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Lincoln, NE Car Consumer Discussions

Re: STI - final thoughts [Mr_Shiftright]

by graphicguy on Tue Nov 18 09:05:55 PST 2008

Richard....I'm with Shifty for the most part. Get the "best of" from all 3. Looking at Chryco, I think the Jeep brand would be worth saving, but I can't see a financial way to make a case for the Patriot. Dodge....well, you've got the newly redesigned (and generally liked) RAM trucks. You've already got Jeep, so what's the need for the Durango? Nothing. Challenger, perhaps....but if you've already got the Mustang and Camaro, it's really redundant...this should be the last iteration of it. I don't think Viper sells in enough volume to justify the engineering effort to keep it. Little of its technology "trickles down" either. 300 needs a serious update. If you're sharing floor space with a Cadillac, does it really fit? Maybe to slot as a replacement for the DTS. Then, you've got the minivans. GM/Ford desperately needs an entry there, but is there a reason to have essentially identical ones with Chrysler and Doge badges? Ford....you've got the ubiquitous Mustang....which historically has outsold the Camaro. That rivalry is steeped in history and can be exploited. From all intents and purposes, I've read that the current "Taurus" is a better car than the Impala. Impala goes away. Fusion is slotted where the G6 is currently. Slot it just below the Malibu. F-150 stays, as does the Escape (replacing Trail Blazer). Explorer has a lot of brand equity. Probably enough volume there to support it while dumping any Buick/GMC mid-SUV. Expedition is cut Mercury goes away. As does Lincoln. Focus replaces Cobalt. Ka (import) replaces Aveo. GM....buh-bye to Pontiac/Buick/GMC. G8 becomes the Chevy Caprice. Corvette, the icon, stays. Tahoe replaces Expedition. Escalade replaces Navigator. Silverado sells beside F-150. Impala gone. Traverse, VUE, etc replaced by Chryco minivans. Saturn becomes the the seller for the Sky, and European Vauxhall imports. Saab goes. I think that's all....the lineup, all of them sold under one roof, would look like this...by market.... Low end... -Ford Ka and Focus Midrange sedans... -Fusion -Malibu -Taurus -Caprice (G8) Minivan.... -Chryco Town and Country Light truck -Chevy Silverado Upscale/midrange Truck -F-150 Heavy Duty Truck -Dodge RAM Small SUV -HHR -Escape SUVs -Ford Explorer -Jeep GC Large SUVs -Tahoe -Escalade (upscale) 4WD only -Jeep Sports... -Corvette -Ford Mustang -Chevy Camaro mid-sports -CHEVY Sky Luxury... -CTS (including the "V" series) -Chryco 300 (replacing the STS, Buick Lucerne/LaCrosse -XLR (revamped on new Corvette Z06 chassis) Specialty (all under the Saturn banner) -Vauxal imports -Volt -Cruze I really like the idea of the United States Motor Car Company (USMCC for short). I also like the idea of any upper management prerequisite to having worked in the plants, on the line, before a promotion is given.

Linclon LS Help

by creoleboi05 on Tue Nov 18 08:53:39 PST 2008

I have a 2000 Lincoln LS. My lower control arm for the rear driver side needs replacing. Where can I go to get the best deal on this part and possibly placement? i live in Atlanta.

Let's inject...

by grbeck on Tue Nov 18 07:46:01 PST 2008

...some facts into the discussion, please. Not ALL of the Big Three are going to collapse simultaneously. These companies are in very different situations, even though the lazy media prefers to lump them together. Ford has the money to make a go of it until it brings new product - Fiesta, all-new Focus, restyled Taurus - to market within the next 18 or so months. The company has reduced production capacity to bring it in line with demand, and sold Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston-Martin, all of where were cash drains and distracting management from focusing on the core brands - Ford and Lincoln. Quality is on the upswing, too. General Motors is in dire condition. But a restructured GM is still a viable enterprise. Only problem is that a restructured GM would be a much smaller company, sized to serve about 15-18 percent of the market. The best solution would cause the buy-American crowd and Lou Dobbs to have a stroke. But if the government really wants to save GM, it should turn it over to a foreign company - preferably Toyota - and give said company carte blanche to make the changes necessary to right the ship. GM's current management has a mixed record at best. The quality is still uneven; the brands are still a mess, with too much badge engineering and overlap; it changes nameplates too often; and there isn't anything on the horizon that will really increase market share. The Volt is not going to be a money-maker, and the Cruze doesn't look any more exciting than the Cobalt. The Camaro is sharp, but one retro-styled pony car isn't going to save GM. The brutal truth is that Toyota has done a much better job of meeting the needs and desires of American consumers (check the sales figures and market share trends); its quality is still, as whole, superior to GM's quality; its marketing is far superior; and its brands have essentially displaced comparable GM brands in the hearts and minds of customers. Toyota is the new Chevrolet, while Lexus has far more prestige than Cadillac among the younger, more affluent customers who will matter in the coming years. With a restructured GM, Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer and Saab would go away. Buick and GMC would be combined into one division - call it LaSalle - and share platforms with Chevrolet at the lower end (although no economy Buicks, or LaSalles, please) and Cadillac at the near-luxury end. Chevrolet and Cadillac would be GM's big guns. The Jobs Bank would go away, and UAW members would accept work rules the same as those at the transplant operations. If the government is going to inject any money into GM, use it to fund the UAW VEBA. Most of upper management needs to go, too. Keep Bob Lutz for continuity. If GM needs anything, it is culture change. The world no longer revolves around GM, but I get the impression that GM management and the UAW haven't quite figured this out yet. Second, "good enough" isn't good enough anymore. But the last thing we, the taxpayers, need is for GM to receive aid that only postpones the inevitable, necessary restructuring. If we give GM money now - the way GM and the UAW want us to do it - prepare GM to beg for another cash infusion in about 6-12 months. As for Chrysler - it's toast. Cerberus has suspended new vehicle development, leaving the company basically dead. At this point, the best thing that could happen is that foreign companies buy up the remaining valuable parts of Chrysler - Jeep, the minivans, the Dodge Ram and maybe the LX cars. The rest is worthless. And the collapse of one of these companies will not bring about the next Great Depression. If Chrysler collapses, for example, Ford will pick up the slack, especially in rural areas. There will still be a vibrant domestic automobile industry. People seem to miss that Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai are expanding their presence here, building vehicles that were designed HERE with American tastes in mind. Their footprint in American will only increase. And the collapse of one of the Big Three will have very little effect on areas outside of their operations. There won't be marauding bands of unemployed auto workers in southcentral Pennsylvania if GM or Chrysler collapses. Nor will there be Unemployed Auto Workers Gone Wild in San Francisco, Dallas, Orlando, Seattle, Boston, etc. Sorry, but the Big Three aren't that big anymore. It's not 1965 anymore...and let's not quote hysterical press releases from biased, industry-funded sources to "prove" otherwise.

Re: Anybody want a Mark V? [andre1969]

by tjc78 on Tue Nov 18 07:00:58 PST 2008

But I guess it was still torquey enough to get the job done. I had a '79 Continental Coupe w/ the 400 and it wasn't that bad. The only mod it had was dual exhaust. I really like the late 70s Lincolns. My '79 was a beater, but wouldn't mind finding a decent one (Mark or Cont coupe) in the 6 - 7K range to drive occaisionally. Its a shame the 460 was dropped for '79 because IMO the color combos for the Collector's series were nicer than the DJE. Am I correct that the Thunderbird also had a DJE edition as well?