Jump to content

Bye Bye Taurus


Soxy

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 51
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

QUOTE(Soxy @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 11:17 AM)
Sniff.

 

My second car was a Taurus and I loved it very much. And now, a moment of silence for the Taurus.

 

Any thoughts on if this has a broader significance for the American automakers?

 

 

Ford is in DEEEEEEEEP doo doo right now. They lost nearly 6 Billion ( with a B ) in their latest earnings report which marks their worst loss since 1992.

 

There's 2 things which are crushing the U.S. automakers right now.

 

1. Overdependence on SUV and light truck sales

2. Outmoded and costly labor contracts.

 

Ford is getting hit the hardest because they have been the slowest to change while GM has almost got their ship righted ( I think they only lost 113 million in their latest report ) and Daimler Chrysler is profitable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ford is hurting, but a lot of the reason they are hurting is because the effects of all there restructuring adjutsments and layoffs have yet to really be felt.

 

I expect another chunk of awful results for them but in a couple quarters things should imrpove at least a bit (not saying that means things will be good, far from it, but better than they have been).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 11:40 AM)
I swear, older Taurus's are the biggest rust buckets on the road.

 

I've owned 3 Escorts, a Probe, and a Windstar, and the last auto company I will ever support again is Ford.

 

 

My first car was an Escort and I drove that thing to almost 100K miles, sold it to a neighbor's kid and they drove it back and forthe to college every weekend for 3 years. It was nasty looking and the doors were about to fall off but the damn thing kept running...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My in-laws all have/had Tauruses and it seems like they've all had twice as much trouble with them comapared to any car I've ever owned. It seemed like every other week one of them had their car in the shop for something.

 

One finally had to get rid of his because it died on him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

this to me is like the Catholic Preist scandals.... EVERYONE knew that kids were getting hurt, but 20-30 years go by and the Catholic Leadership does nothing.

 

EVERYONE knows that Fords suck goat balls and Ford's leadership do everything but make their cars worth investing in.

 

"Built Ford Tough" only goes as far as your car breaking down 3 times in a month. No one believes in your product, so DO something to change that BESIDES fancy marketing.

 

"you can polish a turd....but it's still a turd at the end of the day"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE(Steff @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 12:18 PM)
My first car was an Escort and I drove that thing to almost 100K miles, sold it to a neighbor's kid and they drove it back and forthe to college every weekend for 3 years. It was nasty looking and the doors were about to fall off but the damn thing kept running...

 

 

My first was an Escort also. Wrapped it around a tree. The day I got my license. My parents were not very happy with me for some odd reason.

 

It was the Probe and the Windstar that made me realize what a crappy company Ford is. The cars are crap, and their customer service is beaten only by Dell and Giordanno's on how bad it is.

Edited by Kid Gleason
Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 12:10 PM)
Sad, but no big surprise either... All of those nice Hyundais, Toyotas, and Hondas on the road mean less American high paying, benefit filled jobs. This is just a continuation of that.

 

 

Not so fast SS2K. While Ford and GM move manufacturing capacity to places like Canada and Mexico as fast as they can, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Nissan are opening up plants in the midwest and southeast.

 

Seems nowadays if you want to buy American you should get yourself one of those shiny new Toyotas as American cars are American in name only. That's why I laugh when I see GM's latest ad campaign featuring "This is our country" by John Mellencamp. They must think we're stupid or something.

Edited by NUKE_CLEVELAND
Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 02:14 PM)
Not so fast SS2K. While Ford and GM move manufacturing capacity to places like Canada and Mexico as fast as they can, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Nissan are opening up plants in the midwest and southeast.

 

Seems nowadays if you want to buy American you should get yourself one of those shiny new Toyotas as American cars are American in name only. That's why I laugh when I see GM's latest ad campaign featuring "This is our country" by John Mellencamp. They must think we're stupid or something.

 

Tell me one that has offered anything near the compensation packages that the US companies have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 02:21 PM)
Tell me one that has offered anything near the compensation packages that the US companies have.

 

 

Foregin automakers compensation packages are pretty darn attractive considering the Big 3 jobs are being shipped to other countries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE(sox4lifeinPA @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 10:45 AM)
this to me is like the Catholic Preist scandals.... EVERYONE knew that kids were getting hurt, but 20-30 years go by and the Catholic Leadership does nothing.

 

EVERYONE knows that Fords suck goat balls and Ford's leadership do everything but make their cars worth investing in.

 

"Built Ford Tough" only goes as far as your car breaking down 3 times in a month. No one believes in your product, so DO something to change that BESIDES fancy marketing.

 

"you can polish a turd....but it's still a turd at the end of the day"

For years there trucks were the best on the market. I'm not sure if thats true (since they changed the styling around 03 or 04) but they had that market covered.

 

QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 12:32 PM)
Actually Toyota pays, on average, a higher wage than GM and Ford union shops. The drive to unionize Toyota has had a side effect of making sure Toyota employees are well taken care of.

 

As a result, KY's Toyota plant can't get more than 40% of the employees on board for the UAW.

AKA the most over-rated car company on the planet. On a lot of there products, people are paying far more than what they are getting.

 

Yes, I have a bias against Toyota in fact I hate Toyota. HONDA, now thats another story :lol:

 

That said I think the Tundra and 4Runner kick butt, they are just overpriced (especially the 4Runner).

 

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 12:21 PM)
Tell me one that has offered anything near the compensation packages that the US companies have.

Nissan was for a long while. Friend of the family worked pretty high up at there headquarters out my way and they were paying well more than the American Counterparts (he had previously worked for two of the American car companies).

 

I also know Nissan has opened plenty more plants in the midwest and vehicles like the Titan are built entirely in the US. At the same time GM assembles most of its products in Mexico (at least for SUV's) although my dad was telling me the higher up SUV's are produced in the states or in canada (one or the other).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 12:42 PM)
AKA the most over-rated car company on the planet. On a lot of there products, people are paying far more than what they are getting.

 

Yes, I have a bias against Toyota in fact I hate Toyota. HONDA, now thats another story :lol:

We should have talked a few months ago. Went out pretty much expecting to wind up in a new Corolla, took a look at that car and the Civic, wound up walking away having spent more money on the Civic and being pretty darn happy about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 02:42 PM)
For years there trucks were the best on the market. I'm not sure if thats true (since they changed the styling around 03 or 04) but they had that market covered.

AKA the most over-rated car company on the planet. On a lot of there products, people are paying far more than what they are getting.

 

Yes, I have a bias against Toyota in fact I hate Toyota. HONDA, now thats another story :lol:

 

That said I think the Tundra and 4Runner kick butt, they are just overpriced (especially the 4Runner).

Nissan was for a long while. Friend of the family worked pretty high up at there headquarters out my way and they were paying well more than the American Counterparts (he had previously worked for two of the American car companies).

 

I also know Nissan has opened plenty more plants in the midwest and vehicles like the Titan are built entirely in the US. At the same time GM assembles most of its products in Mexico (at least for SUV's) although my dad was telling me the higher up SUV's are produced in the states or in canada (one or the other).

 

 

Sing it with me Jas.........."THISSSSSSSSSSS ISSSSSS OURRRRRRR COUNNNNNNNNNTRYYYYYYYYYY"

 

:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 25, 2006 -> 12:45 PM)
We should have talked a few months ago. Went out pretty much expecting to wind up in a new Corolla, took a look at that car and the Civic, wound up walking away having spent more money on the Civic and being pretty darn happy about it.

Its a great car. I've had two Honda's and a Ford in my lifetime. I loved my Ford, but absolutely have loved my Honda's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...