“The J.D. Power & Associates Initial Quality Study released on Wednesday shows that automakers continue to make gains in vehicle quality, but the black art of telematics design poses a growing liability, especially for Ford,” Cheryl Jensen reports for The New York Times. “Problems with its MyFord and MyLincoln Touch infotainment systems continued to bedevil the company, with other automakers hurt to a lesser degree.”
“Ford dropped from fifth place in 2010 to 23rd in 2011, largely on complaints from owners who found the telematics to be unintuitive and complex. This year, Ford fell to 27th. Lincoln, which was ranked eighth in 2010 and 17th in 2011, fell to 18th,” Jensen reports. “‘It’s not that the problem is getting worse, it’s becoming more prevalent because they are introducing more vehicles with MyFord Touch,’ David Sargent, vice president of global automotive research at J.D. Power, said in an interview. ‘So the ranking could be more impacted this year because more vehicles have it.'”
“Vehicle owners were asked whether they experienced any of 228 possible problems, which included mechanical defects and malfunctions, as well as design issues like the ease of use of controls. Other categories included exterior design, engine/transmission and audio/entertainment/navigation design. The study’s authors graded automakers on the number of problems per 100 vehicles,” Jensen reports. “Over all, Lexus was the top-rated brand for the second consecutive year, with 73 problems per 100 vehicles. The surprise this year was Jaguar, which rocketed from 20th position in 2011 into a tie for 2nd place with Porsche, as owners reported 75 problems per 100 vehicles. Rounding out the top five were Cadillac with 80 problems and Honda with 83. BMW, meanwhile, was back in the top 10 for the first time since 2005. Mr. Sargent added that BMW’s good fortunes were attributable to improvements across the vehicle range.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As if we needed it, this article is yet more proof that The New York Times should be printing on toilet paper, but even that would be too good; The New York Times isn’t worth a crap.
Nowhere in the entire piece – not once – was the name “Microsoft” mentioned even though (and this would seem to be more than a bit of pertinent information) Microsoft developed “MyFord Touch” and “MyLincoln Touch.” Unbelievable. “The paper of record.” What a load of horseshit that is.
NYT, seriously, how much did Microsoft pay you and/or how incompetent can you possibly be?
From Wikipedia: “MyFord Touch (branded as MyLincoln Touch on Ford’s Lincoln brand products) is an in-car communications and entertainment system developed by the Ford Motor Company and Microsoft. The technology comes factory installed with Ford product offerings and is based on the Microsoft Auto 4.0 software platform. It is regarded as the next-generation of Ford Sync.”
Microsoft’s Midas touch strikes again. And the absence of Ford on the list of Apple’s Siri Eye Free vehicle maker partners means that Ford’s decision-making process is still hopelessly FUBAR.
Memo to Ford: If you still haven’t figured it out, Microsoft sucks. Always have and always will. Wake TF up already. Microsoft’s crap is costing you vehicle sales. That is all.
Of course, we predicted this ongoing fiasco rather concisely in a headline long ago: When crap collides: Ford and Microsoft team up for in-vehicle operating system – December 29, 2006
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “WGary” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Nine auto makers partner with Apple for ‘Eyes Free’ Siri integration – June 12, 2012
Stung by plummeting quality ratings, Ford to upgrade glitch-prone Microsoft-designed ‘MyFord Touch’ systems – November 7, 2011
Microsoft’s confusing, buggy Sync sinks Ford’s J.D. Power quality ratings – June 23, 2011
When crap collides: Ford and Microsoft team up for in-vehicle operating system – December 29, 2006
Imagine the discount those vehicles will be given when trading in – not a pretty picture for current owners. And Ford will also take a hit on lease vehicles when put into used car market. Maybe Mulally is not as bright as he seemed. It is too bad, as Ford has done some great things, but hooking-up with MS was definitely a mistake.
I think you, and MDN, are being too hard on Ford. I have an ’08 Focus, one of the first vehicles with Sync, and it’s great. It’s the MyFord Touch that later appeared that’s the issues.
I applaud Ford for trying to add these features, well ahead of other manufacturers. I won’t denigrate them for not choosing Apple at a time when Apple wasn’t even playing the game.
That being said, now that Apple is playing the game, Ford needs to jump in with them. Unless there’s a contractual reason they can’t have both Sync and Siri, then they should. If there is a contractual reason, they should be looking for any way out of it, even if it means paying a sum of money to M$.
And don’t doubt Mulally. The man has done wonders for Ford. There’s are many reasons why Ford never asked for or took a bailout, but it starts with him.
Sorry, Mr. McLargeHuge, but ‘good try’ ends after elementary school. Ford is a big and historically successful corporation. That means that it’s leadership should know how to judge winners and losers. Ford had the feedback needed to weed out this loser but, instead, chose to expand it to a wider range of Ford models in 2011. That is a massive mistake that will cost Ford billions of dollars. You would think that an automaker would realize that the user experience is everything…
Sorry in advance, Grammar Police. Should have used ‘its’… Darn iPad spell checker.
That spell checker really sucs. 🙂
Ford had the feedback needed to weed out this loser but, instead, chose to expand it to a wider range of Ford models in 2011.
Yeah, that was the most astonishing thing from the article. What was the meeting like where they made that decision?
“Derp! Derp! MyFordTouch doesn’t work! What do we do?”
“Derrrrrrp, I know! Let’s put it in more cars!”
“Brilliant! Dur-hurr! More bonuses for everyone!”
——RM
@ kingmel: you have got to be kidding. past results are no indication of the future, and good companies make stupid decisions all the time. “Ping” comes to mind…
Simply put, MyTouch is crap on par with the rest of the automotive electronics industry. there is not an embedded in-dash infotainment system on any automobile worth buying. you can do better with an iPad and duct tape.
” That means that it’s leadership should know how to judge winners and losers.”
Hey, we all know that big CEO’s know NOTHING about computers….. “Who is the biggest? Use them!” cause they must be the biggest for some good reason, right??
Just a thought,
en
Ford needs a Siri button
Actually, there is a new version out for “My Ford Touch”. It came out in March. The cut off for JD Powers review was the end of February. Thus the rating was based upon an old version. Not the current version.
Yes to old version was TERRIBLE. Ford deserved a lower rating last year than it go. This year’s rating is a proper one for last year’s version.
Yes, the new version is better. Ford would have done much better if the new version had gotten out in time to be reviewed.
However, for anyone that looks at the new version, a simple warning: The new version sucks too. It just sucks less than the prior version.
Wow I wish Sync could do that the old thing it almost gets rite is making a phone call, even that has problems with names. And Radio for get it.
I REFUSED to buy the Escape because it had Powered by Microsoft on a big emblem on the front center of the dashboard ….
When I saw it I could not believe my eyes ….
Our company does buy F150 and F450 trucks and I got a new 2012 …. The sync features suck and I let Ford know it!
While I’ve been looking forward to testing Ford’s new Fusion when it shows up late this summer, the presence of Sync/Touch was a warning flag to me. These results only confirm the problem is real. The others I’m looking at don’t have that component, so I may end up with one of them.
I have only driven Toyotas, and never even considered a Ford car. But the 2013 Ford Fusion does look really nice to the point that I am seriously considering it. But assuming I like the test drive, the major sticking point at this time is the Sync. That may turn out to be a deal killer.
It’s not standard.
Ford Sync drives me crazy.
I wish I never bought my Ford because of it.
I have to get on my knees and pull the fuse that controls Sync in order to reset it.
The Sync recall earlier this spring took them three days to install the “fix.” Three days to install a software update? Luckily they paid for the rental car for those three days.
The following week, Sync started having problems again. Back to pulling the fuse again.
I’ve heard it said a smaller iPad is a solution in search of a problem. But what about as a dedicated device for things like, say, I don’t know, maybe a car? Seems to me a small iPad would be ideal embedded in a dashboard.
See the Fishman ipad installation.
don’t know what happened to the link but I’ll try again
“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TaVigs8Who”
Is this the one?
The motorised mounting connection is great.
This is exactly how it should work.
Apple — I hope you’re finally working on this. I’m sick of the crap that all of the car manufacturers are shipping.
I have an Escape with Ford Sync. SYNC is shit and needs an upgrade bad, unfortunately now that the have Touch they have left Sync to die.
FWIW- I will NEVER buy a Ford (or any other make for that matter) automobile as long as it has Microsoft ANYTHING in it. Too bad too, cuz some new Fords look nice.
Wish they’d wize up and adopt the ‘eyes-free’ feature from iOS 6.
Just got a new Focus hatchback, and love it!
Fortunately, it didn’t have SYNC installed.
The model we were looking for had to have the sport package, manual transmission, and be in the bright blue color.
They were running a special on SYNC at the time, and since our desired car didn’t have it, we got an extra $500 off.
BTW- We have a 3 yr. old Escape that has been problem free… but then, it doesn’t have SYNC either.
😉
Heres something you haven’t heard… It’s software is flash. Yes, that flash. Got that right from a Ford engineer. He said he told them multiple times that this was too complex an undertaking to be using Flash, but they did it anyhow.
I travel to Ohio for work one week out of every quarter and I always end up with a Ford rental car. SYNC/Touch is so bad that I end up not listening to anything when I drive. The first time I used it I had to pull off the freeway to get it to stop playing one song over and over. And the voice control stuff is even worse.
We have a Toyota Tacoma & a Subaru Outback. The bluetooth phone setup on the Tacoma is a breeze, the opposite can be said for the Outback. I can just imagine the Ford debacle.
First … I read the MDN and appreciate your teams prompt posts.
You are getting of hand. Really.
So let me get this straight …. you often quote and post in it’s entirety every word of a Limbaugh rant vs. a link to his opinions.
And the NYT isn’t worth crap.
Just want to be clear. And what are your press credentials and journalism background? Just wondering?
I do love the snarky and humorous posts on MDN … but the politics seeping from your comments really blow it for you.
I’m a dedicated reader …. my feedback is for your constructive consumption.
Take a step back dude and look at who you are offending/judging.
🙂
You may have a valid point, but why did you post it on this article. There are so many examples of MDN Takes with obvious political leanings that it took real effort on your part to find one as apolitical as this one.
Besides, MDN is a private entity playing to a highly motivated and loyal home crowd. They don’t have to have a stellar game everyday to keep the stands filled.
@kingmel, it’s because of MDN’s incessant New York Times bashing, a favorite pastime of Bimbaughesque ‘ditto-head’ sheeple. However, sad to say, the NYT deserves every criticism MDN has thrown at it this year. The paper has gone to shite, almost as bad as Fux News. Both are utter jokes regarding journalistic integrity. Both are roadkill of the Corporate Oligarchy specifically because Corporate Oligarchy companies made them that way.
Right, left, center, wherever you like on the moronic 1 dimensional political scale, politics is run by the biggest dumbasses in the history of PoliTardiness. They can all fornicate themselves until they’re dead. Maybe then we can get back to real government of, for and by the people as well as real, factual capitalism instead of the baby gaga self-destructive biznizz games we have now.
It’s time to kill off the dodos. We have our sights set on you, BizTards. 😕
Great MDN, keep up the bashing of that left-wing rag – the NYT. Commie basturds. Sic- or sicko.
MDN’s comments on the New York Times are crude, adolescent and disgusting. You children are barely able to compose a complete sentence without making an error. You don’t have the slightest idea what journalism is, but then you don’t have the slightest idea what adult behavior is, and obviously you are incapable of reading anything more serious than a comic book.
There are a lot of unfounded accusations and irrational conclusions in your post. MDN has made quite a few very savvy calls over the years. They sometimes go over the top, but the same is true for any entertainer.
I believe that you have to allow yourself to be offended. Your disgust is childish to me.
And irony is obviously a foreign country to you. Linking serious journalism and the NYT in the same sentence is beyond parody.
Why can’t executives in Ford see Microsoft as a mistake and correct that with Apple tech instead? I’d prefer to buy American, but it’s so bad it’s embarrassing.
Fix
Or
Repair
Daily
Found
On
Roadside
Dead
Ford = Shit
Microslut = More Shit
Conclusion = a marriage of Shit
Stick with Chevy.
You mean CRAPOLET from GOVERNMENT MOTORS?
Shitty runs deep!
Please!
First there was Stync.
Now there is MyFord Douche.
Both were HYPED to the max.
But there’s nothing like Real Life Experience.
DARN. Another Microsoft FAIL.
Watch Apple’s automobile Eyes Free Siri run rings around Microsoft’s Stync and Douche.
(Face it trolls: Microsoft deserves every FAIL it gets).
The first failure for Ford was not a Microsoft glitch in a Ford vehicle.
Ford failed to just look at the consequences of using Microsoft on computers and failed to logically realize that they would get the same BSOD.
The fact that the New York Times failed to mention MSFT in the article is suspect, at the very least.
Journalism ethics, and I use the term loosely in regard to the NYT, because time and time again they neglect inconvenient facts. We can only hope they change. 😉
Otherwise, the paper of record is no longer credible. Carefully crafted articles like this certainly don’t help.
In regards to Ford, they have time to get it right for future customers. Simply offer the best products. How hard is that?
When I heard that BMW used Microsoft for it’s iDrive, dropped BMW from my shopping list and instead went with an Audi.
Exactly.
The iOS integration on VW AG (VW & Audi in US) is excellent- either by Bluetooth or the dock connector and the car’s head unit. Unlike Ford/Microsoft STYNC, it actually works reliably and does what you need and no more.
This problem has been resolved.
The new system called “I’m Stupid For Buying This POS” will bring frustration to new heights. Thanks to Microsoft, we’re breaking new ground for Stupidity with FORD vehicles. Hip hip hooray!
… and interestingly of course Jaguar and Land Rover have now been out of Ford ownership for a around 4 years and no doubt increasingly escaping from the mediocrity that brand imposed on them with new un-Ford inspired models. Coincidence? I think not but the best of all these cars are now going to be Apple powered rather than Microsoft powered systems (as no doubt they would have been) which says a lot about what the management felt about that former road plan.
I know I’m just one person with one car, a 2012 Charger R/T with the uConnect infotainment system. Intuitive and performs flawlessly. I’m surprised Chrysler didn’t make it to one of the top spots. Got beat by Ford but evidently for reasons other than its software. At 10,000 miles this Charger has zero defects and performs exceptionally well for a 4-door family car (0-60 in 5.05S). My only complaint is that the computer will not allow you to smoke the tires for more than a few feet – the traction control system intervenes to keep the wheels from breaking loose, and can’t be defeated.
Chrysler (FIAT) won’t make it to the top of JD Power because it’s a little bailout motors (x2) POS. I’ve suffered through one Dodge and never will again.
Stink my Ride from MSoft. Sucks big time in my 2012 Explorer. Service Department hates it when I call it that with other customers around. 🙂