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regfootball

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Posts posted by regfootball

  1. i took my other vehicle into the tranny shop to have it looked at and i mentioned how my ford is a taurus x with the 6 speed and that its similar to the old freestyle.

     

    the tranny shop guy said the freestyle CVTs were a problem tranny. 60k and bam. one municipality locally had bought several as xity fleet vehicles and they had issues with almost all of them.

     

    now, it wasnt my first hand info but it does make me wonder why freestyles are so inexpensive on the used market.

  2. The buying public has embraced hybrids because they follow anything the japs do. American companies don't innovate anymore, they simply try to make a vehicle "equal to Honda and Toyota".

     

    Most people on BON follow the same behavior. Diesel has lots of advantages that are worth exploring. And NOT when "ford becomes profitable" or other such down the line timeframes. We copy first and innovate later, which is why were no longer the leaders in a market that is dominated on our own turf. Its that kind of mentality that got Ford in trouble in the first place.

     

    The japs (toyota in particular) decided to push innovation in this space long before it became profitable. Ford (as did the rest of the US auto companies) had a wait and see approach. This was a calculated maneuver, based on their projections of where the market would be when and if the tech took off, what was the safest time they could enter that market but not be so far behind as to be hopeless, and how much they stood too loose by being behind the 8 ball in this area. I have been watching how car companies do things to know that NOTHING is done (especially at Ford) without over analyzing it and playing it super duper safe.

     

    Diesels have a lot of potential that is worth considering right now! Not in 2012 or later when Ford gets back in the black. Diesels are an alternative fuel as well as clean burning. Forget about clean burning carbon based fuel. You can convert a diesel into running on pure veggie oil and loose no performance or mileage characteristics. That is a feature that is worth exploring in this country. Ethanol can't produce the same amount of power as diesel. Natural gas has potential as well, but its not as renewable as bio diesel is. That being said, I think that Hybrids are also very relevant...and a hybrid system can compliment an existing diesel system VERY nicely to offer a best of both worlds solution.

     

    Also worth mentioning is this: Hybrid designs need batteries. Which is not something that helps our energy independence. The government should make up its mind what is most important: fuel efficiency or reducing consumption or energy independence. Some of these concepts contradict one another.

     

    You cant assume that just because you force higher fuel efficiency that your consumption is gonna go down. People will just drive more. which then hurts your energy independence. You can produce energy that is home grown, but again how does that effect consumption. Right now our energy policy is a hodge podge of buzz words that increase and decrease with popularity at any given time based on who is saying them and how much money the average joe needs to fill his or her tank that day.

     

    I don't really know how anyone can say that diesels won't work in this country when nobody has really tried them. VW did, but the Jetta diesel was a low volume vehicle by design so they could say it didn't fail. As for hybrids...the Accord Hybrid failed miserably, so one could easily say that Hybrids alone are not the answer either.

     

    Ford has a chance to innovate in this space...not just follow Toyota because it worked for them. But alas, we lost that drive a long time ago when we sold our souls for high profit and high demand pick ups and SUVs.

     

    having driven an 09 TDI DSG, you can have it.

     

    this from the son of a one time diesel mechanic and owner of GM diesels yore (functioning).

     

    i'm pretty convinced now diesel has no chance. its great for VW to offer theirs, but honestly seeing gas at 1.56 and diesel 2.79 at the same pump the other day, there is ZIPPO case for diesel in this country if that price disparity continues.

     

    E85 is even a better deal now.

     

    you drive a diesel TDI vs any of the gas models, its hard to leave the VW showroom with a TDI. and VW's gas motors aren't all peaches and cream.

  3. Ford stated some time ago that the '10 Fusion program would bring them to "break even" on hybrids. Any profit they do bring in will be minimal at best. As you said though, it helps CAFE and corporate image, both of which are somewhat impossible to place a dollar amount upon.

     

    especially right now as congress decides whether to kill the US auto industry or not.

  4. we love our 08 Taurus X eddie Bauer. drives like a sedan, not so large like the GM lambdas or a minivan.

     

    i would say the only thing it really lacks is some cargo room and utility, but 95% of the time its no issue.

     

    overall, the best vehicle we've ever had, inclusive of the 06 five hundred which itself was exceptional.

  5. If California gets its way, they are all in trouble...even Toyota joined the domestics in opposing what California is trying to do, if I recall correctly. Although Ford will be in a better position than, say, GM and Chrysler (if they are still around), as the Fiesta looks like a car people will want to drive because it's stylish, fun and offers good performance, not just because it gets good fuel economy.

     

    whoa. i saw the words 'toyota' and 'recall' in the same sentence and it just seemed fitting.

     

    carry on.

  6. Gotta laugh at that. Wait until the C1 Focus arrives and all the people whining about "no Euro Focus" for the last 3 years get to whine about the "Euro-sized" pricetag that goes with it.

     

    In 1993 a decently equipped Tempo/Topaz or Escort would cost you $15G; anything under that had manual window cranks, no airbags, no air conditioning and a manual transmission. The fact that you can buy the equivalent car 15 years later with automatic, air, ABS, front and side airbags and power everything (do we even have manual windows on anything any more?) for less than $3000 more than that is downright criminal.

     

    Milk, bread, pop, furniture, houses -- everything's nearly doubled in price in the last 15 years, people expect to still buy a car for what they did in 1980. Sheesh.

     

    because its worth 10g when you drive it off the lot?

  7. generally 18.5 in suburban stop and go...sometimes approaches 20.

     

    trips pretty consistent at 22-22.5. one leg i had achieved close to 24.5, but that was an anomoly.

     

    i am convinced the FWD version would get about 15% better highway mileage. I could see 25+ on the highway with the right conditions being extremely doable.

     

    the handling and composure are great for this type fo vehicle. it feels like a large sedan.

     

    to be truthful, cargo capacity is lacking and i knew that it would be, compared to a minivan...in return the vehicle does not feel like a behemoth on the road.

     

    sync is awesome. i have a 320gb hdd hooked up to it and it functions beautifully.

     

    more as i go on....

  8. i bought a used taurus x a couple weeks ago. i wanted to potentially lease new, but there are no leasing deals like there was before. i couldn't afford the new even with big incentives because the MSRP's are outrageously too high. edge, flex, taurus, tarus x, with any level of equipment, even with incentives, is way too high.

     

    the manuf's need to adjust MSRP and bring back leasing if they want to move units in this challenging time.

     

    in the meantime, the used car sales are through the roof. the dealer i bought from said they had best month ever and values on many models used are going up because people won't foot or can't foot for new.

  9. will try to update folks on the vehicle soon. i love it!

     

    I do need to learn Sync though! will take some study.......

     

    short cruise this evening netted an 18.2 avg........with much stop and go and waiting in 3 drive thrus for food......

  10. Consumers aren't exactly FLOCKING to CUVs right now....any of them....pretty much for the reason you mention, the MPGs just aren't that much better.

     

    hmmm, i just got an 08 Taurus X today. I guess I am not a consumer.

  11. bought a lightly used 08 Taurus X today....pick it up tomorrow.

     

    Love that car! Black Eddie Bauer.....camel interior.

     

    Will let you know more once I get some seat time.....can't wait to see the kid in the third row!

  12. As stated, did GM not check the sales log for the Dodge Magnum? I mean, who the fuck wants a luxury station wagon? And yeah Nick, if the G8 can't sell, how is that G8 ST or whatever they want to call it going to sell? Stupid...

     

    i would think more people would want a 4 door car with some cargo capacity and nice styling instead of say, a 2 door pony car.

  13. The dealers around here only sell well-equipped Focus sedans. The coupes are barely selling - and only with a lot of features. The "S" models are just sitting on the lots. There are about 100 Focii in the area and about 70 are S or SE's without SYNC. The other 30 are mostly coupes.

     

    its dumb at this point for ford to expect to be able to sell any of their products without sync in them now.

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