I have never had a high opinion of American automobile manufactures.
All through my childhood I remember the frustration my father had with his cars, Buicks during the younger years, and Cadillacs later on and right up to this day. Granted, those were General Motors vehicles, but our neighbors had Fords, Lincolns, Dodges, and they were all crap. The cars others I knew had that never had problems were Toyotas, Mercedes, and Datsuns.
My first car was a 66 Mustang (don’t start, no I don’t still have it) which was a POS. Next came a Toyota Corolla (great car...changed the oil every 3000 miles and that was all I ever had to do…it was bulletproof) then an Isuzu, then a new 1990 Ford Thunderbird, then a Lexus LS400 and then…. the L
The Lexus was hands down the most amazing vehicle I have ever owned, and it should be for the amount of money it costs. The T-Bird was a very nice car, but the interior was cheep plastic and the build quality was so-so. As I said, the Lexus was amazing, but, it’s not necessairly worth the cost of buying and especially the cost of upkeep. When you get right down to it it’s just a car. The L however, while keeping up Fords tradition of cheep cheesy plastic interiors, is a heck of a vehicle. It’s powerful, handles well, sounds great, looks awesome, and is just a ton of fun to drive…and most important for me, it’s got tons of room inside. I’m tall and this is the first time I have ever been able to sit up straight and not have my head touch the ceiling. I’m not a truck fan but this truck is something special. FORD did a great job with this and I am quite happy with it.
If you build it…they will come…regardless if they are Ford loyal or not.

k

[This message has been edited by kobiashi (edited 08-17-2000).]

 

I'm not loyal ford guy, but a loyal AMERICAN vehicle guy. I'm proud to say that I've never owned a foreign car! Not to say they are all bad, they're just not for me. My current vehicles: 2000 Lightning (black). 2000 freightliner FL60 rollback (black) 1973 Cutlass Supreme 455/4spd 450 HP (black). 1989 Ford F450 Wrecker (black) 1995 Olds Aurora (white) 1991 Chev S-10 305 TPI project truck (grey). I guess You could say that I like Black paint! Plus a steady flow of junkers & beaters coming & going all the time. I Never was crazy about Ford cars much, Except My first few (big blocks). I strongly believe Ford has better trucks though, and the lightning takes the cake! Lloyd

 

Im 17 so I have not owned many cars yet, but my father has allways own a Ford or a GM car or truck and 2 ferrari's and some porsches and he has been in many races and know alot about cars so I trust his opinion on cars. One thing that I would have to say is that Ford builds a better truck and I drive one now and love it. Every where I go people say "Hey nice truck dude!" and well it sure is. I plan on getting a 01' L and after that I will always own a Ford or a GM(if I get lucky a ferrari or two). There are two types of cars that I will NEVER buy, one a dodge truck and second a jap car or truck. Both are in my opinion just crap. Why SOME jap cars run so long is because they have to power to break anything. Just look at the rice burners that are pieces of ****. I have two friends that have trucks at or near 300,000 miles on stock engine and tranny one is a Ford and the other a Chevy. Some guy on the net havs a Ford truck with an in line 6 that has like 750,000 miles on it, I dont know if it is true or anything. Just some facts for all you. Oh and the Mustang is my faverite american car, but I hate V6 mustangs, whats is the point? Don't answer that.

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92'4X4 Flareside F-150,33" tires, 4" procomp lift, flows, K&N filter, etc.

 

Just curious, Duck, which is more American, a Focus built in Mexico, or a Civic built in Ohio? I'm not being sarcastic, this is a serious question. My wife may want to replace her 8 year old Civic even though it has never missed a beat and still runs flawlessly. Even though our '92 Civics were the best built, most reliable and economical cars we had ever owned I would prefer not to buy Japanese (or German, for that matter). I was very interested in a Focus ZX3 for her, especially since CU gives it the best rating of any small car, ever, but then I found out its built in Mexico. What the hell is a buyer who wants to buy American but wants reliability, build quality, and economy to do?
In answer to the posted question, I have no brand or national loyalty whatsoever, only prejudices. What kind of loyalty have the manufacturers ever shown me? I had an '80 Mustang which was a total POS, but that didn't stop me from buying a Lightning. All the Chrysler products I owned were POS, and so were most of the GMs, except for a '67 Corvair, which was wonderful. I had Nissan, Toyota, and VW p/u's, and they were all POS. So far the L. has been reasonably good except for the abominable gas milage and the front end clunk, but I have yet to run into the dreaded piston slap or intercooler leak. I might be in the market for an economical daily driver myself, and if Suzuki decides to build the EV-Sport I might have to give up my prejudice against Japanese.



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I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

'84 Alan Record Carbonio, Aerospoke wheels, Campy brakes.
'00 SVT Lightning, silver, G-tech Pro, JBA headers, cam bolts, 4.10 gears
(soon, Swanson's chip and MAF, Cal-tracs)
2001 Kevlacat 2400, twin 115 Evinrude FICHT, Raytheon VHF, Radar, and Sounder/DGPS chartplotter

gmvye@pacbell.net

 

And least we forget that our L's are built in Canada.

 

I am a FORD GIRL from the heart. I was raised on it. I was taught to drive in it. I got my first ticket in it. I lost my ....nevermind. HAHA JK Anyway, I owned a Dodge Ram 1996. Not only did that truck try to kill me but my daddy and my grand daddy would not allow it in front of their homes...I even have a FORD tattoo. Some of you have seen it, some of you will always have to wonder hehe
CA

 

Alphadoggie..I look at where the profits of the sale of a vehicle goes. By purchasing a vehicle from an American manufacturer, whether it is assembled in the USA or not, the profits still come back to the USA. That seems to be a GOOD thing to me. Sure, many of the riceburners are assembled in the US, but ultimately the profits get funnelled back to Japan. That seems to be a BAD thing to me.
This is my reasoning that I use when questioned about the assembly issues. I always will buy from an American mfr when I have a choice.
Current vehicles... '00 Vette, '99 Lightning, '67 Fairlane.

 

When I was younger I owned a few different makes. The GM product was garbage. The RX7 was expensive garbage. Then there were the Fords. They were tough, and gave few problems. When I bought my first Mustang, an 84.5 GT350 4cyl Turbo, I was hooked.

My last Mustang was the 91 GT that I built myself. Bought the car brand new. Added 3.55 gears, shifter, GT40 intake and heads, 1.72 roller rockers, 1.5" equal length shorty headers, Hi-flow H-pipe with cats, cat-back exhaust, subframe connectors, caster/camber plates, G-load brace, Tokiko Illumina shocks and struts, Baer claw brakes, piggy-back rear sway bar, Flofit seats, and lots of stereo. This car was my daily driver.

Next up was my 93 EB Explorer. This truck has slowly been turned into a premium rockcrawler that would still work great as a daily driver. Even with the factory IFS front suspension, this 4-door will pull 1000 on the ramp.

Then there is my love...... my 94 Lightning. Red and beautiful, this truck is my daily driver. 110,000 miles and going strong. The reliability has been amazing, and the flexibility is also. Towed the Explorer (5500 lbs) on a 2000 lb car trailer from AZ to here last year. This is 520 miles of hills. Barely knew the trailer was back there. Even the cruise control still worked great. To say I love my truck is an understatement. Even though I know that something has to start going wrong in the near future, I will never get rid of this truck.

What do I want next you ask? Well, I would love to have a Contour SVT, for the fun, practical ride that gets good gas mileage. Next would be a new Lightning...... you gotta love them. After that I will need a convertable...... can you say Cobra?

Even though I didn't start there, I am now a Ford lover through and through. I do all my own work on my vehicles, and find them to be inexpensive to own, and easy to work on. My Mustang had 105,000 miles on her when I had to sell her (divorces are tough), and never gave me one bit of trouble. The Explorer (the Beast), has 86,000 trouble free miles, with some of the hardest 4wheeling available in this country under belt. Then there is my Lightning....... need I say more?

Sorry so long.


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Gloria
94 Lightning, daily driver
93 EB Explorer, 1000 RTI

 

My Dad owns a Ford Dealership so as you can imagine I drove Fords until I was old enough to afford to buy something different. Buying at cost and getting repairs for cost made me a Ford man for a looong time. I've probably owned 30 different Ford cars, half of them ran great, the other half were just plain shoddy. I've owned probably 5 different Ford trucks including my L. I've never had one *single* problem with any of the Ford trucks that I've owned except a couple of them seemed to have crappy brakes. It is almost like two different companies are making these vehicles!

 

"Gulp" I'm a Chevy guy with a collection of Camaro's. Had a 99 Z71 Silverado with a Whipplecharger. Truck was a Rattletrap. Bought a 2000 Lightning, having a Ball. Beat my friends SS454 Pickup 4 times in a row in a drag race. The catch was that I was pulling a 20' enclosed trailer while doing it. He is now thinking about getting a Lightning. Also have 2 32 Fords though, but Chevy powered.

 

started out as a GM guy but switched over to FORD in the early 80's and have been happy since. I have owned mostly ford trucks and mustangs. I had a 95 lightning for 2 years and loved that truck. no problems. currently own a 95r model cobra and sold a 93 r model cobra to buy my 2000 L. both r models were great but the 95 is awesome.I guess you can tell that I like 351's and big blocks.(I've owned five BB's all early GM vehicles). love my 00 lightning.95rcobra

 

So Gearhead, you are saying that you are more concerned about dividends to the stockholders and bonuses to the execs than wages to the poor slobs on the assembly line? That is certainly a legitimate position, although one that I don't necessarily agree with. Other things being equal I will always buy American, but, of course, things are never equal. For example, I was looking at deck lights for my new boat (made in America by Australian owned company) yesterday and I can buy Jabsco lights made in this country for $45, or another brand, which appears to be of equal or better quality but made in Taiwan, for $30, a 50% difference. Multiply by 5 and I pay a $80 penalty for buying American. What should I do? As far as cars go I think I will continue to buy the best product for the lowest price. Bring on that Suzuki.

 

With a my middle name as Ford, how could I be anything but a Ford guy! I've owned a 80 pinto, and it was a good little car to me. Then I plead temp. insanity (or Temp. nessessity) I got a 84 Toyota Celica (rattle trap). Then I had a 86 Escort EXP. Switched to a 94 Escort sedan, and traded that in for my first new car, a 98 contour SVT. This all started my SVT addiction. That car was a great car. It handled like better than my friends A4 (same year). But I was yearning for the v8 power. I was going to get a 00 SVT cobra, since they came out in the fastest color, Silver! I went down to the dealer to get some info when I found out there was going to be some delay's, and there it was. A Silver Lightning! It won me at hello. (Vrrmm in truck language.) I will never own a chevy, dodge, or any other car or truck. I am a fan of ford products through and through. The only bending of the rule, is that I would buy a Ford owned product line (ie Jaguar or Aston Martin, i wish :-). After all this,

I am not only a Ford fan, but a fan of Ford SVT!

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00' Ford SVT-150 Lightning
Silver Metallic

 

Picked up the fist Lightning in June of
'93, one good Lightning deserves another..
so we picked up the second one in Oct.
of '99. I cut my teeth on a '62 Galaxy
2 door sedan 406... With all the go fast
goodies. That's the car that turned me
into the blue oval man I am today.
We are looking for California Lightning
owners. We have spotted a black one and a
white one, and have heard rumors of another
red one. We live in Apple Valley and are
definately interested in getting together
with other local So. Calif. Lightning
owners. I know your'e out there.
My e-mail riptnm@aol.com

 

The L. is my third Ford product out of 9 vehicles owned. The first two Ford's weren't very impressive in terms of quality or durability, but when Chevy decided not to build the Silverado SS there was nothing to compete with the L, so here I am. Ask me if I'm a Ford fan in about 6 more years.