See, my truck is what we use when we don’t want to tear up the interior of a car. It’s meant to be beaten up and used heavily. That’s why we got it. If we don’t need to haul something big or messy, it stays parked.
That used to be the prevailing attitude of drivers back in the day. I’m not sure why big sleek trucks with soft pampering leather and cloud-like rides, and multi-zone climate controls, with pristine bed areas that sometimes are adorned with brushed metal or polished wood are considered expressions of machoness today, 'cause my old CRX does more work than those things.
The handwriting was on the wall when, in 2012, Ford closed the Canadian assembly plant that built Panthers (Crown Vic, Grand Marq, Town car). Yes, these models were ready for a make-over but just the very profitable Police and Taxi market, which Ford owned, justified continuing these models. Ford just closed the plant and walked away from that business. Nobody could believe it…
There are some back-stage reasons Ford is concentrating on trucks and truck based vehicles. This class of vehicles have lower emissions, safety and mileage standards. Consumers are not as fussy about the paint quality or the warranties offered…
When you ask an American consumer to pay $50,000 - $70,000 for a TRUCK, that consumer will expect it to last the rest of his life…
There I disagree - people are taking out 7 year loans now to buy cars. Car prices no longer faze them. And since people have gotten into this “I have to have the new shiny” mode all the time, it’ll be a miracle if they wait till the loan is paid off before running out to get something newer.
People paying 70 grand for the truck will focus on monthly payments, not total, and they’ll focus on all the luxo-crap in the truck, not longevity, and then long before anything serious breaks and possibly before it’s even out of warranty they’ll be looking for the next new toy.
RE towing boats, My boat vehicle is now a town car, when it dies an econobox for a replacement. I was thinking of 2 cars for the 500 mile trip to the cabins, as I need to do a carb rebuild, but can rent a uhaul pickup for $20 a day plus miles, 6 days at least just for the cost of gas to go up and back. And yes the uhaul is 5 miles away, and yes they approve “U-Haul pickup truck rentals are perfect for: Home improvement; Deliveries; Small loads; Tow your boat.” Too bad new sedans are going away. SUV, or cramped quarters I guess.
Kia and Hyundai, with their 10 year / 100,000 mile warranties, should have no problems selling their small, fuel efficient cars…Ford must feel it’s impossible to compete with them…
Ford also created part of this problem with their troublesome dual-clutch automatic in the Fiesta and Focus, which has resulted in lots of bad press and lawsuits.
I believe the Focus set some kind of record for recalls.
To get some idea of Ford quality, I compared dealer “bulletins” for the Ford Taurus and the Lexus. Over the same period there were only 4 bulletins for the Lexus compared to 151 for the Taurus. It would appear that Ford has a habit of putting half finished cars on the market and let the dealer sort out the problems.
If you compared the Toyota Camry with the Ford Taurus you will likely find something similar.
That’s not news. The Detroit 3 have been doing that for decades. The Asian design cycle takes less time, so they have the time to more thoroughly test their vehicles. There is no need to use the first year or two of a generation as a test bed. This leads to far fewer complaints from the customer. Ford has had big money problems since the late 2000s. They sold everything and leased it back (real estate, equipment) to get the cash to keep operating. It turned out to be great timing because they did it just before the Great Recession. The one this century.
Interestingly, Tesla has been taking it on the chin for doing similar with the Model 3, and one of the common refrains you see in the automotive press is that they’re too arrogant to learn from how the big automakers do it.
Well, Ford’s one of the biggest, so they’re in great company, right?
I knew the dual clutch was a PITA, so I bought a manual (that is what I wanted anyway). But the clutch bearing was making noise when cold, Ford said it would get better after 10K miles. I was sure then they would blame me for not knowing how to drive a stick. There were other issues too, the strut tower was noisy/etc. I have switched to a Hyundai Veloster Turbo and so far (20+K miles) it has been solid. (note to @Caddyman).
As far as Tesla, my friend bought one of the first production Model X’s. The body panels would not fit/align and everything was making creaking noise. You would think the car was a total loss/rebuilt. After many trips back to the dealer, they had to buy it back as a lemon.
I find it amusing that Ford and Fiat say they can’t profitably build cars here, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda/ Hyundai.Kia, Mercedes,and BMW. don’t seem to have any problem.
This is a bad decision. Due to air resistance, sedans are a much better way to meet higher fuel economy standards. I believe they are predicating their decision on low gas prices, and Trump/Pruit disregard of gas mileage, neither of which is likely to last a lot longer.
Like Ford and GM did when they abandoned the minivan market?
I’ve never understood that line of logic, as if spending more than a car is worth to fix it is always the lesser of evils compared to making car payments or facing the depreciation of a new/used car.
The question shouldn’t be whether the repair costs more than the car is worth, it should be whether the repair costs less than the alternative: replacing the car.
I think back to 1967 when Ford introduced the Mercury, which was a sporty coupe similar to the Mustang. Ten years later, the Cougar grew into an intermediate size sedan and station wagon. I would bet that the Mustang may “grow up” into a sedan in the not too distant future.
I have seen the reports on Fords but I wonder if they will continue to produce the Lincoln versions of their sedans. I suppose I could google it but dealing lazy this morning…
