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Quick Take: Ford's the Wrong Kind of Hot

By Seth Jayson – Updated Apr 5, 2017 at 5:35PM

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Quality still looks like job none.

Note to self: Buy fire extinguisher.

If you want to know why Ford (NYSE:F) needs a turnaround so desperately, I submit that you need look no further than the recent recall notice I received for my Ranger. It documents a part failure that might -- get this -- cause my car to spontaneously combust, even if it's not running, and it warns me to park the thing away from structures so I don't burn them down. No wonder Ford has been struggling against a bad reputation for quality, especially when stacked up against the likes of Honda (NYSE:HMC) and Toyota (NYSE:TM).

And hey, it gets worse. Today, the local dealer tells me that Ford can't make enough parts, and I'll need to wait until December to get this fire-threat fixed. How's that for quality and service? What do you think the odds are my next car will be a Ford? What's that kind of publicity going to cost?

At the time of publication, Seth Jayson, a top-ten CAPS player, had no shares of any company mentioned here. See his latest CAPS blog commentary here. View his stock holdings and Fool profile here. Fool rules are here.

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Stocks Mentioned

Ford Motor Company Stock Quote
Ford Motor Company
F
$11.99 (-2.60%) $0.32
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Stock Quote
Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
HMC
$22.81 (-3.02%) $0.71
Toyota Motor Corporation Stock Quote
Toyota Motor Corporation
TM
$135.62 (-1.21%) $-1.66

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