Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

roadburner

abacomike said:

I finally have fidgeted and played with my Apple Car Play in my 740i long enough so that my opinion regarding Car Play is not completely negative.

I am now able to ask Siri if I have any unread mail or text messages and if I do, Siri asks me if he should read the mail to me. If I say yes, Siri reads the title of the mail or text and the entire message or email content through the 740i audio system. I also have asked Siri how the weather is and if it is going to rain today. He quickly responds to my requests. I also asked Siri if there is any traffic ahead of me, and once again Siri complies. If I want to send an email or a text, I can do that by asking Siri. Siri then asks if I want him to read the draft and if I say yes, he reads it to me. He asks me if he should send the email or text.

So, this is all done hands free by just speaking "HEY, SIRI". From what I understand, the same things can be accomplished when I am not in the car - something I was never aware of - and I've had Apple Phones for 7 years now. So I have come to the conclusion that I am a complete novice when it comes to the Car Play technology as well as the iPhone 7+'s technology - in other words, I am a dunce!!!

Siri works without CarPlay with regards to texts and general question as long as you have Professional Navigation.

roadburner

Mr_Shiftright said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Speaking of old BMWs, this is what you get for a few thousand more than a Sebring.

https://fortmyers.craigslist.org/chl/cto/6108809366.html

When I hear oil light stays on, airbag light stays on, it makes me wonder why he does not get those things fixed before selling it. Probably he has had a lot of little things go and he is tired of getting them fixed.

For Florida cars.....estate sales may be the best bet. I do see lots of little car lots in Florida and some of the cars on them seem interesting, then I think they look so nice and innocent, but what really lurks under the hood.

Happy B Day.

Kerrect...it's a potential money hazard with those problems. A scanner does not tell you the part that is defective. This is BS.

Translation: "I got some codes, I don't know what they means and quite frankly, I don't want to know"

Also this is the 4 cylinder model, so it's ....well...less than thrilling to drive. He's asking a bit too much without fixing those issues I think. I'd put it at about $2500 the way it is, presuming it drives well and doesn't show any of the usual Z3 issues structurally. That gives you $1750 to play with, and the car's fair market is about $4250 in a "good" driver's quality condition.

I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that the SRS issue is a bad seatbelt latch; The SES fault is anybody's guess.

graphicguy

@oldfarmer.....yes...Happy Birthday!

cdnpinhead

@oldfarmer Hope you had a nice day. Enjoy those hoopties!

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 said:

OK, rip this one apart for me so I don't get right on a plane to Tampa.

https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/ctd/6125143505.html

It looks good OF..............too good to be true.
I am suspicious of that nice paint job, looks like it is there to hide something.
Dealer did not pay much for it and spent money on cosmetics.
I have drive,not that vintage of Sebring and they are not the best handling cars in the world.
That picture of the dealers lot would make me leery....does not look like a Certified type dealer.

I am in Victoria B C using a tablet....what a pain.

There are car lots like that all up and down 66th st. from Tampa all the way down to St. Petersburg. You must have a lot of them on your side of the bay too. Who would certify a 21 yo car anyway? At that price you pay your money and take your chances.

I have no illusions of the quality of 90s era Chryslers. My fantasies are modest. Would like a cheap little toy to take out on the nice weather days of summer. It wouldn't have to handle like a sports car or have world class build quality. Just go where I point it.

If I did buy a Florida vert this would be the time of year to go down there.

driver100

jmonroe said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

OK, rip this one apart for me so I don't get right on a plane to Tampa.



https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/ctd/6125143505.html

It looks good OF..............too good to be true.

I am suspicious of that nice paint job, looks like it is there to hide something.

Dealer did not pay much for it and spent money on cosmetics.

I have drive,not that vintage of Sebring and they are not the best handling cars in the world.

That picture of the dealers lot would make me leery....does not look like a Certified type dealer.



I am in Victoria B C using a tablet....what a pain.

There are car lots like that all up and down 66th st. from Tampa all the way down to St. Petersburg. You must have a lot of them on your side of the bay too. Who would certify a 21 yo car anyway? At that price you pay your money and take your chances.



I have no illusions of the quality of 90s era Chryslers. My fantasies are modest. Would like a cheap little toy to take out on the nice weather days of summer. It wouldn't have to handle like a sports car or have world class build quality. Just go where I point it.



If I did buy a Florida vert this would be the time of year to go down there.

JMonroe, now your posts are getting too short!
One of the fastest posts I have ever read.

jmonroe

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

OK, rip this one apart for me so I don't get right on a plane to Tampa.



https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/ctd/6125143505.html

It looks good OF..............too good to be true.

I am suspicious of that nice paint job, looks like it is there to hide something.

Dealer did not pay much for it and spent money on cosmetics.

I have drive,not that vintage of Sebring and they are not the best handling cars in the world.

That picture of the dealers lot would make me leery....does not look like a Certified type dealer.



I am in Victoria B C using a tablet....what a pain.

There are car lots like that all up and down 66th st. from Tampa all the way down to St. Petersburg. You must have a lot of them on your side of the bay too. Who would certify a 21 yo car anyway? At that price you pay your money and take your chances.



I have no illusions of the quality of 90s era Chryslers. My fantasies are modest. Would like a cheap little toy to take out on the nice weather days of summer. It wouldn't have to handle like a sports car or have world class build quality. Just go where I point it.



If I did buy a Florida vert this would be the time of year to go down there.

JMonroe, now your posts are getting too short!
One of the fastest posts I have ever read.

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

OK, rip this one apart for me so I don't get right on a plane to Tampa.



https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/ctd/6125143505.html

It looks good OF..............too good to be true.

I am suspicious of that nice paint job, looks like it is there to hide something.

Dealer did not pay much for it and spent money on cosmetics.

I have drive,not that vintage of Sebring and they are not the best handling cars in the world.

That picture of the dealers lot would make me leery....does not look like a Certified type dealer.



I am in Victoria B C using a tablet....what a pain.

There are car lots like that all up and down 66th st. from Tampa all the way down to St. Petersburg. You must have a lot of them on your side of the bay too. Who would certify a 21 yo car anyway? At that price you pay your money and take your chances.



I have no illusions of the quality of 90s era Chryslers. My fantasies are modest. Would like a cheap little toy to take out on the nice weather days of summer. It wouldn't have to handle like a sports car or have world class build quality. Just go where I point it.



If I did buy a Florida vert this would be the time of year to go down there.

JMonroe, now your posts are getting too short!
One of the fastest posts I have ever read.

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

OK, rip this one apart for me so I don't get right on a plane to Tampa.



https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/ctd/6125143505.html

It looks good OF..............too good to be true.

I am suspicious of that nice paint job, looks like it is there to hide something.

Dealer did not pay much for it and spent money on cosmetics.

I have drive,not that vintage of Sebring and they are not the best handling cars in the world.

That picture of the dealers lot would make me leery....does not look like a Certified type dealer.



I am in Victoria B C using a tablet....what a pain.

There are car lots like that all up and down 66th st. from Tampa all the way down to St. Petersburg. You must have a lot of them on your side of the bay too. Who would certify a 21 yo car anyway? At that price you pay your money and take your chances.



I have no illusions of the quality of 90s era Chryslers. My fantasies are modest. Would like a cheap little toy to take out on the nice weather days of summer. It wouldn't have to handle like a sports car or have world class build quality. Just go where I point it.



If I did buy a Florida vert this would be the time of year to go down there.

JMonroe, now your posts are getting too short!
One of the fastest posts I have ever read.

This is what happens when a dummy tries to use a smart phone while on vacation.

I better quit now before I screw up the whole site

Jmonroe

oldfarmer50

roadburner said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Speaking of old BMWs, this is what you get for a few thousand more than a Sebring.

https://fortmyers.craigslist.org/chl/cto/6108809366.html

The Z3 is very similar to the ti(hatchback). The M44 1.9 engine is very reliable with no real cooling system issues. The 5 speed and rear diff are also robust. The manual top may need a rear window but that's it. If it passed a competent PPI I'd buy it in a heartbeat- if I liked convertibles...

Not me, I'd never buy any car with 147,000 miles. It would feel unnatural.

Mr_Shiftright

I'm not as confident of the M44 engine as you are. At 147K, it's probably pretty tired for that series of engine. Maybe has...what...another 35K left in it?

But I'd buy a car like that if the dash wasn't lit up. Cheap enough. However, there's no excuse for not fixing things as "simple" as 02 sensor and seat belt buckle prior to sale.

bwia

Question about verizon.net mail

I received several messages from Verizon saying that they are leaving the email business and that my options are:

-- if I wanted to keep my verizon.net mail account they will move everything to aol.com mail or
-- I can move to another email provider such as Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc. but I will not be able to use verizon.net and will have to manually input my contacts, etc. bummer!

I already have an active aol.com email that I have had for over 25 years and want to keep that, but I receive so much junk on it that I am uneasy about moving from verizon.net to aol.

Has anyone migrated from verizon.net mail to aol.com? What was your experience?

stickguy

AOL email is still around? wow.

you might want to just create a fresh email account, and only give it out to people you want to have it. Keep the AOL one for the jumk mail stuff. I would be surprised if Gmail, etc. weren't able to pull contacts in. But unless you have a ton of contacts, might not be too bad, plus a good opportunity to clean up the list

ab348

I've used Gmail for a dozen years, almost since it first came out. Once you get used to the concept of no folders it works fine.

suydam

Switch to gmail.

carnaught

Since Verizon's buying Yahoo, I'm surprised they're not funneling customers to Yahoo Mail.

imidazol97

I believe Frontier moved their webmail to Yahoo sometime in the past. I recall friends having trouble with their email and I had to fix it due to the switch. (Frontier bought some of Verizon's landline holdings years back which dumped a lot of low-performing landline operations onto Frontier along with the debt.)

oldfarmer50

imidazol97 said:

I believe Frontier moved their webmail to Yahoo sometime in the past. I recall friends having trouble with their email and I had to fix it due to the switch. (Frontier bought some of Verizon's landline holdings years back which dumped a lot of low-performing landline operations onto Frontier along with the debt.)

Who was the genius at Frontier who brokered that deal?

bwia

carnaught said:

Since Verizon's buying Yahoo, I'm surprised they're not funneling customers to Yahoo Mail.

Didn't know that about the Yahoo relationship but I just discovered that Verizon also acquired AOL in 2015 perhaps that's why the automatic or default migration to AOL. Reading further, I discovered that in 2014 AOL had an email breach that affected some 500,000 users and AOL did not respond to inquires of how it addressed the breach.

What's surprising in all of this is that Verizon has only 2.3 million active accounts of 4.5 million registered verizon.net accounts. And that's the rub, with such low numbers it appears they cannot effectively compete in the email business.

oldfarmer50

Just want to say thanks to you guys.

Not only for the birthday wishes but for the impressive breadth of knowledge you possess. Imagine, throwing a random Craigslist car up there and within hours I know what the dealer paid, see a picture of the dealership and know the poor reputation of the vehicle.

If I were to negotiate with that store I'd have him crying on the curb.

bwia

oldfarmer50 said:

Just want to say thanks to you guys.

Not only for the birthday wishes but for the impressive breadth of knowledge you possess. Imagine, throwing a random Craigslist car up there and within hours I know what the dealer paid, see a picture of the dealership and know the poor reputation of the vehicle.

If I were to negotiate with that store I'd have him crying on the curb.

Happy belated birthday and I hope you enjoyed the coffee cake I did not send. Blessings.

roadburner

Mr_Shiftright said:

I'm not as confident of the M44 engine as you are. At 147K, it's probably pretty tired for that series of engine. Maybe has...what...another 35K left in it?

But I'd buy a car like that if the dash wasn't lit up. Cheap enough. However, there's no excuse for not fixing things as "simple" as 02 sensor and seat belt buckle prior to sale.

My M42 is the immediate predecessor of that engine and it is running great at 145K. Who is telling you that things will go terribly wrong before 180K? Have they ever owned one? All I've done to my M42 is replace the thermostat and replace the timing chain tensioner with the upgraded M44 part(as a precaution- it cost all of $45 and took less than 20 minutes to install).

I'm sure that most M42/44 engines will easily top 250K or more with no problem if they have been maintained- and I base that on the experience of more than a few people on 318ti.org as well as a couple of other BMW sites.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 said:

Just want to say thanks to you guys.

Not only for the birthday wishes but for the impressive breadth of knowledge you possess. Imagine, throwing a random Craigslist car up there and within hours I know what the dealer paid, see a picture of the dealership and know the poor reputation of the vehicle.

If I were to negotiate with that store I'd have him crying on the curb.

That may be but you will be standing in a foot of tears from tons of other customers who were ripped off.

I'm trying this post from my smart phone while on vacation. Yes, having a good time. Who wouldn't since it is almost free. Just have to keep Mrs, j from grabbing all the dinner checks.

Jmonroe

isellhondas

Mr_Shiftright said:

I'm not as confident of the M44 engine as you are. At 147K, it's probably pretty tired for that series of engine. Maybe has...what...another 35K left in it?

But I'd buy a car like that if the dash wasn't lit up. Cheap enough. However, there's no excuse for not fixing things as "simple" as 02 sensor and seat belt buckle prior to sale.

Has anyone ever seen a ten year old BMW that DIDN'T have the dash all lit up? Really?

oldfarmer50

I'm trying this post from my smart phone while on vacation.

Jmonroe

Yes, I could tell. You sound very intelligent.

explorerx4

Auto correct?

Mr_Shiftright

roadburner said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

I'm not as confident of the M44 engine as you are. At 147K, it's probably pretty tired for that series of engine. Maybe has...what...another 35K left in it?

But I'd buy a car like that if the dash wasn't lit up. Cheap enough. However, there's no excuse for not fixing things as "simple" as 02 sensor and seat belt buckle prior to sale.

My M42 is the immediate predecessor of that engine and it is running great at 145K. Who is telling you that things will go terribly wrong before 180K? Have they ever owned one? All I've done to my M42 is replace the thermostat and replace the timing chain tensioner with the upgraded M44 part(as a precaution- it cost all of $45 and took less than 20 minutes to install).

I'm sure that most M42/44 engines will easily top 250K or more with no problem if they have been maintained- and I base that on the experience of more than a few people on 318ti.org as well as a couple of other BMW sites.

Well I say that because the engine is gutless and it works very hard. Poor thing.

Just out of curiosity I did a few global searches for Z3 with 1.9s and over 100,000 miles. I found about 16 of them, all but one under 139,000 miles. The lone outlier was at 194,000---so only 56,000 more miles to go. Godspeed.

Besides, I'm protected under the First Amendment to not particularly like this engine.

roadburner

Mr_Shiftright said:

roadburner said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

I'm not as confident of the M44 engine as you are. At 147K, it's probably pretty tired for that series of engine. Maybe has...what...another 35K left in it?

But I'd buy a car like that if the dash wasn't lit up. Cheap enough. However, there's no excuse for not fixing things as "simple" as 02 sensor and seat belt buckle prior to sale.

My M42 is the immediate predecessor of that engine and it is running great at 145K. Who is telling you that things will go terribly wrong before 180K? Have they ever owned one? All I've done to my M42 is replace the thermostat and replace the timing chain tensioner with the upgraded M44 part(as a precaution- it cost all of $45 and took less than 20 minutes to install).

I'm sure that most M42/44 engines will easily top 250K or more with no problem if they have been maintained- and I base that on the experience of more than a few people on 318ti.org as well as a couple of other BMW sites.

Well I say that because the engine is gutless and it works very hard. Poor thing.

Just out of curiosity I did a few global searches for Z3 with 1.9s and over 100,000 miles. I found about 16 of them, all but one under 139,000 miles. The lone outlier was at 194,000---so only 56,000 more miles to go. Godspeed.

Besides, I'm protected under the First Amendment to not particularly like this engine.

As I said before, I'd be interested to learn the specific known faults in the M42/M44 that make it unlikely to survive past 180K. If anything, my Club Sport's engine should already be on the scrap heap- considering that it served as my HPDE instructor car from 1996 to 2012. As another data point, I had a used oil analysis performed at 125K(8.2K on the oil) and Blackstone Labs reported:

Your BMW's engine appears to be doing quite well at 125,244 miles. Our universal averages show normal wear for the M42 4-cylinder after 3,800 miles of oil use. You ran this 0W/40 oil well past that mark, so it was nice to see all metals reading close to or below average. They were also in balance to one another and that shows normally wearing parts and no mechanical problems brewing. The oil's TBN was 5.7, meaning there was lots of active additive left. A reading of 1.0 means it is too low. Air and oil filtration (see silicon/insolubles) were normal. Nice report.

And it's not gutless if you drive it as intended- keep the rpm above 4,500 when accelerating in anger and it's surprisingly quick. And fun. Drive it lazily and it will seem to be a slug. In any case, with a 1/4 mile time in the mid 16 second range, it had performance equivalent to many sporty/sport cars of the era.

fintail

I suspect the faults in that engine are the same as in many old German cars - ownership once you get past the second person.

Mr_Shiftright

It's a rough engine. I have never found them pleasant to drive. It reminded me of the equally gutless post-smog 2002/320i engine. You have to thrash it to get anywhere.

But hey, my disregard for the 1.9 is your good fortune. I won't ever be competing with you in the marketplace for one.

oldfarmer50

Mr_Shiftright said:

It's a rough engine. I have never found them pleasant to drive. It reminded me of the equally gutless post-smog 2002/320i engine. You have to thrash it to get anywhere.

But hey, my disregard for the 1.9 is your good fortune. I won't ever be competing with you in the marketplace for one.

That sounds like some other "got to drive it like you stole it" cars that I considered in the past.

One was the Acura RSX which I guess only got to it's sweet spot at around 7000rpm or the 3.7L Mustang which also had to be high reved to enjoy.

Mr_Shiftright

Gee I dunno...I've enjoyed driving cars like the Honda S2000 and Mazda RX-8, both of which DEMAND high revs, but at least when you rev it that high you get something for it. With the 1.9, it seems like all you're doing is keeping it from falling on its face. But RB is right, 4500 is about the sweet spot. Higher than that really doesn't do you any good.

Z3/1.9 ----- 140 HP & 2600 lbs.

1996 Miata----133 HP & 2100 lbs.

It makes a difference!

qbrozen

Spotted this at a local station and found it humorous enough to take a pic.

roadburner

And yet a 1996 318ti(2880 lbs.) is a tick faster than a 1996 Miata...

1996 318ti- 0-60: 8.3 seconds 1/4 mile: 16.3 seconds
1996 MX-5- 0-60: 8.7 seconds 1/4 mile: 16.6 seconds

Mr_Shiftright

I"m seein' specs showing the Miata a touch faster, and with a higher differential ratio than the Z3 1.9---not much...4.1 vs 4.43.

I even like the 318 less than the Z3 1.9.

graphicguy

Can't remember where I read it, but a recent article stated that used BMW Z4s were bargains right now. Car and Driver, maybe?

ab348

Wow, this is big - Mark Fields is getting fired as Ford's CEO. That didn't take long. He didn't make it through his third year.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20170522/OEM02/170529994/ford-is-firing-ceo-mark-fields-naming-former-steelcase-chief-jim?cciid=email-autonews-blast

graphicguy

ab348 said:

Wow, this is big - Mark Fields is getting fired as Ford's CEO. That didn't take long. He didn't make it through his third year.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20170522/OEM02/170529994/ford-is-firing-ceo-mark-fields-naming-former-steelcase-chief-jim?cciid=email-autonews-blast

Just saw that. Kind of a shocker. I deal with Ford on a professional basis and a couple of the people I interface with internally at Ford said everyone they talk to are stunned.

Mr_Shiftright

graphicguy said:

Can't remember where I read it, but a recent article stated that used BMW Z4s were bargains right now. Car and Driver, maybe?

They are a good deal. Some say it's because of the off-putting styling, and the purists think it lost the sportiness of the Z3 for the sake of more comforts. I think the Z3 and Z4 are very good buys right now, if you know what you're buying and take your time choosing.

qbrozen

I'd love a Z4 M coupe as a toy.

ab348

Watching the live stream of Bill Ford and the new CEO Jim Hackett at their news conference. They have mentioned Alan Mulally's name more than that of Fields. Seems clear they feel the company has regressed culturally since he left. Ford has always been a strange place in terms of top management culture, almost like a government bureaucracy with fiefdoms and silos, except for the time under Mulally when he was able to bust up a good part of it. It seems to have sprouted again. Probably makes sense for Bill Ford to bring in another outsider given that.

berri

Quality down, mediocre performance and fuel economy, Barra and GM moving out ahead...Ford seemed to be diverting too much attention and resources to an unclear high tech mobility future away from its basic mission of vehicles. A little too Jacques Nasser like for me at least.

ab348

Based on what was said at the press event, that mobility/tech strategy is still full speed ahead. But I agree that their quality, both real and perceived, is still an issue, and their new product launches have not always been smooth. I don't know how their in-car tech is perceived these days. Hopefully it's improved over the initial rollouts of Sync and My Ford Touch.

Regarding Hackett, I thought this part in the Automotive News story was interesting:

Hackett oversaw a major reorganization at Steelcase that involved cutting the company’s workforce dramatically and eliminating more than half of its facilities. Among those he had to personally pink slip was the best man at his wedding.

He met with many of the laid-off salaried workers personally, eating breakfast with them and offering them assistance with networking or benefit issues.

driver100

Stock price in the doldrums and not looking like it will improve soon. Ford is spinning their wheels......so to speak.

28firefighter

It feels like to me that Mark Fields was fired because he wasn't Alan Mulally, and that's basically it. I think he had the right idea around technology but forgot about handling the bread and butter that makes Ford profitable...

graphicguy

ab348 said:

Watching the live stream of Bill Ford and the new CEO Jim Hackett at their news conference. They have mentioned Alan Mulally's name more than that of Fields. Seems clear they feel the company has regressed culturally since he left. Ford has always been a strange place in terms of top management culture, almost like a government bureaucracy with fiefdoms and silos, except for the time under Mulally when he was able to bust up a good part of it. It seems to have sprouted again. Probably makes sense for Bill Ford to bring in another outsider given that.

Agree totally with your assessment.

28firefighter said:

It feels like to me that Mark Fields was fired because he wasn't Alan Mulally, and that's basically it. I think he had the right idea around technology but forgot about handling the bread and butter that makes Ford profitable...

Totally agree with you, too!

oldfarmer50

graphicguy said:

Can't remember where I read it, but a recent article stated that used BMW Z4s were bargains right now. Car and Driver, maybe?

I don't know about the Z4s but the Z3s got pretty nasty reviews in the auto press. Maybe they didn't rev it up high enough. I considered a Z3 I saw for sale in someone's driveway but the reviews scared me off. Like the looks though, very sporty.

berri

Well whatever on Fields, he has enough years at Ford to retire, so he'll be fine!

berri

The new guy at Ford needs to update Ford's lineup. It is getting stale. Improve quality as well and I think things will look up down the road for the company.

Mr_Shiftright

oldfarmer50 said:

graphicguy said:

Can't remember where I read it, but a recent article stated that used BMW Z4s were bargains right now. Car and Driver, maybe?

I don't know about the Z4s but the Z3s got pretty nasty reviews in the auto press. Maybe they didn't rev it up high enough. I considered a Z3 I saw for sale in someone's driveway but the reviews scared me off. Like the looks though, very sporty.

Like Fintail said, by the time we meet most old BMWs, they are neglected and beat to hell. You have to be patient and find the one well cared for. Once a car falls below a certain resale value, it falls into the hands of owners who can't take care of it properly.

28firefighter

My challenge is that many owners of those well-cared-for BMWs are asking crazy dollars for their car. Finding the reasonable owner who has taken good care of it is the truly rare find.

dino001

28firefighter said:

It feels like to me that Mark Fields was fired because he wasn't Alan Mulally, and that's basically it. I think he had the right idea around technology but forgot about handling the bread and butter that makes Ford profitable...

Looks like Ford did so much better during the crisis, so its benchmark was much higher than Government Motors or Fiat/Chrysler. Mulally was great and he got Ford pulled to new quality and operational highs. However, I think there might have been problems already in his time (Consumer Reports reported quality problems on their turbocharged engines and advanced entertainment units). Then once Mulally was gone, it looks like Ford went back to its old self, resting on laurels and cashing out, just as they tended to do in the past, when times were OK. As the US market peaked now, the problems are already mounting, and will even more so, from excess inventory, to excess production capacity, etc. It will take a strong executive team to fight the unions, again, on cost-cutting measures in production area, yet keeping R&D flowing at the same time. These guys don't have best track record of doing that. Perhaps and outsider, just like Mulally was last time, will be able to do that better.