xlover

Agree with @Watchdog obviously nothing can be done about it but one of the key uses of his info was keeping tabs on production and especially in this environment the option deletes etc For example in my case, have a 23 raptor on order, heard rumblings from folks trying to get orders in now dealers saying the 37 package was "deleted" or "no longer available" would love to see the actual bulletin wording to understand if this is just the usual commodity hold for the 37 and the dealers are trying to push the customer to order a 35 vs have an order on the books for a year? Whether ford is not accepting any more 37 orders? or whether ford is actually deleting the 37 off existing unscheduled orders.

The other potential is that he has 16 years experience telling customers fluff stories to act like they are "doing something" when there is nothing he can actually do but wait....

quick questions Very helpful one piece of clarification, to your knowledge does Ford bifuracate the 35 vs 37 allocations at determination or do they allow whatever comes through and just try to build as many 37s as they can and delay 37 they cant For sure... my vote is that ford should redesign this program closer to the bronco launch (just with stronger controls) so dealers are allocated only stock orders and customers can go online and the reserve retail orders from ford first come until they run out, then have dealers around them bid for the incremental margin of being the delivery dealer (not perfect but IMO better than handing dealers the rights to a specific number of retail orders)

its also worth mentioning that CR did not recommend the i-drive system when it came out and BMW seems to be rolling along just fine with newer and better generations of that product. Just as ford will with MFT.

its about time they have remade everything else

those are the FWD ratings correct? i wonder what the 4WD ones are probably only a tick lower

If they introduce the escape in Detroit it is a possibility that they will start building it in late 2011 not mid 2012 as that article states. that timeline would fit better with a January introduction.

i disagree that insurance is the problem, i only pay around 1200 per year for my 2010 GT and I am 25. But speaking with some peers i think the knowledge is out there that a modern v6 is just as powerful as the V8s of the 90s and early 2000s. Its more of a question of how fast do you need to go. in the past the v6 was slower than some family sedans but now it offers plenty of everyday performance AND good fuel economy. so while i dont think the V8 will go away (i want one) It will definitely become a smaller percentage of sales. which probably works for ford as well as it will improve the mustangs contribution to the cafe number as more of the higher economy v6s and in the future turbo 4s are bought.

I think one point being stepped over here is that we should take their confidence they can upsell some of the former ranger customers to F-150 as an indication that the 3.7 v6 might end up turning out some very good mileage numbers for a full size pickup. at least meeting or beating some of the midsize offerings from the competition, forget beating the other fullsize trucks. if a customer who would have bought the ranger is willing to step up to one of those larger than a ranger midsize trucks they might be just as willing step up to an f-150 V6 if the mileage and performance is similar. The data point ford would look at is how many customers are "ranger or bust" in which case they will have to buy something completely different, which will probably be a different ford as we all know brand loyalty is very strong in pickup buyers. there will be some who will change brands just out of spite (probably not many), and there will be some who will find the competitions midzise offerings a tolerable increase in size but the F150 just too much.

just curious you went FWD and doing boat hauling? would the AWD be a bit better with those slippery ramps?

What is the word on the Eco-Boost V6 being available for the new explorer down the road, i will be looking at one sometime next summer/fall and this is an option i would want.

That strange i ordered one 6/19 and i paid 200 over invoice. car arrived 8/25. plus there was 1k on delivery.

Just was informed of a delay also an 8/6 build date. dealer told me the system said 8/15, now it says the car is still in ohio at the mixing center and system shows 8/22. i thought it was odd it spit out saturdays for week of. I wonder if it is possible that the car is moving between ramps on the train but the system still shows in ohio?

To anyone out there, I know some of you are dealer employees so answer at your own comfort level. Yesterday ford put 2k of rebates on the mustang in my area. my ordered car is to be built tomorrow so it will probably be delivered this month. The dealer has insinuated that they do not believe they should share these rebates with me. We have not had an in depth discussion yet as the rebates just came up but I am wondering what kind of leverage or right do I have to them. Obviously if they pull this I will never be a repeat customer or a service customer and I will communicate this. However is there anything else I can use to my advantage. I know it is behavior like this that spoils car buying and ruins the reputation of dealers in general. i did have to put down a deposit on the car so walking away is a more complicated option. Any insight would be appreciated.

This sales rate would be consistent with what I have seen at the dealers near me I have been monitoring. They still have most of thier april/may inventory and have only built on it. Personally a nice financing incentive for august could do wonders as the economy picks up people will feel more comfortable expanding thier budgets with payments.