The Ford Motor Company began as a dream of one man to bridge people with advanced transport technology. It was an ambitious dream, but one that answered the needs of a society on the brink of high-gear industrialization.

It didn?t come easy, however, as the company?s first series of automobiles endured bouts of indifference from the market. Not losing faith, the company relentlessly continued on engineering various motor cars, until one unit, the Ford Model T, finally captured the full interest and esteem of the public. Fast track to 19 years and 15 million Model Ts later, and the Ford Motor Company has already catapulted itself into a giant enterprise in the automotive industry. And at present, after more than a hundred years of continuous hard work and pure determination in the industry, the visions of one Henry Ford are still paying off as his founding company has now become one of the most successful brands in the world.

To date, Ford Motor Company has now evolved into a family of superior automobile brands, which comprises of: Ford, Jaguar, Mazda, Mercury, Lincoln, Land Rover, and Volvo. Nevertheless, Ford has not lose sight of the vision to create top-quality and state-of-the-art vehicles. And relative to these are the corresponding top-quality and state-of-the-art components that function simultaneously. These Ford auto parts are uniquely engineered especially for Ford models to complement performance and sophisticated style that the brand is famous for. Such parts can be categorized as performance devices, exterior parts, and the interior line. Ford performance parts would include a multi-point injection fuel system, updated front and rear suspension systems that yield smoother and quieter rides, heavy-duty alternator and battery, quality four disk brakes with the equivalent ventilated discs, as well as the engine system in which case Ford is known to use powerful V6 or V8 engine concoctions. On the other hand, Ford interior and exterior parts may consist of but not limited to: chrome-finished bumpers, driver and passenger airbags, customized hubcaps, sturdy cargo liners, high-tech audio system, and power windows and locks.

As it is, all possible Ford Auto parts have been made available in the market. Said parts may be sold and provided in general terms or in a more specialized method that is relative to the Ford model, such as Ford F250 parts, Ford Focus parts, among others. The easy accessibility of these Ford Auto parts is to ensure the lifelong commitment and service that Ford provides its consumers.

The results of the new studies conducted on Dearborn automakers comprising of Ford, Toyota, Nissan, and Honda—shows that the initial vehicle quality of Ford Motor Co. is in only in par with Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Corp. The three automakers were ranked second place. On the other hand, Honda Motor Co. was chosen as the quality leader.

The RDA Group is a market research firm based in Bloomfield Hills that conducts a survey for Ford manufacturer of top-of-the-line Mercury mufflers. The research group in ask 31,000 new vehicle owners of 2007 model cars and trucks from all full-line manufacturers regarding problems that they encountered during the first 90 days of ownership.

The Detroit News in turn evaluates the findings with sources familiar with the report. And according to these sources four Ford vehicles namely the Mercury Milan, Ford Expedition EL, Lincoln Navigator, and Ford Shelby GT-500 — led their segments in initial quality. The main objective of Ford for hiring a research group is to improve further its quality as it tries to hold on to the remaining US market share after years of continuously losing to foreign competitors.

The results of the RDA study show that Ford cars and trucks had 1,458 problems per 1000 vehicles which is 32 problems short of the industry average of 1,490 and 128 lower than what Ford customers has reported last year.

For Ford’s North American brands the results were even better showing Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln with only 1,456 problems per 1,000 vehicles. According to some sources the overall number was slightly affected by the automaker’s European brands. The Mercury Milan with its quality Mercury muffler was one of Ford’s problem-free vehicles obtaining only 910 problems per 1000 vehicles.

Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari has confirmed the existence of the report but refused to give any details of the said findings. However she said that the company will release the details as soon as possible but they prefer to tell the employees first. She also added that the company’s main concern for now is improving quality which is the very core of the company’s Way Forward turnaround plan.

According to Gattari, “We are pleased with the direction of our quality, but we’re not satisfied. This is something we have to continue to be diligent with. Quality, along with safety, innovation and design, are our top priorities in delivering more vehicles that customers want.”

Attracting consumers…

Although the RDA study has shown that Ford is catching up with its Japanese rivals but it is still behind its Asian competitors when it comes to customer satisfaction which is vital since it determines whether or not customers would endorse the brand to other buyers.

RDA has been conducting an annual survey for Ford way back late 1990s. The research group is also doing the same studies for other automakers. Its findings are as reliable as the closely-watched initial quality survey conducted independently by J.D. Power and Associates of Westlake Village, California. And same with the RDA findings, the J.D. Power study has also shown that Ford’s brands only comes second to Toyota.

Other independent analysts are also conducting their own studies such as the notably Consumer Reports magazine which has taken note of the quality improvement in Ford and recently announced the Milan and its Blue Oval sibling, the Ford Fusion as the most impressive new vehicles for the 2007 model year.

David Champion, senior director for automotive testing at Consumer Reports said, “We see Ford as the top domestic in many ways. They’ve realized they’re going to be eaten for lunch if they don’t produce reliable vehicles.”

Champion also added that the new products of Ford shows some remarkable improvement compared to the previous products that the automaker was offering a few years back. He said that it’s good that Ford is finally learning from its past mistakes as well as from its Japanese affiliate, Mazda Motor Corp. which shares similar production practices with Toyota. However he also said that it would take more than strong initial quality reports to convince car buyer to patronize the brand.

I would assume theyre already good quality bc they are speakers that came installed in a BMW, but I do not know anything about speakers or sound quality. Of course i can always get better quality speakers, but would it be worth it if I spent $150-$200 to replace them?

I need to replace the muffler and exhaust pipe from the catalytic to the muffler on my 85 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera. I am not looking for performance or a loud sounding muffler. I just want one that wont rust out quickly and last a while.
Maybe a stainless steel one. Im just looking for manufacturer names please? Thanks.

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Cool, arent they?

Gasoline-powered vehicles such as your Pontiac are among the major contributors to urban air pollution. This can be attributed to the high quantities of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons that are being produced by the normal combustion process of your car. If these burnt gases are left uncontrolled, they would eventually contribute to urban smog, as well as heart and respiratory heart problems. To protect the air quality and improve the quality of air, your Pontiac vehicle has been equipped with a group of emission-control components known as the exhaust system. This group of car parts serves the main function of conveying burnt gases from your internal combustion engine. The Pontiac catalytic converter is an indispensable part of your exhaust system. It looks very much like the muffler, and can be usually seen mounted under the vehicle. It was first used in cars three decades ago, and has evolved into a more complex and more reliable emission control component because of automotive technology.

The number of catalytic converters installed on your vehicle depends on your car?s configurations. Some have 1 while others have 2 catalytic converters. But no matter how many catalytic converters you may have on your car, they still serve the same purpose?that is, to significantly minimize the harmful poisonous gases in your exhaust gases. A typical Pontiac catalytic converter is made up of a honeycomb form catalyst that is protected by a stainless steel canister. The interior surface of your Pontiac catalytic converter within the honeycomb structure is coated with catalytic metals such as rhodium, palladium, and platinum. There are 2 catalysts present in every catalytic converter?an oxidation catalyst and a reduction catalyst. The oxidation catalyst burns all the byproducts of your fuel combustion such as the carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. On the other hand, the reduction catalyst ensures that the nitrogen oxides are turned into harmless emissions.

There are 2 types of catalytic converter: the two-way converter and the three-way converter. Also known as an oxidation catalytic converter, the two-way catalytic converter makes use of the oxidation process to transform the harmful pollutants into harmless gases. Through adsorption, the oxygen molecules, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbon are simplified into water vapor and carbon dioxide, which eventually goes out of the tailpipe. The three-way catalytic converter oxidizes the hydrocarbons and carbon monoxides and at the same time transforms the nitrogen oxides into less harmful nitrogen and oxygen. This type of catalytic converter is used in conjunction with the feedback engine management and fuel injection of the car. Your Pontiac catalytic converter can last for over 100,000 miles if properly maintained. A worn out catalytic converter can decrease the performance level and fuel economy of your engine, aside from contributing to urban pollution and health problems. You can easily determine if your Pontiac catalytic converter needs replacement when you hear some rattling noises from the catalyst, especially when your car is increasing speed. A defective oxygen sensor and poor maintenance are some of the leading causes of a worn out catalytic converter. So when this happens, do not think twice on replacing your defective Pontiac catalytic converter with a new one in order to maintain the emission control functions of your car.