Ford makes some really cool small cars, but they don't offer any of them here. Check out Ford Mexico's web page and look at the Courier. I'd buy one here in a heartbeat.

That said, none of those cars is ready for the US, they don't meet our safety and emissions regulations. I'm not sure that's entirely bad, but there's going to be some $$$ spent to get them ready for the US, and some of those cars sell for quite a bit less than what Ford thinks we can pay--base Courier is $10k off the lot in Mexico. Ford's got to keep in mind that not only do we want (need?) gas mileage, but with food and gas prices going up, jobs going down, I think they're going to find that a lot of people can't pay $25k+ for a new car no matter how economical it is.

 

It doesn't matter what the quality actually is, just what's perceived.

But if you want to go around with vehicle problems, I can come up with quite a list with just Ford such as the E4OD, the 6.0 diesel, the 4R70W torque converter shudder, the 3V 5.4 cam phaser issues, 7.3 diesel CPS issue, cruise control fire issue, Explorer transmissin problems.

I can go on and on, but the facts don't really matter. The Asian brands are perceived to be better and that's all they need.

I know that our Camry Solara is a much better vehicle than my F150. I have the work orders to prove it for the engine overhaul before 100K because a gasket let loose. The transmission shudders, the door locks don't work, the odometer goes in and out.

Mike

 

That's what I bought, and it took 4 efing months to find!!

 

Toyota has had alot of recalls as well, honda just had a big one not to long ago. I've driven fords all my life and only had to take a vehicle back 3 times for a recall notice in all this time. Ford has never left me walking and takes the punishment that I've been known to dish out. I have no issue with ford quality. The japanese cars have enjoyed several years of a media blitz in thier favor. A father will his college bound daughter a honda civic because he read in car and driver thats it is a safe economical car and a good value for the money. Thats all it takes, the focus maybe as well, but it doesn't get the hype that the japanese cars get. The media has been biased against anerican products for a while now. They will pick a rav-4 over a jeep rubicon as 4x4 of the year, that should tell you alot.

 

Anyone who thinks that the Asian brands are signifigantly better than the domestics is living in the past and needs a reality check.
Now that Toyota is selling as many vehicles as Ford and GM, people are seeing that Toyota isnt any better.
The tide is turning though because the media is being more honest and you are seeing more and more surveys and studies showing that the domestics are just as good as the Japanese. In fact, in a recent efficiency study, Chrysler beat Toyota in terms of efficiency.
Buy what you want. I'll stick with Ford and if the day ever comes that Ford goes under, I'll make the switch to GM. Nothing aganst Toyota, Honda or any of the Korean brands; but they just arent something Id care to own...

 

No joke. When I worked for a Ford dealer about 8.5 years ago, it was near impossible to find something like that that wasn't basically a fleet vehicle. No color selection and lord help you if you wanted an extended cab F-150 or Ranger in base or XL trim. We'd get maybe 1-2 a month if we were lucky, and we were a pretty large dealer.

 

"You cant blame Detroit for delivering the vehicles their customers wanted, its the same thought that Nissan and Toyota had in mind when they came out with fullsize trucks and SUVs."

I can sure blame them for not taking steps to be READY for the INEVITABLE!
An ultra-economical Ranger drivetrain option could be raking in stoopid money right now.

 

Ford's current quality is a match for foreign marques, but they set the standard that Ford has met. In '86 Honda dealers were adding $1000 or more to list price and had waiting lists while Ford was trying to sell Fairmonts.,,,,, what a difference.

 

Exactly. No, they're not at fault for delivering what people wanted to buy, but they are completely at fault for not bothering to keep up with the times with their other vehicle lines. The US auto industry basically painted itself into a corner (again!) by letting vehicles that were best sellers like the Taurus go to pot with stale designs while the Asians kept bringing out fresh, modern designs.

Its not that GM and Ford didn't have fuel efficient vehicles, they just didn't build vehicles people wanted to buy because they looked like a turd.

 

I sure hope so!!! I have no need for a truck with a Lincoln Continental interior, but that's pretty much all that's been built in recent memory, as the manufacturers larded on the extras. I refuse to purchase a vehicle with a payment equal to or above my mortgage payment.

 

My Ranger came with cloth seats and a vinyl floor ..... I had to add the carpeting and the leather seats myself.

 

I like leather seats...but not carpet...too hard to keep clean.

Tim

 

That's why I love my truck. I just put floormats down and seatcovers on, so easy to keep clean (for a work truck)

 

Yeah carpet sucks, so does cloth seats. Especially the cloth in my truck, that stains if i spill water on it. (No, really it does!)

 

Speaking of recalls, I just read in my lateist edition of off/road magazine that toyota is offering a buy back program on tacoma's with rusted frames. If the frame isn't too bad they will repair it, if it is too bad they will buy the truck back from you for 150% of kelly blue book value.