Sammy said:
Volvo used to go for quality, while Ford is going for quantity. From
a business point of view, Ford is smarter. From a consumer point of
view, Volvo was smarter. R.I.P. Volvo.
Such generalities are seldom ever true. In this case they are far from
true. Volvo has made a number of cars that were disasters. Some never
made it to our (USA) shores because they were so bad. For a while,
Volvo would not send a new model to the US until it had proven itself in
Europe for a year or more. Some of these served as incentives for a big
breakthrough and they put some needed thought into the redesigns.
On the otherhand Ford has had some successes. I am not a Ford fan but
will admit any day that their Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable and Ford
Windstar/Freestar have been challenging Volvo's lead on safety.
Unfortunately the Windstar has proven to be a safe dog.
Some Ford models that are more reliabile than Volvos are:
Ford Crown Victoria '97-'99
Ford Escort '97-'01
Ford Expedition (2WD) '97-'98, '02
Ford Explorer (2WD) '95-96
Ford F-150 (2WD) '95, '97-'99, '02
Ford F-150 (4WD) '97-'98, '00, '02
Ford Ranger (2WD) '95-'98
On the other hand, the following Fords have been dogs:
Ford Contour '95-96
Ford Contour (V6)'97-98
Ford Crown Victoria '02
Ford Escape (V6) '01-02
Ford Expedition (4WD)'99
Ford Explorer '98-02
Ford Explorer Sport Trac '01-02
Ford Focus '00-01
Ford Mustang '01-02
FOrd Probe '95-96
Ford Ranger (4WD)'97-01
Ford Ranger '02
Ford Taurus '95
Ford Windstar '95-02
However, lets not forget the following Volvo dogs:
Volvo 960 '96-97
Volvo S40/V40 '00
Volvo S80 '99-01
Volvo S90/V90 '98
Volvo V70 Cross Country '98-99
