I'm still a Ford guy, but much of the comments here ring true. My 2005 F-150 Lariat is approaching 190k and going strong. I'd love a new vehicle, but like has been mentioned, I can't justify the price right now. Maybe a few years down the road I'll be in the market for a Ranger (got to see several up close at the TX State Fair, though none were unlocked) and its a slick truck. Perfect for my needs. I absolutely will not buy first model year of any vehicle however.

I've lusted over a manual transmission diesel Ranger like you can get overseas for a while now but sadly it's not to be. Maybe they'll get smart and do a Ranger Raptor in a few years. Might be able to justify it what with my 15+ years between vehicle purchases. Though, more than likely I'll be looking at Expeditions for the family hauler aspect.

I have been testing the truck market lately as well. The prices for truck in my area is at a premium. I can get a Mercedes sedan for less than a new truck in my area. Still driving the 93 Ranger with the 2.3. Never have been impressed with this motor, but I smile at the gas pump. Would jump at a Tacoma or a Ridgeline, but damn they're expensive. Probably end up in a RAV 4.

Bought the first ford in my family since my Mom's Windstar about 30 years ago. I was always a Euro car guy - loved (and still do) small pocket rocket cars with overperforming engines in small packages (have owned VW VR6, VW 18.T-chipped, and Audi 2.0T, and still have a BMW Z4M with its fabulous 3.4L I6 screamer with an 8000 RPM redline). That said, the last purchase earlier this year was for something big, no, huge. A 2017 Ford Expedition EL, with a 3.5L twin turbo V6 - called EcoBooost by Ford, but not very economical compared to my prior cars. That said, that motor with its 365hp and 420 #-ft of torque moves that hunk of metal with authority, on 87 octane to boot! A chip will eventually increase that further. The same motor in the Raptor is tuned for a significantly greater, factory warranted horsepower.

Yeah, V8s are cool, and sound like motors that mean business even at idle. But, much like serious automatics have surpassed manual transmissions in performance (I still love my manual Z4M though), the V8 in truck configuration has been surpassed in every way by forced induction. Better manufacturing, fuel injection, and oils have made this possible. If you applied the same technologies to V8 displacements, you'd be looking at 800-1000 HP. I don't think the market - or the frames, transmissions and differentials - are ready for that...

I used to like Ford's. I have never owned one but always thought of them as good cars. Then I got hired on a police department. First we drove the CVPIs and I liked driving them, but they had a lot of problems. And I didn't know it was possible to have a car be that bad in snow. Then, we got the explorers... I wouldn't take a ford if you gave it to me. Within months every car had a check engine light, they the dealership reset and blamed on the catalytic converters. They are slow, run rough, and the interiors fall apart. They just don't hold up.

Do yourselves a favor and take a test drive in a new RAM. They’ve ticked all the check boxes this time around. I just replaced my 2006 Silverado with a 2019 Rebel. I havent missed the chevy once

You will find diesel options in smaller vehicles dwindling. Almost all of the companies that have offered diesel sedans have announced that they are going the path of gas-hybrid or electric.

BMW, Mercedes, and Audi have joined the crowd. The real only diesel options in less than a good-sized truck is the Chevy Cruze and the one Jeep.

I'd been looking on and off at a used BMW 535d. Now, I'm not so sure that it would be a good investment. I found one with all the options (and colors) recently in the mid-west, but I'm not so sure now.

I kinda hear what you are saying. I also have a 2005 F150 lariat 4x4 with only 80000 miles on her. That has been a great truck and hasn't cost me anything outside of replacing a power window motor. My big complaint is the 15 mpg.

I have been mulling over the smaller trucks such as the Colorado/Canyon and might even look at that new Ranger if it ever comes out. I saw some pictures of it and really was not all that impressed. The Colorado is a much better looking truck in my opinion. A friend has a Canyon he bought a year ago and seems to always get around 24 mpg with the V6.

I dunno, we will see.

quote:

Originally posted by goose5:
I have been testing the truck market lately as well. The prices for truck in my area is at a premium. I can get a Mercedes sedan for less than a new truck in my area. Still driving the 93 Ranger with the 2.3. Never have been impressed with this motor, but I smile at the gas pump. Would jump at a Tacoma or a Ridgeline, but damn they're expensive. Probably end up in a RAV 4.

Some out of state dealers have SUPER DEALS. Dave Smith motors in Idaho, another dealer in Idaho that I forgot their name, etc. I bought a 2018 Ram 2500 diesel for $12,000 off of list price at the Lithia Dealer in Grants Pass, OR.

There were some deals in Idaho that were even better, but I wanted to order one so I could pick the options I wanted and nothing else. Local dealers were a minimum of $4,000 higher that the price I paid. Someone gave me a 6 hour ride to Oregon, and I drove it back that afternoon.

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
We are not far from the day where only sports cars have v8’s. The govt mileage Rey’s are driving engines to become smaller and more efficient.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Don’t know why everybody is scratching their heads wondering where the V8s have gone in half ton chassis. Anybody remember the tightening of the CAFE screws during the Obama administration?

As for the price of some of these new trucks... they aren’t trucks. They are luxury vehicles built on a truck chassis. Seriously, stitched dashboards and seats? How’s that going to work with all the tools and crap I store on the dashboard? There are vocational models available for half the price if you actually want a truck. Otherwise, you’re paying a lot for luxury options.

The only thing about those turbo boost motors is that they are boosted. Doesn't that put more stress on a smaller motor versus less stress on a larger motor ? A V8 that is so big that it never is really needed to be pushed, doesn't that type of motor typically last longer than a more complex boosted motor ?

I really don't get it.

From what I can see pretty much every domestic brand vehicle line tends to screw the pooch on what they build and market and tend to be a step or two behind many of the foreign brand makers all the time.
Don’t let the “foreign” or “ domestic” brands fool you in many cases some of the “ foreign” cars these days have a higher percentage of American made parts than the so called “Americans “

Much to the shagrin of basically everybody, they put a V6 in their latest Ford GT (super car). Of course it’s twin-turbo and 650 horsepower but a V6 in a half-million dollar super car?!?!

Ford has the biggest boner over their forced-induction V6’s. Cool, Ford, coooool!

I've probably had a dozen Ford trucks over the last several years between my company and our family. Currently have a F-350 CC SRW diesel and a 2007 Ranger XL with the 2.3 four banger. That truck has about 145K miles on it and has been bullet proof and is a great truck for banging around town etc. I would never take it on the highway for any extended trip.

I will be test driving the new Ranger in about 10 days in an off-road situation and am really looking forward to it. I agree with most of you that Ford really screwed up by trying to cram the F-150 down our throats when a smaller truck would work better and that allowed Toyota to own the segment. Now that Chevy is in the segment with an upgraded Colorado/Canyon everybody can see that the demand for a smaller truck is there and Ford, once again, is playing catch up.

FCA will also be debuting the Jeep Scrambler in a few months and that should own the off-road segment of the market since Toyota has no interest in bringing the 79 Series Land Cruiser to the US..

I'll try to post my impressions of the new Ranger in a week or two.

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
Ford's pricing is insane. I really wanted to replace my previous Mustang with a new one when I inherited money from my grandmother's passing back in 2013, but the $47k price tag on the non-Shelby Mustang GT I looked at really turned me off.

Just wait till fall. They will slash $7000-14,000 off the sticker price and still make money!

Yeah the price of new trucks and Suv's the last couple of years is insane. And now almost all of them have start/stop that you can't defeat and cylinder deactivation. Both of those features kill it for me.

Ford made the wiring harness too short for a series of Ranger alternators. Mine was an '01 XLT. The fix was a splice.

So when my truck battery refuses to stay charged in '05, the Merced CA dealership spends six-seven hours in 'diagnostics' without finding the issue. How the heck do I know of the issue when the dealership claims they've never heard of it?

I've always liked Ford, but their emblems on the tailgate sure are getting big. Might proud, Ford is. Ford also makes it difficult to debadge.

quote:

Originally posted by wrightd:
The only thing about those turbo boost motors is that they are boosted. Doesn't that put more stress on a smaller motor versus less stress on a larger motor ? A V8 that is so big that it never is really needed to be pushed, doesn't that type of motor typically last longer than a more complex boosted motor ?

I really don't get it.

Not when the motor is designed to handle the boost.

I have a 2016 Expedition EL with the 3.5L Ecoboost and I smile every time I drive the thing.
Only reason my Mustangs were more enjoyable to drive is because they are manuals.

Costs of vehicles across the board are becoming ridiculous because of all the added creature comforts folks are becoming a custom to.

I got the XLT poverty package. Nothing fancy. My only requirements were 4wd, backup camera, and the LSD. 3.73s with the LSD were standard on the ELs so that made the search simple. No leather, no navigation, no heated cooled/seats, blah, blah, blah. Far less things to break or go wrong.
I paid 26k for a 2 year old rig that stickered for over 50k.

I am not sure Ford execs can be fully to blame on the issues mentioned.
I think CAFE standards and required emissions control have substantially inhibited the possibilities.

As far as Ford riding themselves of cars that is not entirely true they will just be under the Lincoln badge.

quote:

I've always liked Ford, but their emblems on the tailgate sure are getting big. Might proud, Ford is. Ford also makes it difficult to debadge.

It is because that is the best/easiest spot to hide the back up camera.

quote:

Originally posted by Wishbone:
Yeah the price of new trucks and Suv's the last couple of years is insane. And now almost all of them have start/stop that you can't defeat and cylinder deactivation. Both of those features kill it for me.

Both of my Ford vehicles, a 2017 F150 and a 2018 both have auto stop, and both have buttons to turn that feature off, as does my sons 2018 Fusion. On top of that when tow mode is selected auto shut-off is turned off.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I think Ford’s decision to kill off most cars like the Fusion in favor of SUV’s only is a really stupid move they will grow to regret.

They claim people don’t want them, but Honda and Toyota and Mazda seem to be selling their cars at a pretty good rate!

The big 3 have decided (rightly so) they can’t compete with the Asian sedans. Between the Camry and the Fusion it’s not even a choice, Camry owns it.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
We are not far from the day where only sports cars have v8’s. The govt mileage Rey’s are driving engines to become smaller and more efficient.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Don’t know why everybody is scratching their heads wondering where the V8s have gone in half ton chassis. Anybody remember the tightening of the CAFE screws during the Obama administration?

As for the price of some of these new trucks... they aren’t trucks. They are luxury vehicles built on a truck chassis. Seriously, stitched dashboards and seats? How’s that going to work with all the tools and crap I store on the dashboard? There are vocational models available for half the price if you actually want a truck. Otherwise, you’re paying a lot for luxury options.

This is right here, what he said. CAFE standards mean tighter emissions. Those are MUCH easier hit going with forced induction, IE turbocharging. It ain’t Ford’s fault.

In a small(er) truck I’d look at the Colorado/Canyon twins with the diesel and drive the Ridgeline. If you don’t need to tow large loads the Ridgeline is the best pavement handling truck I have ever driven. It has a true torque vectoring AWD system in it. I have a friend at work who drives a F250 diesel. He went with me on a test drive. I took a U underpass so fast he said that his F250 would have flipped over. I’ll be buying a Ridgeline in the next year or so. It tows 5k lbs which is plenty for my needs.