3) Ford has over $100 billion in debt on the Ford Motor Credit side used to fund loans. That should tell you something, when one company by itself has more than $100 billion in outstanding loans that they have funded. That’s not even counting the loans on Ford vehicles funded through other financing companies.

Really? What’s wrong with your G? I’ve got a 1st gen from Republic. It was getting slower and slower until I upgraded to Lollipop. Now I only have issues when I try to run obscene numbers of apps at the same time.

And car loans are based on the assumption the asset depreciates. The % of loans that are delinquent is actually very small currently, and most loans are structured to guarantee that the bank doesn’t lose money as long as the buyer doesn’t default in the first year. Those going ape over this truly don’t understand…

3rd: I still think its criminal that Honda is getting replacement parts while others struggle to, considering the evidence that Honda knew about this defect years before anyone else and did nothing - essentially putting the other makers at risk.

1) exactly. It’s like car reviews telling me not to buy a car because their 5'2" reviewer didn’t find the seats comfortable. I’m 6'6" and I might. I can also get my smartphone to be my GPS - works just as well and a hell of a lot cheaper to upgrade. Just tell me if some central function breaks, not some stupid…

Yeah, I just looked and the spreads are closer than they used to be - the average Ford bill was £317.47 and the average Toyota bill £397.31. The Ford comes in at slightly lower hours to repair.

They used to report yearly average costs and time off the road - and that was what was really interesting - rather than a…

There were some interesting bits of info in there a few years ago when I looked at them.

Such as:

Toyotas break down less often than Fords. However, they cost more per year to repair and spent more days in the shop per year than Fords. In other words, the Ford would break, but be fast and cheap to fix. The Toyota would…

1st:

Ironically, the State of Nevada has also effectively declared war on solar power by killing net metering. In doing so, they’ll create a spike in demand for Tesla batteries made in Nevada but also kill all future prospects for additional sales of batteries in Nevada, because no one in their right mind would…

So basically, they invented a hovercar when it drives on the Southfield freeway? Because that thing is (or at least was, last time I saw it) nothing but potholes.

This is what I picked up... got the last one the store had here...

This is what I picked up... got the last one the store had here...

+1 for bringing up the Prisoner’s Dilemma - a very basic principle that most people don’t have a clue about.

It’s also the clear problem with claims from supporters of “right to work” laws who state that unions will be just fine if they show their value to workers - because no matter what they do, there is no incentive…

Yikes. I just picked up a 600A jumpstarter with 12v outlet, usb port, and air compressor for $15. Yeah, it might not be the greatest device, but the only negative reviews were based on it not being able to jumpstart a vehicle several times without recharging. Not a real concern to me.

Yikes. I just picked up a 600A jumpstarter with 12v outlet, usb port, and air compressor for $15. Yeah, it might not…

I’m aware of the convergence of prices - however, they normally don’t converge that quickly. That normally happens when the cars approach the $3-4k value range.

Holy depreciation, batman... When I purchased a relative’s 2006 Fusion, its fair market value was almost this high (quite a few less miles, but still). If you can get a BMW into the same price range as a similar age Ford, that BMW is taking an absolute beating on resale.

No, because those are the curves for cars. The truck curves are lower. In addition, these mpg ratings are NOT what you see on the sticker. They’re based on old test methods that have been modified twice in ways that reduce the sticker mpg, though the mpg that counts for CAFE is still calculated the old way.

To…

Those $1000 deposits cannot be counted as profits. That will give them cash, but with an equal offsetting liability. Net, no profit.

I gave up on figuring out immediate reactions on Wall Street years ago - in the mid 90s, Ford had a string of some ridiculous number of quarters where they beat the consensus estimates for earnings each quarter. Yet every time, the share price would drop. One time, I actually heard an “analyst” say “well, they beat…

I think we can call that a swing and a big freakin’ miss -

-$0.87 per share using non-GAAP.

$320 million loss using GAAP.

$229 million less in cash and cash equivalents at the end of the quarter.

Dates for positive cash flow and profitability pushed back.

The point is pretty simple - the old Michigan truck plant was a fixed system designed to produce only one product - the Navigator and the Expedition. You couldn’t “flip a switch” and have Explorers come off the same line. You had to go in and completely replace all major tooling with new systems designed for that new…

Not necessarily - GM is already producing batteries at a cost per kWh below what Tesla says they’ll get to with the Gigafactory.