ANTAUS

I had a '05 for a few months when it first came out stepping down from an '03 LS, and not having Navi, A/C Seats, and the simpliest of things...automatic headlights, become a major irritant, and back to a '05 LS I went. So I understand the frustration of not having a simple feature which you know deep down inside only costs them pennies to offer. Ironically having friends with very unreliable VW's, when J.Mays entered the picture, I notice certain things crop up on Fords that VW had for some time. Specially the light switch which is similar to what VW uses. Also the door lock cylinder which activates (being able to close the moonroof, if you kept it at a certain position)...global window opening, etc. But VW is a perfect example of there they load the car with thoughtful features, and great interior materials and details, but all incased in a horribly unreliable POS... The touches will get you to sign the check over, but the owner experience will kill ya Talk about a great illusionist.

Oh great, another medicore redo...

What he said.... X's 2 ....

Majority of those items except 2-3 are already available in my Lincoln...

I think the question needs to be asked, who's responsible for bringing uncompeititve vehicles to production. The keyword would be "define competitive". The 6A, IRS aren't enough to make it surpass the negatives. This is truely a negative from many angles.

This is another mediocre refreshened product Ford has launched. The 6 speed helps, but doesn't make up for lack of engine necessary for this playing field. I'm not insulted by the interior dashboard, although I agree with the instrumentation....so much more could have been done. Not sure who the hell approved the grille, but it is hideous. And they KNEW this too because they have a package that adds it, therefore, it's something they knew didn't work well for some other consumer clinics they may have shown it to. Whats sad is, that the Navigator helped defined, if not, was the leader in this segment. WHo would have thought back in 98, a luxurified Expy would bring all these players along to market. And that now, it has resorted to this mediocredy. As I have said, if you do something, do it right, if not, dont bother... And this is one of those moments.

What did they compare it to ?

LINK-Detroit News

That is a very smart thing to do, unfortunately, not evernone is that intelligent, specially with consumer debt at an all time high. Ironically my motto has been, "if you can't afford it, dont can't buy it"... this coming as an offsptring of parents who's motto was "If you have to look at the price, then you can't afford it". Then agian, "If you haven't used it in 6 months, throw it away"..and about a 73% of the population use their garage to store junk, not cars LOL

Amazingly I saw the first educational Freestyle commercial last night. They were boasting how one tank ful, will give you over 500Miles, and mentioned how well it does with fuel. I was shocked...an educational, and positive commercial from Ford... This is a far cry from the Dreamer/Whack off Fantasy commercials they have been showing of late...

I welcome with open arms which ever Hurricane we get. We do need the rain, it's been an unusually dry year for us, even the lake out back is a few feet lower than what it should be. I'm also in the process of remodeling my house towards the end of the year, so if we can all have a group prayer, so we get a really juicy one here in central FL.... I would really appreciate it so my insurance helps out.

I welcome the S-Max here... actually, I welcome any vehicle period...Ford needs good products NOW. Unfortunately it's a hard business case to justify S-Max. My bestfriend just purchased a Mazda5 which she's totally happy with, other than, she would prefer more power at least. Luckily this will be justified when the 2.3L is increased to 2.5L with at least 175HP, that'll give it some pep without much weight penalty.

The above is a common senario that has been played out by many people for numerous reasons such as catastrophies and such. I know of some very good people, who the same occured to them. Unfortunately there's something that exists now called "Universal Default Credit"... Notice those "0% interest for one year" offers? Then if you do default, it jumps to 21-25% APR ?" Well Universal Default Credit will not only apply towards that one card you have, but all credit cards you carry. So if you sink one, your sunken in all. That's something that the current adminstration passed. And it gets even better...Now for numerous jobs, they requires a credit check, and if you don't have good credit, you simply don't get the job. So let me understand this...you NEED a job to pay off your credit cards, debt, and improve your credit, YET you can't get it, because you have bad credit? It's a vicious circle that all it does it push someone that originally made a decent salary, have to take some shitty job in the hopes they don't check their credit. And this is ocurring currently and will continue to get progressively worse. Now just watch in the next few years all the people who pulled out "Interest Only Mortgages", that might have their houses foreclosed on, because the interest rates are obviously going up. So what once a $900 payment, is now going for about $2100 for that same homeowner. And then come in the foreign investors buying our debt...

Thanks Richard, did remember reading that back then, but because of current changes, I'm keeping my fingers crossed it keeps what Ford media originally boasted.

My other concern would be, fuel economy...MPG's? As it is, the Rotary doesn't really post spectacular figures for what it is. And also consumes a bit of oil as well, they would be wise to rectify that as well.

If this means they can dump the UAW, then I'm all for it... other than that, eh...

The media has already stated that the market will continue to be fragmented, the years of 400K+ units per model won't be common. Other than the F-150, Silverado, Camry and Accords, that'll probably be about it. This is out there, we have all spoken about this before, this isn't new news. And the Accord and Camry both are perfect examples (thanks for bringing them up) of vehicles that combine all the business attributes I stated earlier. No they aren't the most powerful, no they aren't the most stylish, but they were vehicles that continue to be polished (not just in styling and conviniences) but manufacturing wise. Although Toyota has stated publically, that they really don't make much money off the Camry, but it's a vehicle wish will bring someone in, in the hopes that later they'll trade-up onto a more profittable vehicle, or possibly Lexus. All vehicles have different missions, for different companies. The mission statements for Fords products are out there. After combing them through you will notice they all have (the above mentioned attributes) in common. Build them proffitable, don't flood the market with it, higher take rate on the higher trim levels, improvement on manufacturing and reliability, etc. This is what makes for a positive vehicle for Ford...not some old-school thinking of set benchmark sales from 15 years ago.

I've always had the Keypad, or have had it installed. Whenever I go to the gym, or beach I'll lock the keys inside. Or if I run into a convinience store, or bank, I leave the car running and just lock it so the car is still cooled while I run in for something. Or even at home if I'm closer to the car and don't wish to walk to the opposite side of the house to get the keys, I have the keypad option. I probably use it on an average of once or twice a day. I've always had the Keypad, or have had it installed. Whenever I go to the gym, or beach I'll lock the keys inside. Or if I run into a convinience store, or bank, I leave the car running and just lock it so the car is still cooled while I run in for something. Or even at home if I'm closer to the car and don't wish to walk to the opposite side of the house to get the keys, I have the keypad option. I probably use it on an average of once or twice a day. But for this piece of media to be published, at this time, Hmmm I think there's more to it. I don't see it as "Oh look we have a toy everyojne enjoys" I'm looking at this more in the line of "Well, we aren't going to go with the high-tech card in your wallet, auto-unlock, auto start, so lets start telling you now how much better this is". Mind you, the MKS will have this Keypad feature, but it'll be touch sensitive, rather than buttons... So we can safely assume that the MKS won't have the card in your pocket, auto-unlock, push button start, stuff...

I think some of the despair and "The sky is falling" rhetoric stems from commentator which haven't moved forward...they haven't changed as the auto industry have. In various internet chatrooms I find it quite comical to hear someone say that a specific vehicle that sells less than 100K units, is considered a failure. Such in the case of the 500.... "OH it only sold 125K, it's weak, underpowered, it's a total failure"... They forget the most important facet of manufacturing a product.... How many are them are customer, and not fleet sales? Is it profittable to build at the volumes they sell? Is it in a flexible manufacturing plant, that can compensate and reduce cost on logistics? Does the vehicle possess quality? Is it reliable whereas less warranty repairs costs are endured by the maker? Did they reach their target sales figures? Old school thinking is "IF they dont sell alot, is a failure". Whereas, reality is, "If the above is YES, we are moving forward". Volume isn't worth anything unless the above questions are addressed in a positive way. All volume did back then was just keep factories running, to keep the UAW happy, at the cost of low resale value, we know this already. So no... the Fusion will not reach Taurus sales volumes of 400K yearly. That was 1990's, this is 2006...totally different market, requires a totally different outlooks. Let's move positive in a Ford-ward direction and educate ourselves about what Ford's goals are, rather than what we think worked in the 90's, will work now.

LINK-Ford Media

LINK-Detroit News

Reminds me of the Inifinititiniki commercials in the 90's...the philosophical thoughts, ideas, quotes, sayings. Don't remember the vehicles they were pushing but it looked like some Calvin Klein commercials selling actors, not product lol

My 2000, 2003 and current 2005 LS-V8 have never posted anything better than 15MPG around town...maybe 26MPG in the highway if I take a strict road trip with cruise control on at 85 and A/C off, but realistically it's really 22-23 with A/C on at 105MPH. I even gave up trying to be "gentle". Tested it for a week... started off on 2nd or 3rd gear with SST, ease off gently wwaaayyy before stops, etc. Gained me just 2MPG around city which wasn't worth it. So after that test I simply gave up being "gentle" and now just do my usual routine at 13-14MPG. And I dont care, it's tax deductible at the end of the year so burn baby burn !!

I believe the Turbo 6 had a GM supplied transmission if I remember correctly. This was years ago when they debuted the S80, and the engineers stated they just couldn't make a 5 speed fit at the time....I believe earlier than that, Jag was using the same unit on their XK-R models for the same reason...GM had one available that could do the job. As for the V8 though, I think that's a ZF tranny isn't it ? I could look it up but, I have enough on my plate for today.

Why would someone (or could they) declare bankruptcy with $20BIL+ in the bank ?