New Ford Logo

[JoshT]

I actually think KIA did a good job with their rebrand. Seems like they are trying to get away from the stigma of KIA being the cheapest POS beater you could buy.
They started with that 10 year warranty just to get people to buy their cars, now they have restyled everything to be more “modern” looking.


Not that I would buy a Kia, but at least it seems they have been making a significant effort to improve their market share instead of just resting on their laurels like some other manufacturers seem to do.

I'm not knocking the cars. I've got a 2010 Forte with almost 180k I drive every day, only mechanical issue I've had was the variable intake motor failed somewhere after 150k. Car still ran and drove fine for the most part.

I was looking for a way to justify trading my car for a Stinger for a few years, but my wallet wasn't willing to accept it. I also would have traded my 99 Ranger and Forte for a Hyundai Santa Cruz when they released the prototype, but they waited too long to bring it to market. I'm just not liking the new emblem.

 

[don4331]

I was looking for a way to justify trading my car for a Stinger for a few years, but my wallet wasn't willing to accept it. I also would have traded my 99 Ranger and Forte for a Hyundai Santa Cruz when they released the prototype, but they waited too long to bring it to market. I'm just not liking the new emblem.

The prototype Santa Cruz - extended cab and 6' bed, I would have bought instead of my F-150. But no thanks to crew cab and 4' bed... If I need to haul more people, I've got the Explorer. But then I don't need 1 vehicle to do everything. Don't like their new logo either...

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Daewoo went bust in the US in 2002. GM bought the US assets, but chose not to support the orphaned cars, so those went out of use as parts dried up. You won't see any on the road in the US now.

The Ford logo replacing chrome with white is probably because of the new European Union rule prohibiting decorative chrome plating on new vehicles for environmental reasons.

 

[James Morse]

However they made them (badges) in '97 should be the way to do it, mine are still like new.
I was a Saab driver many years and theirs were horrible, even had recall/free replacements, they fell apart so much. You'd expect even a pretty new used car, you'd be replacing the badge(s).
A lot of good things about the cars, like, they had the 2L 225HP turbo a quarter century or more ago, but, there were some things they never seemed to get right.
In power, handling, comfort, they were great but parts pricey and not fun to work on at all. Lousy for hauling lumber or firewood, although with the hatch you could indeed fit a lot of stuff in there. I remember being in Little Rock with a whole array of stuff staged in back of my '86 Turbo ready to load, a guy walked by and said "it'll never fit" and I said "it has to because this is the same stuff that I came down with in it." That '86 was probably the best one I had overall, it was fast, comfy, and not so complicated as the later ones.

 

[Roert42]

My wife has a friend who still exclusively drives SAABs.
SAAB people are weirdos.

 

[don4331]

Daewoo went bust in the US in 2002. GM bought the US assets, but chose not to support the orphaned cars, so those went out of use as parts dried up. You won't see any on the road in the US now.

The Ford logo replacing chrome with white is probably because of the new European Union rule prohibiting decorative chrome plating on new vehicles for environmental reasons.

Europe is banning hexavalent chrome plating in '24, California is set to band in '27, and for aviation usage for '39 BUT

Trivalent chrome plating is a viable process capable of more/less the same result - its still chrome plating; the result is slightly "smoky" in appearance versus the "blue" on hexavalent chrome plating. There are other chemicals you may added during the process to make the result extremely close in final finish if so desired.

So, prohibition on decorative chrome plating is really a false news.

I will admit trivalent chrome plating is more expensive, so if Ford wants to save a buck by taking the opportunity to change to white, they certainly can.​

 

[ekrampitzjr]

Europe is banning hexavalent chrome plating in '24, California is set to band in '27, and for aviation usage for '39 BUT

Trivalent chrome plating is a viable process capable of more/less the same result - its still chrome plating; the result is slightly "smoky" in appearance versus the "blue" on hexavalent chrome plating. There are other chemicals you may added during the process to make the result extremely close in final finish if so desired.

So, prohibition on decorative chrome plating is really a false news.

I will admit trivalent chrome plating is more expensive, so if Ford wants to save a buck by taking the opportunity to change to white, they certainly can.​

Thanks for clearing up the issue. The panicky stories I saw online did not explain the exception.

Plating operations have been a source of ground pollution in many areas, so I was not that surprised to see them targeted.

 

[James Morse]

My wife has a friend who still exclusively drives SAABs.
SAAB people are weirdos.

I'd just about tend to agree with you since anything they are driving now is pretty old. That from a guy driving a 26 year old truck, but, you can get parts for the Ranger plus they are by comparison easy to work on and/or can find someone who knows them.
My dad started getting Saabs in the late 60's when front wheel drive, unlike today, was not used at all afaik. Not common anyway. It gave you a big advantage in snow (lived up north). I think one thing is the handling was really good and if you were used to it then tried a 'regular' car, it felt not good. Anyway, it's what I grew up with that and Ford sedans, and I got more than a few handed-down to me. The older ones, especially the 2-stroke and the 4-stroke 3-cylinders and the old Ford V-4's, pretty easy to work on, later, not so much. Seats were always exceedingly nice, you could drive all day without a backache. So lots of good features, but I think they just got too expensive in the end plus GM's input didn't help much and Saab people started moving away from them. But they do deserve credit for having shoulder harnesses (an idea from their jets) when other cars had nothing, and for front wheel drive, and for turbos back when again, afaik, nobody else had them. Low CD's too, another feature due to their airplane work. Saab Sonnet was a real interesting car, I never had one. Anyway it's all dead and I doubt you could pay me to drive one now.