Paulv

sboucher - one thing I noted when I read enough of these forums (both Ford and GMH) is that having a fault go through to the dealer happens on all sorts of cars. It is disappointing that customers end up doing fault reporting and quality control but this does happen all the time. Often people find out down the track that their car has been back to the bodyshop for repairs even prior to dealer handover. A hole like you've described may not actually be that obvious - there would be a list of items that would be automatic in a pre-delivery and looking for a hole in one specific spot wouldn't be on that list.

I'm still convinced however that the actual percentage of owners affected is fairly small, and for those people the dealers will nearly always fix problems if possible (and you have a good relationship with your dealer).

BTW - this forum is one of the more open sort in that there are Ford blue-bloods mixed with those (like me) who buy the best car for the situation when required. I'm somewhat anti-Ford but the Terri is the best car with it's features for the money. For me it was worth the risk to trade some build quality for useability and I'm still smiling. The Klunker never got past first base for me.

 

Curls

I think you'll find most on this forum are actually more level headed in discussions when issues arise but as has been mentioned above making the claim it's Aussie made and therefore you must expect glitches is not fair and especially not typical of the Territory . The reason I say this is that the Euro brands in particular never really get the bad press of their issues because generally their dealer network is far more supportive then any of the local big four's networks. They make a far greater profit per car and can afford to treat the customer less as a comodity then the other car makers & dealers. This is not fair but the way it is. One mid-size BMW car sale goes a long way to meeting the overheads of a dealership then say a similarly priced Ford or Holden. One arguement I raise with people who knock aussie cars is "give Toyota or BMW a Territory-sized development budget and see what they would have come with".

Your issues are well founded and should not have happened although it seems they all occurred after purchase and so how your dealer treats you is the most important issue facing you. The problem with the rust spot needs to be raised as us owners (future and current) would want to know about it and trust me the feedback gets back to Ford more then we even realise, especially from this forum because of the more mature discussion that takes place and the buyer type involved.

Even Mercedes benz is involved in a recall of staggering numbers so meg-budget development dollars and world-class build quality don't equal faultless driving experience.

dcoz

So do we get to see a picture of this hole ??

sboucher

[This picture is of the hole after the first trip to the dealer. The metal flange has been folded back into the hole. The car is awaiting a trip to the bodyworks to have the rest of the repair done.

Click to see hole

Why I need to show this picture to prove myself, I dont know. And why I should need to defend my right to free speach amazes me. Maybe I wrote to "Wheels" to see if I could get letter of the month and win a set of tyres.

I purchased a Ford, I didn't buy a Mercedes Benz, or a Toyota, I couldn't care less how many build faults or what there customer care is like. I am on the Ford Forum to talk about my Ford. My observation , after my last three new cars were Subaru's, is that the build quality of Australian cars, and when I say this, I am not only talking about my Territory, but Australian Built cars in general, is not up to the standard of any of my previous Subaru's.


I love my Territory, I dont want to sell it. I was just looking for some reasurance. What I have found is a group of people who seem to think mine is the only one on the road with any faults (dont you blokes read any of the posts on here ?), how reasuring is that? I am so happy now to know I drive the only Territory in Australia with the faults I listed, I know this because you people have told me so. No wonder no one would come on here listing faults with the pasting I have got.

Paulv

I'll shut up and keep quiet - I promise

Ouzo

You're a bit sensitive mate. Only one of us questioned whether you were genuine and I wouldn't call that a pasting. The rest of the comments were about generalisations on build quality of Australian cars which was surely a good healthy debate as you would hope for on these forums. Personally, I agree with you - Australian manufacturers still have some catching up to do but my Territory (and first Ford) experience has been very positive. Very few build faults and close to the quality of the Subaru my wife bought at around the same time (she wishes she had she Territory incidentally).

Good luck with the hole - just wish my poor non-technical brain could work out where it is so I could check mine.

sboucher

The hole is in the channell down the right hand side at the rear. It is only visable when you open the full tailgate.

If you have a seven seater, you will notice in the picture, to the left of the hole you see the mount for the rear seat belt.

dcoz

THanks for the picture. I can't speak for others but the only reason I was keen to see the picture was because I was curious to compare where your hole is to my 7 seater and see if I have anything there. I'd be pretty unhappy if I had that on mine.

By way of explanation about some of the reaction you are seeing, there have been other members (now ex-members) who have been fabricating issues in these postings about Territorys they claim to but actually don't own - maybe the bad taste from that is still hanging around and got the reaction.

new2ford

Sorry you copped such a pasting sboucher. In the clear light of day we can now see where you're coming from and no doubt you can see where your respondants are coming from. Its not about uncritically defending Ford or the Territory. Its basically about the manifest unfairness of your throw-away comment in Wheels about the quality of Australian manufacture - something which, if anything, the Territory proves has improved radically. Its the sort of comment that will have 1000 Toyota dealers rubbing their hands with glee (despite Toyotas like the Kluger having manufacturing quality problems like most other brands in the world) and will start the process of one-sided inuendo that ultimately destroys local initiative. The Leyland P76 was a good example of a victim of this sort of innuendo campaign (mind you, Ford people at the time were involved in that process so perhaps its a case of what goes around comes around!).

Given that most brands have quality problems, the advantage of buying the locally made Territory, as you point out, is that the follow-up on any problems is likely to be good, immediate, less-costly and not dictated by foreign priorities. Not like Toyota ducking and weaving for cover on the Kluger transmission problem because of legal actions in the US. This follow-up is an important part of the total quality process for a car.

compact

I dont own a territory, or a newer car, love fords, but believe myself not to be biased here

I feel for you sboucher, after spending 40k you find "rust" in your car. bloody hell, id be pissed too. But obvoiusly that is not going to help you at all.

My thoughts are that perhaps you should get it fixed and demand a lifetime warranty for that area where the rust is, obviously somethings gone wrong as there are other vehicles without your problem.

Rust is a very unusual thing on new car these days( any brand), anyway, all the best and I hope it all gets resolved to a level that your happy with.