How the Auto Bailout Is Punishing Ford

Okay we all have our thoughts about ford and gm and what not I am the owner of a 1999 pontiac grandam se 4 door 124,000 miles on it currently that was given to me by a family member... Before that I owned a 1994 ford escort station wagon which I still own and amazed its still running! with no major engine work it has over 300,000 miles on it... It still runs great! but I have also owned a dodge caravan and A jaguar. on my pontiac when I got it I thought everything was taken care of not true the spark plugs were original from the factory the fuel filter factory and battery factory and it ran for 10 YEARS! withought any of it being changed It still runs but when I found out that it hadnt been changed I opned that baby up and changed it I done it myself not that hard but the manual in the thing was all i needed.... It runs brandnew!I have not had any trouble wih the fords or pontiac which i am sad to see goo. But my thing is its not the car companys really its the cars themselves.. the way they are treated and they way they are driven I say lets keep gm and ford american and get rid of the foreign cars! thats why gm needed the bail out. Another reason why alot of them needed the bail out was because people still had a great running car from these companys and did not see the need to buy new but its the car companys fault because they built more than what there was a demand for! What happned to the days when a person wanted to buy a new car they had to order it had it made and then delivered... Now there is just such a surplus which lead to debt!

scott of FL 3:26PM January 30, 2010

Achtung Mein fellow Amerikan.

Thomas , Thomas Thomas ... You Must Must Must do better than crying that to state the facts as they exist, such as (a) GM and Chrysler losing marketshare for the last 30 years, and that the (b) bankers are extolled as villains while the (c) Union Workers get to wear the Eternal White Hat are simple cliche'.

My Mother drives a Chrysler 300, I drive a Mercury Sable [that I love DEARLY with 190k on the clock], but I do know a superior product when I see one or drive one.

And it does not take the American with Blinders On Attitude to see one either.

I am a BIG fan of Ford, and my mother's car is one of the best I have ever driven, but that does not mean the company is worth a Tinker's Damn.

There are plenty of people here who have not driven the Europeans or the Japanese cars and cannot make an informed comparison.

I am not one of them.

I have owned BMW and a Mercedes and Intend to own a few more.

As far as I am concerned the Jury Is Still out on Ford because they are not a favourite of the Obama Administration since they are clearly not playing Bailout ball.

But I will make you this prediction...

When Obama is Gone in three more years ... so is the lifeline to GM and the Money we gave them to support that Ponzi scheme with the Unions on One side and the Execs on the other while they put the screws to the dealers and empty the company's vault while the government man makes sure the last guy out the door turns out the lights when they leave.

When a Sensible administration comes to power, the Shingle over more than a few doors will change.

Saving a Bad Bank or a Badly Run Car Company from default is nothing more than saving the sign over the door and a political payoff.

The American System is based on making a profit, and not building cars or running a bank because the government decides that you are a Busywork Outlet.

When these Companies finally Do fail and are let fall, lots of people and other companies will be there to pick up their pieces and make good companies out of the pieces.

Taxpayer money should never have been given to them, and I have relatives in Flint and Saginaw Michigan whose entire careers have been spent at Fisher Body.

No one is [not even them] are owed lifetime support for working for any company they did not make for themselves, and only a Socialist [a polite term for Communist] would see that any differently.

I support family and American product as much as anyone living in this nation, but America in my view has never stood for Socialist until lately, and should not be standing for Stupid no matter Who works there or the name on the sign.

And trust me, you can find Lexus, Mercedes and BMW at the same price as Cadillac and Lincoln.

They are not the same cars and your statement requires people to compare a Bicycle To A Goldfish.

They are not the same cars, the same weight or size ... but some are clearly better cars regardless of that subjective and Limited criteria.

Say Goodnight Gracie

Ariel F. Lovelace of AR 10:02AM January 26, 2010

I can't say I agree with al or even halfl Jay of CA had to say but for the most part its quite appropriately well considered... IMHO

Rchi of WA 7:56PM January 12, 2010

Yes, you have read my title correctly. Now think about this, Scion and Kia are marketing cars geared toward Gen Y. What two companies are posting profits and gains? Toyota (parent of Scion) and Hyundai (parent of Kia). Ford is doing well because Gen Y remembers when their parents drove Fords and learned how to drive a Ford. Then Gen Y went truck crazy (I am speaking of the older members of Gen Y). We went out and found this little truck that should have done the trick called the Chevy S-10/GMC Sonoma; we also bought our cheap sportscars (Camaro and Mustangs). Gen Y remembers having to spend half their minimum wage paycheck fixing the Chevys. Gen Y also remembers the Chrysler minivans that Mom drove (and the issues that went with them).

So what happens now? Well here's a little timeline Gen Y has grown up. We now have families and are buying newer cars (most of Gen Y has been driving cars over 10 years old now) so we're in the market for new cars. Sorry GM you screwed us early on and we haven't forgotten. Chrysler that was ME pushing mom's minivan to a safe spot (did you think we'd forget pushing and praying that girl from my math class wasn't passing by).

With GM and Chrylser explained now comes Ford. Well, oddly the most popular Fords for Gen Y were the Ranger, Taurus, F150 and Taurus. Heck there were even some gargantuan Crown Vics in the picture. Guess what, they worked BETTER than expected, which is why Gen Y is more loyal to Ford than GM. Take most GM vehicles, they are less American than a Toyota. The LaCrosse (designed in China, what an anorexic Chinese guy knows what a larger American likes in a car?), the Camaro (designed in Australia) and their plethora of gas guzzling cars built on ancient technology (how many variable valve induction engines does GM have?). Again GM you have screwed Gen Y again, just remember next time we're even older and you can't turn to our grand parents to bail you out! Now Toyota and Honda BUILD far more cars in America than GM and Chrysler.

If Americans want to keep AMERICANS (not Canadians, Mexicans, Australians, Koreans or Indians) employed stop looking at the badge, open the door and read where the car is made. Honda, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, Mercedes, BMW and even Hyundai build the vast majority of their vehicles in AMERICA (just look at the country of origin). The reality is that AMERICAN people do not build bad cars, the companies pawn bad designs. GM's goal was to get you to buy a new car every six years. Chrysler started the "dealer only" service fad. Ford tried that, but realized that AMERICANS do like to work on their own cars (most newer Fords are even easier to work on than the cars of yester-year).

I think there does exist anti-Americans, they go by the names of Chrysler and GM! BUILD THEM HERE, WE CAN DESIGN THEM TO LAST. Just ask Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mercedes, Subaru, BMW and Hyundai just how crappy American workmanship is!

Jay of CA 7:46PM January 04, 2010