Return of the overly powerful family sedan: Ford Taurus SHO with 365hp Ecoboost V6

[pitfield]

Fuck the maintenance costs, I wouldn't be seen dead in it.

[Mattk]

^OK, so it looks pretty humdrum, but it's hardly ugly.

[10000rpmlover]

Originally Posted by Mattk ^OK, so it looks pretty humdrum, but it's hardly ugly.

nothing a nice set of wheels, maybe a ground fx kit wouldn't fix, being from ford, expect various iterations of it on sale at dealers in the US, I am sure there will be a SVT version, and never count out a ROUSCH edition too (imagine a SVT version with a V8)

[pitfield]

come on it's horrendous, look at the line through the rear quarter, what's it there for?

[RC45]

Originally Posted by ViperASR So your saying that because a car is "cheap" then the maitanance is going to be be bad, and the car is going to be unrelaible?

No, thats what you just said.

What I am saying is that any car employing relatively expensive components costs more to repair/maintain when out of warranty.

When you buy a new $60,000 Lincoln Towncar, you ignore the $2500 cost of a replacement rear air suspension. The car is under warranty and working.

When you buy that same Towncar 6 years later for $15,000 (or you keep the car for 6 years) and you are faced with a $2500 rear air suspension repair that is a significnt cost.

By the same token, the $400 shocks and struts for a $18,000 econocar that still cost $400 6 years later refelect a lower cost.

Simple to understand really.

Now this new Ford has some great cutting edge technology and is flash with new tech. Until this same technlogy is shared by many more models across manufacturers the unt cost to owners for repairs soon after warranty expires is going to be higher than anticipated.

This is just the way it is.

When Audi introduced their unique clever flush-mount glue-on winshield, it was awesoem - until someone went to get their windshield repaired and were faced enormous cost. SOmetimes several thousand dolalrs.. for a family car???

Fast forward 15 years and every car uses the same stick on tchnology and repair costs have plummeted... but there were a a few lower priced cars tht egan using the same window mounting system early on and the cost of the window repair was disproportionatly costly compared to the price of the car - at first.

Same with this new Ford... repair and maintenance of this new model is going to be disproportionatly higher until more models across manufacturers switch to similar electronic, fuel and peripheral systems.

Originally Posted by ViperASR Under that idea, that would make the $100,000 ZR-1 super unreliable, right? Because it employs technology from $500,000 supercars.

Not unreliable, but quite expensive to maintain for certain systems - the shocks, brakes and carbon firbre body components represent a HUGE maintenance cost compared to their other stablemates.

In this case, the cost of brakes as an example have been reduced by a lot, because GM bought more brake rotors for the first year of ZR1 production, than Ferrari has bought in the last 5 years. But at $8,000 a new brakes system for the ZR1 is not cheap... until more vehicles begin to get CCB brakes... then eventually when CCB systems are on every car, rorots will eb as cheap as iron and there will be no debate.

Imagine the maintenance costs the buyer of a 150,000 mile 7 year old Prius might face

Originally Posted by ViperASR Why not just give it a chance? Bench racing/driving/maintaining/whatever is so far away from reality.

Then what the hell is the point of an auto enthusiast forum if discussion is not allowed?

Either way, in thisone I am correct - maintenance for this car when out of warranty will be appreciable higher than expected until the tech spreads further afield.

[nthfinity]

Originally Posted by 10000rpmlover nothing a nice set of wheels, maybe a ground fx kit wouldn't fix, being from ford, expect various iterations of it on sale at dealers in the US, I am sure there will be a SVT version, and never count out a ROUSCH edition too (imagine a SVT version with a V8)

Maybe SEMA, but that isn't going to happen. SVT have wanted to play with CD3 for a while... it was a major uphill battle to get the Raptor done.

[pitfield]

Originally Posted by RC45 No, thats what you just said. What I am saying is that any car employing relatively expensive components costs more to repair/maintain when out of warranty. When you buy a new $60,000 Lincoln Towncar, you ignore the $2500 cost of a replacement rear air suspension. The car is under warranty and working. When you buy that same Towncar 6 years later for $15,000 (or you keep the car for 6 years) and you are faced with a $2500 rear air suspension repair that is a significnt cost. By the same token, the $400 shocks and struts for a $18,000 econocar that still cost $400 6 years later refelect a lower cost. Simple to understand really. Now this new Ford has some great cutting edge technology and is flash with new tech. Until this same technlogy is shared by many more models across manufacturers the unt cost to owners for repairs soon after warranty expires is going to be higher than anticipated. This is just the way it is. When Audi introduced their unique clever flush-mount glue-on winshield, it was awesoem - until someone went to get their windshield repaired and were faced enormous cost. SOmetimes several thousand dolalrs.. for a family car??? Fast forward 15 years and every car uses the same stick on tchnology and repair costs have plummeted... but there were a a few lower priced cars tht egan using the same window mounting system early on and the cost of the window repair was disproportionatly costly compared to the price of the car - at first. Same with this new Ford... repair and maintenance of this new model is going to be disproportionatly higher until more models across manufacturers switch to similar electronic, fuel and peripheral systems. Not unreliable, but quite expensive to maintain for certain systems - the shocks, brakes and carbon firbre body components represent a HUGE maintenance cost compared to their other stablemates. In this case, the cost of brakes as an example have been reduced by a lot, because GM bought more brake rotors for the first year of ZR1 production, than Ferrari has bought in the last 5 years. But at $8,000 a new brakes system for the ZR1 is not cheap... until more vehicles begin to get CCB brakes... then eventually when CCB systems are on every car, rorots will eb as cheap as iron and there will be no debate. Imagine the maintenance costs the buyer of a 150,000 mile 7 year old Prius might face Then what the hell is the point of an auto enthusiast forum if discussion is not allowed? Either way, in thisone I am correct - maintenance for this car when out of warranty will be appreciable higher than expected until the tech spreads further afield.

Maybe you could use cheaper parts on an older car... And more expensive fords from 20 years ago can be seen running in the UK XR3i/RST while the lesser models haven't been so well looked after.

[RC45]

Originally Posted by pitfield Maybe you could use cheaper parts on an older car... And more expensive fords from 20 years ago can be seen running in the UK XR3i/RST while the lesser models haven't been so well looked after.

Sure, you can use cheaper parts.. as long as the components used stay in vogu long enough to be picked u pby many manufacturers which in turn attracts aftermaerket replacement cheaper options.

At the moment direct injection super efficient specialist component setups can't exactly be serviced with parts bought at the local O'Reilly parts shop... they just order them from the dealeship

As always technology moves on and the early adopters pay a premium.