LarryQW

In spite of what I think is a good practical need for a family Crossover with good handling and mileage, the Freestyle -> Taurus X -> Flex -> Explorer platform has never done well in spite of all the shell changes. I suspect it's the styling. For instance, the Edge does far better with a smaller vehicle that's not much better on price or mileage. And both my wife and I agree the new Equinox has got style. She wants one. I liked the Taurus X style ( and bought one), but only because I'm a rare station wagon lover. The Flex was bold - good for Ford image of change but not for that car's sales to the general public. The new Explorer will tie back into the old Explorer image, but add utilty, good mileage, and car handling. We'll see if the new style will work as well as the snazzy Edge and Equinox to get buyers excited.

They're already talking "Plastics" in the article. New plastic technology could be very strong and durable. Also to reduce weight: smaller engines (with Ecoboost), better steels, improved structural design with the new materials, the new "Driver Diet" app in their latest MyTouch, ...

That'd be, uh,... transparent carbon.

Same here, but with Satellte and USB, mostly. Sometimes FM and Pandora via Droid over Bluetooth. Cars only need to keep the CDs players because it's become so common people like me would think a car is missing something without it, even if I don't ever use it. Furthermore, it's so common, built-into systems, and so cheap, it probably costs almost nothing to leave it in. Lke 8-track and Cassettes, CDs will disappear someday. But they still sell lots of CDs in the stores, don't they?

I wanted the Navigation system when I purchased my 2008 Taurus X. The list price of $1995 dropped to $1736 with negotiated discount - still way higher than any top commercial GPS navigation device. But I still got it. Why? Three good reasons: 1.Control other than Navigation I get a nice screen for graphical control of things like radio and display of songs even on FM, Satellite Radio scanning and settings, SYNC music on the USB and scanning libraries, car sound and system settings. For scanning selections in libraries or possible satellite stations, it's extremely nice to have the screen. It's especially nice to set the rear "Family Entertainment System" since the back riders are too young or often not familiar with the controls. I can start and stop DVDs, set each rear head phone to an appropriate source, such as DVD or Bluetooth Music, etc.. This control would be very difficult without the Nav system. The integration (below) also makes this control possible. 2. An excellent Navigation system The Ford Navigation system is NOT a $100 TomTom. The screen is much larger (double the size?) and more readable, reducing chance of distraction and crashes. Also, it's nice to have the Nav built it. With my portable, I'd have to locate it, the power supply, attach it, wait for it to locate, type in instructions. With my Nav system, the car always knows where it is instantly, and can be used conveniently and instantly at any time. The system will work on wheel and steering wheel motion when GPS is lost. So unlike my GPS, it works well in tunnels, parking decks, big cities, steep mountain roads, etc.. The only downside to Ford's Nav is the lack of a good list if POIs like my Garmin. Ford only has ~3 Million versus ~6 Million on my hand held Garmin, even though they both use Navteq's database. It's annoying when I need to find a local main store, like REI, and it's not in the Ford system. Fortunately, the address accuracy is great and very complete, so I look up addresses on my Droid now, and type that it. It alway works. Maybe soon they'll integrate that with an App. Anyway, a GPS with a similar size screen and features (if possible), such as from Garmin, would be closer to $700 or more. 3. Integration When the Navigation system needs to say a command it lowers the speaker volume - only in front. Riders in back often don't even hear the Nav commands in front. I can command it by voice, and the radio automatically lowers while I say the command. If I need to call someplace like a business listed on my Nav, it will connect to Bluetooth and call. When I use the phone, the Navigation commands will change from a loud voice to simple beeps and display. I can make a voice command for something like "Find a Chinese Restaurant", immediately while driving with business clients and don't have time to pull over and do all the portable GPS stuff, and the radio will automatically lower when I make that command. This Nav system also allows control of the rear systems and integrates many other controls for much greater ease of control and use in the car. The recent separation of price between Control other than Navigation (such as MyTouch) and the Navigation feature make sense, as each purpose are worthy values. The Integration value isn't directly priced, but it's what allows them to charge a premium and I agree to pay. It's indeed worth the price to me. Nevertheless, with technology improving so rapidly, Ford will need to keep up on their technology with things like Apps, Google address search integration, etc. and at the same time their prices will likely need to come down. (I'm peeved I still can't remotely read my tire pressures even with Vehicle Health Report. OnStar has done this for years.)

I also enjoyed the Cave report on their design, even though they were limited in what they said. All of these videos were very interesting, especially the plant tour.

I had to google Said Deep to make sure it wasn't a joke name for a spokesperson. His dad must have had his profession set out for him at birth, when picking names. Now I'll need to look for audio so see if it's indeed said deep.

The Flex is from the same platform and looks even more like the Rover. But family resembence can spread to all siblings.

You look to be complaining about just two things, the door handle and weak brakes. Most of the Google results past the first page were not relevant combinations of the words. Still it indeed appears in general that the door handles on the 2006 Fusion are lacking. It must be frustrating it must be to have all those annoying failures. Ford and/or your dealer should be doing something for you. Brakes are frequently Ford's weak spot as a company. My Taurus X was near the bottom of the list on Consumer Reports and other ratings on brakes for similar vehicles. OTOH, the difference between the top and bottom is only a few percent. In practice, I've never felt unsafe braking in the car with my family, even when heavily (over) loaded with people, camping gear, cargo boxes and four big bikes on the hitch. From your comments, I tend to agree these are areas that Ford needs to give some attention. But overall, if this is all you've got, it's not horrible. Nevertheless, I'd probably be flaming too at all the aggravating door handle failures. So far my 2008 Taurus X has been working well without flaws for 3 years now. I'm extremely happy with Ford's quality myself. I think Ford's dramatic quality improvement started right around 2006. Whenever I look at Consumer Reports quality, I see all the black circles turn into red circles about that year. You may have missed the quality ramp.

When buying my top of the line Taurus X Limited, my biggest hate was that same dammed hard plastic grained dash, which just rubbed me the wrong way. Every time I got into someone's car, I'd start feeling their dash and they were always soft and plush. The hard plastic on the Ford T-X made me feel like I was buying a kid's Walmart toy from China. I figure the grain is to reduce glare or hide dirt marks. But the hard plastic feel really turned me off. Anyway, I eventually bought the Taurus X in spite of this horrid flaw. I love the car in every other way, and have learned to live with the plastic dash. It doesn't bother me so much now.

Low Price * Low Volume * Low Margin = Neglible Business Value I justed looked up the Fiesta and it starts at $13,320. (You need to pay another $3K for cool stuff like SYNC, ambient lighting, nice sound.) Any lower price than that and one should be looking at used cars, which will be bigger and safer. Teaches one how to fix and maintain cars too. I'm personally more impressed by the Focus and Fusion which are good value for most people. I may 'cost support' my daughter to buy a Focus/Fusion in the $25K range some day, perhaps as ecoboost and Hybrids become more common and cheaper over the next few years. But she needs a few more years of pennance in my safe big old Sable wagon. And she first needs to learn about changing oil, watching the tires, and other things. When I look at the higher end Fords, I don't see any of the Platinum packages mentioned, just the Limited at best. I bought a fully loaded Taurus X Limited that is nice on features. But I always really liked the Mercury improvements in touch and feel. My T-X has hard plastic interior, OK but not great leather seats, no telescope steering wheel, and pretty crappy overall for a top of the line model. Maybe I'll need to go to Lincoln, which I always thought as an old man's car. Oh snap, I'm becoming an old man.

How does that compare to satisfaction with other brands? Sounds good, but people tend to like the car they bought. That's why they bought it. What's typical? I see: Ford's customer satisfaction scores are higher than all full-line manufacturers. And they're higher than Honda and GM, but by how close? And what happened to Toyota!! Not even in the top three?

Wow, Ford did great everywhere! Even sales of their discontinued model Taurus X increased by 1000% from February!!! Well, uh, OK, it was an increase from 1 to 11, but don't you love how statistics can lie..

WOW! SNL has guts. It's definitely the advertisement Ford would have absolutely LOVED to make if wouldn't backfire on them as insensitive and vicious. Now SNL does it for them and takes the heat while everyone gets the message. Good Job SNL!

Car Navigation systems are way behind the detached units (such as Garmin) in terms of price ($2K versus $400), technology (traffic, bluetooth, ..), and data (only 2M POIs versus 6M on my Garmin). The only advantage I've seen over hand units is that the Ford/Pioneer system can navigate without a satellite signal in garages and tunnels. Nevertheless, I bought a Navigation system anyway. I also get more voice recognition for the radio, as well as a better screen interface for radio, SYNC, and controlling the rear Family Entertainment System, etc.. That is, it's good for much more than just Nav, at which it's barely adequate. For now, I look up POIs on my Droid, then type in the address to the Ford Nav. At least most the addresses are correct, if out of date. I'm thinking in a year or two, these archaic Navigation systems and map systems will become history, especially as web interfaces become more common. My Droid already navigates great on it's high resolution screen. I also can get a satellite view, or even scroll in to see street view of the final destination from Google Maps, along with overlays of things I'm interested in seeing. Ford is busy integrating this web communication technology into cars now. My recommendation is that you don't bother updating maps at all or only when absolutely essential due to local errors. I found updates didn't improve much of my problems, and you'll just be out of some scam money. Wait for the next generation Nav system in your next car, if you can.

Every time I see Mulally I am highly impressed by every move he makes. He's a strong motivator for common world-wide unification. (The "Drive One" slogan has many meanings to Ford). He also manages with a "laser focus" - his favorite phrase. It's only appropriate the name of the first world-wide car bearing his vision is called a "Focus". Although I am highly inflammed by most CEOs outrageous salaries that look to me more legalized theft, particularly at AIG and the big banks, Mulally is one of the few CEOs I feel to be worth every penny. While researching a new car (my Taurus X), I saw and believed in Ford's major new direction a couple years ago. As a result, my 401k is now 2.5 times larger than two years ago. (I put half my retirement into Ford at $2.8 average. Still have some but sold a lot.)

A superb interview. Every time I see Mulally I am highly impressed by every move he makes. He's bubbly but clearly serious about making things work perfectly. He always knows the interviewer's name and uses it frequently with a big smile. He's a strong motivator for common world-wide unification. (The "Drive One" slogan has many meanings to Ford). He also manages with a "laser focus" - his favorite phrase. It's only appropriate the name of the first world-wide car bearing his vision is called a "Focus". Although I am highly inflammed by most CEOs outrageous salaries that look more legalized theft, like at AIG and the big banks, Mulally is one of the few CEO I feel to be worth every penny.

Since the Flex is already designed, tooled, and already heavily marketed, aren't those expenses already made? Now it's how much they get back. Doesn't the Flex share a platform with the previous Taurus X, the Taurus sedan, and the new Explorer?

And if compact cars sell even more than the Escape, by your numbers logic the Escape should be scrapped too. Soon Ford will be down to just one car that sells the most! I can't seen them cancelling the Flex as long as they can build it with good profit and no good alternative in the lineup. The reality is that the Flex serves a unique vehicle in Ford's offerings that can't be filled by other cars, with it's size, three rows, and other differences. The Flex is the closest thing to a family "people mover" vehicle outside Ford's non-existent minivan. It's the only Ford I currently see fitting my needs, for instance. Eventualy, the new Explorer may take over the Flex role. We'll see.

The smaller size of the Edge won't save you much gas, 18/25 versus 17/24 for the Flex. Go for the extra room if you need it, although I personally like the looks of the Edge over the Flex. I bought a Taurus X as I prefered the looks over the Flex, but I'm a rare wagon guy (love the versatility/handling combo). You can also wait for the all new Explorer coming in a year. It'll be in between the two in size, based on the unibody car frame, good ground clearance and towing, and have a lot of great new Ford technology as well, from super Ecoboost fuel efficiency to highly advanced SYNC electronics.

I sure wish "Helicopter Ben" was just as frugal with our country's money.

Thank goodness they're smart enough to be making this an open source app development. After seeing what people have done for my Google/Motorola Droid phone, I'm highly impressed and even awed at the new features possible. The Android 2.0 OS along with the new Applications available makes Ford SYNC's great new TDI system seem like a caveman with a rock, even though it's still way above any other automaker's system. For protection against viruses, driver safety, and interference with car operation, these apps will surely need some sort of approval and control before release, which will slow the progress down a little. But anything that dribbles out will still be light years ahead of Redmond.

I would be more upset if I couldn't update at all. I'd rather pay something to make sure they are willing to make the software upgradable.

Even though I fully understand all the numbers, I'd like both. The numbers in an information center when you want it , and an idiot warning light/chime if something needs attention. Reset on turnoff of some things like seat or rear window heaters make some sense as the weather can change between times you drive the car, and it wastes electricity at best. Others issues, like the Nav legal warning are just plain annoying. Why can't they have a more complete legal signoff when you buy the car, and then you never hit the approval again? For other drivers of your car, the original agreement could say you need to warn all other dork drivers and passengers of your car not to mess with the Nav system while they're trying to drive.

Hmm, Then maybe Ford could make a new improved super-special tire reporting sensor that actually works and doesn't cost a fortune??? Since, after all, we're saying here what we'd like to see. Please append my wish above to say "not like those other POS sensors". I'd also like the Auto Stop when Idle. I manually turn off the engine for long lights and long waits. I find it can add 1-2 MPG in city driving. But with manual start, everything in the car resets and goes blank, including cruise control On/Off, radio goes out for a few seconds during something I want to hear, the navigation needs to be given legal approval again, SYNC speaks up to say phone is disconnected (but it's not). The kids in back find the DVD stopping to be especially annoying, especially if they're using headsets as they need to be turned back on again. It would just be nice to not have all the "restart" stuff occur when stopping the engine.