What is Digg?221 Comments
- Winters, on 10/12/2007, -3/+72Good. This gives me hope that capitalism works on some level. They've been making crappy cars with inferior parts for many years now.
- simplenation, on 10/12/2007, -9/+67it has nothing to do with their customer service. it's about the ***** quality and design of their cars.
- jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -2/+40"Good. This gives me hope that capitalism works on some level. They've been making crappy cars with inferior parts for many years now."
Yeah, I wonder if they will get bailed out...again.
I feel bad for the workers though...many have eaten it while the execs don't feel the burn. - sinner0423, on 10/12/2007, -15/+41Honestly, what did you expect from buying American?
You've been driving them since 1966, so you of all people should know the downward spiral the production quality of American cars have gone down since then. Only recently are they starting to show quality, but it's too little, too late.
I've posted this before on some random Toyota story on Digg, and i'll say it again - America cannot manufacture quality goods for a sane price as well as some other regions, most notably, Asia. Yes, yes, we've heard the "made in Taiwan" ***** before, but I'm primarily talking about electronics & automobiles - something everyone here uses every single day. Toyota has had a massive decline in their production quality lately, because they've sourced the assembly lines to America, instead of importing the cars from Japan.
Suddenly, the Made in USA sticker is looking just as bad as Made in Taiwan, eh? - thcobbs, on 10/12/2007, -6/+28Want to get really afraid??
The average cost per vehicle that goes for medical insurance is $1000+.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2005-06-22-gm-healthcare-usat_x.htm
or that the average line worker makes $65,000
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/01/09/ford_pay_workers_well.php
Thank you UNIIONS! - Urusai, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23A lot of the Japanese vehicles are made in the USA, and they seem to be alright. Ford makes their stuff in Canada and Mexico. I don't think it's the unions, it's the kleptocrats running American corporations. They could probably fund all their pensions and medical by cutting executive pay down from the 9 figure range.
- FamousAnus, on 10/12/2007, -7/+27The $26/hour janitor jobs are more of a problem they have with the union. Believe me...Ford does NOT want to pay their janitors that much. The Unions are out of control.
- Alphateam, on 10/12/2007, -5/+22HAHAHA.
I have no sympathy. Make a car I want to drive and loose the $26/hour janitor jobs and a car might be affordable. - jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -11/+26No way, Ford put all it's eggs in the SUV basket. Quit blaming the lowly worker when the incompetent execs make stupid decision and make a lot more then $24/hour. Blame the people who are at the helm, not the pawns.
- haackers, on 10/12/2007, -6/+21I would have never bought a Ford in the first place, because they are crap!!
- ezweave, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14(Some of you are misinformed on this 'Made in the US' thing)
When most Honda's and Toyota's for sale in the US are actually made/assembled in the US and a large portion of the Fords, GMs, and Chrysler's are made in Canada, Mexico, Germany, etc... are they really "buying American" anymore?
I think it's silly to call these companies "American". My Honda was made in Ohio. - DarthTurducken, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17Mustangs = The Redneck Ferrari
Okay the newer ones are nice. - Kestral, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Ford, where quality is someone else's job.
- totorototoro, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12As CNN put it, $24,000 a minute-or basically 60 new Ford Mustangs lost an hour :p
- glock22ownr, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13I worked security for a GM metal fab plant a while ago and I could head to any press and there would be at least 2 or 3 highly skilled union workers sleeping their asses off around the thing. That being said I've been driving GM products for many years and have been pleased but I must say I agree with my fellow diggers when they say that the unions are out of control.
As I was leaving my security job they were hiring a guy back for the third time that had been fired for fighting, putting his member on someones forehead and stealing. WTF !?!?! The other thing to think about is, if I got fired tomorrow or whatever I could go to some other company and make the same amount writing software. Can you find another 26/hour job as a janitor ? HELL NO !!! - shuffle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Correction : Mazda did well on that car on behalf of Ford...
- ocsurfreport, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I was visiting family in Greece this summer and I wanted to rent a car.
I was trying to get myself an Alfa Romeo, Renault or Peugeot because they do not exist in the USA and I wanted to try something deferent.
The only car that rental company had at the time was a Ford focus manual hatchback 1.8 with about 86 horsepower.
From my experience in the states I generally want nothing to do with American car companies due to customer service, lack of good design – innovation bad ergonomics and cheap materials and horrible marketing, not to mention bean-counting. With the exception to one car I owned in the past the Ford Probe GT (Mazda 6 Engine) that to this day I think Ford shot themselves in the food when they discontinued that car to better promote the ugly Mustang (Bad Marketing).
But when I got in this little Ford Focus I was amazed at the quality of the material, the car was tightly put together, great ergonomics, and the basic one CD stereo was exceptional and even rivaled me Acura TL BOSE system. The car handled and drove amazing right up to 160 KPH, the gear box was smooth and flawless, the gas mileage was amazing as well, and I managed 620 KPG with ten gallons of gas! Drove up a steep hill with 4 passengers without even a hint of letting go.
When I returned it I found out the selling price for that car is 14 thousand Euros, which leaves me wondering why we do not have a car like that here?
What I concluded was that if people here buy ***** all the time just because it’s made here, then there is no reason to make it better. In Europe the buyers are much more sophisticated and demand a good long lasting car with good MPG, and Ford delivers. But not for us. - mt066, on 10/12/2007, -12/+21Oh god, this is so stupid. It's just an extension of everyone's America bashing that is so cool here on digg. You'd think that everybody here bought a Ford and subsequently had it explode in their drriveway with all these comments. Like some foreign auto maker is Jesus walking on the water or something just cause it's not "American." Be realistic here. Every auto maker has good cars and bad cars.
- dshPls, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I'd like a Mustang, but I wouldn't buy anything else from them on aesthetic grounds...
- banderbe, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13Glad people are putting the blame where it belongs: UNIONS. They have been the undoing of the American manufacturing sector.
- Cam_86, on 10/12/2007, -8/+16They just don't get it. I'm literally floored when i see there, and the other big 2's cars at auto shows. Its like they don't have ANY focus groups. Like why the hell are they still putting so much money in developing high power engines? Its clear most consumers in north America, and 98% of consumers outside of north America value low gas consumption and reliability over horse power. Despite that though, there big headlines are always about a new, faster, stronger engine. While Honda works on the Fit, Toyota works on the yaris and scion line, Suzuki works on the aereo, etc... Ford, like the idiots they are, market the 500, or the fusion... of even worse, consumer based F-150s.
They put to much emphasis on there trucks and SUV's, when only an idiot, or a industry worker would actually look into buying one. There Lincoln escalade only appeals to stupid rich soccer moms and rapers... Those groups cant possibly account for more then 0.001% of America's population.
They are practically the "Sony" of the car industry. Horrible PR, horrible reliability, horrible products, and they expect people to buy based off the name alone. Difference is at least Sony made good walkmans and TV's in the 80's. The last vehicle ford made that was worth owning was there mid 90's F-150. Back when it was not made of plastic, really tough, and gas made it a viable alternative to a sedan. Now they have nothing that appeals to the avg. consumer. - trer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Where do you think?
TV and the Internet! - jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9remember:
Firestone?! - imsoclever, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Maybe now they'll start making cheap, reliable, fuel efficient cars.
Or maybe they won't and everyone will just keep buying Toyotas. - ICSU, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Ford Focus is good here in Europe. It's like they keep making crappy American cars in the US and produce good cars in Europe.
- brstilson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Yeah, Volvos sure looked GREAT before Ford bought them.
- drjekelmrhyde, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I think that Firestone incedent is what started Fords downfall
- FamousAnus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Gerz1219 - They wouldn't have to compete with workers overseas. We would be having frickin' robots do much of the work if they weren't trying to protect jobs for union apes that should have been obsolete a decade or two ago.
- chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6As Hurusai said - how is it that Japanese companies can assemble in the US and be profitable? Easy: no legacy union contracts. If I was Ford I would simply tell the union at the next negotiation: "Sorry, we aren't working with the UAW any more." It'll take 6-8 months to get everything up and running again smoothly, but it's best in the long run.
- bagold51, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11And they want to pay out BONUSES for their managers?? What a joke!! No wonder they are losing everything. I've been driving Toyota's for years and the only other car I would even attempt to purchase would be a Honda. No American cars (Ford) for me.
- brianbb98, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?s=cbc4b3cfed4165f23bd3b3bba22b34a2&showforum=80
When I ordered my Mustang there was a guy there that helped show you along the way. He told you when your car was to be built, gave you a PDF of the window sticker before it was built, told you about any delays, helped you track your car as it went around the country by truck/train. He was something that helped me a lot and would help any other person buying a car. He worked for Ford and did this on the side. A few months ago Ford shut him down and probably threatened to fire him because of this... because he did something that the customers liked and probably only helped the company. If only a car company could do something like this on their own instead of keeping its customers in the dark, maybe they would keep a few more customers. - chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8@beartraprr
Reading your website, it sounds like YOU made the mistake. You didn't ask if the Mariner had the same nav system as the Mountaineer. As for your Sirius, you need to install this little switch that plugs into your FM antenna and deactivates that signal when your Sirius is on - it will sound crystal clear as it does in my Escape.
If it was that big of a deal, why did you drive it 7000 miles? - i64X, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6>> "Heh, you know what they say about Ford... Fix It Again, Tony! "
>> I've never heard of a FIAT...... however, "Fixed Or Repaired Daily" fits in this conversation nicely....
Maybe you should learn some more about cars. Granted he used the wrong acronym, but FIAT has been making cars for a very long time. - adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Well they are "restructuring" aren't they? They just took out some huge ass loan that was in the billions or so as part of it, and were expected to take large losses of until 2009/2010.
- jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Your gas station loves you.
- jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6"I don't think it's the unions, it's the kleptocrats running American corporations."
Kleptocrats...I like that! - jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10"Sell your stocks - tech bubble 2.0 is about to pop."
That wasn't a tech bubble...that was a war/security bubble (which, yes, is popping) - i64X, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6As opposed to who? GM? Who is known around the world as having the crappiest interiors ever?
- heaintheavy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Does this mean Toby Keith will go away, too?
- jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6"I worked security for a GM metal fab plant a while ago and I could "
I worked in a large Union shop for a while and everything got done, no one was sleeping, and people who should have been fired were. It seems like the problem was management...and is GM out of business or in the hole? Seems like they are able to survive these horrible things. - i64X, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Before you start running your mouth about all of the other Internet safety experts you might want to look at the numbers. This was posted by John Neff over at Autoblog:
General Motors: -73% at 1.4 million recalls (2005: 5 million)
Ford Motor Company: -71% at 1.7 million recalls (2005: 6 million)
Chrysler Group: 200% at 2.3 million recalls (2005: 765,777)
Nissan North America: 83% at 1.3 million recalls (2005: 709,838)
The article also talked about Toyota and Honda, but didn't provide enough recall info on either to include in our list above (and have you ever tried to search the NHTSA website for such information? Good luck). Both automakers, however, had a good year for recalls. Toyota, for instance, finished 2006 with 814,507 recalls, far fewer than the over 2 million that were issued in 2005. Honda, meanwhile, issues recalls affecting 1.2 million vehicles, the bulk of which was to replace owners manuals that were printed the incorrect telephone number for the NHTSA that led callers to a phone sex service. Without the printing fuax pas include, Honda recalled only 1,397 vehicles in the U.S. for actual mechanical troubles that adversely affected the safety of its vehicles.
Here are some snippet (From TheCarConnection.com) as to how many vehicles each manufacturer sold last year...
"Toyota enjoyed its best year ever in 2006, selling 2,220,090 vehicles, while Ford recaptured brand leadership last year with sales of 2,433,086 units to GM's sales of 2,415,428 units."
"Chrysler's declined 7 percent to 2.14 million"
"Honda reported that its sales dropped slightly in December, but the company's full-year sales in the U.S. rose 3.2 percent to 1.51 million, marking its 13th straight annual gain."
So we do some quick math:
Recalls per car sold:
Honda - 0.0009 recalls per car sold (not including the misprint in the users manual)
Toyota - 0.3668 recalls per car sold
GM - 0.5796 recalls per car sold
Ford - 0.69870 recalls per car sold
Chrysler - 1.0747 recalls per car sold - thcobbs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@shuffle
Mazda is owned by ford... as is land rover, volvo, and even astin martin. - mcfly1204, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Maybe the Ford Edge isn't such a great idea for 2007...
- chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4LOL - Actually my Dad retired from there (You can't beat A-plan pricing). I knew about that Fusion data long before the ad came out (at least the reliability data). It also open up Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, and Aston Martin to me.
- undersky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4no, from WSJ today, it suffers from dealer pushover and sale incentive.
1. it pressured dealer to pile up their inventory when they clearly can't sell that much, so ford on paper can look better.
2. it used sale events bound w/ rebate, low apr loan, that cut into their revenue, now customers are expecting it and ford cannot stop this practice.
these two short-term bridge-burning solution in the past have caught up w/ ford. - jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yep, instead it was SUVs. I've seen electric prototypes that go back to the early 70s made by ford. They were stupid for bowing to oil instead of taking this market that is insane with demand. Serves them right...though I'm sure us tax payers will bail them out.
- Nightfall, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Car quality all has to do with how many problems you have with them. I had a couple ford escorts, and my dad has had a taurus and a escape. Then you have the Ford trucks which are great quality. You name me ANY car company, and I can find people who have had issues with them and call them crap. Thats why reviews on cars are so hard to determine just how good the quality of them are.
Look less at the quality of the vehicles and more at the UAW. You have people with high school diplomas or less working there making 75k a year. They have full pensions with full health benefits after they retire. The car companies have given in to the demands of the UAW in the past. Now, with the automakers struggling to make ends meet, the gravy train is over with. The UAW cannot squeeze blood from a turnip. - TimDigg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4GM's biggest market is in China
not sure about India
but the chinese love big american cars, kind of like a status symbol there to have a big ass buick - thcobbs, on 10/12/2007, -7/+11Of course, everyone bashes fords quality.....
But I've had my truck for 10 years with no problems at all.... funny, I guess I just expect too much from my crappy truck. - blapierre, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Ford wasn't "hit" with a loss. It brought it upon itself.
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