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By July 1 2006, either GM or Ford, maybe both, will file for Ch11...I have read that GM has over 200 Billion in long term debt, and Ford has about 125 Billion in long term debt...add to that they both have pensions underfunded by at least 5 Billion, and they will file Ch 11, jettison their pension plans, and downsize by 50%...
The only actual prediction is the Ch 11 filing by one of them...the other thoughts are suppositions...
In fact a recent article suggested that Ford's best solution would be to go private. Thats right, Ford could easily raise enough cash then when combined with what they have on hand they could buy back their Class A shares and retire their unsecured bonds.
This would make Ford a privately owned company in the hands of the Ford family which still controls a vast vast majority of the voting shares.
Fords legacy costs are huge, and right now it is said that an American auto worker is actually more expensive than a German auto worker because germany has a state pension and universal health care.
The UAW is going to have to make big concessions in the 2007 renegotiation season. Ford will probably want to close at least 2 factories. St. Louis and Wixcom.
The auto market is not shrinking, its just becoming more and more competitive and fragmented into more and more market segments. At the same time, with safety and emission regulations growing at an ever frantic pace, the development of product is getting more and more expensive while the fierce competition is forcing automakers to update their cars more often making harder to pay back the development costs.
What this means is that we will definitely see further consolidation or partnerships in the automotive world.
I predict that we will see Chinese brand cars on our roads in the next 5 years. And the competition, fragmentation, and cost pressures will get even worse.
The strong will survive.
Steve, Host
Thanks for the update..."Future of Ford" is right up my alley... :shades:
Got the family price + rebates- MSRP $36,700 discounted to $26,970
It's a XLT V8, sunroof, tow pkg, appearance pkg. & convience group. I orig paid cash for the Expy used 2 years ago ($20K), put nothing into it but tires & front brakes. After some haggling was able to get $9200 for the Expy (no small task- nobody wants these things no matter how nice), the low mileage saved me. I did a 0 down 36 month lease @ 5.5% and used the trade to pay the first payment with the rest cash back to me. I'll now take the remainder and open a special checking account to make the lease payments, carrying me for 17 months.
So essentially I will drive a brand-new vehicle using equity from the old one to make 17 months of payments ($520/mo including sales tax and excise tax).
And the new Explorer is a dream compared to the old-style Expy- plus with the V8 the Explorer has 1500 lbs MORE tow capacity; and a 3rd row seat that folds flat (smaller, though) instead of humping a huge bench seat in/out all the time.
There are some nice deals out there for those that still need truck-based SUV's, and even if the value continues to plummet on them (which it no doubt will) we can just turn it in 3 years from now and walk away. By then, if gas is 5 bucks a gallon we may dump our skiboat too and won't need an SUV at all. Right now, this just seemed real sensible for us.
So let's see---after 3 years you are paying over $18,000.00 and will not own the car after that. That's a great deal...........................
Steve, Host
Scott
Steve, Host
Steve, Host
Ford sweetens pot to sell gas-thirsty SUVs (Reuters)
Steve, Host
Let's say you purchase the vehicle for $30K before any rebates. If you take the no-interest financing it will cost you $30K regardless of the term. However, if you applied the cash back and financed $25K for 72 months your payment will be $3 less, and the total cost of financing is $29,746. You just saved $250.
Another point to make is that if you take the same scenario and pay the extra $3 each month toward the principle on the loan, you will likely save yourself two or maybe even three payments at the end. That's another savings of at least $600.
Moral of the story - Always do the math!
The 2007 GM Yukon and Tahoe with the 5.3 V8 with DOD achieve the same fuel mileage as the 2006 Explorer. I wonder how many people will go with the larger vehicles? Why does Ford not have DOD on their V8s?
What does DOD mean?
... GMC Envoy XL and Envoy XUV, as well as a DOD-equipped Vortec 3900 V-6, ...
OTOH, it could mean Department of Defense.
Unless Ford has some other way to achieve better mileage, I don't see how they can afford not to offer it on their V8s.
The old Cadillac system had two main flaws: relatively primative elctronics, and the 6 cylinder mode, which shook like crazy because it was not balanced.
The biggest problems I see with this application in SUV's are #1 cost - you have to drive a lot of miles for a hybrid to pay for itself, and #2 cargo volume. The Accord Hybrid's trunk is smaller than its gas-only conterparts b/c of the battery pack.
Most people who buy an SUV are making a compromise. They will accept sub-par mileage for the extra room for all their kids and stuff. That's the reason we bought our Mountaineer. As hybrid technology become smarter, smaller, and CHEAPER, I believe we will see a lot more of it. And don't give me the "throaty V8" junk. How many soccer moms do you know with flowmasters on their SUV's.
i think the new 3v v8 has a better smog rating than the hah. maybe it could be even better if hybrid technology is applied.
So I was at NTB again today for something else and was looking at tires. I noticed that there are TWO versions of Michelins for SUVs...the "Cross-Terrain" (which I think I also saw on some new Mountaineers on the dealer lot) and the LTX-MS. They no longer carry the LC XT4 tire because that was a Sears version and NTB got sold by Sears. I seem to recall, however, that LTX-MS and LC XT4 were essentially the same tire.
So my obvious question is: What's the difference (ride, longevity, price, other) between the two Michelins? And are both available in my size (standard 17 inch somethingorother Mountaineer factory wheels)?
Any other tire suggestions would be appreciated too. I am figuring on keeping the vehicle another 50,000 (unless I get the itch).
If you're having to replace tires that often you need to have some checking done on your alignment and suspension. The BFGoodrich tires on our Mountaineer are not even close to halfway worn out with 14,000 miles on it. You should have easily gotten 40,000 out of the original tires no matter where you live if you kept them rotated and kept the air pressure up where it's supposed to be. Remember, the 17's are recommended to run 35 psi and they are rated for up to 45.
60K out of tires in Pittsburgh? The tooth fairy? Santa Claus? Honest politicians?
I used to work in a tire store when I was in high school and college, and while it was in a small Mississippi town, I know that if anyone had been getting the kind of poor service you're talking about out of any of our tires, they'd have been looking for an adjustment on them.
Now if you're constantly braking hard, turning short at low speeds, or regularly whitesmoking the tires I can see how you may shorten their life expectancy. But you're talking about cutting their life in half. That's just not normal - for anywhere.
One thought I did have - do you regularly operate your vehicle with a heavy load inside? A friend of mine who owned his own tire store told me that he once had a guy who weighed in excess of 350 pounds who kept having problems with the front end alignment on his car. My friend said that after several attempts at correcting the problem he finally thought to have the guy stay in the car while they aligned everything and it worked.
maintaining adequate tire pressure and rotations have a lot to do with the life of a tire.
Not just a lot, they are the life of a tire. I drove an 89 Ford Ranger when I was in college. I rotated the tires every 5000 miles and always ran 35 psi in all four tires - the maximum recommended pressure for the Firestones that came on the truck. I got better than 60,000 miles out of the tires and my dad continued running two of them on a utility trailer he had for more than a year. If you can do that on a Ford truck with twin I-beam front suspension you can do it on anything.
I'm mostly looking for any possible insight on what may happen to the 2005 Eddie Bauer's later this year. I'm not sure of when would be the best time to get it (Christmas vs. Feb), and incentives that usually happen that time of year.
Any advice?
Hopefully, you're right about the used SUV going down in price, since I'll end up one.
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Actually that all depends on where you live. Here in the deep South, most Explorers and Mountaineers are sold in the 2WD version. You do see a good many AWD Moutaineers and 4X4 Explorers but most folks here can get by with the 2WD version.
The big difference between the Mountaineer and Explorer has to do with options. Some standard features, such as the third row seats, on the Mountaineer are optional on the Explorer. We bought an 04 Mountaineer Luxury Edition last year. It has exactly the same equipment as the base model Eddie Bauer Explorer with the third row seats and also has the center console in the center row. It was about $1000 LESS than the Eddie Bauer.
If the name is not important to you and you like the looks of the Merc, you can actually save money by going with the Mountaineer.
That's my experience. I'm on my 3rd Exploder and none of them were branded "Ford Explorer". The first was a Mazda Navajo (2 door Explorer Sport) that had a better price, option package, and warranty than Ford. The 2nd was a 1998 Mountaineer. At the time, Mercury had a $2000 dealer incentive program so I got the car much cheaper than I could have gotten a similarly equiped Explorer. With my 2003 Mountaineer, there was a $1000 dealer loyalty kicker on top of a slightly better sticker price for the option package I wanted.
My two Mountaineers have always been serviced at the local Ford dealer.