Honestly, I have no idea what you're writing about!

 

Not to sure about the 22r but the 20r was almost a direct copy of Ford's 300/6, thee most durable engine ever produced. I have a couple of friends who now own yoda wanabee truck's and have had more than a few friends over my many years who have owned yoda's. I myself owned 2 celica's and based on my experience with mine and keeping track of my friends they're really nothing special except when it comes to buying parts - very expensive.

As for the 98 Taurus, who knows what that thing was put through in those 15000mi before you got it.

 

Facts are facts, Wendell...and since I was there...here's what really happened. This is well known, btw.

When Explorers were introduced in 1991, they came with D rated tires.

After two or three years, Ford replaced the D rated tires with C rated tires, then under-inflated them below the minimum PSI that Firestone recommended, so the ride would be less harsh.

It didn't help matters when the Firestone tires were defective, but if Ford had not installed those cheaper C rated tires to increase profits, and then under-inflated them...none of the problems would have occured.

Why did Japanese tire maker Bridgestone buy Firestone, do you know? I do.

In 1977, the Firestone 500 tires were defective. The tread separated from the carcass, and peeled off.

1000's of accidents occured, 100's of people were killed. Firestone initially refused to replace the tires, then declared bankruptcy to avoid the 10's of 1000's of lawsuits.

Bridgestone then bought Firestone in US Bankruptcy Court, and replaced all of the tires free.

btw: How subjective are J.D. Power, Edmunds or anyone else that take advertising dollars from automakers?

 

Not one of Ford's shining moments for sure. With the situation our domestic auto manufacturers are in now across the board, NOW is the time for Ford to gain some lost ground from the past with some good PR for a change. Ford has a head start now and imo that's a good place to start with the bad pr that gm and dodge are now getting.

 

Strange! Can't get my last post to show up here on the boards in its entirety, but shows up fine when I use the edit option and preview!?!

 

This has turned out to be a complicated thread for me to follow! Psheesh!

I've almost always owned a Ford product (and prefer 'em) but I've also had more than my fair share of problems with some of them.

And customer service? I've had way, way better customer service from GM than I've ever gotten from Ford. And I've never owned a truck other than Chevy or Ford, so I don't know anything about the furrin trucks other than what others have told me about them. Bottom line for me: If I get a good vehicle I have a good vehicle and if it's a stinker it's a stinker. No matter who made it.

As far as the comments about the Big Three "putting out what the public wants", I can't agree with that, either. I settle for what's available. Just 'coz I drive a Ranger or whatever doesn't mean it's exactly what fills the bill, and just because my buddy drives a Chevrolet it doesn't mean he's a GM lover. Sometimes we simply end up with what we can get. Poor people got poor ways, ya know.

There's always going to be a market for pickemups and bigger trucks 'coz that's what the farmers, carpenters, construction workers and such need. Then there are the folks like me who used to NEED a 4X4 pickup and now don't need one but WANT one. Ford and all the other auto makers realize that.

I've edited this response four times now, cutting entire paragraphs out in an attempt to make it short enough to read. Hopefully I left enough in so it still makes sense!!!!

Just my two cents worth.

 

In 1998, I bought a new F150 from a dealer in downtown Edmonton. The truck is a great truck,; I gave it to my nephew because4 he needed a truck and I thought I was going to retire. However, the service manager at this dealer, Healey Motors was a real S--T HEAD. I guess he figured since I probably would not buy another vehicle from Healey, He could screw me around. As it happened, I did buy another Ford, A 2007 Ranger, w2hioch I promptly hit a patch of black ice with at 70 mph (120 km/h) and ran in a 40 foot deep ditch. The dealer, Metro Ford in Port Coquitlam, was very happpy to help me navigate the Insurance Corp. of BC, and I was happy to buy the Ranger I have now. Their whole attitude was so much better than Healey's. A whole different world. Would I buy another Ford, YES! Would I ever buy from Healey's NO, MOST DEFINITELY NOT!!!! Would I buy from Metro, YES MOST DEFINITELY!!!!
Lucky

 

In 1998, I bought a new F150 from a dealer in downtown Edmonton. The truck is a great truck,; I gave it to my nephew because4 he needed a truck and I thought I was going to retire. However, the service manager at this dealer, Healey Motors was a real S--T HEAD. I guess he figured since I probably would not buy another vehicle from Healey, He could screw me around. As it happened, I did buy another Ford, A 2007 Ranger, w2hioch I promptly hit a patch of black ice with at 70 mph (120 km/h) and ran in a 40 foot deep ditch. The dealer, Metro Ford in Port Coquitlam, was very happpy to help me navigate the Insurance Corp. of BC, and I was happy to buy the Ranger I have now. Their whole attitude was so much better than Healey's. A whole different world. Would I buy another Ford, YES! Would I ever buy from Healey's NO, MOST DEFINITELY NOT!!!! Would I buy from Metro, YES MOST DEFINITELY!!!!
Lucky

 

Wow. I just read everyone's post(s)! Very entertaining to say the least!!
Guys; We all own Fords or we wouldn't be here, right? I have 2 right now but have owned a total of 15. I've also owned Chevy's (have a mint 86 Silverado 4X4 now), Dodges, Honda's, Mitsubishi's, VW's, Jeeps, and Toyotas.
I've managed a Dodge dealership (service dept) and can agree with most people's complaints about the lack of quality of customer service (with all brands).
...But I think we're missing the big picture here;
The foreign brands came to the US in the fuel "crisis" of the 70's. We bought them to save money on fuel. Then, we found out they were really decent quality vehicles (well built-lasted long with little maintenance or repairs)....Then we started buying them to protest the lack of quality we were getting from the domestic brands - damn near put Chrysler out of business!
Then, at some point, patriotism kicked in and we drifeted back to the domestics. Toyota, Honda, et al started building assembly plants in America to employ Americans and be able to say their product was "made in America". And it's true, a lot of the "foreign" cars we buy are built right here, by Americans.
Where was your Ford (or Chevy or Dodge) built? Mexico? Canada?
Ford, Chevy, Chrysler are all closing plants all over America. Has anyone heard of any of the big 3 closing any plants in Mexico? Canada? Europe?
Has anyone heard of Toyota or Honda closing any American plants?
....And now our tax dollars are going to go to a bailout for the Big 3 ?!?!?!

All manufacturers have quality issues. I love my Toyota, but the dealer has a busy service department (just like Ford, GM, and Chrysler).

We need to quit quibbling amongst ourselves about what brand is better and focus our energy on sending a message to Washington. Before anyone get's a red cent for bailout, they need to shut down the foriegn plants and take care of their countrymen by employing them.....That brings up a whole new discussion about unions, no doubt, but it is what it is!

Bottom line is - any manufacturer will build what "we" want as long as it will ultimately be profitable for the board of directors.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Some foreign brands like Rolls-Royce and Mercedes-Benz for example, have been sold in the US since 1908.

After WWII ended, the Brits began importing large numbers of Jaguars, MG's, Triumphs, Austin-Healeys, English Fords, and etc. to the US.

This was followed by a horde of French (Simca, Peugeot, Citroen, Renault, etc.), Italian (Fiat, Alfa-Romeo, etc.), German (VW, BMW, etc.) and some Swedish, Dutch and East German cars.

The first Japanese cars sold in the US were Toyopets, which Toyota imported from 1956 thru 1958. This car was a total POS, and was withdrawn from the US market in 1958.

Most of these foreign cars were gone by the mid 60's as reliability and rust were major factors...most of the cars were just CRAP!

Datsun began selling a mini-truck in 1959, it was a huge success.

More Japanese trucks and cars followed. By the mid 1960's, there were all sorts of Toyota's, Datsuns (Nissans) being sold here, Honda arrived later in the 1960's.

But...none of these Japanese econo-boxes sold worth a damn till the first gas crunch of 1973.

 

One important thing you left out was these foreign manufacturer's were "allowed" to build here, and in many cases we were not allowed to build there. If that is a fair trade deal I'm a monkeys uncle!

In order to compete against the value added tax deal AND cheaper foreign labor the domestics had very little choice did they not!?!

As well, Merry Christmas everyone!

 

I have 2001 focus. It's a comfortable car, but mechanically a p.o.s.
I like ford too. But I'm realistic. my focus isn't in the same class as a honda.
I would buy another however, because it's cheap

 

I had an '02 ZX4 that was awesome! For the thousands of dollars less in the cost of a Focus, your still money ahead if you have to do some repairs. The Japanese still do break, are more expensive to repair and are more expensive to purchase. No thank you sir, show me where the nearest Ford dealer is.

Tim

 

Ford was the first automaker to go global. Beginning in 1913, Ford built assembly plants world-wide to assemble Model T's.

Ford's continued to be built at these plants till the advent of the US's involvement in WWII.

These plants were then either closed for the duration of the war, taken over by the AXIS, or converted for war production.

Many of these original assembly plants are still viable today. Cologne (Germany) & Dagenham (England) are the most well known outside the US.

The Big 3 have drastically reduced spending their money inre to NASCAR. Honda has canceled all their involvement with racing.

All the 'foreign' automakers here in the US and elsewhere are cutting production.

The major factor inre to the resale of Honda's is:

Most are priced higher than other vehicles, very few are sold to fleets, there are little or no manufacturers rebates and the dealers do not discount them.

However, all that has changed recently. Honda is offering rebates, dealers are discounting them, and Honda has cut production on all their vehicles, including the Prius.

Prius sales are down 40% from last years figures.

 

The big 3 have had manufacturing, parts and assembly facilities in many parts of the world long before foreign companies had plants here. Current they have them in Mexico, China, India, Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, Turkey, Germany, Britain, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, Russia, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, South Africa, Canada, Sweden, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Mercosur, Venezuela, Vietnam, Pakistan, Thailand, France and I'm sure I missed many more. Many of these have been operating for decades.