jcartwright99
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jcartwright99 last won the day on December 20 2022
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This seems to be the case of Ford chasing the tails of Wall Street to increase their stock price. Meanwhile, Wall Street is just going bananas on buzz words and shiny objects that sound cool. Most everyone here understood it was going to be a phased migration to electric vehicles and hybrids were going to be the bridge. Yet Wall Street listened to the carnival barker Musk. GM and Ford took the bait. In my opinion, Toyota had the best strategy. Look at their lineup. I think they have a hybrid in every segment.
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I know the strike probably pushed the date but haven't heard much about the Ranger for 2024. Did the OTB get issued. I have seen 0 in inventory so I am assuming they haven't started leaving the plant. Any update?
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This isn’t a new problem. Every year we here stories like this. GT350’s and Explorers one year. Crime rings exist and with bare minimum security on these lots, it’s a the low hanging fruit. i just never understood stood why parking garages near me have spike barriers to prevent you from leaving to ensure they get your 20 bucks but automakers can’t do this for $80,000 vehicles. Seems like the, “we’ve always done it this way” excuse.
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UAW Demands 46% Pay Hike
jcartwright99 replied to ice-capades's topic in Ford Motor Company Discussion Forum
Because they want to pay you the least amount they can get away with....for the "shareholders" -
Official '24 Ford Ranger NA Release
jcartwright99 replied to ANTAUS's topic in Ford Motor Company Discussion Forum
Just watched in depth detail review from TFL on Raptor version. For 56k, it seems like a bargain. I know, I know… nobody will pay that price in the end. -
My Ford Conundrum
jcartwright99 replied to jcartwright99's topic in Ford Motor Company Discussion Forum
You know and I know that is the case. However, their policy will take some strong arming from me to get that back. It was one of a handful of dealerships in a 150 mile radius of me that guaranteed MSRP pricing. A lot has changed in regards to new car inventory since last September. Unfortunately, the Maverick supply/demand hasn't changed much. -
My Ford Conundrum
jcartwright99 replied to jcartwright99's topic in Ford Motor Company Discussion Forum
I will probably keep the order. If I decide to walk, I will lose 500 bucks which is not ideal but I'll get over it. I don't want to eat too much money for these 3-4 months of renting the Suburu. The Suburu seems like a good car if you don't care about NVH, and just more about fuel economy, space and value. -
Last September I put in an order for a Maverick Lariat Tremor. Dealership agreed to sell at MSRP of just a tick over 36k. I had a 2017 Ford Fusion Titanium with 115k, that was in very good shape and very reliable so I was in no rush for a new vehicle. I knew when I ordered it, that it would be a while before I saw it. No big deal! That was the case until it wasn't. I ended up rear ending a car at a stop light. Totally my fault as the light turned green, I started to accelerate, got distracted by my son for a second and everyone stopped. Hit the SUV in front of me going around 10. Everyone was fine. My car had front end damage but completely drivable. To my untrained eye, it looked like the only thing that got damaged mechanically, was the A/C condenser. Other than I warning on my dash saying the hood wasn't latched properly, no warning lights. I decided to take my car to a body shop that my insurance recommended. They decided to total it. Somehow my car had 14k worth of damage. They cut me a check for 16,500 finally after jumping through what felt like a million hoops. Interesting enough, I got my build date email for June 19th. Excited for build date but not excited I needed a car now. There were really only two vehicles that Ford had that I had interest in. The Bronco and Edge. No need to discuss Bronco as we all know the issues there. The Edge is essentially the same vehicle is was in 2012 with a newish interior, I really didn't want one but looked into it. Only on 2022 models were there special interest rates and there was no inventory other than fully loaded models. in the upper 40/lower 50s. I read and heard stories that the used car market was bad as far as pricing, inventory, and condition of vehicles. After everything I saw, it was all true. I won't bore you with the details but from what I saw, 90% of the used cars were trash and the other 10% was massively overpriced. After spending 4 full days looking for 12 hours straight each day in the Greater Chicago land area, I ended up with a very basic 2017 Suburu Forester. Best condition vehicle I found, in the range I was looking to spend. It is a base model so huge downgrade from an amenities/option perspective. However, it fits me and my son with all our gear perfectly. Here is my conundrum. Do I sell/trade the Subaru when Maverick gets delivered, gambling taking a loss on purchase or just cancel my order (which I can do and get my deposit back until it gets built)?
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Motor Trend TFL Offroad The reviews I've read so far, fall in line with what I expected. A very competent soft road pick up for moderately tricky terrain. Not a rock crawler. It's main drawback will be departure angle on aggressive terrain but that is to be expected for the most part since it has a bed. Based on what I had read about it previously, it seemed like it would be the Maverick model to suit my needs. I ordered a Lariat Tremor with a few options for 36k. Based on what I've seen and read today, am glad I ordered it.
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Brewing Automotive Financial Crisis
jcartwright99 replied to 2005Explorer's topic in Ford Motor Company Discussion Forum
Sorry to hear that. Hourly jobs can be rough when you’re sick or situations arise where you can’t work. Sounds like you are playing it smart though. Hang in there! -
Brewing Automotive Financial Crisis
jcartwright99 replied to 2005Explorer's topic in Ford Motor Company Discussion Forum
During the housing crisis, things were different. You could get a house with little to no money down. Put that along with interest only loans and adjustable arm loans on massively inflated prices. People didn't sink much into them and then payments went way up and housing values went way down. I know several that walked away or short sold their homes. Was it bad for their credit score? Yes. Did FICO and other scores lessen the impact of that on credit scores during that time since so many people were experiencing this? Yes, if they didn't ease it up a bit we would of mostly would of added several years to that recession. They all were fine after about 4/5 years. Each now owns a home. Back on topic though, I see it as bunch of things all adding up to people making poor decisions during a strange time. Cars, houses, Peletons, etc. Add that to government handing out thousands of dollars to families. Unemployment benefits that were increased 25-50%. The whole pandemic was the FOMO (Fear of missing out). Whether it was toilet paper, food, school supplies, Christmas trees, cars, homes....the media (remember, everyone was stuck at home either watching TV or on the internet) made it a frenzy and the government helped pick up the tab. People kept up that habit as the pandemic was easing up and as supplies for a lot of things was still lower than usual. There is no such thing as a free lunch though and now we are paying the price for it. People are furiously trying to flip homes and cars, before the bottom fully drops out. This is what will cause Carvana to go bankrupt. They perpetuated the inflated car pricing problem. Not by using already inflated auction prices but by beating auction prices by 10% so people would sell their cars there and boost their inventory. So then they could further mark them up and inflate prices. In short, 2023 is going to be a tough year for those that overextended themselves in 2020-22. Expect a lot of people to get their cars repod. -
Brewing Automotive Financial Crisis
jcartwright99 replied to 2005Explorer's topic in Ford Motor Company Discussion Forum
That's great in theory, however if you lose your job that may not be possible. Layoffs are happening, don't let the unemployment numbers fool you. It's one thing to make good money, have a bunch of cash saved, and be wealthy to have overpaid for a car because you could and wanted it now. It's an entirely different story, when you just make ok money, have no savings, and a pile of debt, yet pay more than MSRP. Those folks are already redlining it and any sort of uptick (read inflation) in expenses can turn their lives upside down. I'd imagine these are the folks that are struggling right now. They can try and sell their car but are underwater now, after 2 years of being able to sell your used car close to what you paid for it. Would you rather pay for housing/food or an over priced car note? And yes, a lot of Americans are stupid with their money.....YOLO!!!! -
Brewing Automotive Financial Crisis
jcartwright99 replied to 2005Explorer's topic in Ford Motor Company Discussion Forum
Didn’t see this one coming at all! How big of a crap storm, i don’t know but it’s pretty clear some folks are about to be in a world of hurt. My anecdotal evidence I’ve seen is vehicles are flooding FB marketplace, craigslist, and auto trader from owners that don’t own their cars. When Carvana goes bankrupt, it’s just going to get worse. And yes, that’s almost guaranteed to happen. Why anyone thought on paying over sticker for a commodity vehicle was a good idea I will never understand. I get supply and demand , but from what I’ve seen most people that were buying weren’t necessarily buying for need. -
2023 Maverick Tremor
jcartwright99 replied to silvrsvt's topic in Ford Motor Company Discussion Forum
So after staring at the order guide for an hour, I suddenly started to feel sick. I felt like I needed to leave work. I may have used the word headache but ditched out of work early to put in an order. Hot Pepper Lariat, 2.0 AWD with Tremor package, spray in bed liner, and copilot 360. A hair over 36k. I’m sure I’ll see it 8 months.