Posted on 10/19/2006 10:56:56 AM PDT by floridareader1
I think Ford makes some excellent trucks, best in the world. Also I had a 1980 Mercury Capri that lasted for 17 years with practically no repairs needed whatsover.
Ford is pretty damn good, I think. Certainly better than General Motors or Chrysler.
Still running my now 10-year old Taurus. $200 total in repairs over 10 years. I've NEVER had a car that was so low cost to maintain, and that includes several japanese makes.
Blame the EPA for the paint....
Rapid changes in regulations for paint emissions aren't a good thing... The reason you saw mostly US makes with the problem was that most cars built in the US were still domestic makes then, and cars built overseas didn't have the same regs put on them.
Hiccup X 3.
The Taurus SHO was perfect for the married guy with three kids and a desire to blow the doors off some low-end four-banger Camaro used-to-be.
The SHO & SVT variants of different Ford models are always pleasing to the enthusiasts...whether the Taurus SHO, Contour SVT, F-150 Lightning, or even the smaller Focus SVT. I think that a boosted-horsepower Freestyle with upgraded suspension and bigger wheels would do pretty well in the market. The basic platform is pretty cool and I think they could make some positive improvements.
~ Blue Jays ~
...good riddance.
THe 1989 Taurus was the only car I could do a complete walk around, and hit every safety feature and benefit as I escorted the buyer around the car, and into the driver's seat.
In Iowa, the biggest seeling feature was the pinkish windshield that would melt ice covering the entire window in a matter a minutes. When people told me, "We are also considering the Chevy..." I would say, "That is fine. Before you check it out, I would like to give you a free gift...a windshield scraper."
I cannot tell you how many guys refused to let their wife walk away, because every guy knew that when the windchill is hitting -20, they would be the one out there scraping the window off that Chevy.
Wow, I didn't know about that heat-generating windshield in a vehicle from nearly twenty years ago! That had to be a fantastic selling feature for someone considering a long and brutal Iowa winter...and meanwhile toggling between the Taurus and a GM vehicle.
Heck, it has always amazed me that Ford didn't make ongoing improvements to the well-designed Contour SE to make it a huge hit here. A few simple evolutionary changes and they would have had a basic vehicle nearly as nice as a low-end BMW sedan in their showrooms without even going the SVT route:
Come on, Detroit! We want to purchase your products if you build the correct vehicles!
~ Blue Jays ~
Except that the US-built "foreign" cars from the same time period don't suffer from the same problem at all.
You ain't drove a Toyota, then, have you?
Also I had a 1980 Mercury Capri that lasted for 17 years with practically no repairs needed whatsover.
You got lucky. I once won 10 dollars on a scratch-off lottery ticket, too.
Ford is pretty damn good, I think.
You're certainly entitled to your opinion.
Certainly better than General Motors or Chrysler.
Maybe. But I note that you didn't put Toyota in that comparison.
And I don't care about the argument about "at least Ford trucks are American-made."
Better check on that one, 'cause Toyota trucks (my son's '04 Tundra) and vans (my '04 Sienna) and cars (my wife's '07 Solara) are now made right here in the US of A. I have an '01 Tacoma that I'm not sure about as far as origin, but I'm damn sure it's twice the truck of comparable Fords.
I believe the biggest majority of Fords are now assembled in Mexico and Canada, with a large majority of the parts as well being made in Mexico and Canada.
So, who provides the most jobs for Americans?
Ford? or Toyota?
As for me, I would prefer an American assembled Toyota over a Mexican or Canadian assembled Ford.
Truth be known, even if the Fords were made in the US, I'd still prefer a Toyota because the workmanship and quality is far and above the current crop of crap that Ford is putting out.
And some of the F-series trucks are made in Mexico, anyway, so much for that argument.
As has often been discussed before, you got lucky.
I think people would have been more receptive to the Contour if Ford had been able to get the UAW to build them properly instead of just slapping them together. The Contours were so bad that parts were falling off them at dealership lots.
Had one. At exactly 75K miles, the tranny departed this earth. Same thing happened with my Windstar.
I didn't mind the car itself, but that "balloon payment" at 75K miles was a b!***!
But, ah, how many of those Taurii did I drive courtesy of Hertz...
It was and is a good car. Ford is clueless.
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