OAC_Sparky

Why would Ford give away the milk for free? The 5.4L SC is what sells the Shelby, for upwards of $55,000. Offer a cheaper version you'd be shooting yourself in the foot.

This surprises you? WalMart and every other store is full of crap made in China and every other third-world country. Ever see an empty WalMart parking lot? People don't care where it comes from as long as it's cheap. Until people actually vote with their pocketbooks don't expect things to change.

Don't want to get caught up in the namecalling and crap, just my $.02 I don't think that one car makes a person any manlier than another but I think that, all things being equal, if you are the person in your household that makes the final decision on car purchases that the car you buy is a reflection of your personality, even within the category of car that you buy. Most of my car purchases weren't solely based on budget, but on what suited my needs at the time. When I bought my Topaz back in '93 because I needed a cheap family car, I bought the GS with the V6 and stick. When I needed a family mover in '99, I bought a Taurus SHO. When I needed an econobox for work in '05, I bought the Focus ST When I needed a new truck, in '08 I didn't need a full size truck; so I got a Ranger. But it's an FX4. When I wanted a toy this year, I bought a '12 GT. Not because it made me manly, but because it suits my personality. That and because finally my kids are old enough where I can afford to be impractical. If you notice, even when I bought an econobox or a generic family car I usually bought the "sport model" of each. That's my personality and driving style. We've had a couple vehicles that weren't particularly flashy nor quick; a Windstar and a Taurus wagon; I didn't feel "less manly"; after all, I have MY 4 kids in the back. I hated every minute of driving them because they were boring, handled poorly and had no balls Personally, I'd rather drive a '94 Escort or ride a bike than drive a Prius. To me that would be rock bottom. :bag:

Like this:

It depends what the tech was referring to, sometimes they're referring to test procedures in the tech manual. In a MAF, the sensor wire is heated to maintain a temperature; as air flows over the wire, it cools it dropping the resistance allowing more current to flow which in turn tells the PCM to increase fuel to the engine. If part of the tech's testing procedure is to look for voltage drop across the sensor wire (checking for open or short) then a zero voltage drop would indicate a short; a shorted MAF sensor would have zero resistance, letting more current flow; just like if a lot of air was flowing through the MAF. Therefore, it would increase the fuel to the engine.

Correct; Tuxedo Black wasn't a colour offered on the Mustang.

Technically it isn't a "pigment" that's an issue it's the "Xirallic" additive that they use to make the metallic effect that Kona Blue, Tuxedo Black and Lava Red has. It's only made by one company (Merck) and it's only made at one plant, the one in Japan. Merck plans to make a second plant to make the additive but until then even Tuxedo Black won't be available. The replacement black is not Tuxedo black.

Must be pretty uncomfortable having that cell phone with the 8" touch screen in your pocket. Can you use a cell phone? I guess. Do I want to try to strain my old eyes looking at a 3" phone screen? No.

Doesn't explain the $5000 gouge US vs Canadian prices on a Mustang GT.

LoL, what a moron. Insulted herself without even realizing it. And she thinks I'm the one who needs help. Listen sweetheart, I've been investing since before you were trying to figure out which end of a tampon to fit in first, so don't you worry about me or my finances. Just worry about your own portfolio. If you were doing that great you wouldn't need to troll Ford employee sections giving financial advice. First rule of investing: Never take advice from someone who has way less money than you. That's a freebee.

My financial planning allows me the spare cash to buy cars and watercraft. So basically STFU unless we ask you about it. Financial planners are about as welcome as Jehovas Witnesses knocking at my door. To the OP: Yes, A-Plan sucks compared to the past, and it is made even worse when you consoder the dollar. In Canada a Mustang goes A-Plan for what it retails for in the US. A UAW employee saves about $5000 over a CAW employee for the same Mustang.

Mine has been at Ramp 51 since May 9th. Welcome to the club ...

If I were you and that concerned I wouldn't get one. You're already jaded. Go get yourself something you haven't been soured on.

He can change that to a retail order.

The Bosses are not allocated like normal orders and are pulled directly by the Zone rep. What you need to find out first is what quarter your dealer has allocation in. No use checking now if your dealer has a Q4 build.

The number of GYs they can pull each week is limited by the number of 5.0s available. That is true. I ordered at the end of January and my allocation doesn't come up until March 31st. So where you're at is not unusual.

The first thing you car gets is the VIN. This is the sequence of events: > Order goes in > Wait > VIN issued and scheduled to week > Wait > Scheduled to day > Wait > Submitted to plant > Wait > Produced > Wait > Shipped > Wait > Delivered. You need the VIN BEFORE your car gets scheduled BEFORE it's submitted to the plant. Maybe they meant they "submitted the order" which doesn't go to the plant but to Ford's vehicle scheduling.

I've been saying this since we lost the cushion room that the more we outsource the more we lose control over our own plant. Ford's dug its own hole; it's not like it should be a big surprise. Remember when Lear went on strike and we were driving Windstars out of the plant with the drivers on milk crates? That should have been a clue. And they were just up the street not halfway around the world ...

Your dealer is lying to you. Your order needs a VIN to be submitted to plant (that's the start of it being built) so either it has a VIN and he's not telling it to you or it's not been actually "submitted to plant".

You missed what I said at the end, "if they had to pay for it themselves". Try to convince a kid to spend HIS money on a Taurus. If the parents are buying a kid would drive a pink Geo Metro with 4 bald tires.

You could have just stopped there. If you think that keeping customers waiting 3+ months for a car when they can get one delivered from Germany in less that time I sure hope you're cleaning shithouses and not making corporate decisions. I'm not talking about building cars to sit on the lot, these are ordered customer's vehicles. Treating customers like they don't matter is what got Ford into past trouble as much as building cars and giving them away.

Are you kidding? My neighbour can't give away his 2002 Taurus for $1200. Most teenagers would rather take the bus than drive around in a Taurus, if they had to pay the bill ...

You don't know what you're talking about. What Ford SOLD and what Ford has ORDERS FOR are two different things. Ford counts a SALE when someone pays and drives off the lot. Ford sales last month is a reflection of low inventory of last year's model. Within a 20 mile radius of me there is less than a handful of Mustangs available, they've been sold out for over a month. When people order their cars on NOV 18th 2010 and on MARCH 5th 2011 and they still don't have a VIN ASSIGNED they're going to start looking elsewhere, I've already seen 3 people cancel their orders. One was a coworker that ordered last summer, missed the cut for the '11s and waited 2 months for some movement on a '12. One guy cancelled and bought a Camaro off the lot (because you go to any GM dealer they have 5 in stock). One guy cancelled his order, bought a discounted '11. Ford lost out on a bigger sale (ie profit). A Mustang isn't a necessity, nor is it the only game in town A Mustang is an emotional sometimes impulse purchase, when a customer waits 3 months for his order and still doesn't have a build date there is something wrong.

Your car sounds exactly likethe one I have on order except that my OTT stripes are black.

The truth is that there are not a lot of young people out there that can (1) afford the $30k+ in the US (and$40k+ in Canada!) and can (2) afford the insurance on one. 95% of the "kids" I see on the Mustang forums that own one didn't pay for them; it was a highschool or college grad present from a rich parent or grandparent. I have a '12 GT on order. Moderately optioned out with tax in Canada it stickers for nearly $50k after taxes. But you know what the kicker is? The insurance is LESS than what I pay on my '05 Focus. Why? Demographics and safety; more young people can only afford Focuses so the accident rate is higher. And when a Focus does get into an accident it's more likely to have major damage and more likely for someone to get hurt.