Andrew L

Maybe a year just to see if Navigator was holding steady or not. I appreciate it!

AFAIK 2013-2015 didn't have this issue.

Doing stuff like this with LCD displays is cool and I appreciate it. The only thing I can say in regards to older style gauges is I do miss the creativity for example the gauge cluster in my Aviator has a really cool effect where when it's off you see nothing but when you turn it on the numbers are LED lit cool white and the needles look like red lasers giving it a really cool 3D effect. I do miss the cool 3D effect some gauge clusters had. Another fun one was the 90s and early 2000s Continental which also had laser light needles but the numbers would reflect off the glass over them. Also always loved the full digital ones from the 80s and 90s. I am a sucker for 80s tech aesthetics though.

It was fun for me too, I like making excel sheets and comparing numbers. Have you made one that compares the large luxury SUVs at all? I am curious if Grand Wagoneer has cut into Navigator sales at all. I looked at the numbers and saw it passed Navigator but I wasn't sure if Navigator has been losing sales to it. I am sure there is a trend there though.

The 3.5 regular and 3.5 EcoBoost and 3.7 in FWD form only have internal water pumps if they fail and you don't catch it in time you need a new engine. If you do catch it in time its a partial engine disassembly to get it done. It's not a cheap fix at all. The 2.0T had coolant intrusion issues I am not sure if that has been fixed yet or not but apparently in 2015 or 2016 they changed the design and if you get coolant intrusion you need a new engine no ifs ands or buts. Ask my friend who had a 2018 MKZ. 69k miles and his car needs a new engine, Ford/Lincoln were not willing to help out at all he was 1 month past warranty but still under the miles. All of this stuff has shaken my faith in Ford. They are still my preferred brand but I have to really think carefully if I do buy another car. Thankfully that won't be anytime soon, I am very happy with my current fleet.

Same here it's disheartening to see Ford always at the top with recalls. I know I am going to sound like a broken record but it's also disheartening to see so many issues with their engines like the 3.5/3.7 and 2.0 in the groups and other forums I am in. I know you typically hear more issues than praise in those groups but it's pretty constant with the engine issues.

I appreciate you keeping those spreadsheets going with the sales numbers. I did it for quite a while on GMI but it's tedious especially with GM switching to quarterly.

Ford recalling 456,565 US vehicles over loss of drive power, NHTSA says | Reuters

It also helps those who might be buying their first new car or something that can fit their budget. I get inflation is a huge part of the blame but there are a lot of folks out there who cannot afford 400-450 a month payments on a new car who would prefer something new even if it is base trim. Then there are some that just love the look of a base model think of the Bronco when it launched, I know of a few who loved the steelies on them.

I thought Mustang was confirmed to be around in its current from till at least 2028

I agree. Right along the lines with what I was saying in the other thread that Ford needs to stop acting like they are a premium brand and offer more base models and lower pricing.

That front end is a bit busy. Wheels look good though

From my time in the Taurus Club it really was hit or miss on the AX4N. However the AX4N was far better than the AX4S which had a higher failure rate. AX4N you have to be pretty strict with the servicing. I had a 99 Sable with the AX4N and it went 140k miles without it needing to be replaced. I was a dumb kid who drove it hard too when my mom passed it on to my as my first car with about 75k miles. I traded it in for an LS but when I did it still ran great. Continentals have a V8 with far more power and torque than the Duratec V6 I had in mine which was rated at 200/200. Continentals of that era are 275/275. AFIAK the FWD version of the 4.6 is pretty solid. One thing you will have to look out for is the air suspension. Me personally, I would keep it on air since it will ride worlds better but I know a lot of them have been converted to coils so they would no longer have to fix the air bags if they went bad. I have known a few people who had those Continentals and really liked them, they are FWD though so if you are hell bent on how a Crown Vic drives it may feel different to you and you may not like it. I would say give it a test drive and see if you like it and keep those things in mind. I am sure others who have owned one can chime in on anything else.

I never understood why the Focus split after it was introduced in NA. You'd think they would have stayed joined at the hip. The 2nd gen that we never got in the US was a really nice car. Instead we got that weirdly styled one. If only DEW98 was allowed to go on more products like it was originally planned it might not have been a money pit. Even though my MKZ I have now is probably 10x the car my old LS was I still miss my LS. Always put a smile on my face when I drove it always makes me wonder what could have been if it got a true 2nd generation.

It also explains why they get hot about Lincoln then cold then hot again and back to cold. I wish they would allow the brand to have some more autonomy so it could grow. Part of the issue with PAG too was the brands were sucking money bad like Jaguar and Land Rover, they had to go. Ford lost so much money with little to no return on them. I always felt like Volvo was fine and worth keeping but who knows.

When I was helping my friend shop for a new car the Lincoln dealer near me only had 3 new Nautilus on the lot the rest was mostly Corsair and Aviator. Only a few Navigators too. Granted this is a very small stand alone Lincoln dealership. I haven't been by the larger one that's part of Autonation yet. When the Aviator was released they got a decent amount in, I remember they had the whole front area lined up with them.

It is possible it could fit but the fenders were redesigned in the refresh so it might be off by a little. If you cannot get one from a dealership or Ford parts your best bet would be a junk yard. You can search local junk yards using car-part.com and try to hunt down a 17-20 MKZ that may have been rear ended.

If it's like the MKZ it's really tucked up there pretty far back. Might have to look deeper.

There are handful of Model S in my neighborhood but most of the Teslas I have seen in my neighborhood are 3s so that makes sense, price is also a big factor.

I think CyberTruck was just to shout "look at me" so far the reviews all say it's lousy at being a truck. I saw a 2nd one the other day on my way home and as I mentioned in another thread it's even more hideous in person. Are there any plans to redesign the rest of the lineup? Model S is getting pretty long in the tooth design wise.

To be fair the Maverick has only been out for 2 years we don't know how reliable they are just yet. The 2.0 EcoBoost has had issues and granted I hope to God Ford has fixed that issue because otherwise it could cause issues. The other thing too is it's built on a car chassis so it's not really like a 90s Ranger (aside from size) which was built on a body on frame chassis. I imagine the hybrid should be just fine since Ford's hybrids have been reliable. I think the Maverick is a solid product don't get me wrong but it does get pricey once you start optioning it out. I wish Ford had some more lower end offerings though the Maverick is the only sub 25k vehicle which was the point I was trying to make. An Escape and Bronco Sport is nearly 30k to start and they are built on the same chassis.

They showed that Navigator K concept for the 2nd gen and should have built it, would have helped it compete with the Escalade for sure. FE would have been atrocious though even more so than the standard Navigator so that might have been why they didn't. Otherwise I agree with you the 2nd gen was a very handsome SUV and still is, it really needed more power though to compete.

If I leave my office during rush hour instead of 30 mins early like I normally do then there are portions of 275 that get backed up at every exit. The weird thing is it's the left lane that slows down to almost a complete stop while the right lane moves at around 30 or so MPH. Lots of people use the far right exit lane to pass by and cut in at the last second but even then it still moves faster than the left lane. But I agree with you it's infuriating to see someone cut in even when you give no room.

1. You asked and I provided and answer... Yes different brands do different things but we are talking about Ford being in a segment they have been in forever and just dropping it all together because they apparently made no profit on it at all. 2. Taurus used basically the same chassis since 1986 to 2007 with it being revised in 1996. I am not confusing profits with sales I am willing to bet the development for the chassis was already paid off I am sure they were making profit on the Taurus and Sable. Granted by 2003 it was long in the tooth and in dire need of an update but it would be silly to state they made no profit on it. Fusion did a far better job when it was introduced because it was spread across 4 brands as opposed to 2 (Yes I know Continental was also on the Taurus chassis but it was a very different vehicle). 3. I never said Ford CANT sell higher priced vehicles but I am stating they need more value oriented products. They are missing the mission statement of Henry Ford wanting to build a car everyone could afford. I am in NO WAY suggesting they make no profit but come on they only have 1 product that starts under 25k and that's the Maverick. I can't tell you how many people I have talked to that said they love the idea of a Maverick but they are not spending that kind of money a small vehicle. Also to be clear I am not blaming a company because they are "not building what I like" I am criticizing them for giving up on products they sold here in the US but still sell elsewhere in the world. I read the book American Icon which was about Mulally's time as Ford's CEO and one part of the book that really stuck out in my head was when Mulally sat on the floor and made a huge chart of every Ford product and what platform they were built on and it was a mess. They had products like the Falcon that had its own dedicated platform in Australia and it was shared with nothing else. He had them consolidate so much and it really helped turn the company around. I am sure you know this and don't need a history lesson but my point that I am trying to get across here is if they should be selling products they build elsewhere here as well it would help lower costs and drive up profits while retaining customers and not losing them to foreign brands. Look Chevy still sells the Malibu they sold 130k of them in 2023 up from 115k in 2022 those numbers aren't huge but it's better than 0. Are we going to say the Malibu makes 0 profit? If so why does Chevy keep making it and selling it here? Mondeo is only sold in China now, they sold 59,868 in 2022. Is there enough profit there to justify that? What if they sold it in the US as well and managed to sell 100k of them? Wouldn't that make it better? I want Ford to succeed but I want them to stop leaving segments just cause "Not enough profit" They have the ability to make it work but I feel like they don't want to do it and just focus on their trucks. Aside from sedans Edge is another example of them giving up on a segment. And in terms of big profits I really think Ford needs to start taking Lincoln seriously again and put an effort into giving them more product. To go back to what I was saying before about Ford acting like a premium brand... you can sell Lincolns at a higher price than Fords and get away with it. When you see Fords with 70 to 80k price tags you get sticker shock and hear people say "that much for a FORD?".

Well Excursion was bigger than the Suburban but the Hummer definitely got it as well on the GM side for sure. Excursion has a serious cult following now.