They'll need something like this to stand up to the Big Three!

http://www.bumpernuts.com/

 

As a current F-150 owner and enthusiast, I have visited this site many times reading and learning about the 2004 F-150. As I have sifted through the posts and replies, I have been somewhat surprised by the emotion many of you share regarding your feelings about Ford trucks versus other truck manufacturers. I have been even more surprised by the responses I’ve read about the new Nissan Titan. This surprises me, because the entry of Nissan (or anyone else for that matter) into the full size truck market is good for you, the consumer.

As a consumer (who likes the 2004 Ford F-150 more than any other truck out there), I hope the Titan sells like hotcakes. I hope it gives everyone at Ford, from the engineers to the upper management heartburn. You should hope for this too.

As good as the F-150 is, it isn’t perfect. There is always room for improvement. Hopefully there are a few key features that Nissan offers that will entice buys away from Ford. Hopefully Nissan will sell the Titan for a few grand less than Ford. And hopefully Ford will respond by adding these features to the F-150, and selling them for a few grand less to you.

Now, for those of you who read this and are wondering why people keep coming to this site and bashing on the F-150, let me say this. As Ford enthusiasts yourselves, you know that the Titan will not put much of a dent in Ford sales (After all Nissan isn’t going to make very many Titans anyway). Ford will continue to prosper and offer a great Truck. But maybe in all of this Titan hype, down the line, you the unwavering Ford enthusiast may actually get an even better F-150 at an even better price….all due to the Nissan Titan.

So you see my friends you should embrace the Titan. When you see a Titan owner on the street, thank him for helping make your F-150 even better.

 

Well said lcchamp1.

 

I am sorry to question your obviously thoughtful post, but why on earth are you suprised people who drop 25 to over 40 grand on a truck wont have strong emotions about how our trucks are better (in our heads) then any other truck out there? Obviously many of us (of course can't speak for everyone) didn't fall off the turnip truck and did our research before shelling out a major amount of savings and (in some instances) taking on large amounts of debt to buy our trucks, so does that mean we can't have strong feelings about Fords?

Speaking for myself, I am very brand loyal, and also a realist who does a great amount of research, and I believe the 2004 F-150 is the greatest truck I have ever had the pleasure of sitting in. I know most of those on this board feel the same way.

And, generally directed at you holier-than-thou types, please (including you, vocabulariac) do not preach to me and believe you know more than me (or anyone else for that matter) about the subject matter being discussed. Please dont attempt to tell me why I should not like my truck, and why I should listen to you about any unsolicited crap you are throwing on the board.

I am really sorry that I have sunk to this level, as I have tried to avoid all this crap-throwing for awhile, because honestly, it doesnt deserve my attention. I really want to express my thanks to those on the board (you guys know who you are ) for helping answer some of my questions, but it is too bad we cant cut off some dead weight. Ahh, well, the beauty of the internet.

I am truly sorry for the rant, and I will not induldge in any crap-tossing again, but that is my humble opinion.

WOLF

 

great post WOLF---I feel the exact same way--people spend a whole lot of money on these and then nobody can figure out that you might be sensitive about them---

 

Wolfman,

Somewhere in your emotional rant you failed to see the main idea of my post, but thanks for the reply…however irrelevant it may have been. Now, I have a couple of questions for you……

If you are Brand Loyal, why are you doing market research? Are you trying to imply that if Studebaker suddenly made a better truck you would have bought that instead? Or are you just trying to let me know that you’re not as dumb as you sound? Let me get to my point.

You obviously spent a lot of money on your truck and you are quite sensitive about any mention of it, so I’ll try to phrase this so I don’t bruise your ego. If there was a way you could have bought your truck for less money than you did, would you be interested? (If not you’re probably parking your $40k pickup in front of your $40k house) If you are interested, the way that happens is through competition.

Now I know this may blow your mind, but Ford Motor Company’s main concern is to increase shareholder wealth…make money. Ford doesn’t care about you personally or emotionally…so pardon me if I think it is surprising that you cheer and praise Ford Motor Company like they are some type of football team. The price setter at Ford aren’t going to substantially lower their prices if they don’t have to…….. i.e. Ford has to start loosing some sales before they are going to start cutting prices. You may be brand loyal to Ford, but don’t start thinking that Ford is loyal to Wolfman.

The last $10k you paid for that truck was pure profit. Just look at how much the ’03 trucks are marked down from their original price…and believe Ford is still making money on them. Now if someone like Nissan, or Wolfman Motors comes along a starts making a dent in Ford sale, guess what, the price will go down.

Here is the best part… You don’t have to change a thing. You get to continue being an overly sensitive, brand loyal realist who does research for no reason because your buying a ford anyway..and you still get a lower price because of competirion.

 

The Titan is a nice vehicle. Ford should take advice from their commercials and "look again" at their competition.

 

lcchamp1, while I agree with most of the points you made in your first post, I must say you need to kick back man. you have some kind of nerve showing up here and on your second post on these forums talking all kinds of condescending ***** to a man because he loves his truck. i know you may have lurked here for a while and maybe read the boards all the time, but that type of demeaning rhetoric is just unecessary.

you're obviously an intelligent person and you know better than that. in general these boards tend to find a lot of respectful people who enjoy discussing our wonderful vehicles. this kind of bickering, from anybody, is just lame IMHO. let's (and i do mean all of us) try to show some respect to each other, even if we disagree. thanks.

 

Brand loyalty is a joke!!!
All it's got for me in the last 5 years is one F150 with a blown tranny and another with a blown plug!!
Both were bought new and had the problems with low mileage on them.
I guess I'm being a little sensitive about the money I've wasted(I mean spent).
So if all the new holier than thou 04 F150 owners can't handle a little criticism of their new toy well that's too bad!!
I've driven the new F150 and I'm gonna drive the Titan,and yes I think it's gonna be a good truck.
And yes I am on my 3rd F150 in 5 years,it may be my last!!

 

While everyone has their own experiences, is it really necessary to call someone who obviously likes their truck very much "holier than thou???"

Derogatory comments like that, and the other on this post, are what give enthusiasts with a brand preference a bad name.

BTW, I am by no means "brand loyal." I currently own 3 brands. That said, my 2 F150's have been fantastic. The first was sold after 116,000 troublefree miles. The current one has 58,000 troublefree miles. This is what causes people to have a "preference."

If you have had problems with all your F150's, why do you continue to buy them???? Or is it that the ownership experience has been greater than the sum of the problems???? If not, then you owe it to yourself to try something new. Unfortunately, you will probably find that they will all have their problems........... including the highly touted, but totally unproven Nissan (whose reliability figures rank right there with GM, and Ford).

 

Dont we have better things to do.....
I agree with the Brewmaster!!!

 

Ultimately this is a Ford F-150 enthusiast site and not a Nissan enthusiast site, or any other truck for that matter. Yes...most of us are brand loyal to our Ford Trucks. We are also smart consumers and tend to do research on the vehicles we purchase. I am sure that if we felt GM was a better truck we would buy it...the long and short of we dont... Again...this is a Ford site and we reserve the right compare and in some cases bash against other brands. If you visit the Dodge Ram site or the GM twin trucks site you will find that they bash Ford trucks as well. One thing we all have in common is we bash the Nissan Truck...and I am sure when the someone starts up a Nissan Titan enthusiast site, they will bash Ford trucks. It is called human nature...and is our way of justifying why we spent between 30k and 40k on our trucks.

This rule applies to everything. That is why college football teams have rivalries, becuase they think their team is the better team. They brag about their team and show spirit by wearing their team colors and bashing their opponents.

So...are you an appeaser or an individualist. I think most people on this site are individuals and believe the possesions (truck) they have are better than the competition....They have the freedom to purchase what they want and they did just that...

 

lcchamp1:

First, let me remind all that there is a difference between educated or well written and intelligent. Articulate sure, but intelligent, I didn't see it. Shallow maybe, especially when I read how you don’t understand another’s emotional attachment to a product. The truck in this case.

The high school version would read like this:

Many here just cannot drop 30-40k on a truck therefore it must be something planned and then achieved. Yes achieved.

Beyond that let me add that this truck purchase might also represent a kind of writ. As most children grow they learn from those who influence them. (i.e. father, mother, grandparent) Perhaps in these cases the purchase is more like a passage unto the footsteps of someone they idolized or hold great respect for. Kind of a “I want to be like them.”

Further and yet more complicating we can add the age and maturity factor to this. I fear though that you are not ready for this as it needs imagination and you seem to be limited to your own perspective as the only reality for us all.

Lastly I will break in down like this. Don't be proud and (certainly) don't be smug as anyone who knows even very little about supply and demand in a free market could state the same as you did earlier. Better yet, in future posts try not to feel better about you by putting others aside. If you wish to compare brainpans or life accomplishment with someone then look somewhere else. Try too to remember that all here are FORD enthusiast who have spent time, energy, emotion and yes money on a vehicle that makes them feel good. Why would anyone (look in mirror now) want to come this "house" and demean them? As I see it, you owe an apology or two. Do not be smug and do not take yourself that serious. Be nice

 

Believe me, I am not a Titan enthusiast. I haven’t even sat in one, and I don’t plan to any time soon. My point is that the entry of the Titan can potentially be beneficial to F-150 consumers in more ways than one. I can understand people loving their trucks, but I guess I will never understand loyalty to any particular auto manufacturer unless you are a shareholder to that company. When Ford sells more F-150’s than anyone else, do you the F-150 consumer, benefit more than if Ford sold the fewest trucks of anyone? Probably not, and the argument can be made that the more trucks Ford sells the less they need to discount their truck prices, with can cost us all more $$. I happen to like this site because I am a previous and current generation F-150 enthusiast. But I personally wouldn’t mind seeing for Ford face a little competition and maybe get in a little price war with Nissan, GM, or whoever, because it will save me and you money. And who here can say they would mind saving afew extra coins on their next vehicle purchase.

 

I for one bought my first F-150, 3 weeks ago, after owning 3 Dodge Rams. I bought Dodges because I thought they looked good and the price was always 2-3000 less than the Ford. I never had any of the known problems with any of my Rams. Now I know why the Fords were higher priced, there better trucks! I'm a Ford guy, a Mustang guy, but always owned Dodge trucks because of price. Now I know why the F150 is the top sold truck for the last 16 or so years. After driving it for 1500 miles I'm VERY happy. Yes, theres things that could be better or differant but all in all it's a BAD A$$ truck.
Get picky in any car or truck and you'll find something. All brands makes good stuff and all make garbage.