Ford Introduces Three New Light-Duty Engines for 2011 F-150 Pickup Trucks

[Fordzilla80]

There is arguements both ways....the vehicles are becoming more reliable with ample warnings if something is amiss.
100,000 miles at 35 mpg at $3.50 a gallon...$10000
100,000 miles at 20 mpg at $3.50 a gallon...$17500
$7500 difference in fuel alone.
Edit....what Ben said is also what I was referring to.
It is the way vehicles are going....I don't like it much either...hell, I look under the hood of the MKT and just cringe about something happening.

Thanks for the numbers. But are those realistic? Most consumers don't necessarily take care of their vehicles, so gas mileage suffers a little bit in that aspect. That knocks some savings off right there. And then if the car isn't properly maintained, you're gonna run into problems.

Also, some of the warning lights will go on, but not be 100% accurate. So, say the CEL goes on because of a bad connection. Owner can't figure it out, so he ignores it. Well, then something a little more serious happens, but the CEL won't be tripped because it's already on. So the owner keeps driving the vehicle without knowing of the new problems, until it eventually breaks down. So warning lights don't make much of a difference except to those smart enough and rich enough to pay attention to them.

 

[LEB Ben]

^^^Hypotheticals are dangerous. I'd say you more or less have to worry more about engineering flaws than you do quality flaws. IE the TI flaw, or the toyota flaws. Quality testing is insane...dumba$$ testing, not so much.

 

[Fordzilla80]

^^^Hypotheticals are dangerous. I'd say you more or less have to worry more about engineering flaws than you do quality flaws. IE the TI flaw, or the toyota flaws. Quality testing is insane...dumba$$ testing, not so much.

It seems that engineering flaws are a little too common these days. I don't know how bad they were back in the day since I wasn't around, but you'd think there would be minimal engineering flaws by now. Maybe it's just human nature to screw things up.

 

[DNFXDLI]

Thanks for the numbers. But are those realistic? Most consumers don't necessarily take care of their vehicles, so gas mileage suffers a little bit in that aspect. That knocks some savings off right there. And then if the car isn't properly maintained, you're gonna run into problems.

Also, some of the warning lights will go on, but not be 100% accurate. So, say the CEL goes on because of a bad connection. Owner can't figure it out, so he ignores it. Well, then something a little more serious happens, but the CEL won't be tripped because it's already on. So the owner keeps driving the vehicle without knowing of the new problems, until it eventually breaks down. So warning lights don't make much of a difference except to those smart enough and rich enough to pay attention to them.

Ok....so you have bought a vehicle for XXXXX....you are then telling me that that same person cannot afford to take that vehicle into the dealership to have a code read?
If consumers don't take care of their vehicle or other things, then they should shut the hell up and don't whine....I'm not just referring to vehicles here...take a furnace filter....someone doesn't change it...winds up taking the furnace out...XXXXX to fix.
I could list examples all day..I'm not trying to argue with you, as I said..there are pro and cons....but the bottom line is this is the way our entire way of living is going.

 

[Fordzilla80]

Ok....so you have bought a vehicle for XXXXX....you are then telling me that that same person cannot afford to take that vehicle into the dealership to have a code read?
If consumers don't take care of their vehicle or other things, then they should shut the hell up and don't whine....I'm not just referring to vehicles here...take a furnace filter....someone doesn't change it...winds up taking the furnace out...XXXXX to fix.
I could list examples all day..I'm not trying to argue with you, as I said..there are pro and cons....but the bottom line is this is the way our entire way of living is going.

When I say owners can't afford, I mean it in the long run. Could be the 3rd or 4th owner that can't afford to have the light checked.

I agree completely though. If you want something to last, take care of it.


Anyways, this is going to a higher level of thinking than it should, so back to the three plastic covered 2011 F-Series engine lineup.

 

[DNFXDLI]

When I say owners can't afford, I mean it in the long run. Could be the 3rd or 4th owner that can't afford to have the light checked.

I agree completely though. If you want something to last, take care of it.


Anyways, this is going to a higher level of thinking than it should, so back to the three plastic covered 2011 F-Series engine lineup.

I like plastic

 

[Fordzilla80]

I like plastic

I bet you do...

 

[DNFXDLI]

I bet you do...

 

[fatherdoug]

Another residual effect of the higher price new car is to drive up the prices of good used cars because of higher demand because people can't afford new cars. Looks like we're screwed either way. The used cars haven't held there resale value, so much as demand for them has brought the price up.

When we looked at new vehicles in 2006, the price of a new vehicle was $30,000. The dealer had the exact same model that was a year old with 30,000 miles and he wanted $3K less than the price of a new one.