Greg In The Desert

Great advertisement by Ford Germany advertising bluetooth in Ford vehicles by showing iPhone/iPod headphones in various forms of knots.

Ford is eliminating 41,000 UAW workers. The package according to Reuters is a lot.

Ford workers have until late January to accept the offer, which includes payouts of up to $70,000 cash for newer hires to $60,000 cash for veterans already eligible for retirement.

That’s $2,870,000,000 total compensation based on a simple calculation of 41,000 times $70,000. Nearly 3 billion dollars. I sometimes don’t understand how companies save money laying off but I suppose that they were going to pay at least this much in salaries in a year year anwyay.

During my last three days in Arizona for work I rented a a 2009 Ford Mustang from Hertz. It wasn’t my choice, it’s what they gave me and while not quite as exotic as the Corvette it’s probably much more common.

It didn’t have the GT badge but it did seem to have the 4.6 Liter V8 and other GT like features . I didn’t look under the hood but I drove it in perfectly legal ways and certainly seemed like it had more than a V6.

I really enjoyed driving this car. I was really impressed with how well Ford integrated some of the retro elements of the car while keeping it like a modern automobile. It handled well, It as comfortable to drive, I fit in it and could extend my legs, I could see out if it well and it had power. Ford states it can get about 25 MPG highway and the computer on the car showed 25 MPG from whoever drove it last (don’t know if it was highway or city).

I’m not alone in my assessment. Consumer Reports gives the Mustang high marks in their test. They liked it better than the Camero and the Challenger.

The Mustang received a Very Good overall road test score of 78, outpointing the Camaro which received a Very Good 71, and the Challenger, which received a Good 53 points. CR’s engineers found the Mustang’s 2010 freshening makes it an even more balanced and satisfying driver’s car than ever before.

“The Mustang topped this group by delivering strong acceleration, communicative steering, and the most agile handling,” said David Champion, senior director of CR’s Auto Test Center in East Haddam, Connecticut.

Since driving the 2009 Mustang I have decided that I am going to buy one. Mostly likely a 2010 model due to some significant improvements (really I want the sequential turn signals). Now, all I need is the money.

Ford has issued a Speed Control Deactivation Switch Recall (09S09) on a number of trucks and SUVs. They sent me a letter to about my 1997 Ford Ranger and suggested I have it fixed as soon as possible.

Ford cannot be confident that over many years in service, a speed control deactivation switch installed on your vehicle will not leak brake fluid, posing the risk of a fire. This condition may occur either when the vehicle is parked or when it is being operated.

This risk exists on vehicles equipped with or without speed control.

Ford Motor Company has authorized your dealer to perform the repairs under this program and your dealer on your vehicle free of charge (parts and labor).

Your dealer may be able to perform this repair while you wait; however, due to scheduling requirements, your dealer may need your vehicle for a longer period of time.

Please call your dealer without delay and request a service date for Recall 09S09. Provide the dealer with the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of your vehicle. The VIN is printed near your name at the beginning of this letter.

Until you have the recall service performed, park your vehicle outdoors away from structures to prevent a potential fire from spreading.

I took it to the local Don Chalmers Ford who was able to get my truck in immediately. They had my truck for about 6 hours and gave me a receipt. Total cost of the repair charged to Ford was 28.89. I realize Ford has millions of these to pay for but I have never taken my truck to a Ford dealer and had such a cheap repair. If I had to pay for this myself, I wonder how much it would have cost me.

There is nothing wrong with my 1997 Ford Ranger except that it’s getting up there in age (kind of like me). Since it’s my only vehicle I am always concerned about total failure or some expensive repairs that could be more than the value of my truck. I’m very interested in what the government’s CAR Allowance Rebate System (formally known as Cash for Clunkers) could do.

Cars.gov has the requirements for the program:

• Your vehicle must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date
• Only purchase or lease of new vehicles qualify
• Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less MPG (some very large pick-up trucks and cargo vans have different requirements)
• Trade-in vehicles must be registered and insured continuously for the full year preceding the trade-in
• You don’t need a voucher, dealers will apply a credit at purchase
• Program runs through Nov 1, 2009 or when the funds are exhausted, whichever comes first.
• The program requires the scrapping of your eligible trade-in vehicle, and that the dealer disclose to you an estimate of the scrap value of your trade-in. The scrap value, however minimal, will be in addition to the rebate, and not in place of the rebate.

According to the fueleconomy.gov website, my 1997 Ford Ranger qualifies for the gas efficiently requirements because they say it gets an combined gas miles of 16 MPG.

I was surprised to see that the EPA says my truck gets such low gas milage. I can get at least 18 MPG in town and 22 MPG on the freeway. I was also surprised when I compared my 1997 model with a 2009 Ford Ranger that the 2009 model gets 1 MPG less.

If I were to replace my vehicle under the CARS program, I wouldn’t replace it with a super fuel efficient vehicle. I would need to replace it with another truck (yes I do actually use my truck as a truck and utility vehicle). This doesn’t help me very much because nearly every new truck gets nearly the same gas mileage as mine. I compared my truck to a variety of similar trucks. I could find two that met the mileage requirements and only one actually qualified.

The 2009 Chevrolet Silverado 15 Hybrid 4 wheel drive qualifies on the gas miles requirements as it gets 20 MPG. But for some reason it is a Category 2 or Category 3 truck and I cannot trade in my truck for own of those. I don’t know what they category requirements are but seems kind of silly on the surface.

The second possibility is the 2009 Toyota Tacoma 4 wheel drive. It barely gets 2 MPG more than my current truck netting me $3500 in rebate. Is it really worth it for me to trade in my perfectly good working truck for a new one?

Kelly Blue Book says it’s worth about $3000 in trade in value. CARS is not saving me much on the trade in. A new Toyota pickup will be about $26,000 leaving me for about $23,000. That runs just under $400 a month depending on financing.

I just don’t think it’s worth it to trade in a perfectly good pickup that may or may not have problems in the immediate future for a $400 a month payment.

Europe will have the same model of a US car but it often has a different styling. The European version of these vehicles usually look much better. The European Ford Ranger is one such vehicles that looks better than it’s American counterpart. It has 4 doors and a “WildTrak” design package that looks a lot more like the Honda Ridgeline.

This would be the truck I would buy from Ford today, if it had an electric or hybrid power plant. Assuming it was cheaper than the Ridgeline.

Via jalopnik.

Ford has announced the 2010 Ford Ranger and it looks almost like the Ford Ranger I bought in 1997. Ford’s press release promotes safety including AdvanceTrac® with RSC® (Roll Stability Control) and side air bags. They also promotes the 21 to 26 MPG that the tiny 2.3 liter 4 cylinder engine gets.

I guess there’s some money to be saved by keeping with the same basic design of a vehicle for over a decade. The base price for a low end 2009 Ford Ranger is about $17,000. Compare that to a more innovative truck in about the same size range. The 2009 Honda Ridgeline runs about $28,000 on the low end. I’m not sure a low end Ranger and low end Ridgeline compare exactly however.

You might think that the Ranger might make a good platform for some innovation. Body styling aside, how about an electric or hybrid for Ranger? Oh wait, Ford did Make an electric Ford Ranger and killed them in 2002.

The only option is LionEV, which will offer an electric Ranger for $38,950. That’s almost the price of a hover conversion. LionEV also offers conversion kits for Rangers (electric, not hover) for about $10,000.

Picture from Flickr of Harrison Ford in the Indiana Jones 4 movie. It’s being filmed in Deming, New Mexico. From the picture page:

FIrst glimpse of Indy since 1989.

Photo shot on set by Stephen Spielberg. uploaded to flicr for use in a danish langauge blog post More info about the shot here: indianajones.com/community/news/news20070621.html

This weeks Photo Friday is “Futuristic“. This is a 1964 Chrysler Turbine car. In the 1960’s, a few hundred lucky people were given the privilege of beta testing this vehicle. From what I can tell, the turbine turned a driveshaft, so it wasn’t pushed along by a jet engine. Still I would drive one, I guess these cars were ahead of their time.

This picture was taken at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit when I visited there in September of 2006.

I could give a rats ass about “professional” wrestling, but if it involves Donald Trumps hair…

Trump and World Wrestling Entertainment owner Vince McMahon will pick a wrestler to represent them in the ring April 1 at Wrestlemania 23 at Detroit’s Ford Field, The Detroit News reported last week. If their pick is beaten in the “Battle of the Billionaires,” the loser will get his head shaved after the match, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.