akirby

He said the company had a monkey on it's back. It's a common term that is in no way derogatory. Rice is a derogatory term applied to Japanese cars and drivers.

It's also significantly cheaper I would imagine and mostly purchased by die-hard GM fans who are downsizing from Suburbans or upgrading from Blazers.

No low voltage power to the solenoid? If the solenoid is getting low voltage power when the key is turned to start but not sending high voltage power to the starter then it's a bad solenoid. If the solenoid isn't getting low voltage power then that sounds like the ignition switch or a wire between the switch and the solenoid.

Huh? :shades: You misunderstood my point - which is that GIVEN A CHOICE between an Escape and a Mariner or a Fusion and a Milan then SOME would choose the Mercury just because the styling is different. Yes, that's my opinion but I think it's a good guess because there sure isn't any other difference between them. The part you missed is that if you take the same buyer and only give them one choice then they would most likely still choose the Ford (Escape or Fusion) over a similar vehicle from another mfr. I was agreeing that we don't need Mercury. The thought that most buyers would love the Mariner but hate the Escape or love the Milan but hate the Fusion seems ridiculous to me given they are so close in styling, features and price. A few maybe but not most.

Has to be blind GM brand loyalty. I can't think of any other rational explanation. I cringe every time I get into a Tahoe/Suburban/Yukon. The interior is hideous.

Careful - you'll get Pioneer all riled up again...........

I still believe most Mercury buyers go into the dealership, look at both the Ford and Mercury versions and pick the Mercury just because they prefer the styling over the Ford counterpart. I don't believe that more than 10% of Mercury buyers would refuse to buy the corresponding Ford version.

The difference is Ford has half the employees that GM has and they're producing 80%-90% of the vehicles that GM does. Ford has 2 brands, GM has 4. Ford has true global vehicles like the Focus and Fiesta and a true global approach to vehicle design and engineering. GM doesn't. Ford understands every penny of their cost structure. GM doesn't. Ford is simply more efficient than GM in almost every measure. GM is not willing to take the drastic steps that Ford decided to take 3 years ago to reinvent itself. Given Ford's current debt and profit levels they'll be out of debt in just a few quarters (meaning they'll have more cash than debt). When the market rebounds from the 11M SAAR to 14M or 15M Ford will reap huge benefits because the additional volume (600K-800K units) will be incremental at very little additional cost (just labor and raw materials - the R&D, tooling, engineering, testing etc. is already done). And if the economy goes south again or gas prices go way up again, Ford is in a much better position to withstand the drop than GM. Just remember - Ford produces 90% as many vehicles as GM does with HALF the workforce. That pretty much tells the story.

Considering your objections to "monkey on your back" in the other thread, I find this hilariously hypocritical.

I don't mind the factory versions if they are body color, but the flat black add-on is WAY worse.

When you got out at the restaurant did it look like this?

I'm sure they can, they're just keyfob remotes with extra buttons.

I saw a red hatchback at Starbucks a couple of weeks ago and I was a little shocked at how little it was. I guess I haven't really been paying attention to the size of the Fit, etc. It looked good though.

Not sure - I've heard there is a $100 upcharge to buy it later but I don't know if that's real or just a dealer scare tactic. But you can definitely buy the warranty anytime before the bumper to bumper warranty runs out (3/36K for Fords).

Yes but the hardwired factory version looks so much better and doesn't require a battery.

Remember the uproar over the Lincoln LS having ITHs (Intrusive Trunk Hinges)? There was a reason for it (other than cost) but I can't remember what it was.

The impression I heard from an engineer was not very favorable either.

I put a cubic yard of topsoil in my 95 Ranger supercab 4.0L manual w/load package. The guy loading it said he'd never seen a Ranger take that much dirt. Drove it home 15 miles with no problems. According to answers.com a yard of topsoil weighs close to one ton. Not sure about that but it was a lot of weight and the Ranger handled it just fine.

You could have a leak in the hose or the transmission that was misdiagnosed as a leaky master cylinder. Easy enough to check.

Yes, or you could have a leak somewhere that they didn't fix, but I thought you said you checked the fluid level and it was ok? The clutch pedal is attached directly to the master cylinder and the master cylinder provides the pressure, so if the pedal is on the floor then either the pedal itself isn't connected to the master cylinder or the master cylinder has failed. But definitely check the fluid level to be safe.

On second thought I guess Idiot Autoblog commenters is redundant...........

It is possible that the 2nd master cylinder failed. It's also possible they charged you for a new one but didn't actually replace it. I'd have it checked by another mechanic to make sure it's really the master cylinder.

I'm guessing it's the clutch. Seriously though - what did they do to "fix it"? Check the reservoir fluid level - you may just have a fluid leak somewhere. If it has fluid then it sounds like the clutch master cylinder is bad.

1) Maybe not, but it sure would be cheaper if it can share both a platform and assembly facilities with the Explorer and other D3/D4 vehicles. And a fuel efficient 4 cylinder version would be a good hedge against future CAFE and gas price problems (yes, Richard I know that small pickup sales didn't increase much when gas prices went up, but the next round could be worse and we know CAFE will be a concern) 2) I think they just said there's no future in the current Ranger. There is a difference. 3) I bet an Explorer would see more towing and "real truck duties" than the light truck would. This would be a commuter vehicle plus home depot runner, not a work truck.

Can someone tell the idiot commenters on autoblog that this is a concept car, not a production car that the police would actually buy and use? Geez.........