Ricart Ford has the right Ford for your deadstyle!

   Most people don’t realize the Ford F150 Raptor was specifically designed in response to leaked information about a secret program creating undead creatures, a program rumored to be taking place

right here in Raccoon City!

   Not really...

   Ok, maybe "Resident Evil 6" wasn’t so good, but "World War Z" was a huge hit, "The Walking Dead" is still sprinting, "The Last of Us" became an instant classic, and like the masses of walkers surrounding the mall in "Dawn of the Dead", there is no end in sight. With that in mind (brains!), let’s look at Ford’s vehicle line-up, and how they fit various zombie deadstyles!

   Let’s start with the classic and original zombies from George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead”; rugged, purposeful and relentless… they will not stop, just like Ford F150 trucks! And while Romero’s ghouls have a voracious appetite for brains, the F150’s available Ecoboost engine means you’ll spend less money and time at the pump! 

    

   The 2013 romantic comedy “Warm Bodies” gave us zombies who could think, and by the virtue of love, become human again. These thinking undead really don’t have to put a ton of thought into driving one of Ford’s Hybrid or Electric vehicles. The C-Max Energi or Hybrid, Fusion Hybrid, or Focus Electric, all have great economy, amazing style, and cutting edge technology. It doesn’t take a high functioning brain to drive smart!!

    

   The 21^st century saw a major shift in zombie philosophy. Zombies in the new century still view humans as their entrée of choice, but movies like “28 Days Later”, Will Smith’s “I Am Legend” and the Brad Pit big screen adaptation of “World War Z” made them fast. Inhumanly fast! And if you are a zed-head in the new millennium, Ford’s got the speed you need. Mustang offers a slew of packages and options to take you from quick with the V6 pony, to ripping the screaming tires off the back from a dead stop with the Shelby 500, and all points in between! Or as a Zack runner, you may want the thrill of the Focus ST, the Focus that’s not for the faint of heart, whether it’s beating or not!

   

    The new century has given us way more Zombies than we have ever had before, and “The Walking Dead” comics, novels, and television series gave rise to “the hoard”, which is cool, because Ford has cars, CUV’s and SUV’s that’ll help get that walker team to the soccer pitch, or the shamble family down the block to the school play comfortably, economically, and looking good… at least the Ford vehicle is good looking. Whether it’s the Escape or Explorer, Edge or Flex, Taurus, Fusion, or Focus, Ford has the right vehicle for every undeadstyle. And if you happen to still be warm, you can stop by Ricart Ford in The Megamall and find the Ford for your, ummm,  lifestyle!

It’s seems the stereotype for supermodels includes the belief that they are all vacuous, empty headed. All they are is a pretty face and chiseled body. But when you consider Cindy Crawford was offered a full boat scholarship to study Chemical Engineering, and Carmen Kass was a chess champion, that belief just doesn’t hold water. Such is the case with Ford’s 2013 redesign of the Fusion. It’s much more than beauty and great lines, it’s THE family sized sedan that manages to be hot, economical, safe, technologically advanced, and a segment butt-kicker all in one! Like Cindy Crawford with Ninja training and all the equipment used by Tony Stark (Ironman), James Bond, and Batman!

Looking at the redesigned 2013 Ford Fusion the styling is apparent, but what you can’t see until you get in one, are things like the increased leg room no matter where you sit, plenty of places to put stuff (including a 16 cubic foot trunk), and a smooth quiet ride. Check out what The Car Connection offered up about the new Fusion.

Great looks, great driving, and great safety features (the 2013 Fusion is an IIHS Top Safety Pick), and the available EcoBoost engine, Hybrid, and EnErgi versions deliver fuel economy that makes other manufacturers green with envy, and the 2013 Ford Fusion, well… Green! That means Fusion delivers the complete package, according to the New York Times.

If you have driven a previous version of the Ford Fusion, you are in for a treat when you stop by The Ricart Megamall to take the 2013 Fusion for a drive. If you have never driven Fusion before, then get ready for the sedan you have always wanted, but never dreamed you would find! Drive the new 2013 Ford Fusion today at Ricart Ford, on our 6 acre test track, on the road, or both. It’s time to see, feel, and experience the new Fusion yourself.

Right after the last of the Holiday decorations have been packed away, and the din of New Year’s celebrations and Bowl Games fades into the past, it is, to the uninitiated, a quiet time of year. The lull between football and The Daytona 500 or Spring Training can seem deceptively quiet and uneventful. But those with motor oil in their veins… gears spinning in their noggins… and thoughts of rubber meeting road know better. This. Is. Car Show Season. And as usual, Ford is the star!

Running through January 22nd, The 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which we’ll just call the NAIAS from now on (to reduce the risk of a finger sprain with all those extra letters), runs the gamut from really boring to outrageous concepts that nobody would ever really build in a million years. But what that really means is something can be found for everyone at the show.

Before jumping to the extremes, how about some news from Detroit that you will actually use in your life? And of course, it’s from Ford.

The Ford Sync and My Ford touch are now superstar options in the industry, with other manufacturers trying to come up with matching technologies that always seem to look like weak copy attempts, or fall completely flat on their faces. So that probably explains why the early hit at the 2012 NAIAS is the Ford Fusion for 2013. As a matter of fact, it took less than a half hour for Consumer Reports to declare that with the Fusion, "Ford stole the show!”

Of course the new Fusion has SYNC and My Ford Touch, along with a new lane assist feature which helps you keep it between the lines, auto parking for parallel parking, blind spot detection, and adaptive cruise control, and c/net has an overview of the advancements. And autoblog has a good rundown as well.

Add to its style, all the technological advancements already mentioned to a Hybrid system update, or the ability to get an Ecoboost engine to save on fuel costs, and a plug in version, and it becomes obvious why Ford’s Fusion is already in the passing lane, and is set to accelerate past Camry in a big way.

Oh, and it looks great too!

Cash for Clunkers on now at Ricart Ford

This old Caddy was the first fuel swilling car taken off the road at Ricart Ford just minutes after the official start of the Federal Government's Cash for Clunkers program. While the Caddy had served them well over the years, the couple who traded it in will see dramatic savings in gas in their new 2010 Fusion, with the best mileage of any mid-size sedan. Add that to the quality, craftsmanship, and styling of the new 2010 Ford Fusion, and you get a vehicle they will be thrilled with for years to come, and by the looks of how clean their caddy was, WE MEAN YEARS!

Young folks are getting in on the Cash for Clunkers Program at Ricart Ford as well, and we have seen a really good mix of all kinds of people taking advantage of the best slection in the region of Focus, Fusions, Escapes, trucks... the whole gammut of all the new Ford vehicles that meet the CARS criteria, so if you have been sitting on the sidelines so far, it's probably a good time to stop by Ricart Ford for a visit to see exactly what the program can mean to you. If you are interested, give us a ring at 888-355-6934.

Gotta go, there's this nice lady who wants to drive an Escape on the test track...

Consumer Reports recommends lots of Fords, and Ricart has them all.

It’s the start of a new year, and the accolades for Ford just keep on coming, all hot on the heels of Motor Trend’s choice of the new 2009 F150 as “The Truck of he Year”.
This time it’s Consumer Reports singing the praises of The Blue Oval by placing six Fords on its list of eight recommended vehicles from the Big Three American Manufacturers. Chevy managed to land two cars on the list, and Chrysler had none.

Consumer Reports is planning on releasing the list in their February issue, a couple months earlier than the norm, and on it will be the Ford Fusion, Taurus, and Taurus X along with the Mercury Milan, Sable, and MKZ. According to CR, this early release is a shortened list, with the complete version due in a couple of months when testing of all models and brands are complete. Looks like they just couldn’t wait to get the word out!


As part of its praise for Ford, the nation’s leading consumer periodical said that almost all Ford vehicles rank average or better for their reliability. As a matter of fact, David Champion, CR’s chief car tester said, “Ford has been doing a lot right on reliability for the past five years. It’s not immediately apparent that the Ford Fusion would be more reliable than the Toyota Camry, but it is…”

Hmmm… Fusion more reliable than Camry according to Consumer Reports, and when you buy a Fusion, the cash doesn’t hop a boat to Japan. Kind of makes you wonder why people here in The States are still buying the Toyo doesn’t it? Are you on your way to Ricart Ford in The Ricart Megamall for that new Ford yet?

Reliable Ford value resides at Ricart Ford (Wow, alliteration)

Reliability means many things to us. It means your loyal dog at your feet on a chilly night, or your best friend watching your back in a tough spot, or even Old Faithful doing what geysers do at predictable times to thrill vacationers at Yellowstone Park.

Reliability also means the vehicles you’ll find at Ricart Ford according to the 2008 Consumer Reports Car Reliability Survey, which says, “Almost all Ford models are now average or better… Ford's reliability is now on par with good Japanese automakers.”

The article goes on to rave that the Fusion is among “the most reliable family cars” and has the Focus landing an above average rating. Check for yourself here.

Obviously this is great news for Ford and Ricart, since Ford is our flagship brand, and also for those folks who have said to themselves in the past that they wanted to buy an American car, but they just aren’t as reliable as Japanese cars. Well… actually a Ford is as reliable, costs less, and tends to have more innovations than Pacific Rim cars… and most of all, it’s a Ford!

Reliability does mean many things, and at Ricart Ford in The Ricart Megamall, it means even more value in your new Ford car, truck, SUV, or CUV. So, when you spend your hard earned money on a new Ford at Ricart, it’s worth every penny and so much more… you can rely on that!

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!

Ford Fusion Test Drive Challenge

Ding Ding Ding Ding...And in this corner, weighing in at...
This is gonna be one heck of a ride for allot of people. In the previous post, I mentioned the test drive that Car and Driver conducted, the one where the Fusion was rated well above the Camry and Accord. Well, The Challenge is now come to a neighborhood near you!
At Ricart Ford in Columbus, Ohio they have a Fusion, an Accord, and a Camry all ready for folks to take out on the test track to see which they like best. Now that takes a bit of brass and confidence, (something that Ricart Ford and the Fusion both have plenty of)!
Over the next couple of weeks or so, we will post the running results for the Fusion Test Drive Challenge to see if they match the Car and Driver results. If you happen to be in the Columbus area, you can take 'em for a spin at the Ricart Megamall at 4255 South Hamilton Rd. in Columbus, Ohio (it's actually a Groveport address if you mapquest it).

Ford Fusion: a bold move you may have missed.

"What we have here, is a failure to communicate..."

Well, not any more.
A little while ago, Car and Driver magazine took the Ford Fusion to Washington D.C. to let some folks drive the Fusion, along with the Accord and the Camry, and guess what...the majority of the test drivers picked the Fusion as being the best. The Fusion also has received very high marks for quality. Very high marks! As a matter of fact, the results of the most recent test drive will be released to the public soon, so check back for a link later...and don't buy that new sedan until you do, because if you get anything other than the Ford Fusion, you'll be making a costly mistake!
Well, so much for the lack of quality lies about Ford, so I have a quick comment about the Toyo T.V. spots I saw quite a bit over the Holidays...the one about how proud they are to employ Americans in their plants here in the States and all that...I see the ad and wonder, but where do the profits for Toyo go? I'm thinking they don't stay here...