How Ford’s ‘Obsession With Details’ Aims to Fix Years of Reliability Struggles

[rmc523]

How Ford’s ‘Obsession With Details’ Aims to Fix Years of Reliability Struggles - Autoblog

 

Under Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley, the company has begun shifting away from short-term fixes toward systematic process changes. Recent third-party evaluation reports show early indications of progress, with Ford making measurable strides toward top quality metrics in several vehicle segments. However, executive leadership emphasizes that fully rectifying institutional quality gaps will require sustained discipline across multiple product cycles.

Speaking at the recent 2026 Automotive News Conference, Farley explained that execution now hinges on a “complete obsession with details” across every phase of design and production. He stressed that earlier quality breakdowns often stemmed from rushed launch schedules or overlooked minor component variations during assembly. The revised mandate requires engineering teams to resolve potential failure points long before assembly lines begin rolling.

Central to this operational reset is a heavy investment in pre-production testing and real-time monitoring. By prioritizing catching defects early in the 

manufacturing cycle, factory teams can halt production to address component tolerances before vehicles leave the plant. This proactive approach aims to reduce costly post-sale warranty claims while establishing clearer accountability among tier-one suppliers.

[akirby]

1 hour ago, rmc523 said:

the company has begun shifting away from short-term fixes toward systematic process changes.

Wow what a concept.

[morgan20]

2 hours ago, akirby said:

Wow what a concept.

 

Yea, Ford paid for external Lean Six Sigma training for me and several coworkers at the Indianapolis Steering Systems plant back in the early 2000s that emphasized systematic process changes. Actually applying that concept never came to fruition before the plant was shuttered and ultimately demolished.

 

About time Jimbo! Better late than never, I guess... 

[7Mary3]

Sure, systematic approach, quit screwing suppliers, quit screwing dealer techs on warranty, retain experienced engineers.  Common sense is none to common.

 

Kind of surprised Farley is still around. 

[jpd80]

Just to be clear here, the main drive is not customer satisfaction,

it’s all the continuing losses due to warranty work.

 

Nothing teaches like the pain of loss.

[T-dubz]

These articles come out every few months but the recalls, even on new models don’t seem to stop.

[blazerdude20]

58 minutes ago, T-dubz said:

These articles come out every few months but the recalls, even on new models don’t seem to stop.

The recalls are two pronged in my view. There are still engineering and production issues but they are getting better about finding them sooner and resolving. The number of vehicles per recall has come down significantly. The other thing to consider is Ford had to pay a $165M civil penalty to NHTSA in 2024 for delaying a recall of rearview cameras. Part of the deal was they have regular audits with NHTSA and a third party oversight for four years. Whereas Toyota or Honda can issue a special service campaign, aka we will fix this issue when you come in for service, Ford is not allowed to do that until the four years are complete. Every little thing is a full recall. 

 

I think this spanking from NHTSA is more likely to drive fundamental engineering changes at Ford than anything else. 

[akirby]

1 hour ago, T-dubz said:

These articles come out every few months but the recalls, even on new models don’t seem to stop.

We've been through this.  Part of their new process is looking for old problems and fixing them now rather than waiting for a nhtsa investigation.  Another big chunk is repeat recalls because the quick fix didn't work.  A lot of the new ones are found quickly with small numbers.  It will get better over time but will appear worse for another year or two.

 

If they do the root cause analysis correctly it will show them that squeezing suppliers too hard is a big part of the problem and hopefully they're working on it.  The problem is the supplier cost is with procurement and warranty claims are somewhere else.  Procurement needs to answer to the product and warranty teams.

[02MustangGT]

30 minutes ago, akirby said:

A lot of the new ones are found quickly with small numbers.  It will get better over time but will appear worse for another year or two.

This.  Evidence that the new process is working.  However, it is frustrating for those of us who own vehicles with seemingly endless recalls and “re-recalls”.  For me, the frustration is more about trusting the dealer not to fuck something up while attempting to complete the recall work (Lincoln/Ford dealer service in and around Indy metro is mediocre at best).  

[jpd80]

7 hours ago, akirby said:

We've been through this.  Part of their new process is looking for old problems and fixing them now rather than waiting for a nhtsa investigation.  Another big chunk is repeat recalls because the quick fix didn't work.  A lot of the new ones are found quickly with small numbers.  It will get better over time but will appear worse for another year or two.

It’s a matter of of persistence, something that Ford has lacked in the past, I guess it seems

highly economical to fix what Ford thinks is 90% of the problem, but yes proper RCA is key.

 

 

 

7 hours ago, akirby said:

 

If they do the root cause analysis correctly it will show them that squeezing suppliers too hard is a big part of the problem and hopefully they're working on it.  The problem is the supplier cost is with procurement and warranty claims are somewhere else.  Procurement needs to answer to the product and warranty teams.

Funny how root causes seem to come back around to actions that were unnecessary,

squeezing suppliers is just power and ego, not right thinking.  Suppliers get even.

[fordmantpw]

11 hours ago, 02MustangGT said:

This.  Evidence that the new process is working.  However, it is frustrating for those of us who own vehicles with seemingly endless recalls and “re-recalls”.  For me, the frustration is more about trusting the dealer not to fuck something up while attempting to complete the recall work (Lincoln/Ford dealer service in and around Indy metro is mediocre at best).  

 

Same thing here with our dealer!  I hate taking things in because we're afraid they'll mess something else up in the process.  You just can't find good help, and you never get the "good" techs on "simple" things.

 

We currently have 4 vehicles with open recalls:

 

2010 Milan - airbag...again.

2022 F350 - something with the wipers

2023 Mach-E - I don't remember what that one's for

2024 Bronco - Something about a wire chafing under the hood and I think something with the seat bolts

 

It is a pain to take these to the dealer.  The dealer is 30 minutes away, I work from home, and my wife is retired.  So it's a special trip to town and wait for hours while it's done.  I did have a recent recall on the F350 resolved by a mobile tech (even though we're 8 miles outside of their service area), so I'm going to see if they will do the same for at least some of these.

[Sherminator98]

1 minute ago, fordmantpw said:

I did have a recent recall on the F350 resolved by a mobile tech (even though we're 8 miles outside of their service area), so I'm going to see if they will do the same for at least some of these.

 

After the shitshow I had with my dealership and my Bronco order, the Service department is stellar-they even still pick my car up even though I'm a few miles out of the radius that they are supposed to. 

 

I normally have it picked up first in the AM and its normally back by lunchtime, well for oil changes. I need to get the wiring harness recall done myself when I get the oil done later this month. 

[fordmantpw]

40 minutes ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

After the shitshow I had with my dealership and my Bronco order, the Service department is stellar-they even still pick my car up even though I'm a few miles out of the radius that they are supposed to. 

 

I normally have it picked up first in the AM and its normally back by lunchtime, well for oil changes. I need to get the wiring harness recall done myself when I get the oil done later this month. 

 

I'm just not trusting enough to let them pick our vehicles up.  I don't think they would being the distance we are anyway.

[rmc523]

15 hours ago, blazerdude20 said:

The recalls are two pronged in my view. There are still engineering and production issues but they are getting better about finding them sooner and resolving. The number of vehicles per recall has come down significantly. The other thing to consider is Ford had to pay a $165M civil penalty to NHTSA in 2024 for delaying a recall of rearview cameras. Part of the deal was they have regular audits with NHTSA and a third party oversight for four years. Whereas Toyota or Honda can issue a special service campaign, aka we will fix this issue when you come in for service, Ford is not allowed to do that until the four years are complete. Every little thing is a full recall. 

 

I think this spanking from NHTSA is more likely to drive fundamental engineering changes at Ford than anything else. 

 

Yeah, I haven't posted any recall stuff in a bit because they've only been a few thousand vehicles each.

 

13 hours ago, 02MustangGT said:

This.  Evidence that the new process is working.  However, it is frustrating for those of us who own vehicles with seemingly endless recalls and “re-recalls”.  For me, the frustration is more about trusting the dealer not to fuck something up while attempting to complete the recall work (Lincoln/Ford dealer service in and around Indy metro is mediocre at best).  

 

I had the dealer break my windshield when there was that windshield recall.....there wasn't anything wrong with it, or a leak, but they broke it taking it off (to reapply it) and they had to order a new one and replace it.

 

2 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

After the shitshow I had with my dealership and my Bronco order, the Service department is stellar-they even still pick my car up even though I'm a few miles out of the radius that they are supposed to. 

 

I normally have it picked up first in the AM and its normally back by lunchtime, well for oil changes. I need to get the wiring harness recall done myself when I get the oil done later this month. 

 

I have a few I need to take care of when i get my oil changed soon......also have to get the air filters replaced and a new battery.  I'm planning on doing those myself, though.....I'm still on the original battery after 4 years and it's finally starting to go....

 

1 hour ago, fordmantpw said:

 

I'm just not trusting enough to let them pick our vehicles up.  I don't think they would being the distance we are anyway.

 

I've been skeptical of that too.

[T-dubz]

8 hours ago, rmc523 said:

 

Yeah, I haven't posted any recall stuff in a bit because they've only been a few thousand vehicles each.

 

 

I had the dealer break my windshield when there was that windshield recall.....there wasn't anything wrong with it, or a leak, but they broke it taking it off (to reapply it) and they had to order a new one and replace it.

 

 

I have a few I need to take care of when i get my oil changed soon......also have to get the air filters replaced and a new battery.  I'm planning on doing those myself, though.....I'm still on the original battery after 4 years and it's finally starting to go....

 

 

I've been skeptical of that too.

Another 40k recalled today for headlight defects on 2025-2027 expeditions and 2026 superduties.

[Joe771476]

This shouldn't be something new. It should have been from Day 1. I've been reading this kind of stuff for the last 20 years! Every few years they get serious about quality! Is it the suppliers or the assembly line, or both? Didn't they have an ad slogan? "Quality is Job 1"

[akirby]

11 hours ago, Joe771476 said:

This shouldn't be something new. It should have been from Day 1. I've been reading this kind of stuff for the last 20 years! Every few years they get serious about quality! Is it the suppliers or the assembly line, or both? Didn't they have an ad slogan? "Quality is Job 1"

In most cases it's as simple as prioritizing short term gains (meeting launch dates and initial cost targets) and ignoring long term warranty costs and customer dissatisfaction.  It's human nature if the short term rewards are good (bonuses, promotions, etc).  That's why the compensation model has to change.

 

Saw this in IT all the time.   We promised the customer a new release on this date but we're a month behind on development.  So we cut a month out of testing and ship the new release with bugs.  Then we spend 3 months getting it to work correctly and causing all sorts of headaches in the meantime.  The sad part is the next time it comes up and we said we need the extra month of testing the customer would invariably say no we need it now and completely ignore past history.

 

Same thing happened with the Webasto Bronco hardtops.  Huge mistake.

 

This is where the CEO has to overrule the short term thinkers in favor of the bigger picture and it sounds like Farley has done that.

[jpd80]

10 hours ago, akirby said:

In most cases it's as simple as prioritizing short term gains (meeting launch dates and initial cost targets) and ignoring long term warranty costs and customer dissatisfaction.  It's human nature if the short term rewards are good (bonuses, promotions, etc).  That's why the compensation model has to change.

 

Saw this in IT all the time.   We promised the customer a new release on this date but we're a month behind on development.  So we cut a month out of testing and ship the new release with bugs.  Then we spend 3 months getting it to work correctly and causing all sorts of headaches in the meantime.  The sad part is the next time it comes up and we said we need the extra month of testing the customer would invariably say no we need it now and completely ignore past history.

 

Same thing happened with the Webasto Bronco hardtops.  Huge mistake.

 

This is where the CEO has to overrule the short term thinkers in favor of the bigger picture and it sounds like Farley has done that.

This.

 

That’s the problem with Band-Aid fixes, the need for an instant fix to shore up the books

does nothing to fix a recurring problem with quality. Sometime you gotta stop putting

your hand on the stove…

[Sherminator98]

Speaking of recalls, I got an OTA update over the weekend to take care of the Fuel Pump recall on my Bronco, slightly impressed they could fix it via software. 

 

Now just need to get the wiring harness checked out when I get my oil change this month and I'll be caught up with all the recalls on my Bronco LOL 

[fordmantpw]

14 minutes ago, Sherminator98 said:

Speaking of recalls, I got an OTA update over the weekend to take care of the Fuel Pump recall on my Bronco, slightly impressed they could fix it via software. 

 

Now just need to get the wiring harness checked out when I get my oil change this month and I'll be caught up with all the recalls on my Bronco LOL 

 

For now! LOL

[rmc523]

On 10/3/2026 at 7:29 AM, akirby said:

This is where the CEO has to overrule the short term thinkers in favor of the bigger picture and it sounds like Farley has done that.

 

We'll see if it last long-term....

 

2 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

Speaking of recalls, I got an OTA update over the weekend to take care of the Fuel Pump recall on my Bronco, slightly impressed they could fix it via software. 

 

Now just need to get the wiring harness checked out when I get my oil change this month and I'll be caught up with all the recalls on my Bronco LOL 

 

I got a notification this morning on mine that it's going to try to do the update at 1am tonight.

Edited Monday at 02:38 PM by rmc523

[akirby]

5 hours ago, rmc523 said:

We'll see if it last long-term....

I think it will because they're already seeing the financial benefits.

[rmc523]

17 hours ago, akirby said:

I think it will because they're already seeing the financial benefits.

 

For now..........they'll forget in a few years and see the increased cost of additional inspections and checks and be like hey, we could cut this for increase margins!!

[akirby]

1 hour ago, rmc523 said:

 

For now..........they'll forget in a few years and see the increased cost of additional inspections and checks and be like hey, we could cut this for increase margins!!

That's why you need to weed out the folks that think like that now and hire/promote long term thinkers.  And embed it in the processes so it's difficult to ignore.

[rmc523]

21 minutes ago, akirby said:

That's why you need to weed out the folks that think like that now and hire/promote long term thinkers.  And embed it in the processes so it's difficult to ignore.

 

Sure....I'm just saying Ford's been through this already like with Mulally - they got quality in a great spot, then he left and it went off the rails when processes set up were changed.