Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Ford Flex a comin'!

It’s not like there is pacing up and down the polished floor of the showroom with groups of people looking a lot like expectant fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. No, there are no scenes like that, but the anticipation of the new 2009 Ford Flex arriving soon is actually growing pretty strong.

When the Flex hits the Ricart Ford showroom in a few weeks, families will see a vehicle designed with them in mind. As a matter of fact, anyone who needs to move five or six people comfortably will be finding that someone has finally designed and built a vehicle for them that isn’t a mini-van (ick) or have an armored personnel carrier as its kissing cousin!

To be sure, the new Flex is large enough to take the family to church in one trip, but you’ll be surprised that it doesn’t look, or maybe more importantly, feel like you are cruising on the Queen Mary… far from it! As a matter of fact, Edward Loh of Motor Trend said, “…the Flex manages to look long, wide, and low at the same time. It’s not fat or ungainly though.”

The 2009 Ford Flex boasts more third row seat space than the Mazda CX9, the 2008 winner for most rear seat roominess which should avoid fights over who is going to sit in the “way back”, a point which will become extremely obvious once you sit back there. Oh, and while you are there, check out the view. Yes, that is stadium seating in the Flex which allows you to see all around, including through the windshield for a great view of the road ahead. And speaking of views, you can get the Flex with moon roofs for the middle and rear seats which give it an expansive feel, open but still cozy.

Cozy is a great way to describe the way the amenities for the Ford Flex work together in a logical manner to afford comfort and convenience to all, from an available cooler chest in the combination console to the Sync navigation/audio system for hands free phone use, music, sports updates, directions and more. The Flex is cozy and cool.

If you have ever tried to describe love to somebody, then you know how hard it is to explain… and that’s a lot like trying to talk about a segment shattering vehicle like the 2009 Ford Flex before anyone has the chance to really get inside it and drive it around… but once you do get in and drive one it’s almost a certainty you’ll love it, and then it’s your turn to describe Flex to your friends.








Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Let's Refuel America... Gas Gimmick


Chrysler has just announced what it calls the “Let’s Refuel America” program, which promises that you will pay $2.99 a gallon for gas for the next three years, no matter how high the actual cost may rise. Sounds easy huh? Sounds great too, huh? Well, I contacted a friend of mine who graduated from MIT to do the math the way it is laid out in the program. He was busy and promptly referred me to an MSNBC.com article that said someone buying a 2008 Dodge Durango would save just over $400 a year with an average three year gas price of $3.61 a gallon (the current average price in the Detroit area).

Hmmm… $400 a year for three years sounds a lot less than the $4000 rebates available on a 2008 Ford Explorer. I guess that means Ford wants you to have gas money, and a little something to spend on a drive away vacation, about $2800 worth of something!! Formula you ask? Why, yes, there is a formula involved where you factor in 12,000 miles per year, the vehicle’s government fuel economy rating and the cost of a gallon of gas. I don’t know about you, but any promotion that requires me to do more math than simply reducing my price by a pretty good chunk of coin makes me more than a little suspect… especially one that makes your savings a crap shoot. It also gives me a head ache.

To be honest, I have had it with fear mongering, and to be sure, this Chrysler promotion is nothing more than that. The formally American, then German, (then American again?) automaker is playing off the fear that more violence in the Middle East, or South America, or wherever will have an adverse affect on the oil supply and send gas prices ever higher, which is the only way you really come out ahead with this program. I don’t know, I’d rather drive around this summer and beyond in my new 2008 Ford Focus at nearly 40 miles per gallon, enjoying the car, my family, and the driving experience and not sit around rooting for more world unrest to inflate the price of gas… how about you?

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Ford-Microsoft Sync... cooler than cool!

So I bought my third Ford Focus the other day, long before I read an article about Kelly Blue Book rating the new 2008 Focus one of the ten coolest cars you can get for under $18,000, which it most certainly is. I used the rebate to pay off my Liquid Gray 2003 Focus SE and am giving it to my eldest daughter for her college car. Heck, it has well under 60,000 miles on it, and still looks and drives great. She is thrilled, and thinks it’s a cool car. Now, with all modesty aside, I really didn’t think that a car could add much to MY coolness factor. I worked in rock and roll radio in New York for nearly two decades, roadied for Van Halen for part of the second album tour, watched Deep Purple rehearse in a friend’s basement when I was a kid, actually saw the Ramones at CBGB’s… you get the idea. Anyway, all things considered, how could a Ford Focus possibly make me any cooler? One word… Sync.

Just In case you are still living in the twentieth century and have missed all the commercials and press about the Microsoft and Ford creation which is Sync, it is a system available only in Ford. Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles, which seamlessly allows you to use voice commands to control your Bluetooth enabled phone, your MP3 player (I have the Microsoft 80g Zune), and has upgradeable software that will allow updates of the system, the first of which is due by early fall. All this means that you can tell Sync to call your home, and it will. You can also tell Sync you want to listen to the Ramones, and it will, or to play a certain genre of music, or album, or song, or songs that sound kind of the same… and it will!!! Now that’s cool.

Okay, so it may be hard sitting there reading this to picture in your mind’s ear just how Sync works and sounds, but a quick trip to see Sync demonstrated in person will calm those Hal from “2001 A Space Odyssey” fears, and let you see just how easy Sync is to use, and how easily it becomes a part of your driving life. Ford has Sync in the Focus, the Edge, and the Fusion now, and on the way for the Escape, F150, and Taurus making it a lifestyle feature that spans all economic levels, and can make anyone who owns it at least a little bit cooler… not that I needed it mind you.

Come see, hear, and experience Sync at Ricart Ford in the Megamall today, and you'll probably have a new Ford at your house tonight!