Ford November 2011 Sales up 13%, Retail up 20%

[BlackHorse]

I believe the Taurus was the first car to have integrated, plastic wrap around bumpers front and rear that changed the looks of cars so much forever that everyone soon copied. I believe Mulally talked about that being one reason among many why he joined Ford. He remembered that vehicle and was impressed with that wraparound, integrated bumpers. Up to then, bumpers looked like fricking cowcatchers on locomotives.

 

Not even close.

 

 

1982

 

 

 

1986

 

 

But hey he was only wrong by 4 years.

[RichardJensen]

Trust me. Mulally didn't join Ford because of the frickin' bumpers on the '86 Taurus.

[jpd80]

The '86 Taurus wasn't the first aero vehicle, the first vehicle with flush headlamps, or the first vehicle with no grille, but it was the first successful vehicle.

With all respect to the coming CD4 cars, I don't think you could do another "'86 Taurus" break away car

but gee, wouldn't it be great if Ford just decided to do something magic by getting out in front and leading...

[RichardJensen]

With all respect to the coming CD4 cars, I don't think you could do another "'86 Taurus" break away car

but gee, wouldn't it be great if Ford just decided to do something magic by getting out in front and leading...

Nah. The CD4s won't be Taurus revolutionary. I was just attempting to inject a bit of historic context to my skepticism regarding EU design.

[Anthony]

I believe the Taurus was the first car to have integrated, plastic wrap around bumpers front and rear that changed the looks of cars so much forever that everyone soon copied. I believe Mulally talked about that being one reason among many why he joined Ford. He remembered that vehicle and was impressed with that wraparound, integrated bumpers. Up to then, bumpers looked like fricking cowcatchers on locomotives.

 

1984 Audi 5000 (which many see as an "early version" of the Taurus)

 

 

Heck, Ford's own Thunderbird had wrap around bumpers back in 83:

 

 

Edit: Just saw all the responses to this above...not trying to rub your face in it.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Intrepidatious

[RichardJensen]

1984 Audi 5000 (which many see as an "early version" of the Taurus)

Yeah. People who didn't work at Ford, who never saw the design notes for the Taurus, and who are completely oblivious to the family resemblance between the Taurus and Tempo.

 

Ford designers freely admit copying MB & Audi switchgear. The exterior? All Ford.

[jpd80]

Why do people keep trying to link D3 with Ancient Volvo platforms?

it's clearly a highly evolved design by now and shares nothing with early vehicles from Volvo.

Edited December 6, 2011 by jpd80

[Noah Harbinger]

Oh you mean like advanced front and side airbags, vehicle stability control, traction control, anti-lock brakes, electronic brake force distribution, brake assist, smart stop technology, crash crumple zones and break away engine mounts?

 

Oh wait, the Corolla has all of those. lol

 

Oooh it just hit me what the Corolla looks like: The SunFire.

 

 

[BlackHorse]

Oooh it just hit me what the Corolla looks like: The SunFire.

 

 

 

 

Yep, it kinda does. But unlike the Focus it doesn't shudder and rattle like a cheap POS and if it did I would take it to Toyota where they would fix it, not tell me "That's how the car is supposed to run." like Ford did. lmao

Edited December 7, 2011 by BlackHorse

[NickF1011]

like one Ford dealership did and then I didn't feel like going to another dealership to give them the opportunity to make it right

 

Is that more accurate?

[Edstock]

"That's how the car is supposed to run." like Ford did. lmao

Funny, you don't sound like you're "lmao" — you sound really bitter and pissed-off with yourself. That's understandable.

 

But then again, you have a 4-speed to keep you happy, now, so it all works out. Shift on.

 

 

 

[PREMiERdrum]

Is that more accurate?

 

Nick, you should know by now that every Ford dealer sucks and blames the customer, while the glistening "T" on the front of his world-beater Corolla is a sure guarantee of a perfect dealership experience no matter where he goes. Toyota's unmatched dealer network offers free Surf & Turf in the waiting room, a Unicorn petting zoo for the kiddies, and a "Customer Lounge" massage parlor complete with happy endings.

 

I was on his side for a while, but yesterday's statement in the 2013 Dart thread that his Corolla was better than anything Ford (or Dodge) has on the road told me enough:

 

[Kev-Mo]

Why is everyone trashing Blackhorse? Do you think he made this up? Do you think someone spends >$20k on a car and then does not try to like it? Pretty simple: He spent a lot of his hard earned money, bought a car that he was not satisfied with, tried to get the selling dealer to service it, was not satisfied with the result, then decided to get something else. I'm no stranger to buying cars and I can see how this can easily happen. Of course, you can't please everyone all the time, and I would rather walk than drive a Toyota, but to tell someone that their experiences are not valid is simply wrong.

[akirby]

Why is everyone trashing Blackhorse? Do you think he made this up? Do you think someone spends >$20k on a car and then does not try to like it? Pretty simple: He spent a lot of his hard earned money, bought a car that he was not satisfied with, tried to get the selling dealer to service it, was not satisfied with the result, then decided to get something else. I'm no stranger to buying cars and I can see how this can easily happen. Of course, you can't please everyone all the time, and I would rather walk than drive a Toyota, but to tell someone that their experiences are not valid is simply wrong.

 

His experience was perfectly valid and totally sucked. That's not the issue.

 

Claiming that ALL focus transmissions were like his and they were all flawed and on top of that claiming that his Corolla was better than any Focus was simply absurd.

[NickF1011]

Why is everyone trashing Blackhorse? Do you think he made this up? Do you think someone spends >$20k on a car and then does not try to like it? Pretty simple: He spent a lot of his hard earned money, bought a car that he was not satisfied with, tried to get the selling dealer to service it, was not satisfied with the result, then decided to get something else. I'm no stranger to buying cars and I can see how this can easily happen. Of course, you can't please everyone all the time, and I would rather walk than drive a Toyota, but to tell someone that their experiences are not valid is simply wrong.

 

Taking a bath on the value of a new vehicle by not even attempting to take it to another dealer deserves some criticism in my opinion. :shrug: Does the selling dealer also deserve criticism? Sure. Does Ford deserve criticism? Sure. But at least give them a proper opportunity to fix the dang thing before cursing the vehicle, the company, and every future customer they get.

[Edstock]

Well, he says he's "lmao", so I guess he's OK about it, but maybe he's just confused. Strange sense of humor, though. Unusual grasp of logic, too.

[FordBuyer]

Why is everyone trashing Blackhorse? Do you think he made this up? Do you think someone spends >$20k on a car and then does not try to like it? Pretty simple: He spent a lot of his hard earned money, bought a car that he was not satisfied with, tried to get the selling dealer to service it, was not satisfied with the result, then decided to get something else. I'm no stranger to buying cars and I can see how this can easily happen. Of course, you can't please everyone all the time, and I would rather walk than drive a Toyota, but to tell someone that their experiences are not valid is simply wrong.

 

 

Uh, the dude came on here and waxed euphorically about how great his new Focus is (it's been on quite a few 10 best lists this past month or so) for about 3 months or so. Now he talks about trading it in for $13,000 and not much is right about it and now wants to tell this board that a Toyota Corolla is a better vehicle. Talk about going full circle. Most on here told him to demand a new trans, but I guess he would rather bad mouth the vehicle on pro Ford forum than actually do the hard work and get the thing fixed to his satisfaction or go to court and get his money back. Anyway, anyone who buys a first year all new vehicle is a guinea pig in my book. I bet you the 2013 Focus is much more reliable than this MY, and even a new Focus built now is much more reliable than one built first three months or so. Even then, most of the fixes are available at your dealer. However, going to dealer is always a hassle in many ways and if you are patient and wait for factory to make its corrections, you can avoid al lot of the dealership hassle. I do feel sorry for you guys with brand new vehicles with all the gizmos. My 2002 Taurus just turned 9 and NOT ONE recall so far. Only TSB I'm aware of is improperly sealed fan motor that I had taken care of under warranty. It pays to be patient and wait for exceptionally reliable vehicle like the 2002 Taurus or Fusion.

[FordBuyer]

Taking a bath on the value of a new vehicle by not even attempting to take it to another dealer deserves some criticism in my opinion. :shrug: Does the selling dealer also deserve criticism? Sure. Does Ford deserve criticism? Sure. But at least give them a proper opportunity to fix the dang thing before cursing the vehicle, the company, and every future customer they get.

 

 

Maybe I'm out of the loop now, but if dealer can't satisfy you, I thought you could get customer rep out from Ford Motor and in some cases Ford itself would try to remedy the problem. I know of some GM customers around here not satisfied, and vehicles were actually sent to GM Tech Center to be fixed. Sometimes dealer service department is stumped and then manufacturer takes over. Some Ford dealers are better at fixing major problems better than others also. I know Bill Brown Ford in Livonia has the equipment to even pull the cab off of F-350, but smaller Ford dealer by me couldn't even attempt something like that. I can see auto owners with vehicles out of warranty having chronic problems that are never really fixed, but under warranty the onus falls on owner ultimately. Being able to articulate your problem, and then being insistent enough to get it fixed.

[tncruiser]

this post is about how ford are up in sales

i have no comment except to say i am proud to be one of the purchasers that helped for boost their sales

this is my 8th new ford product and it made by an American co. with no federal $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

now regulatons thats a different story

brianj

2012 explorer

just liven life in eat tn. or where ever my Motorhome (2010 f53 chassis)

and explorer take me

Edited December 7, 2011 by tncruiser

[BlackHorse]

Uh, the dude came on here and waxed euphorically about how great his new Focus is (it's been on quite a few 10 best lists this past month or so) for about 3 months or so. Now he talks about trading it in for $13,000 and not much is right about it and now wants to tell this board that a Toyota Corolla is a better vehicle. Talk about going full circle. Most on here told him to demand a new trans, but I guess he would rather bad mouth the vehicle on pro Ford forum than actually do the hard work and get the thing fixed to his satisfaction or go to court and get his money back. Anyway, anyone who buys a first year all new vehicle is a guinea pig in my book. I bet you the 2013 Focus is much more reliable than this MY, and even a new Focus built now is much more reliable than one built first three months or so. Even then, most of the fixes are available at your dealer. However, going to dealer is always a hassle in many ways and if you are patient and wait for factory to make its corrections, you can avoid al lot of the dealership hassle. I do feel sorry for you guys with brand new vehicles with all the gizmos. My 2002 Taurus just turned 9 and NOT ONE recall so far. Only TSB I'm aware of is improperly sealed fan motor that I had taken care of under warranty. It pays to be patient and wait for exceptionally reliable vehicle like the 2002 Taurus or Fusion.

 

Thats because it was a good car for about three months and yes I did make a concerted effort to have the transmission problem fixed because I did like the car. But the transmission got worse and worse the longer I owned the car with the rattling and the shuddering and for those of you who want to pretend that the transmission issue is some kind of minor and isolated thing affecting just a few of the cars I think you're porposely putting a lot of spin on it. It's minor and yet its one of the key reasons that Ford dropped from 10th to 20th place in Consumer Reports? It's minor and yet Ford is issuing software patches for all cars made before 8 - 12 to try and deal with the problem? (Which by the way the software patch didn't fix. Mine still rattled and shudder and got worse yet) Its minor and yet you can visit just about any Focus dedicated Forum and find Focus owners a plenty with with the exact same problem I had? No its not minor and yes you can go drive a brand new Focus and say "Gee I test drove one and everything was great Blackhorse, what's the big deal?" It doesn't exhibit the problems when its brand new. You really think I would have purchased a car that was shuddering and rattling like a junk heap? No. It is a problem that developed after delivery of the car and that as far as I can tell is the case with many of the reports that I have seen from other owners.

 

Taking it to another dealership would have accomplished absolutely nothing. I took it to the largest dealership in this area with the most experience. The next closest dealership is in a small town with a service department staff that probably numbers less than tewnty with mechanics and all. In addition, Ford Motor Company sent their regional engineer here to drive the car and he pronounced it to be operating normally. Taking it to another dealership wasn't going to change that. As soon as they keyed my VIN into the system they are going to see the history of the car and they are going to tell me the same thing. "There's nothing we can do, it's normal." And hey, as far as I know it is normal. It very well could be that Ford intentionally designed the transmission to shudder and the clutches to rattle and basically to deliever a miserable driving experience by way of that. Maybe they think that's ok. I don't.

 

So yes, I got rid of the car and no I didn't take a bath on it. My payments went up by ten dollars a month and I financed the Corolla for the same length of time that I had financed the Ford for. So at worst I'm going to be paying 10 more dollars for six more months than I would have had I kept the Focus. It's worth it to me in order to get rid of the sub-standard performance that the Focus delievered. And yes I have been outspoken about it on this forum because it does upset me that I trusted Ford and spent a lot of my hard earned money on their car and the company in this case seems to have slipped right back into it's old way of doing things with respect to this car. Then to make matters worse they insult my intelligence by telling me that a brand new car should operate in this manner.

 

I do genuinely like the Corolla by the way regardless of what anyone here wants to believe about that. It runs extremely well and after having driven a car that literally made me angry everytime I got behind the wheel there is a whole lot to be said for that. I'll be the first to admit that I like the body style of the Focus hatch better than the Corolla. But as the old saying goes, looks aren't everything fellas. And I'm not shinning you on when I tell you that the four speed tranny in my Corolla runs better and the car is getting better mpg than my Focus did. That is just fact.

But gentlemen. I have taken up enough of your time and I apologize for being so "in your face" about this matter on this forum. I did it because I am very disappointed in this car which I had such high hopes for and I am disappointed in this company which I feel has completely let me down in the process. It's fair to say that I won't be back to buy a Ford ever again so I should leave you ladies and gentlemen to discuss Fords without me. Sorry to bother you and have a great day.

Edited December 7, 2011 by BlackHorse

[svtenthusiast]

While I didn't go as far as BlackHorse and buy a competitors car, my 2012 Focus is being replaced. The dealership has been helping me in the process, at least the sales department side. The whole process of ordering and getting it serviced after purchase has been much to be desired. They kept putting customers pre-order cars on the backburner "to work out all the issues". I ordered in November of 2010 and didn't get the car until May of 2011. All that waiting and the car has never been right since day one. The transmission had the off idle shutter from when it had 0 miles on it. Ford kept telling us to "let it break in". First it was 1K miles, then 3K, then 5K, and when it still did it at 5K they said it was an adaptive transmission and that's how it's supposed to operate. Yea, embarrasing whenever you have passengers in the vehicle and it shutters, this is a brand new vehicle that costs 26K?

 

Then it had numerous electronic glitches/engineering oversights. The dash info center would show doors open and lights on (even if they weren't) if you had it in reverse and one of the systems changed status. The "rear park aid" message would constantly lock on the screen and you had to pull over to get it to clear. The rain sensing wipers are a nightmare along with MFT lockups and hiccups even on the newest software. The oil change monitor never alerted me to change the oil, even after the 10K mile mark, which is the max interval.

 

 

Ford had an engineer out several times with no resolution and ability to fix the car. The dealer stepped up and ordered a replacement 2012 Focus that was built in October. Right out of the box, the car had the steering rack issue, where it fights you left and right on the highway; the steering never centers. It is an electronic sensor glitch with the racks that was supposed to be resolved as of September 2011. This car was built after this date and still had the problem, and needed the whole rack replaced. They ordered the rack, and the part number had updated, and Ford told the dealer that a rack wouldn't be available until January. So the car was sitting for weeks, and Ford decides to send another rack, from the factory I suppose. The part number didin't even come up in the parts system.

 

 

So I had such a bad taste in my mouth after this 1 year long process (order until now) that I decided I am done with the Focus line. It's really difficult because under all the glitches and problems and Ford's terrible customer service process, the Focus has the heart of a great vehicle. If the second vehicle didn't come bad out of the box I would probably be driving Focus still. But I decided to wait and buy another Ford vehicle later down the line.

 

So I am sharing my experience to say that there are problems with Focus, not everyone will experience which is good for them. But if you get a couple of bad apples it can really sour your experience and attitude toward of Ford Motor Company.

 

Overall, I think I am just truely disappointed in Ford, and that the Focus hasen't overtaken the competition, and I say this being an exclusively Ford customer since I started driving (see my signature).

Edited December 7, 2011 by svtenthusiast

[NickF1011]

Taking it to another dealership would have accomplished absolutely nothing.

 

Riiiiight. If that makes you feel better about taking a bath (yeah yeah yeah) on a less-than-year-old trade-in, then go right ahead.

 

At the very least, why the heck wouldn't you Lemon Law the thing? :shrug:

Edited December 7, 2011 by NickF1011

[Edstock]

While I didn't go as far as BlackHorse and buy a competitors car, my 2012 Focus is being replaced.

OUCH! Really sorry to hear about your horror-show.

[RichardJensen]

I took it to the largest dealership in this area with the most experience. The next closest dealership is in a small town with a service department staff that probably numbers less than tewnty with mechanics and all.

And, of course, all bigger businesses are better run than all smaller businesses.

[RichardJensen]

I wonder how many of these teething issues are due to underestimating the challenges of setting up a NA supplier base, and how much of this is lousy FoE reliability crossing the pond.