akirby

Not once have I EVER said that there were no problems or the problems weren't real. What I did say was that some people were exaggerating the scope of some of the problems but never have I said anything bad about people claiming to have MFT problems. Not once. There are still people with problems but far far less than before and most not as serious as before. Bullshit. That was always planned to be added back. It was already in the code in development when the production version was released. You don't just decide to add something like that back at the last minute and it's suddenly available 2 months later. I even said the reason it was removed is that they either had a problem with it they didn't have time to fix or they just didn't have time to get it tested so they took it out and would probably add it back later. This is what happens. You say it's horrible and full of bugs and nobody is happy. We give you real examples of people who are quite happy with it and are experiencing no problems ONLY TO TRY AND PUT THE MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM IN PERSPECTIVE. Not to suggest that nobody is having problems or there aren't still bugs. We've said OVER AND OVER that there are bugs and some people are not happy and more work is required. But we've also pointed out that these bugs only seem to be serious for a small percentage of owners. You have this mistaken impression that a problem has to be a problem for EVERYBODY or NOBODY and if we try to put a problem into perspective relative to the entire owner base you think we're trying to imply that there are no problems whatsoever. Nobody is saying that at all. That was your opinion and your expectation and it was not accurate. Ford has never said or implied that anything would resolve all complaints or glitches. That's something you and your Focus Fanatic buddies made up all on your own and now you're trying to blame Ford for it.

Lots of folks change at 30K or 60K rather than wait until 150K. A long time internet buddy used to be a Ford transmission engineer (he worked on the 5R55 and the torqshift truck tranny) and he changes his every 30K just to be safe. 30K seems to soon unless you're towing or driving in extreme heat. 60K seems to be a good compromise to me and it's probably what I will do with mine. Edit: make sure you get it done at a Ford/Lincoln dealer where they use a machine to swap it out using the cooler lines. That gets 95% of the old fluid out and is much better than just dropping the pan.

The fact that Ford sells 85% of the volume that GM sells with 50% as many employees should tell you all you need to know about GM's lack of efficiency.

Since we still have a federal income tax, does everyone agree that having a single percentage rate for all income above a certain amount (say 35% on income above $200K) with NO loopholes, deductions, exceptions, etc. would be fair from the standpoint of people "paying their fair share"? If you only make an extra $10K you pay $3500. If you make an extra $10M you pay $3.5M. If you make an extra $100M you pay $35M. I don't see how anyone can argue this system from the standpoint of rich people paying their "fair share". A person making $100M does not use any more government resources than a person making $1M or $100K. The problem comes in when people want to use tax rates to affect changes or just as punishment. Rich people are taking money away from the poor - tax them! Rich people didn't earn their money - tax them! Rich people and corporations will create more jobs if they pay less taxes - cut taxes on the rich! Poor people need an incentive to keep working at low income jobs - let's give them a tax credit even if they paid no taxes. When one side wants to game the system it cause the other side to do the same and that's why the tax laws are so damn complicated. One of the reasons that conservatives don't want tax increases is that we either don't agree with what it's going to be spent on or we don't know what it will be spent on. If my county government says we need extra money for a new park or a new road or new sewers or something beneficial then I don't have a problem with a tax increase to pay for it. But if the government is wasting money left and right and says we need extra money but they can't say specifically what it will be used for then no, I ain't paying a dime. If the rich knew that a tax increase would be used to pay down the debt or some other necessary function most would not have a problem with it. But they don't like seeing their hard earned money wasted on foolish investments and unnecessary government spending.

Not only was one car covering 2 segments, it was also a fleet queen even in the early 2000s. Apples and watermelons.

It maintains itself. I assume better cooling and better bearings have made the turbo problems of the past disappear.

It could if they required a dedicated production facility. This might be the case if F150 sales jump. They're already running 5 out of 6 shifts in 2 plants.

Undercoating can actually trap moisture and promote rust, especially if it covers a weep hole. Hard to tell if that's what happened here.

There is no way to know at this point. They haven't issued the OK to Buy and that won't happen until they've built Fusions with no errors for 5 straight days. Could be next week, could be a month from now. And the ones being built now are held for inspection and possible repair before they actually get shipped to the dealer.

Complete lack of coding ability by BeSquare, yes.

Oh good grief. Of course they knew it had problems. At one time there were 1500 bugs. But they did not have a backup plan for the 2011 Explorer to launch without MFT so they got stuck between a rock and a hard place so they took a gamble they could stabilize it within the first month or two after release. That didn't work. But there was no lack of testing or lack of effort trying to fix it.

Of course MFT is responsible for Ford's drop in quality rankings. So were the initial Fiesta and Focus tranny issues. The tranny problems are fixed now and most of the MFT issues are fixed. Neither one is a huge problem for Ford as far as sales go.

I would have if we weren't doing so much home improvement work. I'll probably wait a couple of months and try to find one on the lot. Titanium Ruby Red w/19" grey wheels.

Ford is sinking?

Don't feed the troll.

http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?/topic/50532-bmw-juced-july-sales-with-1-day-demo-offer-to-dealers/

It controls infotainment, phone/bluetooth devices, navigation and climate control. Many of these have redundant controls on the steering wheel and all but one I believe have voice commands. The only problem with MFT is that sometimes it crashes or hangs up or just doesn't work right but with the latest software those are fairly rare occurences.

It already is.

I couldn't even focus on what the author actually thought of the vehicle. What a horrible writing style. I'll take excessive hyperbole and overwrought adjectives for $1000, Alex.

I'm sure Detroit could USE more than a couple of Lincoln dealerships. My point was that it is better to have 2 stellar dealerships that provide the new level of service that Lincoln demands than to have 5 mediocre dealerships that don't provide any of those luxury amenities and premium buying experience. Mediocre dealerships do not help Lincoln reinvent itself as a desirable luxury brand - it perpetuates the old image.

FTFY

Exactly my point.

Same reason the current Expedition has it. It remains to be seen whether the other vehicles will keep it when they are redesigned based on the much smaller market. I'm not saying it won't have it, just that the business case for it is much harder to justify with drastically lower volumes in the segment. It will come down to cost vs. benefit. Hopefully it makes it.

They both have revenue streams and expense streams and budgets. The same budget principles apply although I have serious doubts that most democrats actually understand that.

Please explain how Ford "cuts back on Lincoln dealerships".