chefduane

...and also never heard of Roman Polanski.

+1 on tbone's assessment. You can't just terminate somebody because of a bad review. In our litigious corporate environments its actually VERY hard to terminate somebody for marginal performance. A verbal warning comes first (with notes taken by the manager and copied to HR) then a first written warning typically with some type of performance intervention plan, then a 30 followup on that, THEN if performance does not improve, another written warning. Usually 2 warnings with the 3 being a termination notice. All this has to be documented to HR in great detail. I'm sure you guys know all this but I used to work for a global telecom firm (Chef is a second career) and was involved in too many terminations that I want to admit to. Telecom was pretty cut throat in those days and CWA was very active and involved in cases of wrongful termination. We had one guy who was terminated FOR CAUSE and 90 days later showed up as a consultant in another part of the company. We found out and he was escorted out by police.

My '11 Limited AWD has the IOLM and I go 5k between changes, I have it set to 5k and the indicator starts to pop up at about 4500 miles. If I'm over or under 250+/- miles I don't worry about it, I just reset it to 5k and drive on. I use Mobil-1 5w-20 per Ford spec, and a Mobil-1 filter. Our Texas highs get into the 100's regularly and our lows can dip into the 30's maybe 20's occasionally. Most all of my driving is in town commuting with some highway.

Yes. Terminating employees due to cost cutting is probably the issue. They probably will get some type of severance package depending upon years of service, seniority, etc. That is a MUCH more viable way for management to shed labor costs than do performance based terminations. Even if the packages cost more in the short term.

+1^ Were the marginally performing employees told in their annual performance reviews last year that unless performance improves they were subject to termination? A wholesale firing of employees sure sounds like lawsuit waiting to happen. And it's a heck of a message to send to remaining staff. And talk about a morale buster. Tesla management surely put them on an improvement plan and let them work towards acceptable quality standards before determining they weren't improving and were possibly going to be terminated. I mean, its VERY DIFFICULT to terminate marginally performing employees at a large company these days, especially one that is unionized. There has to be some type of program to address issues before termination. Is Tesla unionized? Does anyone know?

There are some complaints over in the Edge group but no big outrage. And yes, considering that Ford has sold almost 1.2m since '06 it doesn't seem to be that big of an issue. However, I understand that if the seat gives you pain, it gives you pain. Decision time.

I did find that kind of funny also, as if you could simply bolt up a flathead into a GM drivetrain. Also, I found it a little hard to believe that Harry Bennett squared off, guns drawn, with the former FBI guy (can recall his name.) And Bennett's office looked to be in a parking structure. And IIRC the Edsel was introduced in '59 the same year I was born. While I understood that it was ill timed for the market, grossly over styled, and overpriced, my perception was that it actually was a pretty solid and well engineered car. I could be wrong on that as I have no direct experience with the Edsel.

Watched a 4 (maybe 5) hour special last night called "Cars that Made America." Very interesting historical background on Ford, Chrysler, the Dodge bros, and Sloan at GM. Presented as a historical accounting and probably pretty true to form but I was a bit skeptical on some aspects. All in all pretty interesting. I know most of you all are more in tune with the history of the industry than I and am interested in some opinions from you guys.

All it takes is a OBD-II reader available at any auto parts store. Plug it in and get the code(s). Then type it in your favorite search engine.

^ That's exactly my position. I had 2 really nice Honda Accord sedans right in a row after college. Then I went to a '92 Explorer. Then a '98 Explorer, now an '11 Edge. I'll never drive another sedan unless it's my wife's LS430. (MUCH nicer than an Accord BTW.)

"...they didn't have a mechanic available to check codes?" Huh? I'm a chef and I can pull codes and check what they mean. Doesn't take a mechanic.

Any number of things could cause that. Did you pull any codes? That would be the first thing to do.

https://lucidmotors.com/car That thing looks like Gort from "The Day the Earth Stood Still" or even maybe a Cylon from "Battlestar Galactica."

I've never been around a Conestoga Wagon, but I know what one is.

Are manufacturers phasing out the PRNDL gearshifter? I've heard of the rotary selectors on some of the euros, and I remember Edsel had the steering column mounted pushbutton selector. Years ago I knew a buddy who had a Valiant (or some Chrysler product) that had pushbuttons mounted on the left side of the dash. But is the traditional PRNDL shift lever slowly going away? And I've seen some of the blank stares I get from millenials, etc, when car guys mention 'three on the tree.' Maybe the term 'gearshifter' will soon go the same way.