Ford Loses Record $12.7B in 2006

On a side note, I'm not dissing Toy's, but I'm sick of hearing people extolling the virtues of Jap scrap. Domestics made great kill proof engines also, 2.0 Ford, slant six Dodge( pretty much runs with no oil ), 302 Ford,

350 GM, most of these old iron horses are no longer.
Reply to
razz
Loading thread data ...

I don't think any of these engines are still being made, except as original equipment factory replacements in Mexico and for racing. I took apart a lot of these engines in my younger days in high school and college. I can't think of any Ford 2.0 engines that I would call "old iron horses." I think the 2.0 was an aluminum block and cast iron head engine. I don't know if there was another Ford 2.0 engine, except for the one in the Escort and Contour, but that was all aluminum.

My favorite was the 350 Olds Diesel. Some of those were really durable and lasted a long time. (Most weren't.) But you were able to change the cam, push rods and cylinder heads to gas models (I think from a 455), and you had a really durable engine. The problem that GM and Peugeot had with their diesel engines was that they came from gas designs, so they weren't durable enough.

IMHO, other old iron horses include the 240 Ford and 250 Chevy straight sixes, the big block V8 (GM) and the 3.8 liter Olds and Dodge Hemi.

The 3.8 Olds is still made, but has been revised 4 or 5 times. Changes include the crankshaft design, piston design and metal so that piston rings can be closer to the top of the piston, to improve efficiency and decrease unburned hydrocarbons.

I don't think any others of these are still made. I know the Hemi is made, and although it is a similar design to the old Hemi, it is made on a new production line and wasn't made for 30 years.

One of the things that killed the old designs is that the new production lines are much more efficient, requiring far fewer workers than the old ones. And the car makers designed better engines over time, too. And they make smaller, more fuel efficient engines (except for the Hemi).

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

I think the magazines are slanted towards Asain cars. And I wonder if real people report problems with US cars differently than Asian brands, based on expectations (it is one of those rare things for the Asians, but expected for US cars).

The problem is that in a newsgroup like this, you get only a small sampling, and some of the people are like, well, me. That's a red flag that the experience of most people aren't represented by the sample here.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

"Jim Higgins" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com...

JD Powers runs surveys all over the globe. It is ridiculous for you to claim they slant their surveys towards Detroit products (just look a their list of winners - if they were so beholden to Detroit, why so many non-Detroit winners). While Consumer Reports is not beholden to a particular manufacturer, the CR editors clearly have their own opinions AND they have to satisfy their readers. The CR survey is not scientifically sound. It is not a random survey, it is not comprehensive survey, and it is not even well worded. CR surveys only it's own readers - people who are likely to share CR's opinions. Only about a third of the people who get the survey bother to respond at all - and the ones who respond are even more likely to be very devoted readers that share the opinions of the CR editors. CR depends upon the respondents to decide what is a problem. For some vehicles they base the result on as few as 100 responses - hardly a sufficient sample size for a vehicle produced in the tens of thousands. And finally, the CR Survey is as much a fund raising project as a survey designed to gather information. Yet people constantly treat the CR survey as if it was statistically valid. It isn't. CR makes interesting reading, but it hardly represents the final word on anything. It is just one more opinion to be considered. I read CR all the time. I even value the opinions of the CR editors - but - I actually go and try things out for myself. Last year I needed a new farm truck. CR's constant drum beat for the Tundra convinced me it should be at the top of the list for my new truck. I tried three different Tundras. Consumer Reports claimed the Tundra has a very smooth engine. All three of the ones I tested sounded like rock crushers when they were first started. Salesmen at two different dealer said this was normal. If a Ford did that, people would be in demanding a new engine because of piston slap. Consumer Reports talked about how roomy the cab was. I found the cab to be cramped compared to my old F150, with marginal head room. Consumer Reports talked about how quiet the Tundra was (not a big concern for a farm truck), but I found the truck no quieter than a 14 year old F150. Compared to my old F150 with an inline six, I found the Tundra's V-8 to be weak at the bottom end. I am sure it would out run the F150 in a drag race, but around town it was a dog off the line and you really had to get on it to stay up with traffic. However, the biggest negative was the arrogance of the salesmen. The Tundra was clearly overpriced. For the price of a minimally equipped Tundra, I could buy an F250 that would haul more, tow more, and last at least as long. I didn't want an F250 however. I wanted a smaller truck, and the I liked the size of the Tundra. I even tried to get a deal on a Tacoma, but the prices on those were actually higher then for the Tundra (I could not figure that out). So I ended up in a Nissan Frontier. It is not my favorite truck (I miss the old F150) but at least it was thousands less expensive that a Toyota. Before you ask - I don't like the current F150s. They were clearly designed for people who should be buying a car. But, it seems the Tundras were too.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

Try this link:

formatting link
Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

The original 2.0L OHC Ford engine was cast iron block and head. So was the 2.3L. Ford never built an engine with an aluminum block and cast iron head (Chevy did that for the Vega). Ford did build some cast iron block / aluminum head engines. I think all the fours are now aluminum block (with liners) and aluminum head.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

Bottom line is that the buying public finds Toyota and Honda's offerings better than Ford's-Ford is floating between #3 and #4 in results released. Ford is flushing plants and people and Toyota is building plants in the US and hiring Americans. Ford has been exporting work to Mexico, Canada, China (DCX is doing even more in China). Past Ford (and GM & DCX) poor management decisions and treatment of *former* customers is why the Old Big Three is being replaced by the New Big Three. People vote by means of their purchases of new vehicles. The Old Big Three boards have turned American icons into scrap metal.

Reply to
Jim Higgins

But why? Toyota products are nothing special in terms of engineering, ride, power, handling, etc. The designs of many Toyota models are comparatively old and very conservative. Claims of Toyota reliability are over blown. Many Toyota models have mediocre insurance injury loss ratings. And Toyota prices are often much higher than comparable cars from other manufacturers. So what is the attraction? My SO has a new RAV4. It is a nice little Station Wagon (whoops - SUV) BUT, I don't find it any nicer than my younger sister's 6 year old Escape. The RAV4 is bigger, but the drivng posiiton is worse. It may well be reliable, but since my sister has spent less than $20 on repairs for her Escape, can it possibly be more reliable? I could buy an Escape equipped like my SO's RAV4 for at least $3000 less. Yet my SO would not even consider an Escape. In fact, she didn't consider anything but the RAV4. Why? I don't know. Mostly she just likes Toyotas. Her Father has a Tacoma, and her Mother a Camry. Neither of them have owned an American car in at least 25 years. Interestingly, my older Sister has a Honda Civic (in the past she has owend a Jetta, an Esccort, an Accord, and a Pinto). She is shopping for a new car. She wants an Escape, probably because she likes my other Sister's Escape. BTW, I did try to get her to at least look at my SO's RAV4. She isn't interested (but then she is - hmmm - frugal).

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

You're probably right. I was confusing the Vega and the Pinto. I took them both apart.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

Thanks. Toyota was ranked near the industry average, 847 (industry ave.) vs

832 (toyota) what seems to be about a 200-point scale (difference between best and worst). I am not sure how important those 15 points are. What's more worrisome is the company they keep, they are near Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, Kia and VW. Are they ranked relatively low just because they don't give much on price? Is it the long wait? A whole bunch of little things?

Toyota is not as interested in the best costumer experience (that would be giving away cars, with a smile of course) as it is in selling the most cars they can.Toyota and all the other car makers are interested at improving the costumer experience, because that helps sell cars. I am nearly positive that all the car makers have requirements for space and service that the dealers have to meet to keep their dealerships. So for a dealer to be a great dealer from a JDPower sort of view is not the same as being a good dealer for a Toyota point of view or the bottom cash line point of view dealers have. If costumers come away a little less happy because they had to wait a little while longer, but they still get the sale, Toyota and the dealers are not going to be too upset. It might hurt the JD Power numbers, but those are not the numbers that matter.

Another thing to realize about the JD Power numbers is that these numbers reflect only the sales that were made. Let's say I go to my local dealer to buy a car. The salesman says, "I have a deal for you. I will sell you this new sedan for only $1000 over the list price. I will throw in undercoating, an extended warranty and free tires for life (as long as you take it into our over-priced shop for balancing and allignment every 6 months or 6,000 mi) for only $5000. And the advertising fee is only $800." Needless to say, I would seek a vehicle elsewhere. But this bad experience would not be reflected in JD Power's numbers. However, if I found a car I really wanted at the next dealership, had a competent but not overly friendly salesman who tried to bundle financing and the trade in in one transaction (bad idea), even though the JD Power rating # for the second dealer is not that good, it was a far better experience that the first one.

Finally, for brands like Ford and Chevy, well, there are far more dealers. So let's say I really like the Honda Fit. I saw it at the NYC Auto Show, my friend has one, and I really like it. Well, while there are four Ford dealers I could go to within 25 mi., there is only one Honda dealer. They're all good dealers with good, well-earn reputations. Some are better working with one type of costumer than others. I would end up buying from the Ford deal that best suited my personality. I am still going to get a good experience at the Honda dealer, but it probably won't match my personality like the Ford dealer, so it will end up with a lower rating.

And how bad an experience is the average car-buying experience, anyway?

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

And what's wrong with being cheap? I have a '97 Contour with 135k mi on it. It has a total value of around $1500. I may replacee it with '03 Civic Hybrid if the price is right. Otherwise, I will continue to run it as long as it is safe.

JEff

Reply to
Jeff

So sales people selling high priced high margin vehicles suck up to the customer more. No surprise there.

Reply to
who

Well, personally I have been struck by the arrogant attitude of the three closest Toyota dealers. They are masters of the BIG Lie. They quote you a relatively decent price, but when you ask for the bottom line they tack on the biggest phony doc fee I have ever seen. One dealer keeps talking about the low prices of cars in the "clearance zone," but when you decide you want one of the "specials" the drive away price is literally thousands higher than you thought. I refuse to do business with people that act like this. My SO had to go 50 miles away to get a decent price on a RAV4. Even then the price for the RAV4 was thousand higher than for an Escape with similar equipment. At least the guys at that dealership acted like they were happy you bought a car from them, instead of acting like they were doing you a favor by letting you buy one of their oh so special cars.

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

Nothing wrong with being frugal. At least in my mind, being cheap is not such a good thing. But words mean different things to different people. You probably qualify as Frugal :) My Sister borders on cheap (or more correctly uncaring). Her 1997 Honda Civic is looking pretty ratty, plus the clutch is not long for this world. The car also needs new tires. If it was strictly used for short trips, it might be OK. But for her frequent long trips, she feels it is marginal (so do I). Money is not a problem, so she has decided she wants a new car - but - she keeps putting it off. This is worrisome to me since she hasn't had a car meet a good end since her 1973 Pinto (I bought that in good condition). Her first Honda was totaled in a wreck, the Jetta had the transmission self destruct, and the Escort was totaled in a wreck. I think she is on target to have the Civic either get wrecked (not the worst end if she is unhurt) or have the transmission blow....

Ed

Reply to
C. E. White

That's a young car. My Concord is a '95 and it's running as new, but only about 80k miles. I would have traded it at 10 yrs, but I like it MUCH better than what Chrysler has to offer.

I may switch to Ford I feel the Fusion is nice , but what I really need is a Fusion SW and the related CUVs aren't what I want.

Reply to
Some O

The Pinto engines were manufactured with iron blocks and heads. I recently had to redo the head on the 2L engine in my 71 Pinto, that was worn because of no lead in the fuel, that had 299K miles on the clock. That was the first the engine was apart.

Our friend Jeff basis his opinion on his personal experience and biases, as do most of us. Most of those that post in the NGs are used car buyers,or those, that if they did buy new, they keep their vehicle much longer than the average new car buyer. Their opinions are based a perhaps fewer than ten OLD vehicles My experience if far greater than average, however. I have owned over 70 vehicles, like most folks buying used at first, but most since the late forties were purchased new. I have owned European and Japanese imports as well as domestics from Hudson, Studebaker, Nash Chrysler, Ford and GM.. All types from econoboxes to sport cars to luxury vehicles. Of all of them, maybe a half dozen were problematic.

I owed a fleet service business, that operated in four states, for ten years. We serviced thousand of vehicles of most brands every month, many run to ultra high mileages. There is no brand that is demonstrably 'better' than any other, on average, in terms of longevity. We saw as many problems with Japanese vehicles as we did with domestics, on average. The big difference is parts are more costly for Japanese vehicles, as well as higher insurance costs. The fact is every manufacturer is building good reliable, long lasting, vehicles today, if given the proper PREVENTIVE maintenance. Japanese superiority is more myth than fact. Toyota was number one in recalls in 2006 and is number one so far in 2007, as well.

When I am asked which brand to buy, my advice is drive all of those models that suit your needs then buy the one, with the total drive home price, that best suits your budget. The fact is if you actually understand what ALL of those surveys are saying is, like all manufactured products, that they ALL have a failure rate of around 2%. There is no reason to spend more hoping to get one of the 98% of the good ones, no mater what brand mane is on the grill.

What I find strange is, one seldom sees domestic buyers denigrating imports in import NGs but import buyer are always denigrating domestic in domestic NGs. There millions more Americans every year who buy domestics, than imports. Who are the import buyer trying to convince, themselves? ;)

mike

Reply to
Mike Hunter

Actually, not having lead in the fuel doesn't matter. It was thought that the lead acts as a valve lubricant, but it was later found out that this was only under certain circumstances. In the vast majority of cases, the lack of lead in gas makes no difference.

Do you have a database where you track all the vehicles and are able to do statistically valid comparisons?

Unfortunately, unless you did this way, it is very hard to catch trends. The human brain is not wired to do this properly. In fact, the human brain is very bad at this. Think of all the people who are afraid to fly but not drive. Driving is far more dangerous.

If you ask doctors which diesease do they see most commonly and what percentage of patients have it, they are notorious for getting the percentage wrong.

So, unless you actually have real data to go on, I say your longevity data is not reliable.

This is correct.

Who are the domestic buyers trying to convince? Themselves? B-)

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.