how to cut the costs of a BRAND NEW CAR

[PJ_Godzilla]

I understand your a Ford guy,I was at one time too. I also worked at the dealer level as did my wife. Not quite sure what you mean by "methods" unless your refering to the video,which I watched for about 30 seconds and turned it off as it was rediculess.

Yes on methods, yes on Honda powertrains (best small-displacement powertrains in the world - though we've made great strides in fuel-specific output such that we lead the industry, in aggregate,  Ibelieve the ar estill stornger overall on the small end - though not just for their fuel-specific qualities), I'm not keen on the Toyos. My wife's had a couple, since she's in the keiretsu. They've slipped badly.

As far as percentages go, I can't tell you. Why? Because, for one thing, I'm strictly dealing with variable these days. As you know, fixed investmentis significant in this industry. I do know, however, that if we got 5% ROS on every car we'd be really happy. Think about how much trouble we're going to for a return that you could get on most indices.

[morfiend]

 PJ,


  I'll give you the fuel economy,I saw the focus is getting 49 mile per,thats almost prius milage so kudos to you guys for that. The fit and finish on most of the line is very good these days too,but have you guys solved the engine leaks yet?

   I recall escorts that leaked out of the transaxel,not at a seal but because of porus castings! IIRC they switched to mazda axels because the ones from mexico were so bad.Then there's the head gasket leaks,had a tempo..ya...   was a good car to me though except they could never solve the headgasket leaks.I had it replaced twice then just gave up and kept an eye on the oil!


  It looks like I'll have to atleast take a look and a few test drives but I'll likely end up with another Honda.

     Twenty years ago I would have called you crazy if you wanted to trade a benz in on a honda......  maybe I am crazy.




   

[Babalonian]

I know im partial to Hondas anyways, but has anyone been on the lot in the last few years and noticed how much simpler and easier they're getting under the hood now?  I was with my mom looking at '11 CRVs last weekend, and we have had an '04 as a reference.  Talked to my favorite mechanic and he says he loves them because they're easier to work on and actually cheaper to replace stuff/maintenance.  I wish they were doing this when I was a teenager, I might of been able to do a lot more maintenance/toying under the hood of my Hondas. 

[CAP1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw-NxQ_-OCI&feature=autoplay&list=LLefjFw0ThvOI&index=4&playnext=3



he shows u how to cut down on more then half the price of a brand new car

dood wouldn't last 30 seconds before i kicked him off the lot.

[PJ_Godzilla]

PJ,


  I'll give you the fuel economy,I saw the focus is getting 49 mile per,thats almost prius milage so kudos to you guys for that. The fit and finish on most of the line is very good these days too,but have you guys solved the engine leaks yet?

   

Yes, we went over to DI and GTDI in the new engines. Hence, we lead in fuel-specific metrics across most of the line. I was pushing, back when I was with hybrids, for a little thing called Rankine cycle heat recovery - something I note both Honda and BMW are into. I also recall a heavy focus we had on trying to specifically define the fit and finish gap. Some of the results were surprising, in terms of what we did and did not do well. I can't speak to engine leaks except anecdotally, since the last one I had was about a dozen vehicles ago on a '92 Explorer with the old SOHC 4.0l. Since then, everything has been drip-free for me. The big quality push started in 2003 or 4. Main problem these days seems to be, uh, Microsoft-related.

You'll note that all this has come at a price. We used to be the cost leader. Now we focus on cost per unit attribute delivered. We do better at this point in the market anyway, profit-wise. As for Tempos, I remember them well - and had an 85 EXP back in the day that blew a head gasket as well. It was a 1.6. That 2.3 in the Tempo was a notorious engine.

[CAP1]

PJ,


  I'll give you the fuel economy,I saw the focus is getting 49 mile per,thats almost prius milage so kudos to you guys for that. The fit and finish on most of the line is very good these days too,but have you guys solved the engine leaks yet?

   I recall escorts that leaked out of the transaxel,not at a seal but because of porus castings! IIRC they switched to mazda axels because the ones from mexico were so bad.Then there's the head gasket leaks,had a tempo..ya...   was a good car to me though except they could never solve the headgasket leaks.I had it replaced twice then just gave up and kept an eye on the oil!


  It looks like I'll have to atleast take a look and a few test drives but I'll likely end up with another Honda.

     Twenty years ago I would have called you crazy if you wanted to trade a benz in on a honda......  maybe I am crazy.




   

jeeze!!
  a leaking transaxle?? that's almost as bad as an engine that's designed to use sealer in the coolant, to prevent head gasket problems.