Stick a Fork in the US Auto Industry

The U.S auto industry has had a fork stuck in it for some time. Worse cars I ever had was a Ford Probe and Ford Taurus. I constantly had them in the shop for one thing or another. On the Taurus, after paying it off, the transmission went out on it. I later learned that this was a common problem with the Taurus, Focus, and Fusion. I'll NEVER buy ford again.

I've liked Ford pickups a great deal.

Similar experience with my Escort. It was a '95, and the transmission died when it was six years old. And the interior parts were so poorly built that the automatic seatbelt was already broken when I bought it in '09, the rear defrost switch wouldn't stay on without me sticking a piece of plastic in it, and by 2002 you could turn the ignition with a screwdriver.

Cheap, shoddy construction from end to end.

Had two fusions and a taurus which were very low maintenance for me. High mileage too. Tires, break pads, and less than recommended oil and fluid changes and they made high mileage for me. I also sold them in working order. It was the explorer that had trouble with the transmission over 150k, but you expected that with the 4wd transmission at the time. They survived a lot of abuse and kept on going. Their problem was they were a bit more pricey than other alternatives, and their gas mileage was also not so hot. I have to say the fusion was a little tank from the back end. I ended some much larger and supposedly stronger cars without doing much damage aside from a little crack or two.

*Brake

Not when I slam on them to break the car behind me.

On that note Tesla built well over 50,000 model 3's last quarter. So fuck you. You need to hear that, fuck you.

Yeah, about that...

Producing 50k cars means fuck all if they can't get them delivered in a timely manner. I had customers at MINI who put deposits on these cars in April of 2016 when they first opened sales. I only just stated seeing Model 3s out in the wild of San Diego (which next to LA is the largest market of these fuckers) within the last six months.

And there are STILL people waiting.

American cars are fucking crap. German cars are complicated, and expensive to maintain. Everything made is the former Eastern Bloc is shit. Buy Japanese.

What, you don't like Yugos?

First "major" maintenance on my '02 Cavalier this summer. The brake doodads needed un-warping and stuff. None of the parts had to be replaced though.

I wouldn’t know, they all ended up in the junk yard before I had a chance to work on them.

Ford rumored to be making a 4 door version of the Mustang. https://www.foxnews.com/auto/ford-m...four-door-mustang-is-in-the-works-reports-say

I remember the shit storm that happened when Ford said that they were going to sell rebadged Mazdas as Mustangs. I wonder if they'll get the same reaction to this news.

As a Mustang owner, I'm all for a 4-door version. A good sedan on this platform could be a much lower cost competitor to the BMW M3.

Hold the fucking phone. Rebadged Mazdas?!
1. Ford is American, Mazda is Japanese.
2. When did Ford and Mazda enter into any (unholy) alliance?

Please enlighten me; clearly I missed something in my very casual observation of the automotive industry.

I don't see a reason for this.

Ford bought part of Mazda in the mid 1980's.

I'm not sure that warranted the facepalm rep, as I'm clearly defining my ignorance in the subject and willingness to remedy that.
That said, huh. Mid 1980s? I'm curious about the Ford-Mazda relationship, and it's somewhat reinforcing my... faith, for a lack of a better word, with Subaru and Nissan.

Perhaps you're too young to remember the debacle that was...the FORD PROBE.

Yes, indeed, in 1988 Ford planned to introduce a new generation Mustang built around a Mazda chassis...a front-wheel drive six cylinder. Mustang fans revolted, and Ford scrapped the idea, but still introduced the car as the Probe.





It was shit--I went on a friend's test drive of one--and was put out of its misery a few short years later.

Yeah, no. Muscle cars like the Mustang are supposed to be the very antithesis of things like BMWs. The only thing more offensive would be slapping the Mustang name on a minivan.

Not really. They have more in common than you'd think. Muscle cars started as sedans with powered-up engines. That's what an M3 is: a performance enhanced 3-series sedan (granted, it gets more than just a power upgrade).

I read a road test in Motor Trend a few years back that compared a Mustang GT to the then-current BMW M3, and the Mustang came out very, very favorably. Eeven though the BMW was ultimately declared the superior car, it was much closer than they expected. Performance-wise, the Mustang was within a hair's breadth of the M3 (and was superior in flat-out acceleration).

The newest Mustangs have independent rear suspension (no more leaf springs!), excellent brakes, and a very powerful 400+ horsepower motor. With some refinement (better interior, additional tweaks to the suspension, some upscale options), I can see a, say, $45,000 sedan based on the Mustang fundamentals being a lower-cost competitor to the M3.

edit: found the article, it was actually Motor Trend, and it wasn't a Boss, but rather a garden variety GT (the same car I drive everyday).

Um, why don't you consider what one of the leading authorities on automobiles has to say? I linked the article above.

Incidentally, this is from 7 years ago, and the newer Mustangs are even more refined and more powerful.

Consider that your perspective might be a little outdated.

I owned one and thought they were nice.

I'm reminded of the old joke...

If what the Probe was appealed to you, great. It just wasn't for someone who wanted a Mustang.

Actually, the Mustang was originally equipped only with a V-6, and was considered a "secretary's car." After a fellow by the name of Lee Iacocca noticed that people were buying the cars and then dropping a crate V-8 engine in them, he glommed onto the idea of having the V-8 be standard equipment, and a legend was born. (Or so, Lee claims the V-8 versions were his idea, others have disagreed with this.) As Ford, and aftermarket companies, began producing performance and other components for the Mustang, the legend was born. They were a gearhead's dream: An inexpensive car which was fun to drive and could be tweaked and customized by the owner in a nearly limitless number of ways. We saw a similar phenomenon in the mid-80s when Honda introduced the CRX, and people went nuts over tuning them.

And? That just shows how far Ford has drifted from the original idea of what a Mustang is supposed to be. Back in the '60s, even a blue-collar high school kid could afford to buy a new Mustang and tweak the shit out of it. Now? Not so much. I also never liked Road & Track's test drives, because one reporter would drive one car, another reporter would drive a different car, and then they'd write their article. Car & Driver would have the reporters swap cars before they wrote the article, that way they could compare the other vehicle.

Which, again, is so far away from what a Mustang should be, as to have no relation to it. If you look at the history of the automotive industry, the standout cars, which everybody knows and have loyal cult followings, all start out the same way: Humble machines which are transformed by their owners in ways their creators couldn't have imagined when they first drew up the plans for the cars. The Model-T, the VW Beetle, the 2CV, the Mustang, and the CRX (to name but a few). Their easy affordability and customizability are moving metallic manifestations of the potential of youth. Turning the Mustang into just another bourgemobile is more of the same mindset which allowed imports to clobber Detroit in the 80s. It also turns the Mustang from a method of self-expression into merely another "appliance." You know, like a minivan, while allowing the owners to pretend that they didn't grow up to be the kind of person they didn't want to be, and are still holding on to their youthful dreams. While in reality, they're some dull slob who spends their days talking about "the subtle flavors" of a particular wine, instead of admitting that the real reason they drink it is because they like the buzz it gives them.

my two current cars are German - a 2009 Beetle and a 2017 Jetta. Both are simple cars (by today's standards) and very dependable and easy to maintain.
I used to own a 1982 Toyota 4-banger truck which of course had that legendary Japanese durability which might never be surpassed. You see Toyota trucks all over Africa & Iraq and similar places where people need cheap, rugged, and dependable vehicles. That said I owned two cheap back-to-back Dodge Neons that were very low maintenance until they hit about 80K miles and then POW! they started to nickel & dime me!

Ford hasn’t been involved in Mazda in about a decade. Current Mazda’s are fantastic and are entirely their creation. Just check our YouTube review videos of the 2018 Mazda6 where pretty much every reviewer says their the best of their class even if no one buys them. And Motor Trend picked a fully loaded Cx5 over a Lexus nx 300 SUV a few months back in a head to head (the CX5 is getting a major engine upgrade nest year so it’ll be even more of a no brained).

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/lex...-cx-5-vs-2018-lexus-nx-300-comparison-review/

My CX-3 is great, although I will say I preferred certain features (satnav, touchscreen remaining useful above 10mph) on my old Kia C'eed. Satnav is OK but often fails to accept certain postcodes, particularly in Wales which is a bugger because that's, y'know, where I live.

Well they’re supposed to trot out CarPlay and android auto soon so maybe you’ll be able to upgrade the software at the dealer and use some google maps or some such. I agree about the touchscreen. I rented a Nissan Rogue a few weeks ago and it allows full use of the touch screen at all speeds. I never found it problematic