akirby

Former Microsoft employees who started a company called BSQuare.

That seems way out of line for a Flex. Sometimes there are material holds on specific options or features due to supplier issues, etc. and that can delay a normal 6-8 week build. Ordering a new model year early will also cause a much longer than normal delay. All you can do is place the order and wait. Did your dealer do a search for a similar vehicle in stock that they could trade for?

For a Flex? Yes. They are neither high demand or short supply so I wouldn't worry. (The allocation is on a per-vehicle basis so Flex allocation isn't impacted by allocation for other vehicles.)

How do you make a switch or overhead bin "Lincoln specific"? And how can you tell from looking out the window whether the wheelbase or track was changed? These are the types of criticisms that make you shake your head and detracts from the few legitimate gripes.

There could be a learning curve with the new parts but I suspect most of it has to do with how the parts were designed and the suppliers which changed between 2006-2012 and 2013+.

Sales manager knows but probably won't tell you. The only difference between a stock order and a retail (sold) order is the priority. Retail orders get built before stock orders but he dealer still has to have allocation in the first place. Unless it's a very very small dealer allocation on a Flex shouldn't be an issue. The exception is if the vehicle has Retail Order Verification - then your car is built without regard to the dealer's allocation. But that's only on certain vehicles and usually only for a specific amount of time.

It's not the factory - Hermosillo is one of Ford's highest rated factories with very few problems on the 1st gen Fusions and MKZs the last 7 years. These are engineering and parts supplier problems and those aren't brand or price specific. They obviously rushed the rollout of both vehicles too much and it bit them in the ass. I don't think they'll make that mistake again.

It's not for warm-up - it's for better aerodynamics and less drag at high speed.

10 is the absolute best priority you can get from a dealer. Only Ford can go lower and lower is better.

It would still be too big and heavy to get great fuel economy.

I think it comes down to having space to store the vehicles while they're awaiting inspection. Hermosillo was already backlogged from the Fusion fiasco and if you look at the satellite pictures there isn't a lot of extra space.

As Ron White says - you can't fix stupid.

And be a lot cheaper to produce than the ATS (at least initially until ATS platform gets more vehicles). If the ATS had been built on an existing shared platform and wasn't cannibalizing CTS sales it would make more sense from a business perspective. And it doesn't matter how good the car is - you're not going to win many BMW driver conquests. The Lexus drivers are a far easier target.

And were extremely disappointed not to see pics......

FTFY

I owned a 1990 and 1995 Ranger. Switched to cars in 2000.

The headlamps come on automatically when the wipers come on. Even my 06 Fusion had that feature. Provided they're set to Auto. Once you turn on the fogs with the headlamps set to Auto they will continue to come on automatically. If you turn the headlamps off then back to Auto you have to manually turn on the fogs again. I just had this happen at the car wash.

Because it would be grossly inefficient. Heat is a waste product of the engine. If you have to run the engine to heat the coolant then it's more efficient to use that energy to propel the car at the same time - otherwise you're either throwing it away or using it to charge the battery. And running the engine and converting mechanical energy to electricity to store in the battery which is then converted back to mechanical energy to propel the vehicle is not as efficient as simply powering it directly. This is why the Volt gets worse fuel economy running on the ICE. You lose too much energy in the conversion.

Vent all you want but don't go around saying things that simply aren't true just because you're pissed off.

Citation needed.

There are ways to do a RWD sedan well. This isn't one of them.

Summer blend is necessary to avoid excess fuel vapor at the pumps in hot temps. Prevents air pollution. The side effect is better fuel economy.

+1 Our son took us to one in Seattle. Pretty good stuff.

That doesn't excuse atrocious styling. Edit: or terrible model names. Edit 2: or poor business cases. This exact same formula was used on the G8 and the GTO which both failed. Why would they think this time will be any different?

This is all part of the normal launch procedure for a new model. They don't have time to do the QC inspections on the existing backlog AND new ones rolling off the line at the same time. The Fusion problems have probably contributed to the backlog by taking up plant resources.