lengnert

I am a fan of the whole DRL's turning into chrome accents deal..... I am not a huge fan of how Hyundai applied it here, but to each his own.  The interior is nicely done. 

My friend has a '17 and it isn't that bad, really. 

I am sure they will sell well for Hyundai.

I salute the return of the names, as well.  It has coincided with a continued resurgence of improvement in the vehicles they are producing, which is even more exciting.

I did not agree with the notion that the alpha-numeric names would somehow dilute the brand name.  Everyone knew that a Town Car/Continental were Lincoln's along with every other model that they produced.   Even the idea of using "MK" was a nod to the Mark Series Lincolns.  I would have been more inclined to back using the Mark name designation with a letter to follow than just the "MK" (fill in the blank with another letter) strategy they decided upon.

But ultimately, Nautilus - Corsair - Continental (hopefully it somehow continues) - Navigator, provides a much better connection for a Lincoln customer than what they had.

Now, produce the MKR and call it the Mark IV and I will be a happy man!!!!  

**** Lincoln, bring back that car and you may singlehandedly resurrect the personal luxury coupe market ****
(he typed wistfully)   😍

As some may know, I am definitely a "Ford Man".  

But, as it is right at the moment, I am working in sales at an FCA dealer.  I have for the past year.  I had no qualms doing so because I grew up in Mopar house as much as a Ford house as a lad.

So, on the new Heavy Duties from Ram.  I believe they will be as big a hit as the 1500 was last year.  It took me a while to warm up to the new '19 1500, but I didn't have that with the '20 HD.  It is definitely a dynamite looking truck.

It doesn't appear to climbing up too high in MSRP and capability should be at least as good as the outgoing model across the line.

All in all, I am happy to be where I am at right now.

You and your wife should be complimented for your obviously exemplary parenting skills. Well done.

On ‎2‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 7:04 PM, Drew Dowdell said:

Subarus are a "safe" choice for people who don't care about cars. They're a Japanese Volvo. 

I have to say, though, that I am really digging the Volvo designs of the last 10 years or so!

I respect Subaru's for what they are; that being reliable, capable and so on.

They just aren't my 'cup of tea'. 

The styling of this new Legacy solidifies that opinion.

I will concur with dfelt here. 

Selling the new Ram 1500, my biggest gripe with the current 2019 tailgate design is the fact that in the interest of trying to "improve" the design, they have overcomplicated matters.  In some regards, this has made it a worse design for truck owners that want to really use the tailgate for more than opening/closing etc.

When we do spray in bed liners, my body shop manager complains every time about how difficult it is to remove the tailgates, as well.

I can't imagine this new "improvement", much less GM's design is any better and certainly durability is in question.

Man, you really have to appreciate how competition improves the breed(s)!

I would still opt for the rock solid reliability of the Cummins, but the 7.3 gasser in the Ford Super Duty would (if it is all that it should be) would make me choose the 7.3 over the Ram 6.4!

After shuttering my business after a decade winning some and losing too much.... I am working in sales in CDJR dealership.

I can say unequivocally that the new 1500 is a well done truck, and the Big Horn/Longhorn model is my favorite (nicely priced and optioned without having to pay Laramie money).

Most of my customers that have purchased the Big Horns have been my most enthusiastic about the truck, as well.

The only real complaint I have with the truck is the new tailgate.  In trying to improve on the design they made it worse (in the way that I think German engineering fails at times... by over complication).

I'm not saying it's cheap either.

But, for someone that needs a vehicle for the short term and wants as little hassle.... it may make sense?

It is certainly a lot cheaper than renting a car from Hertz etc for more than a few days.

23 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

$365 a month for a used 2015 Fiesta? Are they insane?

If I'm not mistaken, I think that includes insurance and some maintenance, though. At least I think I read that in this or another article.

Not a bad way to get butts into the showroom.

I remember when F/M/L had a deal (I believe it was called the Red Carpet Lease) where if you leased 3 or 4 vehicles in a row the last payment on the last vehicle you took ownership. Of course, they discontinued it when they realized it wasn't profitable, but it was definitely interesting to me at the time.

I think this program could definitely make the brand more desirable to people that get the chance to experience the vehicles more.

6 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

People aboard the International space station also discuss them...what is your point?

In all reality the Lincoln probably is bolted together to stay together longer than a lot of European and Asian cars. Still something about Ford reliability I don't like, but were I to own  a luxury car out of warranty...it would probably be Lincoln or Cadillac.

 

They did it with 1950's/1960's era technology, and 50 plus years later a bunch of those cars are still on the road with doors that work fine. I remember finding suicide door Lincolns in Junkyards in the 1980's that had been in horrific accidents...doors still operated perfectly.

See, this is why you are da' man!

I know you don't have a personal affinity for Ford and Lincoln, but you are certainly the most even minded when it comes to talking about a brand that you don't favor. 

Kudos, AHWNN.

12 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

They COULD do it properly!

Question is...are they GONNA?

The Continentla did not keep the showcar quality dazzling details.

There are a plenty.

The stance.  Longer wheelbase. I think the Edge is on the same platform, right? And I think the Edge might have a longer wheelbase, right? So what gives?

The pristine and tight tolerances and the luxury car details. Concept down below.  Look at the hood. THAT hood and front area SCREAMS luxury. Tight tolerance. The hood closure is sealed shut and is one with the whole top front end. The bottom chrome trim. The back wheel arches have a certain presence with that bulge.  Muscular.

Just impeccable luxurious details.

 

What we got.

 

 

And front end hood and area that is the same as in a Ford Fusion.

No cleaned up chrome trim on the bottom. (That chrome trim was a helluva nice touch in my opinion.) No bulge at the rear wheel wells.

The actual production car just seems like a very ordinary ride. The production car we got should have been the MKZ...

 

Which low and behold...is what the MKZ actually is...(at least in the Continental and on the Fusion the hood area is more smoother...)

Had the Continental we got be exactly like the concept, Lincoln would have had a hit on their hands...instead, it was just a more expensive MKZ (for nothing) which in turn is a more expensive Ford Fusion...

Not good! (For the Continental and the Continental name plate...)

So...on this platform,  

Do you really think suicide doors will actually improve the image of the Lincoln brand and the Continental name?

If I was a bettin' man?

What if I told you I wasnt gonna bet on FoMoCo either? 

I know that I said FoMoCo was NOT shyte...

But they dropped the ball on the Fusion quality, they dropped the ball on the Continental. 

Trucks. Yeah. They sell a ton of those. Always have.  The Navigator does NOT disappoint!

The Continental however, does! 

The Navigator is all about the little details. 

The Continental, not so much! 

To be sure, it would have been even more outstanding if Lincoln would have kept some of the elements you suggested.

However, I was not disappointed in the least with my actual (if admittedly brief) direct experience with the car itself. 

I honestly wish I was in the financial position right now (like I was years ago when I owned a late 80's Signature Series Continental) because it would only be a quick decision between the Lincoln and the Volvo (which would probably fall to the Lincoln because of my personal history).  And if they continue to improve the car (and I get my poop together) it will be in my driveway in the next couple of years.

And I get that the Fusion is not without some quality issues. But they continue to improve that, and hopefully the new platform they are moving to will be even better for all the models they build off of it.

I miss very much my first generation Milan. That was a great looking and completely reliable car. ('05 Premier)

3 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

If you were placing bets on who is more likely to get it right, would you bet on the 100+ year old company who has built suicide doors before or would you bet on the 15 year old company which still is using humans to manually drive the robots on their production line because they can't get them programmed correctly?

THAT is all I'm sayin..

But that speaks volumes, Drew.

I know a pickup is a different animal, but Ford has been offering suicide doors on the Supercab pickups for decades. 

What the hell, besides a negative bias against Ford, would make anyone think they can't do it right on a luxury sedan?

It isn't like it makes it a guarantee that Lincoln might not be able to do it, but good gracious the evidence is in their favor.

19 minutes ago, 2QuickZ's said:

Overall I think this is a VERY nice looking SUV and that is coming from a car guy.  Exterior and interior are pretty much right on the mark with one small exception:  the seats.  I don't know what it is about them but I just don't like the design.  Everything else about the vehicle looks elegant and classy but the seats just look..... too busy?   I'm not a fan of the split thigh cushion and split side bolsters in the front and overall they just don't match with the style of the rest of the vehicle, at least to me.  Hopefully those will get sorted out before production and these are just for the concept car.

Just for full disclosure, those are optional seats. At least I assume they will be, as they are in the Navigator.

I like the styling.

The interior is a very clean design, which is great.  Tone down the extreme glossy shine of some of the interior bits and Caddy would have something.  It is probably the primary thing about Caddy these days which spoil their interiors the most.

With the Navigator proving itself (at least initially) to be a true world class large SUV, I hope for the same for the smaller Aviator.

It does look promising, to say the least and having it be a hybrid (although still not high on my personal taste) should open some sales doors.

I will not begin to make predictions on the Continental. 

What I do know is that I did spend some time in one this past week (although I didn't get to drive, I rode as a passenger for a couple of miles on a test drive).  After last week, I decided I needed to go back to the dealership I used to work at (Coccia Ford/Lincoln), and see it first hand..... Finally. 

It is a really good luxury sedan.... really good. 

They are not moving off the lot very fast, but they are selling at that dealership at mostly the highest profitable trim levels (more Black Label than they anticipated).

I don't know if suicide doors some will move more of the lots, but it is an intriguing idea.

I owned an '88 Bonnie SE in the early '90's but I wanted the SSE instead. Circumstances (and an unbelievable deal on the SE) being what they were, the SE was a good car, so I voted for the Pontiac.

3 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

They're thinking of canceling it without replacement.  The updates are certainly not going to be enough to topple the Accord or Camry..... but maybe that's the point. Ford knows they will never topple the two kings of the segment, so they only invest minimally in the car and stay satisfied with 3rd place. 

I was selling Fords when the original Fusion came out. Ford invested a lot to bring something out that would challenge the Camry and Accord for mid-size sedan sales supremacy.

I thought they really did a great job an subsequently has kept the product competitive. But, with the effort they have just maintained a 3rd (albeit a solid 3rd) place. It has mattered not that the Fusion had been better than the Camry in most every respect and the measure of the Accord as well.

I bought a Milan in that first year and still think that car (when I see one similar) looks as good as most of the new mids.

But, if they cancel the Fusion I will be sad to see it go. However, I will understand why.

1 minute ago, Drew Dowdell said:

No, in 2013 it was really good.  Probably the best handling of the segment aside from the Mazda 6 which it shared a platform with and the Regal which was priced way higher.  

But that really isn't the point.  You point out that if Ford can't make money on it building it in Mexico they should fail... but it's worse than that.  They can't make money on it while also being the 3rd best selling vehicle in the segment.

So they're using cheap labor and selling enough of them to beat GM, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, and VW.... but they can't make a profit on them.  That indicates a deeper issue in Ford's accounting department. 

Hard to say if the Fusion is profitable. It just may be a matter of it being profitable enough. Or, that if it may be stealing sales from other platform mates (the CUV's) that are more profitable?

11 minutes ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

The key to owning something like the Continental is a lease...I wouldn't buy one.  Drive it 3 years then move on.  Maybe a CPO w/ extended warranty. I wouldn't want to have any modern electronics-heavy vehicle out of warranty and aging.

I agree. 

This opinion, for me, would apply to most any new vehicle purchase.