ice-capades

Ford F-150 Lightning Causes Havoc at Car Wash https://fordauthority.com/2024/04/ford-f-150-lightning-causes-havoc-at-car-wash-video/ We’ve certainly seen our fair share of car crashes over the years, many of which involve the Ford F-150. This doesn’t come as a huge surprise given the fact that this particular model has been one of the most popular new and used vehicles on earth for decades, but we continue to see folks do silly things behind the wheel such as smash into other Blue Oval models on the highway for no apparent reason, fly through residential areas (quite literally), and even crash into retail stores and go straight through brick walls like the Kool-Aid man. However, its all-electric counterpart – the Ford F-150 Lightning – isn’t immune to this phenomenon either, it seems. In fact, as we can see in this video, a Ford F-150 Lightning recently caused quite the pileup at a busy car wash that left a large number of vehicles damaged in a mere split second. The EV pickup was in line to enter the car wash behind a few other vehicles, and was approaching the entrance slowly – in fact, it had come to a complete stop – before disaster struck. It’s unclear what, exactly, took place here, but it seems as if the driver of the Ford F-150 Lightning hit the accelerator a bit too hard, which sent the pickup smashing into the van in front of it. The impact was great enough that it caused a chain reaction, sending the van smashing into the car in front of it, which then led to multiple vehicles rear-ending each other inside the car wash itself. As for the Ford F-150 Lightning, it careened off to the side and came to a rest on another car that was parked nearby, tilted up in the air. The driver looks quite stunned in the video, which is understandable, particularly given the fact that they’re likely going to be having a very uncomfortable call with their insurance company after the fact. Crash.Less_2024-04-22_F-150 Lightning_Car Wash Crash.mp4

This morning's gas prices in Hamden, CT (New Haven) $3.73 Regular (Cash) @ Hamden Gulf $3.85 Regular (Cash) @ Hamden, Citgo

Teen Mustang Owner Fighting Cancer, Gets Bad News https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2024/04/23/teen-mustang-owner-cancer-jim-farley-ford-charlotte-motor-speedway/73411364007/ Joseph Tegerdine had never been on a professional racetrack, let alone behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang Dark Horse actually rocketing 112 mph. He remained fearless even as his life continued to be dominated by sharp turns and tight corners. "It was kind of terrifying at first. Then I was like, 'oh, this is actually pretty chill.' It's just really, really fun," Tegerdine, 18, of Springville, Utah, told the Free Press. "There’s so much to be thinking about in this car that your brain is 100% occupied — a little more gas, hit the brake hard, turn, turn. It’s just surreal." He mentioned the Oscar-winning film "Ford v Ferrari" and asked, "You know that famous line?" — referring to the part where legendary racing driver Carroll Shelby says, "There's a point at 7,000 rpm ... where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless." Tegerdine said, "It was 100% that feeling. Everything fades and you're floating." Why a racetrack in Charlotte The young man traveled earlier this month from Utah to North Carolina with his father, Joe Tegerdine. (Father and son have the same name. For clarity, we'll refer to the father as Joe and his son as Joseph). Ford CEO Jim Farley offered the two a trip to the Ford Performance Racing School at the famed Charlotte Motor Speedway. The auto executive, himself a competitive race car driver whose first car was a Mustang, wanted Joseph to experience the untethered thrill of a Mustang on the track. Farley had read on social media that Joe Tegerdine bought his son a 2020 Mustang because the teen's bone cancer was moving too quickly to not grant all wishes immediately. "For those wondering why I’d buy my 18yr old son a 330hp Mustang, well, he’s been given months to live and can’t work long enough to buy one himself," Tegerdine tweeted on X. "His comment on the way home, 'Dad, I’m going to squeeze a few extra months of life just to be able to drive this.' ” More than 13.8 million people read the post, and nearly 200,000 have commented, shared, liked or bookmarked it. Dad, the general manager of North America for Reencle home composting systems, has heard from people who survived cancer, who lost children, who urge the family to remain strong. "There's so much social upheaval and so many people are hurting right now ... to be able to have literally thousands of people reach out, you just realize most of us are just good people doing our best to try and live a fulfilling life," Joe said. "We get caught in this doom cycle," he said. "I attribute a lot to politics and politicians trying to divide us and focus on negative and dark things to maintain power and generate wealth for themselves. The rest of us get caught in these cycles. To be able to step out and see the goodness of humanity and people is super inspiring to me. It reminds me that, for most of us, that’s our reality." Feel yourself airborne When Farley offered the trip in a private message to Joe, the father-son duo accepted immediately. Other Mustang owners were at the track that day, too. Ford put the father and son, with custom helmets, in their cars to create unique drive experiences they would share later. "We had a drifting course," that taught how to make controlled skids sideways through turns, and smoked the tires, Joe said. "After driving, we did a timed skills course with cones and instruction with professional drivers. That was really cool. In the afternoon, we headed to the main track, where we had a pace driver, and three cars would follow. It was Joseph and I and another car. We hauled butt behind the professional driver. I think I got up to 115 miles per hour on the side wall." But that wasn't all. "In the end, we got to ride with a professional driver and it was like, I mean, G-forces after G-forces. You could feel yourself airborne in the seat. You come through a turn and you feel all the pressure in the turn and as soon as they hit the throttle out of the turn, you're pinned to the sat," Joe said. "Joseph was so excited. I had not seen him have that much energy for months." They attended a dinner hosted by the racing school on April 11, the night before heading to the track. Joseph ran into Laurie Transou, chief engineer of the Mustang program, and talked design and engineering. (Last year, Transou encouraged young adults to take their moms to the racetrack for Mother's Day instead of brunch.) Proximity to Transou was coincidence, Ford said. She had scheduled months in advance attending the program. Joseph once wanted to be an engineer — before his classes were replaced with medical treatments and surgeries. "Normally, you'd have conversations about, 'when you’re an engineer,' or 'you could come back and do the two- or three-day course,'" Joe said. "But then you realize this is probably it. So you’re very much in the now. And embracing that moment together because there’s a recognition of the finality of it. You know there’s not going to be probably a next time. So we just try to enjoy those moments together." Farley told the Free Press in a statement, “I’m just pleased we were able to help Joe and Joseph enjoy a very special day. It was an honor for our team to host them in Charlotte.” It was a great time for a kid who has always loved speed, Joe said. Joseph used to ride like lightning on a motorbike at their old Texas cattle ranch. In eighth grade, a sore knee led to the cancer diagnosis for Joseph, who played football and ran track. When driving the Mustang, he drives with a prosthetic right leg now. Cancer required amputation. Still, never feeling like an invincible teenager This past weekend, Joseph took his girlfriend, Lily Flake, to her prom at Mapleton High School. "It's fun to be a little teenager for a bit," he said. "I’m technically a teenager, but I’m not really a teenager. Teenagers think they’re invincible. They have the ability to go do stupid things and they don’t think of the consequences. 'Yes, we’re going to load 10 people onto a golf cart and go zooming around town, no problem.' But at age 13, I had to come to the reality that I’m very much vincible and I'm going to die. I never really got that whole 'invincible teenager who can do whatever and it’ll be fine' feeling." Joseph said, "But it’s nice sometimes to remember, it sounds dumb because I'm only 18, but it's nice to remember to stay young sometimes. My girlfriend helps with that. She loves fun things." Asked how he's doing this week, he said, "I don’t really know. It's kind of just confusing, I guess. There’s just a lot of a lot. So I don’t know exactly how I’m doing. You just kind of go through every day and take it day by day." Life can be a blur, like an Eras Tour experience After nearly two weeks, the trip going to Charlotte feels like a blur, Joseph said. He compared it to what he called "a Taylor Swift phenomenon." He explained that people go to her concert and don't remember details. "I don't know if you've ever heard this. You're just on this adrenaline high for, like, four straight hours. When you walk out, everything kind of settles and like, whoa, that just happened. But you can't really remember what actually happened. Everything is kind of hazy. You remember the feelings associated but you couldn't put, like, words to what you were feeling at the moment." In August 2023, he attended an Eras Tour concert with his girlfriend at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. These adventures are intentional. For Joseph, everything in life has to be about right now, his father said. "You just have to make a choice. You can either get depressed and life is over and 'poor me' or whatever or just accept the fact that this is what life is, and we're all going to die at some point and we all have to reconcile that," Joe said. "You never want your children go before you, but millions of people before me had to deal with it and millions will after me. ... I have a strong faith in the afterlife. I don’t look at death — I don’t see it as the finality that sometimes I think we’re prone to. To me, it's like a transition. It’s the next adventure. But it's going to be hard to say goodbye." Finding a glimmer of comfort in shocking loss Doctors delivered really bad news last week, Joe said. Scans came back, and Joseph has tumors going up through his hip and down into his leg. His osteosarcoma has become worse than doctors feared. A life measured in years is now measured in months. For a few minutes, Joe stopped talking. And he just cried. "His favorite uncle passed away" Sunday, Joe said. Joseph saw his Uncle Jerry just a few weeks ago, and nothing seemed wrong, Joe said. Then the man went to the hospital a few days ago with pain and the doctors discovered necrosis of the small intestine after having his colon removed awhile ago, Joe said. Doctors went in to try to fix the issue and couldn't. He died. That was the family member who called and texted and sent pick-me-up gifts and provided a constant presence to Joseph through the child's cancer journey over the past five years. "Joseph’s only fear of death is being alone on the other side," Joe said. "We want to be greeted by our parents and brothers and sisters. So, to me, knowing that his uncle will be on the other side waiting for him, to me, is, um, just a tender mercy. Because I’m not going to be there to be on the other side with him."

New Ford Inventory Just Under 100 Days' Supply in March https://fordauthority.com/2024/04/new-ford-inventory-just-under-100-days-supply-in-march/ Following a long period of time when new Ford inventory was near record-low levels, easing supply chain shortages have resulted in quite the opposite – a bit of a glut. Things have improved as of late, however, with new Ford inventory levels closing out February at a 91 days’ supply versus 104 in January, though the automaker continues to roll out new incentives in an effort to keep driving inventory levels down and make room for new 2024 models. Regardless, new Ford inventory levels actually increased in March versus February, according to new data from Cox Automotive. Last month, new Ford inventory levels came in at a 97 days’ supply, increasing a bit compared to February and remaining far above the industry average of 72 days’. This ranks Ford near the high end of the spectrum, behind only Jaguar, Dodge, Ram, Alfa Romeo, and Fiat – which all had inventory levels that were at least double the national average – as well as Lincoln, Jeep, Chrysler, Volvo, Polestar, Mazda, Infiniti, Genesis, and Nissan. The U.S. new vehicle average of 72 days’ supply is seven days better than February, however, as the total U.S. supply of available unsold new vehicles opened April at 2.77 million units – 870,000 units or 46 percent more than one year ago, and slightly higher than March’s 2.74 million, which helps put Ford’s increase into perspective. In terms of list pricing, the market averaged $47,240 at the end of March, which is a mere one percent or $177 higher than March 2023. Regardless, it’s clear that new vehicle pricing remains a big issue with consumers, as vehicles with price tags of less than $40,000 have the lowest inventory levels, while those costing more are sitting well above the industry average.

2025 Ford Mustang GTD Requires Hefty Deposit from Buyers https://fordauthority.com/2024/04/2025-ford-mustang-gtd-requires-hefty-deposit-from-buyers/ The 2025 Ford Mustang GTD debuted back in August 2023 as what The Blue Oval promises will be the most hardcore pony car to ever exist, a machine that is quite literally a street-legal race car. Thus far, The Blue Oval has faced tremendous demand for the 2025 Ford Mustang GTD, which may prompt it to extend the planned 2,000-unit production run of that particular model, as Ford Authority exclusively reported last October. Last month, Ford Authority also exclusively reported that the 2025 Ford Mustang GTD application window was set to open in Q2 of this year, and that process is now underway. However, perhaps unsurprisingly, those lucky enough to be approved will need to plunk down a hefty deposit for that privilege, according to a dealer bulletin seen by CarsDirect. Those that are selected to purchase a 2025 Ford Mustang GTD will have to put down a deposit of at least 50 percent of the vehicle’s purchase price, in fact, and those that don’t will apparently risk giving up their privilege to do so. With Ford noting that the GTD is expected to start out somewhere around $325,000, that means forking over a rather significant $160k+ just to hold one’s place in line, before taking delivery of the new supercar. Dealers will be asked to submit proof of deposit to the automaker as well. “If confirmation is not received, the order will not be submitted to plant and the customer’s build date may be reassigned and purchase eligibility forfeited,” the automaker wrote in its letter, adding, “proof of final payment is required before the vehicle can be shipped/delivered.” Since this deposit is based on the “agreed upon price,” it’s quite possible that customers will need to put down an even larger deposit, depending on options and whether or not the selling dealer chooses to slap some sort of markup on top of the GTD’s MSRP. Regardless, given the model’s already-lofty price tag, it’s unclear if this will deter prospective buyers or not.

The Ford Direct database only includes VIN numbers and Window Stickers for 2007MY and newer vehicles. As such, the Window Sticker is not available from Ford for your vehicle. The only recommendation I can make is to search 3rd party sites online.

This morning's gas prices in Hamden, CT (New Haven) $3.69 Regular (Cash) @ Hamden Gulf $3.75 Regular (Cash) @ Hamden, Citgo

Placing all retail orders at the default priority code 19 means that all the orders are treated the same. As such, it means that the Dealer is doing nothing to manage and prioritize the order in which retail orders are scheduled. Forget that the order date will supposedly do the job. It's nonsense as the reality is that the scheduling system will schedule the order that's the easiest to schedule and with the fewest commodity or supply chain issues, etc. An F-450 Limited with priority code 19 since September 2023 will most likely never get scheduled. You're doing business with the wrong Dealer. It's their responsibility to manage their USOB (Unscheduled Order Bank) but they have done nothing! The Dealer should have assigned a much lower priority code and/or contacted the Ford Zone Manager or Regional Scheduler long ago to have the order reprioritized at 01 or 02 to expedite scheduling. The Dealer has wasted your time.

Ford CEO Jim Farley Teases a Mystery Mustang Your guess about what it could be is as good as ours https://www.autoblog.com/2024/04/19/ford-ceo-jim-farley-teases-a-mystery-mustang/ This year, the Ford Mustang reached a significant milestone. The iconic American muscle car turned 60 as it entered its seventh generation for the 2024 model year, and Ford is celebrating all things Mustang with a series of events and neat bonuses for owners. We may also see a new version of the car next year, as CEO Jim Farley recently teased “one more thing to share” with a post on X/Twitter. Farley shared an image of a Mustang hiding under a green cover, but it’s impossible to make out any detail other than the car’s familiar shape. Speculation is running wild in the comments on the post, with some guessing that an electrified Mustang is coming and others hoping for a Boss 302 or similar upgrade. Interestingly, the image Farley shared was originally named “RTR Fun 03b,” meaning Vaughn Gittin Jr.’s RTR Vehicles is involved. Its Mustang upgrade packages offer power, aerodynamic, and styling upgrades to the seventh-gen car, and the top Spec 2 option brings significant suspension changes to make the ’Stang a corner-carving monster. If the new mystery car brings anywhere near the improvements RTR’s packages deliver, it will be a serious performance machine. One thing that is certain is that Ford has no shortage of historic names to choose from. The Mustang’s long run on the American auto market has yielded some of the most renowned vehicles the automaker has ever created, and that’s before we get into electrification, which would be an exciting development for the Mustang (ignoring the Mach-E, of course). We will have to wait to figure out what Farley’s on about, but Mustang fans and owners have plenty to talk about in the meantime. Ford recently rolled out an update to the 2024 model, giving it a retro-inspired theme for the digital gauge cluster via an over-the-air update. The automaker is also opening a new Mustang Experience Center at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2025, offering track time, a merchandise store, and an event center capable of hosting weddings and other gatherings. Additionally, Ford recently opened the application process for its most hardcore Mustang ever, the GTD. In addition to its $325,000 starting price, the car’s supercharged 5.2-liter V8 makes more than 800 horsepower, and its active aerodynamic bodywork gives it a level of handling performance not seen in a street-legal Mustang before.

And now you're using personal attacks to get your point across? Knock it off!

Considering that Ford marked the Mustang's 60th Anniversary yesterday, it would please a lot of Mustang retail order customers if Ford finally set up a delivery center at Flat Rock for retail order customers, along with plant tours. After all, Chevrolet's been doing it for Corvette customers for years at the Corvette Plant in Bowling Green. Unfortunately, the Flat Rock plant's long-term status has remained in limbo for many years due to numerous factors.

This morning's gas prices in Hamden, CT (New Haven) $3.67 Regular (Cash) @ Hamden Gulf $3.69 Regular (Cash) @ Hamden, Citgo

Ford Mustang Experience Center Officially Revealed https://fordauthority.com/2024/04/ford-mustang-experience-center-officially-revealed/ Ford has been rapidly expanding its list of post-purchase experiences as of late, opening up the Bronco Off-Roadeo to the general public and those that buy used models, adding the new Ford Ranger Raptor Assault School and the Ford Mustang Dark Horse Track Attack Experience, and opening a brand new Ford Performance Racing School location in Tooele, Utah, which will serve as the base of operations for the outfit’s off-road driving programs in that area. Now, as part of the ongoing Mustang 60th anniversary celebration, The Blue Oval has revealed the new Ford Mustang Experience Center, too. The Ford Mustang Experience Center is currently set to open next year at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, and is designed to become the prime destination for all things pony car. That means fans will be able to hit the track, purchase merchandise, or just soak in the long and illustrious history of the iconic Mustang in general. This particular venue adds to the recently-announced the Ford Mustang Unleashed Tour, which will provide fans in select U.S. cities with the opportunity to soak in some hot laps, line lock demos, and check out various pony cars up close as well. “Mustang has always been about more than just the car; it’s the experiences that come with it, from road trips to track days to cars & coffee,” said Matt Simpson, Ford Enthusiast Vehicles general manager. “Mustang Experience Center is poised to become a special gathering place for the Mustang community, weaving the spirit of the car and Charlotte Motor Speedway together to create new memories.” “The addition of the Mustang Experience Center is also driving an expansion of hands-on track instruction at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Ford Performance Racing School’s Mustang Unleashed, a new program for Mustang EcoBoost and GT, builds on the Dark Horse Track Attack program so all 2024 Mustang owners can learn how to get the most fun and performance out of their cars.”

It's not a matter of volume with the base models. The biggest value with the base models is for the marketing value to help drive showroom traffic and to offer customers a lower priced, more affordable vehicle which also helps lower the monthly payment where needed.

After the impact of the pandemic, we kept hearing that Ford was "right sizing" its inventory, moving to a more retail order focused system, etc. They had the opportunity to balance inventory vs. demand with the benefit to reduce the decades long dependence on incentives in order to move product. Now they've gone back to ramping up production, increasing inventory and resumed using incentives to varying degrees. In addition, there are no longer "entry models" with the exception of Maverick which easily exceeds $30,000. I'm not suggesting the return of coupes or sedans as has been argued so often. However, base models have been eliminated forcing customers into higher priced trims. Along with the substantial price increases, Ford and its competitors have priced themselves out of the market and forcing customers to buy pre-owned vehicles. Short term thinking doesn't solve long term issues.