2005Explorer

POS Escape? Most people I know that own Escapes, Mariners or Tributes are very happy with their vehicles. What qualifies as a POS? My brother and sister in law bought a new Honda Accord in 1998. It's been a good car for them. When it came to add a new vehicle to replace their old 1992 Taurus they chose a new 2005 Mariner Premier. They love it. Tell them it's a POS they will laugh at you.

I only have a few comments on this... 1) Most people in the market for a light duty pickup like the F-150 could care less about the SuperDuty. I don't think SuperDuty problems effect MOST people in the market for an F-150. The two vehicles share nothing except the "F" in the model name. A new PowerStroke is coming. I will agree the 6.0L started off as a POS, but they have fixed it. The biggest mistake it is should have been as good as it is today the first day it came out. They messed up...they could just give up...but at this time there are only 2 choices...a new improved engine...or quit diesel production. They are going with a new engine. They can't go back and fix what they did wrong last time...they can only make sure it never happens again. 2) You are correct, the Focus has cooled off, but high fuel prices have kept people interested. I agree a Focus that looks different is needed now. I don't think the name has been ruined yet, people are still interested in the Focus enough that a new model will build excitement again. It's not like the current Focus is a piece of crap...it's not. There is just a lot newer stuff out there and I agree Ford needs to get with the program on this ASAP. The 2008 model can't come soon enough and they need to focus on 40MPG highway. 3) The Fusion is a much better car then the Taurus. It is too early to rule it out as a failure. It is a good car that seems to be selling well. The factory is running at 100%. I disagree with you that the Taurus was a more profitable model then the Fusion. 2 reasons...1) Taurus was a fleet special. 2) Fusions labor cost is MUCH less. 4) I agree the Explorer chassis needs to used for more products. A new Ranger should be rolling down the line in Louisville along with the Explorer, Mountaineer and SportTrac. A Ranger based on the Explorer chassis would be very competive with other midsized pickup offerings. Parts sharing would really help costs and it would keep the line busy since all are in receding markets. They need to be in those markets because money can still be made there, but they need to be smarter about it.

Fuel prices are what happened to the Explorer. If fuel was still under $2 a gallon Explorer's would still be flying off the lots. I am not sure why...but fuel prices have effected the midsized traditional SUV market more then anything. It probably has something to do with the vehicle having more capability then what the customer really needs. They are either moving down to CUV's or up to fullsized SUV's if they have to pay for the fuel anyway. When fuel was cheap, the Explorer had that...masculine quality that people loved even if they did not need all it's capabilities. Those people are now moving to cars and CUV's. The only thing that will help the Explorer is it might become the only vehicle of it's type in a couple of years. Not everyone wants to drive a huge SUV around still many like myself need something that can actually be taken off-road and pull a trailer without tearing the powertrain up. The new Explorer has not been real successful, but I don't think it has anything to do with the competitiveness of the vehicle itself. It is best in class...but there are many other things working against it.

1. What are the HUGE quality concerns on the current F-150? Please fill us in on that. 2. The Focus is getting a complete re-skin for 2008 and an all new Focus is coming 2 to 3 years after that. 3. The Taurus is dead. Let's stop talking about it and focus on the new Fusion. 4. Name one midsized body on frame SUV that is better then the Explorer...give us reasons why it is better. Better suspension? chassis? transmission? engine? rear seating? safety? towing???

The ONLY reason you would buy an Aveo is because of price. The Focus gives you more size, safety and features for the same fuel economy. If you wondered where they did the cost cutting on the Aveo...this picture will help you find the answer... :o No thanks...if I want a fuel efficient car I will spend a little more and get a Focus.

Ford will loose some fleet sales after the Taurus is gone. D3 and CD3 models will see a small bump up in fleet sales after the Taurus is gone, not enough to cover the lost Taurus numbers, but enough to help their production numbers. If Hermosillo is having a hard time keeping up with demand, which appears to be the case, you might see a few more D3's take up the fleet slack then CD3's. I don't think Ford is going to completely get out of fleet sales, they are just going to do everything to avoid their new models turning into fleet specials like the Taurus did.

I think in the case of the Escape/Mariner/Tribute it might be the other way around. Aren't they based on a modified 626 chassis?

Well it is better to do this then to keep increasing production and have vehicles pile up in parking lots, warehouses and fields...then use a fire sale to try and unload all of them.

Is Jacques Nasser is looking for a job again?

Leadership ALWAYS takes credit for other people's talent under them. I have spent a lot of time in the military. When the Commander of a unit gets an award it is many times because people under him or her have done great things, yet he or she gets the credit. I know soldiers always make comments about that, but that is how it works. The world works that way. When Ford gets turned around for good, Bill Ford and Mark Fields will get the credit even though it takes a whole team effort to turn something around. Anyhow Richard asked for names...Mark Fields...That is who I would like to see as the new CEO of Ford and Bill can stay Chairman of the Board but get out of day to day operations. It should not happen yet though. Bill and Mark need to stay where they are at for now. Once the worst is over and things start looking up for Ford, then it is time to make the change. I think in one to two years it will be time to hand it over to Mark Fields depending on how things are going.

IDIOT GOSH! "If they should get rid of something, they should get rid of Volvo," said Gerald Meyers, a professor of management at the University of Michigan and the former chairman and chief executive of American Motors. "Volvo is easiest to sell." Yeah...lets just get rid of the one company that has actually IMPROVED our safety reputation...or the company we have new sedans based on...and more on the way...the company that has shared technology like RSC...yep...rip those safety features off now. Common Mr. AMC, we know EXACTLY why American Motors was a FAILURE...you were running it!!! If someone from the former American Motors Corporation tells you how to run an Auto business...run away and never look back!

Mark Fields will be CEO of Ford someday. It all depends on what happens over the the next couple of years or so. I think Ford should be Chairman of the Board, but he needs to turn day to day CEO business over to someone who has a lot of management experience. I would say however that Bill Ford probably HAS management experience at this point. He has been doing it since 2001. He has been trying to recruit over the past couple of years, but I think now, he has his mind on taking Field up to that position if he can prove himself with the Way Forward plan. I look at it this way...you could do MUCH worse then Bill Ford as CEO. He is not perfect, but he loves the company and because of that, he has tried as hard as he can. Remember at one time all GM fans wanted Rick Wagoner's head, now since they claim GM is fixed, he is great! If Ford turns around I am sure Bill will gain a new level of support he has not had yet.

I think just about every vehicle produced today can beat the xBox in a race. Not only is it underpowered but it also has the wind working against it. I wonder what it would be like if you had 4 passengers in it and had to drive over a mountain pass on a highway??? Scary! :o

Actually the small rural dealerships is one of Ford's strengths. If there are too many dealerships in one market area that is exactly where the reduction needs to take place. Hopefully they will have a way to close the most unproductive dealerships or the ones that have a record of the most complaints by customers.

Since I have started watching the Bold Moves documentary I have grown to really like Mark Fields. He really appears to be a car guy and he seems to have a high level of enthusiasm compared to a lot of the corporate types. I think he really does get it.

Oh I am sure they have no problem at all with the Sequoia. Why? Because it's a Toyota and they love Toyota...Toyota could never do anything wrong in their eyes.

It is funny that everyone thinks that Ford needs to dump FWD and the reason their products are not the best sellers right now is because they are FWD. The midsized and fullsized cars that continue to grow marketshare every year are from the Japanese and they are all FWD. Looks like people still favor FWD no matter how much the "enthusiasts" argue that FWD is the worse thing that was ever developed. I think in the next few years, economy will become much more important then which wheels are being driven. Ask most people why they buy Toyota or Honda and I bet the reason you will get right after their reputation for quaility is their superior fuel economy. Heck you will probably get the same answers from someone that has bought a Toyota Sequoia. In fuel economy, Ford's sedans are very competitive, but that is NOT what the average consumer thinks. They think the Camry will be very fuel efficient and the Fusion will be a guzzler. Now this is not the truth at all, but that is what they think no matter what the sticker on the side of the car says. The 500 has a great platform for it's intended audience. The only thing it needs is the Duratec 35 and some bolder styling. I don't think it's too late. If it's a good car and gets some good improvements it will become fairly successful. Remember the Taurus did not really take off until a couple years after they started building it and it did not start setting sales records until the first redesign (1992) that made it a much more attractive car. One thing that still works against rear wheel drive cars today at least in the Northern climate, especially the Midwest where Detroit still has a big marketshare is that people remember those old cars. The ones with no fancy traction control or ABS. The little Fairmonts, Pinto's, etc. that were worthless on an icy street or road. There is a very large chunk of people that buy cars today that had horrible experiences in the old fashioned RWD cars. They are the people that even today will still look away when someone mentions it's rear wheel drive. I was curious so I took a look at the Sioux Falls, SD dealers on inventory left on the 2006 300's and Charger's. The Dodge dealer has only (6) RWD Chargers, 5 are V6 models and one is a RWD 6.1L monster. It appears that all of the AWD models are gone. Over at the Chrysler dealer, the inventory looks like the victim of high fuel prices. 22 total models remaining. (3) V6 RWD models, (18) 5.7 Hemi RWD models, and(1) RWD 6.1L left. So for both Chrysler dealers in Sioux Falls, SD the only stuff left is RWD and a lot of Hemi's. Looks like the AWD and V6 models have sold out first at least in this market. Sioux Falls Ford has (2) 2006 Five-Hundreds, one FWD SEL and one AWD Limited and has (3) Montego's which all three are Premier AWD models. Plus it appears they are starting to stock 2007 models at this time, while I can't find a 2007 for sale at the Chrysler dealers yet. I suppose they are trying to move the 2006's off the lot first. I bet a million dollars when it comes to ordering 300's and Charger's for 2007 dealers will switch to a much heavier mix of V6's on their lot and I bet Chrysler hates that because there is a lot more profit margin in selling Hemi's. Anyhow just by looking at the current inventory remaining at the dealers in one city you can see exactly the effect of $3.00 fuel.

The main reasoning why I would prefer the 500 is this... Impala- 1988 W-body 500- Volvo S80 chassis Now I agree the 500 needs some visual improvement and an optional engine. Both are suppose to be coming soon so hopefully the decision won't be as hard. Just remember new sheetmetal can't hide an ancient platform. If you want to see where the old W-body shows it's ugly face...check out the back seat in the Impala then look at the 500. With all of that said, I sort of like the style of the Impala as well, but I know fancy wrapping paper can't hide an old chassis, 4 speed auto and OHV engines that date to the early 1980's.

One thing that is also overlooked is that this is the first time that Ford really has what I would call a "Suburban fighter" The Excursion was only a competitor to the much larger Suburban 2500 HD. The highest percentage of Suburbans sold are the light duty 1500 models that are powered with a 5300 V8. The Expedition EL is aimed directly at that much larger market and I think you will find a lot more people cross shopping Expeditions and Suburbans then ever before. The market is drying up, but there is still room for 2 models to compete directly with each other. The other thing that will help Ford when it comes to sales figures is that both the standard length and extended length will be reported as one model. This does not have a lot of impact other then making the Expy look stronger in sales against the Tahoe.

First it was the Chinese Jiangling Landwind SUV (old Rodeo ripoff) that got a Zero. http://paultan.org/archives/2005/10/07/jia...assenger-cabin/ and now for your viewing pleasure here is the Chery QQ :happy feet: http://paultan.org/archives/2006/02/18/chery-qq-crash-test/ I hope the United States will do something about this if they try and import these pieces of crap. I see how China is planning on controlling their population...just strap em into a Jiangling SUV or a Chery car! :lol:

Actually there is a reason that most instrument illumination has been green for years. Green is the best color for the human eye to make out in low light conditions. If you run your instrument lighting at high level it actually reduces your night vision. If green is used, the instrument lighting can be turned down to a low level yet still be quite legible to the human eye. The best colors to use for night lighting are either red or green. The military used red but has swiched to green over the years because green is better to see in low light conditions. The other colors that are used today to light gauges are more for looks then anything. I know a few people have complained about Ford's green gauges because they don't look modern or trendy enough, but I think there is a reason behind keeping them green. When you turn the fancy colored gauges down to a low light level they are actually harder for the human eye to see. I don't know how much this source can be trusted, but I thought it gave some good reasoning for the science behind color choice for night vision. http://www.equipped.com/nitevision.htm

Well maybe someone at Ford will eventually figure out they need to fix the engine listing under specs for the Mustang GT. It is NOT a 4.6L OHV engine. More like a 4.6L OHC! The Expy looks nice. I only noticed one picture of the XLT model in red at a campsite, but even the XLT looked nice. I really like the grille on the F-150 FX2. That looks great! I agree Escape should be listed under crossover, but I guess they have always marketed it more towards being an SUV then a CUV.

Looks like Ford did VERY well at this redesign, the only thing that will hurt it is fuel prices. Looks like a better vehicle then the Tahoe or Suburban 1500 at least for people who want a real 3rd row seat and lots of cargo room. I also would be suprised to see how the EL model rides and handles compared to the Suburban. The Suburban even the new model has always been criticized for being a marshmallow machine with poor handling. It sounds like they really liked the ride and handling of the EL even though it is a huge beast. I think the new Expedition is very competitive. It looks modern, as modern as the Tahoe/Suburban and offers a lot of things they don't. The rear suspension, limited rear seat room and rear seats that don't fold flat on the GM models is the first thing that comes to mind. Now which of these is really old fashioned? New sheetmetal doesn't always hide an outdated chassis underneath!

I agree, at 30 years old there is something that just does not seem right driving a Buick at this point in my life. With that said however, the heated washer fluid idea is a great idea, so is this new capless fuel filler. Your right by saying it would be nice if all of these little handy features could be put together into one attractive package. Maybe someday someone will figure it out.

You have to becareful on that one...because a lot of people accuse the Fusion of also stealing an Accord look to the taillights.