I have no bias nor am I "defensive" as you claim; I rely on facts, data, and my extensive experience in this industry. I've serviced every brand from Kia to Porsche throughout the years, and I have plenty of experience with vehicles other than Ford. I'm here to help members, but I can't help those who's existence revolves around complaining.
Maybe you forget what you posted, it's far from stated as an opinion:
You start your assertion with "that's a problem with Ford...". You stated that as if it was a fact, when it's not even remotely true. As far as "independent research organizations", what level of detail do you have in regards to said "reliability"? You have none. CR is a joke and statistically insignificant, while JD Power, which all manufacturers pay for and use for benchmarking, only provides overall ratings to the general public. That means that the general public - you - have no clue what differentiates one brand or model from the next; the rating is simply an average of all rating areas. So if consumers complain about about the speed of the Ford on board WiFi and Toyota doesn't even offer the option (they don't), Ford is automatically behind. I have seen the data, and as a Toyota brand loyalist it would make your head explode.
That's your problem, you're more inclined to google 3rd party complaints than to rely on your own experience or credentials, because you don't have any. Toyota covered up the frame rust issue and lost the class action for $3.4 Billion. They covered up the unintended acceleration issue, lied about it in court, and paid the highest fine of any manufacturer in the world for it. Toyota was still installing known defective Takata airbags in their new vehicles with a disclaimer on the window sticker stating that the vehicle would be recalled later. The fact that anyone, let alone an American, would support a foreign company with ethics like that is appalling.
What you say doesn't matter, the facts do. Unsubstantiated? Maybe you don't follow the news, but Ford has committed entire facilities to building PPE to support our healthcare workers and first responders. They also engineered respirators from the ground up using F-Series seat fans which have saved countless lives while medical equipment suppliers were months behind. GM has been doing the same. Toyota initially claimed they were going to biuld PPE, but it's vaporware. They only care about positive PR, not American lives or this country.
As far as US manufacturing, you once again prove that you know nothing about the auto industry. Toyota and other Japanese auto manufacturers built plants in the US because in many cases it was cheaper than shipping the vehicles from Japan. If you believe they did it out of the kindness of their own hearts to support American workers, you're really a lost cause. All Japanese owned US auto plants are low wage, contacted, non-union labor. They pay significantly less than GM/Ford/Chrysler Union plants, the employees have poor benefits, they do not allow profit sharing, and a large majority of their workforce are "temps", which means they get laid off seasonally. That is how companies like Toyota can make claims that they "don't have layoffs"; they rely on temps when they are busy, and send them home when things slow down. Personally, I have family that made it to the upper middle class thanks to high paying UAW jobs with optional overtime, profit sharing, and $0 deductible health care coverage. As far as foreign owned plants, you'll make just about the same working at Wal-mart. If you can't understand that, nobody can help you.