2011 Ford Explorer....looking sharp!
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I think most of the recent Ford interiors have price competitive materials. With that said, I tried a new Fusion as a rental. It was clearly a low end version but the part I really noticed was the dash material All though it was made of a soft touch materials that technically was every bit as good as what Honda would use, the texture made it look cheap and like hard plastic. That was the one part I thought was "cheap". Then again the Fusion starts under $20k and can be had for starting at around $18k. Still, it's frustrating because this is a case of good texture cost NOTHING more than a texture that looks cheap. Otherwise the car was really good for the money. The interior actually felt more solid than the current Camry but really the Camry is quite a let down in my book.
I will contrast this with the second gen CRV a friend owned. The CRV's interior was almost entirely hard plastic. However, Honda had cleverly changed the textures on various surfaces to make it look like a large single plastic part was actually several parts with different and complimentary textures. I liked that Honda made the dash vents look like separate parts installed into a soft touch dash even though they were just cheaply molded into the same big chunk of plastic. Basically the Honda was cheaper but managed to look more expensive. Ford at least seems to have fixed that problem with the Flex and Taurus so I have faith the Explorer interior will be fine. Now if they could fix the over styled and cheap looking F150 interior...
I will contrast this with the second gen CRV a friend owned. The CRV's interior was almost entirely hard plastic. However, Honda had cleverly changed the textures on various surfaces to make it look like a large single plastic part was actually several parts with different and complimentary textures. I liked that Honda made the dash vents look like separate parts installed into a soft touch dash even though they were just cheaply molded into the same big chunk of plastic. Basically the Honda was cheaper but managed to look more expensive. Ford at least seems to have fixed that problem with the Flex and Taurus so I have faith the Explorer interior will be fine. Now if they could fix the over styled and cheap looking F150 interior...
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Originally Posted by slates74,Jul 27 2010, 11:41 AM
That's a pretty broad statement, I understand that there are some fat cat higher ups who don't deserve the paper their check is printed on. However, I've watched my father who's worked on assembly line his entire life work and earn his pay accordingly. The UAW is responsible for many beneficial education programs, diversity training, etc. I think our country's line workers deserve a bit more respect than the statement you originally posted that's all.
/Rant
With that said I'm very excited about the direction Ford is going in!
/Rant
With that said I'm very excited about the direction Ford is going in!
IHO, special interest groups always take care of their own. Respectable, I don't doubt it. But I just prefer my money goes to somewhere else. That's my opinion and I am sticking to it.
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Originally Posted by ltswb,Jul 27 2010, 11:42 PM
I am always amazed by the stupidity that flows from peoples' mouths when it come to unions. Most have no idea what they are talking about and are just repeating something they heard some other jackass say. Hoth, your tiny statment is so full of fail that I don't have the energy to point out all of its flaws and I doubt you would have the intellect to understand the points anyway. Have a good day.
You made your point so eloquently. Your intellectual superiority made me almost wanna cry.
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First Drive Article now up on Autoblog: http://www.autoblog.com/2010/12/13/2011-fo...view-road-test/
