Is Ford actually more reliable than people give it credit for?

My 2010 Ford Escape has 286000 miles on it with original engine and transmission.

Cars are built to last if you take care of your car and get maintenance on it like you're supposed to be can last you a lot more than 300,000 miles. My dad's Toyota Camry's at 350,000 miles and he takes care of it

How much money have you had to put into it to keep it going and what's it's present condition? For all we know it's at the end of it's life and it has cost a small fortune to keep it on the road.

My European Ford is 10 years old and running sweetly (touch wood)

There's always an exception to every rule.

In statistics, there's something called a bell curve. Your Ford is on the outer portion of the curve, lasting well over the median life of the car. So your vehicle is not a good indicator of the reliability of the car. You have to take a bigger sample to determine with good confidence the expected life of the vehicle. My friend's Explorer has 387k miles and still running strong. His wife's Fusion never made it to 100k.

Ford overall is a very reliable brand. However they have built some very unreliable vehicles just like every other manufacture has done. None of them are perfect no matter who builds them.

I'm actually more concerned with safety. Cars rarely reach old age around here because people drive so poorly. Few get a chance to prove their reliability before they are wrecked. That's why I drive a "Swedish safety car." The last two cars I had were totalled. One hit from behind the other in a head - on while parked.

It's the annoying **** that drove me away from Ford. The herky jerky transmission in my Focus, the leaking timing cover and the failed horn wiring. All under 100,000kmiles.

It's not as bad as it used to be. With regular maintenance, a car can give long service. Now, think over what repairs beyond regular service your car has needed over these 8 years and how much that has cost you. If you found faultless performance and reliability in your car during these 286k miles, celebrate and be happy. That's the answer for you.

I had a Ford Toreass once, if that tells you how I feel.