Know why Ford is going to die? Tonight I was building a new Ranger online... just for fun. Level II Off Road package. Neat little truck. But I wanted a manual 5-spd. Fine. Then I selected the premium stereo... you can only get that with an automatic!!! Seriously Ford, give your head a shake!
Brad
Ummmm... did it miss us that the web site is created by website creators?
Ain't nothing gonna beat finding a dealership you can trust.... this dealership prolly ain't gonna be cheap - but that's the price you pay..... Next. find a salesweasel willing to say "I don't know... let me find out...". This kind of salesweasel usually hangs out around stores that trade "cheap for good".... This is the guy that can tell you what you can have for options....
If all else fails.... "I saw it on the internet... it MUST be true....".
Maybe they figure that anyone buying a TRUCK with an AUTOMATIC is nothing more than a Surburban rat who will never haul anything dirtier than a mattress in the back. Whereas someone wanting a truck with a manual is actually going to do some real work with the thing - and isn't interested in fru-fru like a premium stereo.
Kind of makes me shudder to think there's surburban wannabes out there who have to have the fru fru yet think they can handle a Real Man's transmission. ;-)
Seriously, the aftermarket stereos are 1000 times better. Ford is doing you a favor.
Ted
I'll never buy another truck for my farm with a manual transmission. As far as I am concerned manuals are for teenage boys, wannabe racers, and 75 year old know it all ex big rig drivers. We haven't had a farm truck with a manual (excepting old grain trucks) since the late 60's. I definitely do not miss them.
Well I like the "Ford" radio in my car much more than the aftermarket Kenwood I put in my farm truck. The aftermarket designers seem to have the idea that complicated controls and cool light shows are more important that the damn thing just working.
To each his own.
Ed
If you are putting hourly employees in a heavy vehicle, you want to avoid a stick for one simple reason - it's too easy for them to get the afternoon off. Especially on a Friday when (unbeknownst to you) said employee already has the ski boat hitched up to the truck in his driveway and the beer and ice in the cooler.
"Oops, popped the clutch at the stop sign and the axle broke... Sorry, Boss. Have it towed back in, and clock me out. I'll walk home from here and see you on Monday."
And if it's a Union Shop you can't just fire them, even if the same crew of workers do it multiple times. Once is chance, twice is happenstance, three times is enemy action. Been There, Seen That.
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Pssst... Ed - you are just showing that we are both old fogeys..... Apparently, there is much more listening pleasure if we are not limited to "on/off/volume", fade, balance and selection.....
I wonder how many accidents have someone fumbling with the 60 page stereo manual trying to figure out how that one knob does 483 different tasks as a contributing factor....
The last Ford radio I got involved with was in a 98 Explorer. I've never come across a Ford factory radio that held up and played well over the years since the 1980's.
The CD changer sucked. Reception was terrible. Frequency response was not acceptable.
The JBL model in my Mom's 9? Lincoln played well when it worked... but it rarely worked. I had it rebuilt once and then she totalled the car. Then again all Lincoln electronics suck.
Rreally? That's funny, the radios in my 41, 64, 71, 72, 83, 06 and 07 Ford vehcles all work just fine.
mike
My pet peave is the noise and loss of AM band reception over the years. I know it is not the radio itself because as soon as the ignition is off and you go to the acc side, they worl well with no noise interference. I have tried just about everything in the book to reduce the electrical system noise with little success. It is no different with an aftermarket unit except I spent as much as $600 for high quality noise. The FM side always works well but, I find little to interest me there. What I need are the traffic and news updates in Atlanta traffic. Otherwise, I am happy with my C&W CD collection.
Lugnut
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