According to this post on the HP, Honda is selling as many as they can make right now. They literally can't make them fast enough.

 

We just rented a Honda CRV for the wife and they had hundreds of CRVs on the lot. This is a huge Honda dealer near my home. They had two Ridgelines on the lot. They cannot even get the highly optioned ones. I asked the boys at the dealership about the Ridgelines and they said that not only are they selling all of them, no discounts and lease prices are crazy high, according to the salespeople. It's a real nice truck. I felt comfortable in it and thought it was a quality vehicle. In my opinion, Ford moving out of this segment was really a stupid move.

The GM small truck is also really nice looking and selling very well. The new Ford is going to need to be a quality piece with lots of options at a very good price.

 

boy is it ugly tho. The Ridgeline is a different product aimed at a different buyer (aka honda fanboys)

 

Honda sold 40k Ridgelines in a year. That is not serious numbers compared to the number of Rangers Ford will aim to sell. The Ridgeline makes a lot of sense for the recreational market--people who need a "play" truck, or people who like the dependability that Honda legitimately delivers. This would extend to lighter commercial users.

The Ranger will hopefully appeal more to tradesmen and businesses, and get enough of the recreational market that it should blow Honda's numbers out of the water. (Toyota's pickup numbers are very small compared to Ford's, for instance). If Ford does a serious FX4 or mini-Raptor version, they will get even more of the recreational market which wants the off-road cred even if people never go off-road. (Most Jeep Wranglers are parked in mall and high school parking lots despite their capabilities.)

I'm waiting for the Bronco, and hope that the Ranger/Bronco duo are a big success for Ford.

I can't deny Honda's reliability, having experienced Hondas and Acuras in our family over the years. Ford is basically giving up on building an American Focus--Honda, Toyota, and the Korean brands are eating Ford's lunch on small cars. This makes me sad...but I live in the Detroit area and want the Ranger/Bronco to succeed because it will be built in the Wayne, MI plant.

George

 

Quality issues, previous class-action suits Including engines, tranny's, AC, tires, etc.), false advertising,
Here's a few of the class actions.............

Defective Paint
https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-...ction-lawsuit/


Engine Mis-fire
https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-...it-settlement/

Faulty sun visors
Client Settlement Site > Home

Engine oil burning
http://www.autonews.com/article/2013...-burning-claim

Defective brakes
https://www.law360.com/articles/4730...t-class-action

Accord- Oil Burning
Honda Unit Agrees To Settle Accord Defect Class Action - Law360

Malfunctioning locks
Class action lawsuit filed against Honda over lock malfunctions | WSB-TV

This is a link to a review of my mother-in-laws CRV...POS

Driving Impression- 2012 Honda CRV - HONDA - FlatRateTech

Update.....September 17, 2013

Yesterday my relative was involved in an accident with this vehicle. In summary, she traveling and de-accelerating from 30 mph, approaching a stop sign. Prior to the main intersection, a driver purposefully pulled out from a side street, my relative struck the rear quarter panel of the vehicle. Here is important information, while crumple zones (crash absorbent) are designed into every vehicle to reduce impact unto the occupants, this vehicle was totaled.....the engine/transaxle mounts broke (as designed) but physically breached (the entire drive-train) into the front occupant compartment....law enforcement investigators have confirmed the speed of my relatives vehicle was 30 mph and slowing when the collision occurred. The structural failure (my opinion) combined with the air-bag system activation induced both visual & physical trauma to the driver (my relative) to the extend they vomited & then lost consciousness, requiring transport to a Trauma I center. IMHO, an increase of speed by 5 mph or more, or a more direct hit would have resulted in occupant entrapment requiring forcible entry tools to gain access and remove the occupants.
Regardless of what safety rating these or any vehicle receives, it is important to have someone who understands basic vehicle structures/mechanics look at a vehicle before purchase. If this would have occurred, I personally would have never let this sale go proceed.....and mind you, this level of damage occurred at 30 mph, slowing and a glancing blow.....
Prior to anyone purchasing this as a "family" vehicle after reading this, should strongly re-consider as you family's well being is surely "At Risk" IMHO.

The only person IMHO who would buy a Honda/Acura today is 1) a person who is buying to just run the wheels off of a car or 2) Eat PR material like vitamins.

 

The first Ridgeline version (IMO: it was uglier than sin) sold OK for the first couple of years, then sales dropped like a stone, so many clogged dealers lots.

The new version looks much nicer, but despite the gap between the cab and bed, it's still a unit body: Body and frame a one piece welded assembly.

No Ford pickup is a unit body (unless you include 1960/71 Ranchero's). All have body on frame construction.

From the mid 1980's thru the mid 1990's, FoMoCo had 5 of the top 10 selling vehicles in the US (alphabetical order): Escort - F150 - Ranger - Taurus - Tempo.

The Taurus was number one until it was restyled in 1995, then it was supplanted by the Accord, then the Camry. Today, you'll be lucky to see 1 new Taurus on a dealers lot.

Ford ignored the Ranger for years, making very few changes. When the Twin Cities MN plant closed, the Ranger went bye-bye.

 

Yeah, I don't think it's as ugly as it used to be though. The first gens were pretty awful looking.

 

I think the Ridgeline will flatten out in a year or two like most anything that's new or reintroduced.

I clearly see the Ranger and the GM twins dominating the midsized market though these are not actually midsized trucks.

Most times when I buy a sedan, I give the Toyota and Honda dealers an opportunity to earn my business. The sedan that I bought was a 2010 Focus. I tried to buy a Civic then the small Toyota. Each dealer basically blew me off their lots with their arrogance and refusal to negotiate any reasonable terms.

Nissan sold all the safety equipment at the time as optional equipment driving the price way too high for an average car. I wasn't prepared in my mind to buy a Korean car (though that has changed now). I refuse to own a GM and Chrysler's quality is stuck in the early 90's.

So, I bought the Focus. Loads of standard safety equipment, a very fair price and this car has been awesome through it's seven years and 80K miles.
I can no longer justify wasting time on Toyota or Honda. They enjoy a strong cult like following mush like Ford does with the F-series.

 

I can't argue with other peoples' actual experiences, but my wife's '07 Civic (built in Ohio) is over 10 years old and has had ONE AC problem in 145k miles outside of fluids, tires, and brakes/a battery/wiper blaces wearing out. (Oh it did have the "dreaded" sun visor problem which required me to go to the hardware store, buy $2 worth of screws, and drill 2 holes so I guess 2 problems.) It's still worth $4-5k and looks and drives tight and new. Best car I've ever experienced in 47 years of owning cars. Does this experience make me a cult member? Oh, when the Civic had 6k miles on it, it took a hit from a State Police Crown Vic (cop's fault) on the right side and the right side airbags worked perfectly....so it did have some repairs from the crash but the structure did great.

I know 3 people with Odyssey minivans over 250k miles and a number of other people driving Hondas with way over 150-200k miles. My son did take a Focus over 220k miles but I don't want to talk about the grief he had doing that... I have another bud who just broke the rear axle of a Windstar that is much newer than the Odysseys I just mentioned while his daughter was driving. My '02 E150 was a great van but needed $4500 worth of new cylinder heads under warranty (early Romeo PI heads).

The issue with Ford's being "willing to deal" on the Focus is what is moving it to China--the point is that they NEED to rebate and deal to move them out. With huge transmission class action suits and other problems giving the Focus and Fiesta a lousy reputation, they can't be built in the US for a profit. And that is why the local Wayne MI plant is being retooled from the Focus to the Ranger/Bronco which I hope succeed. (Bought my wife a new '86 Escort GT from that plant as a wedding present.) I am waiting for the Bronco myself.

I think the Ridgeline/Ranger markets will not have that much overlap, and the Ranger should sell way more in terms of units. The Big 3 still own the truck market.

I lean hard toward buying all domestic/UAW vehicles, being a lifetime Detroiter with many friends and relatives working for all of the Big 3. Rather than knocking Honda and Toyota, it would do Ford and other domestic companies well to work on their own quality AND when they do have problems, to bend over backwards with extended warranties to help retain loyalty. And FIX the problems on new cars. How can Ford continue to put bad transmissions in the Focus for SIX YEARS? How many years did they sell Modular engines that spit spark plugs without fixing the problem? How can they not get paint to stick to the hood/tailgate of Expeditions from 2007-2017 (and Mustangs, and Explorers...)?

George

 

You've exaggerated some of Ford's issues, though they did exist with no good reason.

Some people have had paint issues on aluminum components, not me and not anyone that I know from Maine to Va.

The six speed transmission that you speak of has been in the Focus since 2012 and has had it's fair share of early on issues. I'm confident that those issues are worked out however, I could be wrong. The Fiesta is just a POS pure and simple.

The 5.4L and 6.8L mod engine spark plug issue was resolved after about two years. Some engines took a little longer to actually spit out a plug which made the issue appear to be ongoing.

I think that Ford will always chase Toyota's and Honda's quality though I believe that Ford is the closest of the big three to that level.

But here's the thing, when Honda, Nissan and Toyota make simple things like a/c, anti-lock brakes and some passive restraint systems optional to keep the cost and MSRP down and that stripped down cost is as much as a Focus, I'll take the Focus or all day every day.

And for the record, to make room in Michigan for the Ranger / Bronco, Focus and Escape are moving to Mexico. This will be a problem for as I look ahead for a daily driver. I think I'll get a subbie.

 

I was looking for 04-09 Explorers a few years ago and every one had corrosion on the hood edges. In Michigan, every Expedition over 3 years old has corrosion on the hood and tailgate edges, and around the rear license plate. These are $50-60k vehicles. A neighbor just bought a used 2013 Explorer for his family and it is having the SAME corrosion problem on the hood. Really? And Ford is blowing him off because it is not "rust through"...

Come to Detroit and we can go to some used car lots and see a bunch of hood edge bubbles.

This continued oxidation problem is complete BS--seems like it would take a chemist and an engineer a couple days to come up with a process to make paint stick to aluminum hoods and trunks. This problem has existed on Explorers since the 2002 model and we are seeing 2018 models being introduced.

Please understand that I TRY to buy domestic, and Ford is my first choice. Looking at Edges (but not really there), waiting for the Bronco.

Focuses are still having transmission problems that run thru the 2016 model as far as I know. And you can talk about what a good deal the Focus is but Ford needs to price them to sell a few to meet the CAFE requirements. So your discussing what a "good deal" they are is precisely their problem. No profit, no sustainability.

Wrong about Mexico. Escape is not made in the Wayne, MI plant (30 miles from my house) and is staying in the US for now--Kentucky I think, thankfully. But a loaded Escape is $39k(!?) How competitive is that? I think Ford has $5k rebates on 2017 Escapes right now.

The Focus is moving to freaking CHINA. I am angry as hell about that. Ford to move production of Focus to China, export cars to US for 1st time | MLive.com

 

The Honda CRV we leased is the first none big 3 car or truck that I've ever had in my family (38 years of driving). If we have a positive experience, this could be the end of one more family that always sourced their vehicles from the big 3.

bruce...

 

Thanks for sharing the new news George. That's disappointing and I for one will never own another Focus. I'd rather buy from the Koreans.

Anyway, I'm guilty of derailing this thread and I'm sorry for that.

 

No worries, Tim. I am watching the new Ranger because I may be a Bronco buyer and the two vehicles will be closely related. And the Ridgeline vs Ranger decision by many consumers may be based on perceived reliability as well as value delivered.

The downside of freeing up the Wayne plant is the move of the Focus, and the China news bothers me in a big way. The Focus still outsells the entire Lincoln brand in numbers, but Ford can't make money building them in the US...

 

The plug issue was not resolved in the 5.4 VIN L engine. They used that engine in their E series vans for years. I had a 2011 E350 5.4 VIN L in the shop several years ago with a blown out spark plug. The engine itself is very reliable it just has the tendency to spit plugs.