7Mary3

I think he has very realistic expectations about what sort of vehicle the TC is (this guy does commercial and municipal buildings). It was interesting that he didn't balk at the price as the contractor did. The turn-off was the broken parts, not the lack of creature comforts. He may look at them again.

When I first heard the Transit Connect was coming stateside, I thought it would be a good seller. Market pretty much to itself, and nothing really comparable since the old Dodge Caravan CV. I have a friend that is a general contractor, and he is looking for a vehicle to replace a Brand X small pickup he uses for light jobs, inspections, and bidding. I suggested he look at a TC, and he did. He will not consider it. While he liked the size and the concept, he was turned off by the price and the lack of quality. He commented that it was a tin can, and he might be interested if the price was around $10,000. No way would he pay more than that. Another friend looked at them just this past week. He is an architect, and thought the TC would be handy for going to jobsites and carrying models, large drawings, ect.. He thought the price was steep, but not a deal breaker. He commented on the 'quality' too, and noted that there were a number of broken plastic parts in the new one he saw on the dealer's lot. I wonder if quality control is going to be an issue.

Wise move on both Ford and GM's part, building mid-size trucks in Thailand of Asia and Europe. Without a doubt, the vast majority of those sales will be in Asia, the profits will be made in Asia's booming and growing economy, and if they can unload a few in Europe, so much the better. Personally, I don't think anything will be selling in Europe after Greece's financial meltdown and the collapse of the Eurodollar. Spain is probably next. GM will be wishing they unloaded Opel, and Ford will be wishing for less exposure to the European market.

We have a 2005 6.0L F-550, and I am reminded of the 6.0L's issues every time it winds up in the shop. Which is often! I agree 100% with your theory about International's use of EGR. I think International thought that not having to use 'exhaust fluid' in their diesels would offset the poorer fuel economy and potential EGR issues in the minds of medium and heavy truck buyers, but it looks like the other manufacturers didn't see it that way. Ultimately the buyer will make the decision.

I am seeing an awful lot of new Dodge chassis/cabs, and there are a lot of class 3-4-5 users that are still upset over the 6.0L Powerstroke. Still those sales numbers are a surprise. Don't be so quick to condem SCR. SCR is an aftertreatment system, it does not effect performance or fuel economy. EGR is bad news in a diesel. Kills economy, makes the engine run hotter, and you are asking the engine to swallow a lot of abrasive garbage. SCR allows the manufacturer to get by much less EGR. International's 'solution' is to use a lot of EGR to meet the new NOX standards. Internationals engines are not going to match medium duty Cummins in performance or economy, and in a few years Interational may have to adopt SCR anyway. Cummins is sticking with EGR for the Dodge Ram. Compare the output of the 2011 Ram Cummins (EGR) with the 2011 6.7L Powerstroke and 6.6L Duramax (both SCR).

Let's face it, Mercury was another Pontiac. A decent RWD platform and a nice little sports car couldn't save Pontiac, and there is no reason to think similar cars would have saved Mercury either. Nonetheless, I am sorry to see Mercury go. As for Lincoln, if dropping Mercury can save Lincoln, then so be it. The problem is currently Lincoln competes with Buick and needs to more upscale in a hurry. Small Lincolns to replace Mercurys that were not selling is clearly not the answer.

If Mercury is not going to have any exclusive platforms and all the dealers will be consolidated into F-M-L stores, there is no reason to keep Mercury. That having been said, I hope Mercury stays. Mercury's greatest weakness has always been it's lack of distinctive. The best remembered Mercury was the early Cougar, and I think that was because even though it was based on the Mustang, it was different enough that it was perceived as a unique car. I will admit I was always fond of the Torino-based Cougars too.

The FWD A-body? The Cutlass Ciera/Century/Celebrity/6000? I'll take issue with that. Those cars were not fancy, but they were tough. I still see 1000's of them still around, but yet I never see Tempo's or even first and second generation Taurus' around anymore. Those old A-bodies were really inexpensive to repair and didn't have any mechanical vices other than intake manifold gaskets on the V-6's. The 3T40 automatics were bullitt-proof, unlike Ford's ATX. An A body with the 2.5 'Iron Duke was admittedly a pretty miserable car, but it would get you where you needed to go.

No, I don't think the Chevy W car is scheduled for retirement anytime soon, though I suppose it is possible the 9C1 version may be dropped when the Caprice is introduced. I have fleet experience (not law enforcement) with the Impalas, and they are actually a pretty decent car with repair and fuel costs below average. Total cost-of-ownership is only fair due to low resale. So many of them end up in fleets and daily rentals.

As I pointed out, I believe there is a favorable business situation for GM when it comes to importing vehicles from Australia. It is possible that a similar situation does not exist for Ford.

I had a lot of names for the 400 back in the day..... The above posts are right, for most of it's life the 400 was a smogged out big car/light truck engine. There is performance potential in there somewhere. In light trucks, they all had Motorcraft 2bbl. carburetors, and the heads had this goofy integral air injection system thay really screwed up the exhaust ports. The combustion chamber design was supposedly a problem too. Something about the quench area requiring low compression and retarded spark to limit detonation. But with the right intake, cam, and heads you could make something out of them.

I guess the bottom line is that I am quite disappointed Ford didn't import one of their wonderful RWD Austrailian products to be the next police car. I have a bit of a passion for police cars as you can tell, and I don't believe any currently available FWD sedan will make an acceptable Shop. That having been said, I really can understand why Ford is not putting much effort into replacing the Crown Vic P.I.. As I have said before, we are talking low margin fleet sales. Dodge can offer an 'acceptable' RWD car in the Charger, as it is based on a retail car. My understanding is G.M. can import cars from Australia at a favorable price because it allows them to offset import duties on parts exported from the U.S. to Australia (can anyone elaborate on that?). Anyway, I think the Taurus would have a better chance if it wasn't for RWD alternatives. Maybe Ford was betting that Chrysler wouldn't be around and G.M. wouldn't bother........

It is funny, but I think Ford proved a pickup/light truck cab is clearly best for class 4 and 5, and GM (and the other medium builders) proved that a larger cab is preferable for class 6 and larger. I think (as do others here) that the new International Terrastar will not be a success, as it makes the same mistake GM did with their Topkick and Kodiak 4500 and 5500.

If you look back to my earlier post, I said 'enforcement' fleet. By that I ment cars specifically procured for patrol and pursuit work. Naturally a medium or large sized agency will have a number of different vehicles for a multitude of tasks. I would hope you wouldn't need municipal fleet experience to realize that. I assume Ford is marketing the P.I. to be a patrol car, not a car suitable for administrative tasks only. Then again........

And there certainly is truth to that. I think the new Ford P.I.'s chances would be much better if there were no RWD alternatives. In talking to those I know 'still in the biz', so to speak, there is a lot more interest in the new Caprice than there is in the Ford P.I.. Time will tell.

Many agencies will not accept FWD squads. Departments will buy whatever they want, for whatever reason they deem valid. L.A. Sheriff's wrote in a rule against torsion bar front suspension in squads after they had all those problems with the Dodge Diplomats in the early 80's.

It is interesting that Ford is not calling this car a Taurus. I wouldn't be surprised if it had to do with the last Taurus police car's significantly less than stellar record.......

Got news for you, they all fall apart around here at 50,000 miles!

L.A.P.D. currently currently uses Crown Vics ONLY for regular enforcement duty. Other cars are purchased for administrative tasks. 9C1 Tahoes are purchased for special assignments and are not to be used for pursuit. I don't know what they are testing at the moment. I can't speak for N.Y.P.D.. If you are talking about heavily congested inner city work like N.Y.P.D. is confronted with, the type of car is less critical. They just need something to get them to the scene of the crime! In Los Angeles, it seems that a significant number of perps try their luck in a high speed chase, so they type of car becomes more of an issue. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is currently Crown Vic only as well. They have tested the Charger, but felt the Hemi version was actually a bit too fast! Visibility is also an issue with the Charger. An FWD car will not meet enforcement specifications for that agency, though like L.A.P.D. some Impalas are purchased for administration and process servers.

The way I see it, if GM does indeed get back into mediums, it's a sure bet that Ford will stay in the business.

Well, what do you know: http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2010/05/gm-studying-reentry-into-mediumduty-segment.html I figure if GM moved production to Mexico and reintroduced the class 6 through 8 Topkick and Kodiak, then came up with a new class 4 and 5 based on the Silverado/Sierra (a la Ford 450 and 550), they could be a contender. But that's just me thinking out loud.....

Not a factor even if the Ford P.I. does handle better than the Caprice. I have said it before, and I will say it again. Most major police departments in the U.S. do not want a mix of FWD and RWD in their enforcement fleet. It is a training issue, as FWD and RWD cars handle so differently. Ford will probably sell some P.I.'s to departments in the northeast that have gone to the Impala because of the advantages of FWD in inclement weather, but that will be it. Too easy for major departments currently using the Crown Vic. to go with the Charger or Caprice.

Not sensing a lot of excitement for the new Ford P.I.. Might not be elegible to bid for a lot of departments around here. Seems like everyone is waiting for the Caprice.

That's funny! Easy on the company Kool-Aid there Pipas. Aggressive pricing had nothing to do with it? How many fleets buy on low bid? Stair-step? He does make some very good points about the difference between the daily rental fleets vs. commercial and government fleets. Remember a lot of those government sales are of a certain Panther that will be extinct soon. Ford is doing good in the fleet market, no question. And it sounds like they have learned their lesson on daily rentals too. BTW, once again, no mention of class 6 and 7 commercial trucks, which are pretty much exclusively fleet sales.