NJSteve3

Could these attractive lease rates be the result, at least partially, of improving residual values?

Terrific work. Can't understand why Ford hasn't done this with the Mustang. Relatively inexpensive to introduce, and historically, the better selling design vs the fastback.

Let me apologize, in advance, to being a "pre-owned" buyer. I know some prominent posters feel that supporting the secondary market for Ford's does not help the brand, but I disagree, and intend to continue looking for good deals, pre-owned. My wife's 1993 Maxima is finally beyond the point where repairs make sense - will be disposed of, soon. She is tough to satisfy, and demands a "sporty" car - refuses to drive my 95 Taurus, as she finds it to "slow and floaty". Her opinion, and she may have a point. I found the Maxima was much more quick and responsive back in the day, compared to the Taurus. Need to replace, looking used, maybe $10 - 15k. I'm seeing 05/06 V6 Mustangs out there in that range, wife has also expressed interest in the Dodge Charger. I'd like to sell her on a Fusion, but I think she will just see it as the "old man car" Taurus.... any thoughts, or specific advice around the Mustangs or alternatives as I start to shop?

Most of my vehicles have been pretty weak - the weakest: 3 - 84 Tempo HSC 4 speed - Technically the weakest, but it was light, had no AC, so with the 4speed was reasonably quick to 55. Cosidering their reputation, it was remarkably durable. 2 - 81 Chevy pickup - Straight 6, automatic Trans, AC, and a heavy cap on the bed... slow and tippy! 1 - 81 Coupe DeVille - Diesel - Light blue, wire wheel covers, leather throughout, a beauty to behold, if you like that sort of thing. So slow from a stop that you were practically standing still, just blowing acrid smoke, anyone behind you quickly passed you and got away just to get fresh air. Burned a qt of oil per 100 miles. 7 qt capacity had me topping off when it got under 5. Memories.....

Facts seem to back you up as far as the current state of wagon sales - the available models do not sell especially well. Back in the day, not all THAT long ago, Ford sold a lot of Taurus wagons... maybe a compelling modern design could get some sales traction...

I'm not much interested in arguing the merits of the '79 LTD, but, isn't the reputed durability and reliability of, say, Hondas or Toyotas, part of the reason they hold up in value over time, and as a result, have lower TCO for the first three or five years, or something like that? I'm pretty sure the residuals on the CV do not hold up the same way, but I think an argument could be made that a reputation for long term "servicability" is a positive - especially when offered in combination with an attractive, modern design...see Honda, etc.

"Boxy, but good" seemed to make sense at one time....

Congrats - such a great looking car! I'm contemplating a similar move, though probably will buy used. I'm looking at a 90 plus mile round trip commute - will I be comfortable, or should I be looking at something else? Thanks

Wasn't that the Aerostar? Still a decent number of them on the road, considering how old they are.....

The recollections about the Mustang II era Ghia package are funny - the padded vinyl roof, corduroy interior, and yes, even the chrome trunk rack, just would not fly in the 21st century. Not even in a "retro" way. That said, the basic idea behind the Grande', Ghia, and to a lesser extent, LX, could be applied to the current car - notchback, more luxury features, less aggressively sporty. Could appeal to a slightly different, wider, audience, and likely would have no appreciable impact to sales of sportier models... did the the Grande', etc, harm sales of the sportier Mustangs, or increase the overall number of Mustangs sold? Also, sort of fills the "need" for a personal coupe, ala TBird. Besides, some people - not me - prefer the traditional roofline.

3 2002 T&C gets the most use, family duty, 46k 1995 Taurus is my station car...getting old 125k 1993 Maxima is the backup - slowly deteriorating from disuse - I beg wifey to drive it more, keep the miles and parking lot dings off the van, but she hardly does; 170k

I'm not sure the 2 dr is necessarily a bad idea - it may just depend on who it is sold to, and how tough it is engineered. My recollection, from way back, is that quite a few of the first generation Bronco's were fleet/municipal vehicles - the board of ed had a bunch to plow the schools and run errands year round, likewise the parks dept. If built to the right spec, especially given the trend toward smaller fuel sippers, it could have commercial applications.

I'd still like to see a notchback Mustang, sold alongside the fastback. It could be available tarted up like the Grande/Ghia, or as a base model, economy minded "secretary" car. This was the original Mustang formula, built a wide base of appeal, and the notch was generally the better seller. A Mustang 4 dr/wagon/ CUV is kind of silly, at least to me.

Good points, though I'm not sure the minivan will suffer too much, as it's likely a good number of Suburban/Expedition types will need to downsize, and a wagon might be toooo small. Generally speaking, if the fuel costs become a big issue, many folks will shift down a size.....incidentally, this bodes well for the Flex, assuming the design catches on.

I must agree that it appears that Ford is slowly dying, sales shrinking 10 percent or so year over year, but there is some validity to the notion that they might be successful in getting to a size where profitability is more important than sales - ala BMW, albeit without the performance cred. Take a look at the "Ford Sales Figures" link on this site for years gone by - it wasn't that long ago they sold incredible numbers of Escort/Focus/Tempo/Taurus/Panther/Explorer/Ranger...... I recall 5 of the top ten in sales for awhile. Since then, victimized by a combination of misjudging the markets (Late with Crossovers, etc), poor engineering/parts decisions (3.8l head gaskets/Focus launch, etc), and brutally tough competition - face it, the Japanese cars are way better than 20 years back - hell, the Koreans were a total joke, but they pulled it together. Back in the day a Renault or Fiat would lick their wounds and go home. Hyundai- I never figured this when they were barely better than a Yugo - is a real player. Enough rambling, point is, Ford automobiles (Pickups are a separate case) are operating in a much tougher market, and as a result, goals are lower. I like the sound of solvency, for the foreseeable future...I hope they pull it off.