Ford is ponying up some big bucks to settle government allegations that the company putzed around and delayed the recall of almost half a million SUVs last year. The price tag to make it all go away: $17.35 million, the top penalty regulators can impose against automakers.
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Ford Agrees To Pay $17.35 Million To Settle Allegations It Was Slow To Issue 2012 SUV Recall
By 8.1.13
Got A Ford F-250 In Your Driveway? Check Again, Because Thieves Love Stealing Them
By 7.9.13
In the movies, car thieves go for exotic sports cars with 6-figure price tags. In the real world, people who boost automobiles are more practical, as pickup trucks account for five of the ten vehicles with the highest rate of theft claims in the U.S. [More]
Ford Recalls 13,100 Vehicles Because Child Locks Don’t Keep Children Locked In
By 7.1.13
Some model year 2013 Explorer, Taurus and Lincoln MKS vehicles manufactured in late 2012 have a little problem: the child safety locks don’t always safely lock children inside. Child safety locks prevent passengers in the back seats from opening car doors from the inside. In the affected vehicles, these locks can turn themselves off. [More]
Ford Placates Customers, Brings Back Volume Knobs
By 6.20.13
Back in the day, kids, just about every electronic device had a knob on it. We even changed television channels by getting up and using knobs, which works better when you have only 4 channels instead of 400. Ford has learned the hard way that while their MyFord Touch stereo/climate control/infotainment system looks really cool, customers kind of hate it. [More]
If American Car Companies Are Doing Well, Why Aren’t They Hiring?
By 6.19.13
American auto manufacturers are selling cars and making profits again, so that means that our auto industry has recovered from its terrible collapse of just a few years ago. Right? The companies themselves have recovered, but that doesn’t mean that they’re going on a hiring spree just yet. [More]
Ford Recalls 465,000 Model Year 2013 Vehicles Over Fuel Leak, Fire Concerns
By 6.3.13
Ford has issued a recall of nearly half a million model year 2013 vehicles over concerns about possible fuel tank leaks that could result in a fire. [More]
GM & Ford Decide To Be Best Pals In Order To Build New Transmissions Together
By 4.16.13
Rivalries between car companies run deep, especially when they’re sharing the same American turf. So it’s somewhat surprising, if not sensible, that General Motors and Ford are coming together in order build the best fuel-efficient automatic transmission out there. At least, that’s the goal. [More]
Toyota & Ford Fighting On The Playground Over Who Has The No. 1 Car
By 4.10.13
It’s an all-out slap fight on the playground these days between Toyota and Ford, as both claim they’re No. 1 in the world as the makers of the top-selling car of 2012. Toyota contradicted Ford’s claim of the Focus being the coolest by sayings its Corolla is actually the best around. [More]
NHTSA Investigating 1.3 Million Fords, Toyotas & Hondas For Safety-Related Issues
By 2.25.13
There’s a whole lot of investigating going on right now at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and it includes almost 1.3 million vehicles from Toyota, Ford and Honda. All three are in potentially hot water for safety-related issues, from steering problems to brake issues. From the sound of it, the Prius is bearing the brunt of the scrutiny. [More]
Ford & EPA Try To Figure Out Why C-Max, Fusion Aren’t Getting Advertised MPG
By 12.14.12
Following last week’s announcement that Consumer Reports’ real-world fuel-economy testing of Ford’s C-Max and Fusion hybrid vehicles showed these cars are not getting the 47 mpg touted by the car maker, both Ford and the Environmental Protection Agency have said they are looking into the matter. [More]
Tests Show Ford Fusion, C-Max Hybrid Are Not Getting Close To 47 MPG
By 12.6.12
Watch ads for the 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid sedan or its C-Max Hybrid wagon and you’ll hear that the vehicles get 47 miles per gallon (highway and city combined), which sounds awfully nice considering the cost of gasoline. But real-road tests of these cars don’t seem to back those numbers up. [More]
Ford Dealership Will Accept “Anything Breathing” As Trade-In This Black Friday
By 11.20.12
For people who have been looking to buy a new Ford but don’t want to trade in their current vehicle and have some livestock they wouldn’t mind parting with, a dealership in Laramie, WY, may be the place to visit this Black Friday. [More]
Ford Continues To Sink Toward Bottom Of Consumer Reports’ Reliability Ratings
By 10.29.12
In 2010, Ford was among the top 10 auto brands in Consumer Reports’ Annual Auto Reliability Survey, with more than 90% of its models rated average or better by CR readers. But in the two years since, the shine has gone off the Ford brand, and in the newly released survey, it now comes in next to last place. [More]
The Death Of The Great American Automotive Bench Seat
By 10.1.12
Many of my earliest memories are sitting three or four abreast in the front seat of the family’s powder blue Chevy Nova. Years later, I remember packing friends onto the bench seats of my ’71 Malibu (a lovely hand-painted pickle green) for hours of terrorizing the streets of suburban Philadelphia. So it’s with a tear in my eye that I hear today about the disappearance of this American icon. [More]
Give Ford Dealership Bad Survey Rating, Get Told ‘You Are No Longer Welcome Here’
By 6.14.12 — Updated: 9.30.15
After Wil’s purchase of a new car didn’t go as smoothly as he expected based on past transactions with Ford, he didn’t give them a great survey rating. The dealership manager’s completely proportionate response? To e-mail Wil and tell him that he is no longer welcome at the dealership, and to never come back. [More]
