I sent Ford this frustrated Email!!

[Nick26]

Hi Ford,
I just read about the new Sport Trac and although the styling is nice I am EXTREMELY disappointed by the platform. It was bad enough when the Explorer got all independent suspension and no manual transmission but now you destroyed the Sport Trac too! You are not fooling anyone with your bullshit marketing about independent suspension being better for offroad. In fact people are just laughing at you!!

Independent suspension has HORRIBLE ground clearance, ZERO articulation, is IMPOSSIBLE to lift at all for safely fitting larger tires, and is WEAKER with so many moving parts. Therefore it is absolutely useless for offroad. These aren't even SUVs anymore, they are just giant cars. I WAS planning on buying the Sport Trac next year but forget it since now you discontinued the manual transmission and gave it IRS.

You gave the sport trac the V8 which is good but why only with the automatic? You've had a manual transmission that mates up to both those motors forever so why not offer it!?!?

It's really disappointing to me because I have always been proud of my Fords. My first car was an 87 Ford Ranger, then I got a 99 Explorer, then added my 94 Ford Mustang GT to my garage (ALL with Manual Transmission!). I am/was a huge Ford enthusiast belonging to several ford forum websites, and always proudly touting my vehicles. However, now I am strongly starting to second guess you because the vehicles your making and your misleading garbage marketing are very disappointing and unlike the Ford Quality that made me such a fan in the first place.

Unfortunately now I am strongly considering the Hummer H3, but it will be a sad day when I have to give up on fords and buy a GM! I strongly suggest you do some research look at the the videos of the H3 doing obstacles on their website: http://www.hummer.com/ There is not one ford vehicle that even comes close to doing any of those obstacles!

STOP POSING AS AN OFFROAD TRUCK MAKER ACTUALLY BUILD ONE!

Very simply build an SUV on a Wrangler-like platform (simple solid axles and cheap) and sell it as a bronco again! The offroad crowd is not a fad and you are going to have to cough it up and build one sooner or later! The people who don't know how to drive SUVS would stick to buying the Explorer or Expedition anyway because of the cushy ride and then real offroaders who know how to drive trucks without flipping them over would be able to get the new bronco with solid axles!

I hope this letter drives some sense back into you, because Ford is on the verge of loosing ALL their enthusiasts to Jeep, Nissan, and GM!
Thanks,
Nick

 

[briwayjones]

Where did you send it too? I've tried to find a feedback type e-mail address with no luck.

 

[Bwana Bob]

Yes, alas, my next vehicle will not be an Explorer, mainly because of the unavailability of a manual transmission and the poorer gas mileage. My '92 with the 5 speed manual is rated at 17-21 mpg and I get an honest 19 mpg. The new Explorers are rated at 15-20 mpg. I'm really not too fond of the styling, either. They made it look big and porky, like an expedition.

4X4 enthusiasts are now buying Nissan Xterras.

Bob

 

[IZwack]

while i agree with your points, going "against" the trend of SUVs is almost pointless because almost all SUVs out there hardly ever get a chance to get away from the pavement.. the car manufacturers are only trying to fill the demand for SUVs and at the same time, make them 'safe' for the average driver to handle (because most drivers think that an SUV will drive just like a car). 'Safer' means better handling which also means independant suspension due to less 'unsprung' weight.

just my $0.02...

 

[410Fortune]

Um dont expect anyone to reply to that....they will just stack it up in the trash can most likely.
They sell SUV's to soccer mom's, they do not care about making a explorer of any sort for off road, why would they when nobody uses them for that? Hell I bet the ranger goes IRS soon.....

 

[Nick26]

Where did you send it too? I've tried to find a feedback type e-mail address with no luck.

yeah it was a pain in the ass to find the email form but if you keep clicking on random faq stuff you can get to here: http://www.customersaskford.com/Kate/KanaForm.asp?launchsite=

 

[Nick26]

while i agree with your points, going "against" the trend of SUVs is almost pointless because almost all SUVs out there hardly ever get a chance to get away from the pavement.. the car manufacturers are only trying to fill the demand for SUVs and at the same time, make them 'safe' for the average driver to handle (because most drivers think that an SUV will drive just like a car). 'Safer' means better handling which also means independant suspension due to less 'unsprung' weight.

just my $0.02...

true, but one of the things i was trying to point out to them is they can keep the explorer and expedition and escape all with ifs for the soccer moms but they should still build a truck for guys... Women will most likely by the explorer cause it "rides softer". and then we can still have a truck riding suv....

 

[Nick26]

Um dont expect anyone to reply to that....they will just stack it up in the trash can most likely.
They sell SUV's to soccer mom's, they do not care about making a explorer of any sort for off road, why would they when nobody uses them for that? Hell I bet the ranger goes IRS soon.....

Yeah I know, we'll seee, i sent a letter in last year too when that horrible excuse for a bronco came out and I got a somewhat personalized response cause it had something to do with what I had said, I forget what that was now though. I'll post any replys I get.

 

[Nick26]

yeah it was a pain in the ass to find the email form but if you keep clicking on random faq stuff you can get to here: http://www.customersaskford.com/Kate/KanaForm.asp?launchsite=

or you could try: bford@ford.com jmays@ford.com

 

[jimbo74]

that letter will never be seen by anyone... no one really cares.. they market to who wants to buy them, obviously they arent marketing to who doesn't want it.....

 

[briwayjones]

The thing is there is still a market for a real Explorer 4x4, look at how well the Xterras sell.

 

[Nick26]

that letter will never be seen by anyone... no one really cares.. they market to who wants to buy them, obviously they arent marketing to who doesn't want it.....

Umm ok dumbass but i said I DO want to buy one...

 

[n3m3s1s]

all ford would have to do is shorten an f250, but a hatch on the back, and keep the 6.0L

 

[Nick26]

all ford would have to do is shorten an f250, but a hatch on the back, and keep the 6.0L

seriously, that'd be a cheap, great start... itd basically be the old fullsize bronco again... there was a pic of a custom 2 door excursion going around which would essentially be the same thing.

 

[DeRocha]

Great thread Nick It definitely expresses how I feel. Ford Needs to step up to the plate and do the right thing.. Build a real Off-road vehicle and not a wanna be. On a side note the H3 does look nice (even though I'm not a big Hummer fan).

 

[Nick26]

yeah unfortunately no reply though, not even a thanks for sharing your opinion... I wonder if there is a better place to send it... i.e. the email address of someone in the marketing or product research dept

 

[Paraphoe]

We should all bomb Ford with similar emails, and let em know that most of the nearly 40,000 members on this board completely agree with sentiments that have been expressed. Power in numbers.

 

[IZwack]

We should all bomb Ford with similar emails, and let em know that most of the nearly 40,000 members on this board completely agree with sentiments that have been expressed. Power in numbers.

well some of those members (like me ) wouldnt know what an IFS,IRS,TTB or a 'solid' is!

 

[jjue]

Back when I was fixing the blend door on my '97 Mountaineer, I remember sending some sort of e-mail complaining about the blend door, quality, etc., and someone called me back from Ford Customer Service. That was pretty weird. Of course, that was 3 years ago.

Anyway, a few years ago I also said that I wasn't going to get another Explorer, or any other SUV. I ended up going bigger to pull my pontoon boat: '05 F-150 Supercrew 4x4. Believe it or not, with only 1000 miles, the mileage on the 5.4L with 3.55LS gears around town isn't that much worse than my Mountaineer, and it is actually better than the '91 and '94 Explorers, both with Automatics.

But for the most part, the trend for SUV's is IRS for a soft, smooth ride, and no intentions for serious offroading. The next trend might be aluminum frames and suspension components (the new F-150 has aluminum control arms), which means that everyone might have to start carrying both a stick welder and a TIG welder while off-roading.

 

[jimbo74]

Umm ok dumbass but i said I DO want to buy one...

ok kind sir, like ford cares about the maybe 1000 people that want a real 4x4.... versus the millions that want what they are marketing to......