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Ovaltine

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Everything posted by Ovaltine

  1. Ahem. I refer you to the previous post where I explained how handy I found this feature just last week. If you don't ever park in tight spaces, then yep, I can understand why you may not see the value of them. http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index...indpost&p=14333 On my Spectra I've got both the folding mirrors and the puddle lights. Both of the front doors have true downwards pointing "puddle lights" built into them that do a great job of lighting up the entire entry area next to the door(s). LOOK everyone.... I never said that a protruding molding here, a sloppy inner fender fit there, or a missing desired feature there made the Fusion a "piece of crap" as my car has been disparaged sight unseen. I simply pointed out some areas I think could be improved, and I stand by my remarks. And I think the headlines of recent days more than echo my warning of "Ignore the competition at your own peril". After analyzing Ford's "Way Forward", I'm assuming that they are not ignoring anything. But it's apparent on these boards that a large group of brand loyalists may be doing JUST that. -Ovaltine
  2. I try to be fair, even-handed, polite, and sometimes even humorous on here and THIS is how I'm treated in turn???? I'm hurt....... I mean I'm really HURT! NOT!!!!!!!! :lol: -Ovaltine
  3. That report is encouraging. Whether people believe it or not, I'd rather hear stories like this one than ones to the contrary. I also have to admit that the 500 and Montego *are* the cars that appeal to me most in the Ford lineup, AFTER the Mustang Mach I (of course) that the Blueovalnews.com site is alluding to. The 500 and Montego have the whole Volvo safety mojo thing going on and that's appealing, to be sure. If Ford can revamp the styling on these two slightly (which is forthcoming, I read) AND give the customers some powertrain options engine-wise, then the sales should steadily improve if quality holds AND Ford finds a way to market them properly. How about adding the word "Galaxie" in front of the numerals???? Hmmmmm? And while we're on the topic of names...... could / would Ford PLEASE consider burying that damned moniker "Crown Victoria" for the rightful heir to the throne "LTD"????? And drop the "Grand" from "Grand Marquis" and just call the car the "Marquis". I think the time to do that would during the *next* Panther refresh or major revamp. I owned an "LTD" back in high school, but I would have *never* been caught dead in a "Crown Victoria". -Ovaltine
  4. Stap, Stap, STAP! How many time do I have to tell you! I don't manufacuwa Hyundais or KIAs!!! :lol: -Ovaltine
  5. You make a good point in your post TBH! For anyone who doubts the potential of the Koreans, you have to read the article referenced below. I remember reading it in Fortune when the issue came out in September and saw parallels with what I had been reading about Hyundai/KIA's efforts and goals. The entire article is worth reading... and learning from! A Perpetual Crisis Machine Samsung's VIP Center is home to a uniquely paranoid culture--and that's the way the boss likes it. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/for...72909/index.htm Here are a few excerpts: "The VIP Center is one of the reasons Samsung Electronics, once known as the maker of cheap black-and-white TVs, has become in less than a decade the world's dominant--and most profitable--consumer electronics company, knocking Sony from the top of the heap. At Samsung, speed equals success, and disaster lurks in every overlooked detail or missed deadline. According to the management philosophy laid out by vice chairman and CEO Jong-Yong Yun (everyone calls him vice chairman Yun), profits in the Digital Age are directly linked to being first to market. A delay in delivery takes a product one step closer to being a commodity, and when it comes to commodities, the low-cost Chinese manufacturers will eat your lunch noodles. Failure is not an option, especially in the VIP Center, a concrete-and-glass embodiment of Samsung's uniquely paranoid corporate culture. "Vice chairman Yun stresses that if you relax, if you become complacent, a crisis will find you," adds Kyunghan Jung, a senior manager of the VIP Center. "There is," he says, "a lot of tension here." "The VIP Center--which stands for Value Innovation Program, not Very Important Person--is definitely a guy's kind of hangout." "Once through the front door and past the security guards, climbing the stairs of the building reveals door after door after closed door marked with code names: Hinan, Mosel, Porsche, Elle. The various teams closeted within could be working on a new liquid-crystal display TV or a problem with semiconductor yields or maybe just a way to eliminate one function from an air-conditioner control panel. While the objects of their attention vary widely, the team members at the VIP Center have one thing in common: Their bosses have vowed in writing--etched in metal on a plaque that hangs on the wall--to keep them in the VIP Center until they have solved their particular problems. If that means spending the night, so be it. Although team members may go home to sleep if they want to, Samsung executives acknowledge--with obvious pride--that the building is occupied 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And even if they don't sleep over, 18- to 20-hour days are not uncommon. "When people are told they have to come here, they know they have to come up with results in a very, very short time," says Song, a veteran team leader. "This is not a prison," one engineer tells me, "but it's not a volunteer job either." -Ovaltine
  6. I understand your reasoning above. However...... keep in mind that fuel theft is for the most part a crime of opportunity. Do you *really* think any petty thief is going be prying my fuel door or punching holes in my tank with all of those unsecured Ford opportunities sitting in the lot or structure around my car? Btw, what kind of dealership was it and general vicinity where those cars were at that were punched/cut? Was it in a suburb or urban area? Also, if I remember the earlier part of this thread correctly, I'm pretty sure we all learned that most companies install an anti-siphon device in the filler neck these days (a fact that I did not know!!). I guess that still makes most maker's cars susceptible to getting attacked as you describe above. I can see it now.... the *next* hot new add-on from Murrays Auto Parts! Easily installable "Gas Tank and Filler Neck Shields" that prevent holes from being punched into your tank and filler neck. Hey.... maybe I'm ON to something here. Heh heh. If gas hits $3.50+ a gallon, I wouldn't bet against that idea! -Ovaltine
  7. I'm happy that there are good reviews on the Fusion out there. I really am. Lord knows Ford needs the good news today, on "Black Monday". That said however, I stand by my observances stated in previous posts. - I still think a fuel door would be a nice touch, esp. since most of the Fusion's vaunted Asian competition appear to consider it necessary. My Spectra's fuel door lever is on the floor directly to my left, so the fuel door is usually opened with little or no strain before I even open the car door. I empathize with the Mustang owner who hated his car's fuel door, because my '88 5.0 has one too. I don't dislike the feature as much as the guy who bent his door to deactivate it, but I DO DISLIKE the place where Ford put the button.... in the glove box!!!! Great ergonomics there, eh? - 3 out of the last 4 Fusions I've examined have the weatherstripping aesthetics issue I described. Obviously it can be installed correctly on occasion. - 3 out of the last 3 Fusions I've examined exhibit the sloppy fit and design of the rear plastic inner fender wells behind the tire. A quick examination (again) of the parking lot I was in at the time could not produce another car with such a design/implementation. and here's my *latest* observation and suggestion.... Why doesn't the Fusion have foldable door mirrors? Again, every KIA regardless of price has them. And a quick look through the parking lot found that most Asian-produced cars do. The new Sonata may be one of the exceptions to that rule, and Hyundai caught hell for that faux paus by the readers on that forum. But what good are folding mirrors you are probably asking right now, right?!?!?! Well here's a perfect example. Last week, the parking structure I park in had only *1* spot left when I arrived. The spot was still open because a (approximately) 4 foot deep and 8 inch wide concrete structural support sticks out directly into the left side of the spot. The spot was wide enough to pull into, HOWEVER my mirror was only 2 inches away from the pillar. Thus, exiting out the auto was not an option unless I was willing to crawl over my console and exit out the passenger side (not a very graceful option) OR if I backed the car out, turned it around, and backed into the spot (not a good choice in a parking structure busy with exiting P.O.ed drivers who can't find a spot). In the current Fusion, those would have been my ONLY choices other than abandoning the spot. In my new Spectra, I simply lowered my window (using its 1-TOUCH DOWN mode... a nice feature), folded my mirror back against my car, raised the window, and easily exited the car through the now wide-open door. Again.... in a Fusion the scenario described above wouldn't have been possible. So.... to reiterate, here's my ORIGINAL post's non-model specific summary (with a new addition of a mention of standard features): "But I will say that when the panel gaps, paint, and general fit and finish AND STANDARD FEATURES of Korea's supposed "bottom end" manufacturer starts coming close or surpassing the quality AND FEATURES of any of the major players, then those major players need to ratchet it up another notch or two." Feel free to keep posting positive reviews of the Fusion on here though. I'm sure that there *are* some nice features that I and the rest of the readers haven't had a chance to discover yet. I just quickly perused the 35 reviews there (the first from Oct. 2005), and all of them appear to be quite positive! Kudos to Ford. I did see one that addressed poor fit and finish, but it was one of the earlier posts and only represents 3% of the sample. I would have to say that IS great news for Ford! But you can save yourself the trouble of posting any ad hominem attacks on myself or how crappy non-Ford cars are, because my stated observations above speak for themselves. -Ovaltine
  8. I thought that some people on here might be interested in this little factoid.... http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:LH1P6q...d+epithet&hl=en The term "mental retardation", like its predecessors, long ago escaped from the clinical realm of classification into universal English usage as a potent, utterly dismissive invective in the mouths of adults and school children. The injurious nominal form retard became a term of opprobrium alongside moron, imbecile, and idiot. As a descriptive, retarded is a commonly heard teen epithet to label someone or something as deserving ridicule, as in, "Those shoes are so retarded." For what it's worth.... -Ovaltine
  9. Foxrun: I'm now VERY intrigued by your take on economics. If we take *your* definition of profit and try to match it up with one of the economic systems below, I'd have to say that your explanation aligns much more with communism than capitalism. com·mu·nism Pronunciation Key (kmy-nzm) n. A theoretical economic system characterized by the collective ownership of property and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members. cap·i·tal·ism Pronunciation Key (kp-tl-zm) n. An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market. Bonus definition: prof·it Pronunciation Key (prft) n. The return received on a business undertaking after all operating expenses have been met. Note: It is my belief that the terms "development" and "reinvestment" mentioned under the definition of capitalism represents what the private or corporate owners decide to do with *their* profits. It does not necessarily represent the "development" that the government performs with the taxation of those profits. At this point I am going to invite you to post a *succinct* non-rambling dissertation on the specifics of how you would like the economy to work in the United States. It's apparent that you have thought this through quite extensively, and I think all of us on here would enjoy reading a semi-detailed layout of your ideal economic system. This is an honest invitation to you to enlighten us.... it's not meant to be troll-bait. -Ovaltine
  10. Here you go.... as I said, the list goes on and on and on..... Ford of Korea http://www.ford-korea.com/ Ford of Japan http://www.ford.co.jp/ And be it however small, profit from the countries I listed previously AND the ones above go right back to Dearborn. If it did not, the local enterprises would have no purpose to exist and would be shut down. The premise of my argument is that *you* deem profits generated by the labors of people in other countries acceptable AS LONG as the generated profits benefit U.S. corporations (i.e. Ford Motor Company). You never refuted that statement in your previous "red-herring" reply. Inversely however, your posts make it clear that you deem it UNACCEPTABLE for foreign companies to come to the United States, produce and sell products with American labor, and send the profits back to the mother country. This is your argument presented in its most simplest terms. You can bring in the whole list of unfair trade issues, etc., etc., etc. into the picture all you want. But if you think that Ford and GM don't benefit to some degree from similar benefits in the countries they produce and trade in, then instead of the "retarded" label you so like to freely label other people with, I'll use a kinder gentler word such as "naive". Could this country stand to have its trade laws revised and some tariffs put on goods that are obviously being dumped here? Without a doubt......although I'm not sure what kind of chain reaction WTO malestrom would be created. But hey, I'd be willing to see what happens as an experiment! But the main point is, let's try to avoid overt double standards on the boards here passing as fact. If that's possible. -Ovaltine Thought for Today.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contradiction A hypocrite is not saying anything that contradicts the general principles that he asserts to be true; but his actions, in some sense, presuppose that those principles are false.
  11. Foxrun: Why are you so quick to disparage other people's opinons on here? Don't you realize that the same thing you're bitchin' about is what keeps the company you're supporting alive through the various down cycles in the U.S. economy? Don't believe me? Then check out the limited list of Ford websites below I was able to scrounge up in 5 minutes. Ford sells (and many times manufactures) autos and trucks in almost all western (and now eastern) market countries!! And trust me..... Ford ain't exporting U.S. built vehicles to all of those countries. Many Poles, Brits, Brazilians, Mexicans, etc. are toiling day in and day out building cars generating the "cream (profit)" you refer to above SO THAT IT CAN BE SENT BACK TO DEARBORN, MI.! And, they're happy to do it, because they're getting a paycheck and providing for their families. BUT, when other people's "cream" comes back home to the good 'ole U.S. of A....... now that's okay with you isn't it??? Hypocrite. -Ovaltine Sources of Non-U.S. Ford Motor Company "Cream" (Profits) Ford of Australia http://www.ford.com.au/ Ford of China http://www.ford.com.cn/ Ford of Canada http://www.ford.ca/english/default_flash.asp Ford of Brazil https://www.ford.com.br/Default.asp Ford of England http://www.ford.co.uk/ Ford of Germany http://www.ford.de/ Ford of Mexico http://www.ford.com.mx/home.asp Ford of Argentina http://www.ford.com.ar/ford2005/home.asp Ford of Italy http://www.ford.it/ Ford of Russia http://www.ford.ru/ Ford of Poland http://www.ford.com.pl/ ... the list goes on and on! -Ovaltine
  12. No..... I'm not. BUT I *did* stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: Seriously though. Think about your inane exclamation about *actually* wanting to drive a '70s technology Fairmont instead of a KIA (a Spectra like mine for example). Put your American flag away for a minute and examine that statement. If you *truly* believe the things you espouse, then I wish you the best of luck in the future, 'cause YOU GONNA NEED IT! I don't expect any one on here to *love* any particular imported or foreign-manufacturer's U.S. built car. But at the very least, people need to show a bit of impartialness and respect to a vehicle line when it deserves it. Otherwise, their postings have no logical credibility. As an example, check out this Motor Trend article. The Spectra tops both the Focus and the Cobalt in their testing. http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedan/...tes/index9.html When you look at the hard statistics, the Spectra is right in the pack with everyone else. Add in the nicer interior and the standard side curtain airbags and you can see how the Spectra pulled off a mid-pack ranking. Then there's this one: Kia Spectra Ranks Second among Compact Cars—Spectra among Top 10 Most-Improved Models in the 2005 J.D. Powers IQS survey: http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:HMErB3...la+powers&hl=en So after reading the above articles, if you still seriously want to drive this: instead of this: ...then be my royal uninformed guest! -Ovaltine
  13. I clicked in on a thread called "I had a free afternoon, so I drove some midsizers... " started on 1/8/06 on Autoweek.com under the "Automakers" forum. Another person responded today, so it bubbled to the top of the list and caught my attention. Posted was the *exact* kind of feedback I'm trying to warn the powers on high about. Check it out for yourself.... http://forums.autoweek.com/thread.jspa?for...=25605&tstart=0 -Ovaltine
  14. You know... I *have* heard that before. Esp. from a friend of mine who once worked at a Chinese restaurant delivering take-out. He was actually the branch manager at a computer consulting firm in Dearborn I worked for. Whenever we'd go out to lunch to discuss business he'd NEVER let us pick a Chinese restaurant for lunch. He never told us any of the gory details, but he just told us to trust him. Heh heh. Btw, does your comment infer that someone on the line may have spit in my new car's cupholder? :lol: -Ovaltine
  15. Come now.... let's not resort to "straw man" arguments here. I *never* said that the Fusion is crap nor that I had no interest in it. If you read my original post that started this thread, I simply stated this premise: "I parked my new-design 2005 KIA Spectra next to an attractive new silver Ford Fusion SEL today at work. The Fusion appeared to be very nice. The Fusion (and 500 for that matter) really do show *huge* improvements in Ford product (at least on the surface). That cannot be denied. But why is it that I can find several "little" things about the Fusion that's missing (IMHO), and that even KIA has managed to nail???? Since I haven't sat in or ridden in a Fusion yet, I can't make any further comparisons. But I will say that when the panel gaps, paint, and general fit and finish of Korea's supposed "bottom end" manufacturer starts coming close or surpassing the quality of any of the major players, then those major players need to ratchet it up another notch or two." My interest in all of this is to simply point out to the people from FoMoCo who read these boards (and there are many... I'm sure) that little things like I'm pointing out DON'T escape the eyes and perception of the Joe and Jane America's that buy their products. I am using my cheap (but well made) new-gen KIA as a yardstick to measure the all new "Great White Hope" of Ford up to. As I said above, if Ford can't beat the Koreans on the little things on a flagship product, then they NEED to sweat the details a bit more. I'm hoping that they're up to the task. I really do. I still have a lot of friends and neighbors whose jobs DEPEND on the Blue Oval. But to stick yours/theirs/our heads in the proverbial sand and ignore things like I and others report is not the approach that's going to win the ultimate race. What worries me is the stories that my friend, the ex-Ford Vehicle Program Manager tells me, coupled with the production line and inferior part quality stories my next door neighbor the Ford Truck plant employee tells me. Add to that my 8+ years of experience seeing how things worked at FPSD, EEE, and the old NAAO, and I really hope that Bill Jr. and his gang are *serious* about the latest shakeup. Time is of the essence. And speaking of "time", as usual, rock-and-roll offers up a profound bit of observation in the insightful lyrics of Pink Floyd's "Time". In the battle for automotive supremacy, let these lyrics serve as a wake-up call. "Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town Waiting for someone or something to show you the way Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain And you are young and life is long and there is time to kill today And then one day you find ten years have gone behind you No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun" -Ovaltine
  16. Gee 2005Explorer.... you think so???? :rolleyes: Then right affter that test, let's go line up a Ford Focus against the new Hyundai Sonata (or upcoming Sonata-based redesigned KIA Optima) and replay the same test criteria. Who do you think will win that one? Hmmmm? Better yet.... why not run the Sonata up against the Fusion and see what happens performance wise. Oh... Car and Driver already did, and here's what they said about the Hyundai (KIA's parent corp): "This new four-door has frisky moves. In acceleration it leaves the Toyota and Ford far behind, tying the fleet Honda at 6.6 seconds from 0 to 60, then dropping back to finish the quarter-mile at 15.3 seconds at 93 mph." also noted was: In braking, the Sonata outstopped all the others at 181 feet from 70 mph. In cornering grip it tied the Honda at 0.79 g. Source: http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?se...5&page_number=3 While the Fusion did beat the Sonata out by the slimmest of margins (less than 6 points out of 250) in C&D's review, the more vehicle class-appropriate Sonata appears to beat the Ford in every performance criteria you mention above. And as I've been pointing out (AHEM!), C&D had this to say about the Fusion's fit and finish (note that they also take exception to some molding lines on the Hyundai): Ford obviously tried to design the front sheetmetal so it could be assembled with loose tolerances and, therefore, low manufacturing cost. Very sensible, we think, but it should be done in a way that escapes the customer's notice. From certain angles, our test car's hood gap was so wide it looked to be unlatched. All around the car, the Fusion's panel gaps are wider than those of the comparison cars. And like the Hyundai, it's not good at smoothing the parting lines on molded parts. "Fit and finish" is the Fusion's weakest rating category. The bottom line here gets back to what my post was ORIGINALLY about. Fit and finish. My Focus-class Spectra has it in spades over the couple of early production Fusions I've observed. I *wasn't* making a case about the performance of the two cars. However, since you try to zing my posting using that angle, the C&D article quoted above should soundly squelch your bit of "red herring" analysis. Keep the "apples" with the "apples" when the urge to compare *downwards* to prove superiority strikes. As an epilogue to this, I found another VERY sloppy application on a nearby Fusion yesterday. I wasn't going to post it here unless I had to pop back on this topic. Check out the visibility of the edge of the inner rear plastic fender walls where the rear quarter and bumper fascia meet. Yikes! I checked both sides of the car to make sure that it wasn't just a bad fit on one side, and it wasn't! The edge of the plastic fender wall was sticking past the fender/bumper into the open fender area both above and below the line where the fender/fascia meet. It's hard to describe, but instead of the fender wall edge being tucked back and behind the opening lip, it stuck/drooped down into the opening so it was *very* visible. I again used my Spectra as a benchmark and saw nothing similar to that, although the inner wall design is similar. I also examined a nearby Accord and other late model midsize cars and couldn't see a similar condition. Hopefully this can be (again) chalked up to early fit and finish problems, BUT after reading C&D's article I'm beginning to wonder. Time will tell. -Ovaltine Good one!!!! :lol: :lol: I like your sense of humor. -Ovaltine
  17. Thank you *cough* *cough* TBH, for also noticing this and posting it here. At least there's another soul (or two) who cares about the minutiae of fit and finish. :P -Ovaltine I suppose you're right about "non-car" people's power of observation and perception. However.... if things like protruding seals can be equated to other more tangible faux paus that ARE perceivable within the interior OR reliability, then I do think even average people start to notice. As far as my linkage to FoMoCo goes..... - I grew up in a Blue Oval family - My first 3 cars were Fords - I worked there as a contractor for 8+ years - I've *still* got a Mustang '88 5.0 LX in my garage.... in mint condition! The Plymouth I owned was a '93 Acclaim with the Mitsu V6. Good motor! The rest of the car held up great too! -Ovaltine
  18. You are correct about the issue of resale values of KIAs being currently among the lowest. However.... nothing improves a vehicle's resale value around faster than quality. I've already read articles saying that KIA's resale values are improving (OR are bound to improve) due to the quantifiable quality improvement numbers on the new redesigns from outfits like J.D. Powers, etc. Incidentally, my Spectra beat out the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla in the 2005 J.D. Powers IQS study. See: Kia Spectra Ranks Second among Compact Cars—Spectra among Top 10 Most-Improved Models http://tinyurl.com/92lsn . If Hyundai/KIA keeps improving their quality at the current pace, the resale value of their vehicles can ONLY go up... esp. if you're already starting at the bottom. As for myself, I drove my last car (a Plymouth) for almost 12 years and 120k+ miles. I was still able to get $2,000 for it because it was in perfect working order and looked nearly new. Obviously then, resale value ISN'T *my* first concern. Esp. when my fully loaded Spectra went out the door for only $14k. Btw, drive a new Spectra and then a used Cavalier (since they're not manufactured any longer). If you still make the claim above then I'll simply write you off as someone who has an aversion to driving/owning a foreign car, OR that you're a moron. To be fair (and nice), I'll assume the former. To be even more fair minded, I'll also add that I don't think I would be willing to invest more than $20k or so in a KIA (for now), due to the off chance of picking up a troubled unit that I might NOT want to drive for an extended period. Until those resale values *officially* perk up, the amount of risk for $$$ loss does increase dramatically as you go up the price schedule. Fortunately, most of the truly good (aka: recent design) KIAs can be gotten for $20k or less, true market valued (to quote an Edmunds.com term). -Ovaltine
  19. What do you see here, FR? <_< -Ovaltine
  20. My Spectra is actually a 2004.5 model (I like to round it up to 2005) that was built in March of 2004, or only a few months after the redesign had gone into production. You make a valid point however. I'll check a few more Fusions to see if I see the rubber molding issue as a pattern or an anomaly. I'll report back to this thread an update. The good thing from a Ford perspective is that it shouldn't take too long to do that! I see more and more Fusions on the road here in Michigan every day! -Ovaltine P.S. For the record, I grew up "bleeding blue" in a Blue Oval household. My first car was a 429 '72 T-Bird, and I've got an '88 Mustang LX 5.0 in my garage. I may just have to consider putting that up for sale and applying the proceeds towards an '07/'08 Mach I if that model indeed comes to fruition! My hope for Ford is that it eventually gets its vehicles up to the same level of long-term reliability as the examples of other makes I've sampled over the most recent decade or so. I've owned so many Fords over my lifetime that had unexpected and ridiculous items breaking past the 70k mile mark, that when my Chevy's and a Plymouth didn't do the same I was surprised.... and appreciative! So far my KIA's got 17k+ miles and 1.5 years of completely trouble free driving on Michigan's bomb-cratered roads on it. The primary item of note about that statement is that I've NEVER had a domestic new car be as problem free as this one during my lifetime. That's not to say that a new domestic-built auto couldn't be as problem free. I just haven't ever found one of those yet.
  21. No..... a fuel filler door isn't a deal breaker. Again... I'm using this as a "standard features" litmus test between a top-line Fusion SEL and lower-end car. The question being begged is, "Why DOESN'T the Fusion have one?" And, if you reference the bolded part of post #5 above, you'll see my reasoning on why I think a door is still a good idea. -Ovaltine This is an interesting fact. From it I surmise that foreign buyers of these products AND U.S. purchasers of "import" brands (i.e. Mazda) expect this feature. Is it such a long stretch then to surmise that such a feature wouldn't then be welcomed on a "World Class" car like the Fusion??? Today's mantra is: Perception of value...... value of perception........ perception of value...... :P -Ovaltine
  22. I should have added that the "sticking up" condition I described was occurring only in the corners of the window where the vertical and upper horizontal planes meet. In each corner the gasket went from being flush along where the glass and frame met, to protruding out (and somewhat over) by 2 or 3 16ths of an inch. The protrusion (IMHO) is most definitely a *slight* case of sloppy design/fit, since the same areas (with a similar design) on my KIA are perfectly flat and fitted. Again, I only use this comparison as an example litmus test of "state-of-the-art" Ford against the supposed "bottom-feeder" KIA. -Ovaltine
  23. Here's a good link about fuel security: http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005...ng_gas_cap.html It does appear that auto makers have put anti-siphon devices on cars for awhile (something I didn't know!), but the above link also has some good info about why locking caps or doors are nice to have for keeping vandals away from your fuel filler neck. All in all.... given the choice of a locking door or not, I'll go with the locking door. This quote from the above article says a mouthful. "Here in Australia, as in Europe, either locking or internally controlled doors over the fuel cap have been standard on most models for so long that now it's getting somewhat rare to see even an old bomb without one. "
  24. No....... I'm not. Re-read the post, and I think you may understand my point. I'm NOT trying to say that my Spectra is a superior car to the Fusion on an overall basis. BUT in a brief 3 minute close-up inspection I was able to observe the two deficiencies mentioned above. What I observed and documented is true. Incidentally, have you seen, driven, or ridden in a new KIA Spectra lately? Check this post out (about 1/4 way down) where I posted some info and pics about the latest redesigned KIA products: http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=679 I think you'll be a little surprised. -Ovaltine
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