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Farley's Folly.
Tell me this: how in the hell does a thousand horsepower vanity project (from a major car company boss) relate to modern car purchasing? Does he think that my neighbor, with a wife and two college age kids, is going to say hell with the kids, I'm buying myself a dirt racing hot rod? The kids can figure out their own way to pay for school... meanwhile, I will go into debt for a stupid never-gonna-happen thing from a used-to-be-sensible corporation. Good luck with that, and screw the American consumer.
Ted R
Raleigh, North Carolina
Disturbing.
Just as disturbing as the number of Ford recalls, is what has become Ford's standard boilerplate clause tacked on to most, which basically states; "Yeah, it's a problem, we will inspect your vehicle to see if it is failing right now, but as far as a true lifelong fix goes, we ain't got a fucking clue". Make that more disturbing.
DG
Berwick, Maine
It’s the product, stupid.
Trying to develop the future while repeating the past is a fools errand, as we have seen. Yeah, the problem is they just cannot come up with anything new with commercial potential either because they wont spend the money or because they wont take any risk.
The car buying public really doesn’t give a crap about the Paris to Dakar race. They just want product that is affordable, doesn’t break down on a regular basis and doesn’t rust out in five years. Come up with a line of cars like that - and with no tv screens - and you will have a real winner.
Ptg0
Highland Park, Michigan
Nothing "free" about it.
I have always thought the "free scheduled maintenance" was for the benefit of the auto maker/seller. Since a high number of cars, especially aspirational German cars, go out on lease, it is foreseeable that a significant number of lessees would do zero work on the car, even oil changes, with the attitude that they have it two years, and it won't be their problem-and maybe that lease was a financial stretch... But when the CPO buyer gets it, and the engine has avoidable problems in the warranty period, that "free" oil change is a good investment... for the Company. A car with the very first oil change at 36k miles isn't going to be happy.
Casey Raskob, Esq.
Green Leafy Burbs, New York City