chefduane

...and also never heard of Roman Polanski.

+1 on tbone's assessment. You can't just terminate somebody because of a bad review. In our litigious corporate environments its actually VERY hard to terminate somebody for marginal performance. A verbal warning comes first (with notes taken by the manager and copied to HR) then a first written warning typically with some type of performance intervention plan, then a 30 followup on that, THEN if performance does not improve, another written warning. Usually 2 warnings with the 3 being a termination notice. All this has to be documented to HR in great detail. I'm sure you guys know all this but I used to work for a global telecom firm (Chef is a second career) and was involved in too many terminations that I want to admit to. Telecom was pretty cut throat in those days and CWA was very active and involved in cases of wrongful termination. We had one guy who was terminated FOR CAUSE and 90 days later showed up as a consultant in another part of the company. We found out and he was escorted out by police.

My '11 Limited AWD has the IOLM and I go 5k between changes, I have it set to 5k and the indicator starts to pop up at about 4500 miles. If I'm over or under 250+/- miles I don't worry about it, I just reset it to 5k and drive on. I use Mobil-1 5w-20 per Ford spec, and a Mobil-1 filter. Our Texas highs get into the 100's regularly and our lows can dip into the 30's maybe 20's occasionally. Most all of my driving is in town commuting with some highway.

Yes. Terminating employees due to cost cutting is probably the issue. They probably will get some type of severance package depending upon years of service, seniority, etc. That is a MUCH more viable way for management to shed labor costs than do performance based terminations. Even if the packages cost more in the short term.

+1^ Were the marginally performing employees told in their annual performance reviews last year that unless performance improves they were subject to termination? A wholesale firing of employees sure sounds like lawsuit waiting to happen. And it's a heck of a message to send to remaining staff. And talk about a morale buster. Tesla management surely put them on an improvement plan and let them work towards acceptable quality standards before determining they weren't improving and were possibly going to be terminated. I mean, its VERY DIFFICULT to terminate marginally performing employees at a large company these days, especially one that is unionized. There has to be some type of program to address issues before termination. Is Tesla unionized? Does anyone know?

There are some complaints over in the Edge group but no big outrage. And yes, considering that Ford has sold almost 1.2m since '06 it doesn't seem to be that big of an issue. However, I understand that if the seat gives you pain, it gives you pain. Decision time.

I did find that kind of funny also, as if you could simply bolt up a flathead into a GM drivetrain. Also, I found it a little hard to believe that Harry Bennett squared off, guns drawn, with the former FBI guy (can recall his name.) And Bennett's office looked to be in a parking structure. And IIRC the Edsel was introduced in '59 the same year I was born. While I understood that it was ill timed for the market, grossly over styled, and overpriced, my perception was that it actually was a pretty solid and well engineered car. I could be wrong on that as I have no direct experience with the Edsel.

Watched a 4 (maybe 5) hour special last night called "Cars that Made America." Very interesting historical background on Ford, Chrysler, the Dodge bros, and Sloan at GM. Presented as a historical accounting and probably pretty true to form but I was a bit skeptical on some aspects. All in all pretty interesting. I know most of you all are more in tune with the history of the industry than I and am interested in some opinions from you guys.

All it takes is a OBD-II reader available at any auto parts store. Plug it in and get the code(s). Then type it in your favorite search engine.

^ That's exactly my position. I had 2 really nice Honda Accord sedans right in a row after college. Then I went to a '92 Explorer. Then a '98 Explorer, now an '11 Edge. I'll never drive another sedan unless it's my wife's LS430. (MUCH nicer than an Accord BTW.)

"...they didn't have a mechanic available to check codes?" Huh? I'm a chef and I can pull codes and check what they mean. Doesn't take a mechanic.

Any number of things could cause that. Did you pull any codes? That would be the first thing to do.

https://lucidmotors.com/car That thing looks like Gort from "The Day the Earth Stood Still" or even maybe a Cylon from "Battlestar Galactica."

I've never been around a Conestoga Wagon, but I know what one is.

Are manufacturers phasing out the PRNDL gearshifter? I've heard of the rotary selectors on some of the euros, and I remember Edsel had the steering column mounted pushbutton selector. Years ago I knew a buddy who had a Valiant (or some Chrysler product) that had pushbuttons mounted on the left side of the dash. But is the traditional PRNDL shift lever slowly going away? And I've seen some of the blank stares I get from millenials, etc, when car guys mention 'three on the tree.' Maybe the term 'gearshifter' will soon go the same way.

Not sure if I like the 'scalloped' look of the headlights. They kinda' look like gills. Its got a weird smiling fishmouth look to it. ...little creepy, prolly gonna' have nightmares now. From the B-pillar back its pretty generic Japanese sedan-ish. Tucked in exhaust is a nice touch tho. Just took another look at the interior... uhh.. where's the PRNDL selector? No gear shift lever?

Agree. All that front end fascia work just looks rather odd. Rest of the car looks pretty nice, tho. As a much younger man I owned a couple of new Accords, leased them. I will say they were damn nice cars and pretty bulletproof.

I like that term "over styled" and agree completely. But the 25-35yr over-bearded full sleeve tattoo and high & tight crew cut crowd will probably love it. (Nothing against over-bearded full sleeved tattoo high & tight crew cut types but, hey, talk about "over styled!")

Looks like the headlights are, in fact, molded into the grey plastic that also forms the wheel well. The little slice lens above looks to be the turn signal (I think.) The DRL's and maybe fogs look to be in the lower fascia. At least that's how it looks to me. It does kinda' look like a Subaru - wonder if its available in AWD. EDIT: ..just took a closer look at the rear pic. Its badged 4WD.

If the desire is to buy an '18 then use the order guide which clearly lists all the bells and whistles available with pricing. Print it out (the link is in #4), highlight the build configuration you want, price it out, go to the dealership and ask the salesman to order it. Isn't that the same thing? If the desire is to use a Ford 'build and price' software tool then you have to buy a '17. And the salesman will be credited with the sale regardless of whether the paperwork is for an ordered '18 or a '17 taken out of inventory (his or another dealer's). I mean, you're asking a business to sell a product that is not yet available and you want them to provide the software tools to configure it before it is available. For example, if a guy comes in at 10am and wants to order dinner, I'll provide him my dinner menu, take his order, and let him know that his dinner order will be ready at 6pm. But right now I'm serving brunch. If you want brunch have a seat!

Yes, but you can do a 2017 build and price to give you a general idea of pricing and the go to a dealership and ask "do you have or can you swap for this configuration?" And most people do not order a car, they buy off the lot or do a dealer swap. And it makes no business sense for any company to provide a tool to build and price a product that cannot be bought from existing inventory when the objective is to liquidate said existing inventory as expeditiously as possible. I mean, if I have 500 yo-yo's that I need to sell asap, why would I provide a mechanism to build and price a yo-yo that is not one of those 500? Also, the manufacturer/dealer business relationship model is unique in the retail sales segment. Contrary to what some might think, FMC does listen to their dealer network. Dealers might be VERY annoyed if their corporate partner was undermining their current model year sales by providing a mechanism for the consumer to order a product not on the lot. (see post #4)

'77 here. Took the Maverick to the prom. Afterwards my date and I parked at the approach end of Fullerton (Ca) Municipal Airport... and the rest is history!

The only 2dr AWD that is selling worth a darn is the Subaru Impreza Coupe. Subaru is up 12% YoY (autonews.com) and looks to be on track for the rest of '17. Subaru's boxer engine/AWD drivetrain is considered to be bullet proof by many, and lots of outdoorsy types swear by them. And they seem to be pretty tough cars in general. I'd never buy one but lotsa' folks do. US manufacturers typically stay with what they do best - and AWD coupes ain't it. Anybody remember the Audi Quattro?

Go Army, Beat Navy! Welcome from a former Coastie!

... and a number of folks were actually PAID to design and engineer those things!