen by thousands and in some cases millions of individuals. If they are sending out vehicles for review without at least spending one day ensuring that they are the beau ideal of the model then they are just plain sloppy. If they think the vehicle is no longer representative of what customers can expect then it is a small matter to send it along to Manheim and pull another off the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furious1Auto Posted July 7, 2007 Share Posted July 7, 2007 It's funny I remember a similar slam of the Fusion just after it's release. Remember the crash test safety rating? Someone asked me about it, I said I don't intend on wrecking mine I bought it because it's bad ass. Now look at the Fusion go, it's still bad ass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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