Maxidyne

Used to run WI 29 at night from Elk Mound to Waseau, usually saw several deer every trip.

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2016/11/10/watch-joe-biden-and-colin-powell-race-each-other-in-corvettes.html

Used to be that trucking was profitable enough that you could do stupid stuff like spend good money on a new truck then park it. Nowadays it's so dog eat dog that even well managed trucking operations go under.

And Ford is leaving a lot of Transit sales "on the table" at that. I've been dickering on a van for a couple years now and came close to buying a Transit Connect a couple months ago. I want a "Kombi"- 2nd and maybe 3rd row seats that are easily removable so I can easily switch between people hauling, mobile workshop, motorcycle hauler, and farm supply hauling, but Ford wants to sell me either a panel van or a passenger van with no options in between. I want a few useful options like Trailer Tow Package, Roof Rack and Bars, HID Lights, etc. and find few in stock Connects with these options, but almost every one has stupid gadgets like Synch and the usual smarmy automatic braking, lane centering, etc. for the "text while sort of driving" market, which being "Old School" I have no need for. And because they've flooded the dealers with such poorly spec'd vehicles, they sit on the lot despite 10-20% discounts, while if I order what I want even with "X Plan" discount I only get about 5% off and hope the message gets to Spain to build it my way. And they wonder why the Connect is a slow seller?

Sounds like the "delete" deleted the wrong code, demand your money back. 1100-1200 RPM is below the power band for an '08 Volvo engine, not surprising it has little power there.

Sounds like you have one of the late 2006 build trucks with the new for 2007 model year Volvo engine but with 2004 emissions. You may have to do some digging to find the correct service info for your truck. Has your Mack dealer been any help?

How does Ford expect to be taken seriously in the commercial vehicle market place in America when even Daimler offers a broader range of vehicles from compact cars up to the heavy end of Class 8?

CNH AKA IVECO AKA FCA is already selling a side by side ATV called the Scout. Ford has already made it clear that VW won't get to sell a VW badged Ranger in the U.S., so no way will Ford let VW put there badges on a Bronco. That said, within the next five years the Fords will have to sell out to the Porsches or at least save face and merge and Navistar will have no choice but to sell to VW Group at VW Group's price. Assuming VW Group's trademark lawyers prevail, we may see badge engineered "Scout" variants of Ford's BOF truck platform in International showrooms and who knows what VW will call their VW, Audi, and maybe Porsche too versions?

A 2015 is probably out of warranty and Volvo wants $15,000 for a rebuilt transmission.

A Detroit insiders view: http://www.autoextremist.com/current/2020/8/4/ford-goes-long-and-wrong-again.html

Pardon me, I'm no fan of either so easy to confuse.

Well, at least they got rid of Farley...

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-coronavirus&region=TOP_BANNER&context=storylines_menu

And you "won" what?

Somebody page me? Biggest cause is usually alcoholism and chemical dependency, which often manifests as poor attendance. In enlightened workplaces that follow the law, worker gets a chance at rehabilitation but sadly most resume use. Violence or threat of same is rare, but in zero tolerance workplaces usually results in immediate dismissal with little grounds for defense through the grievance process.

Sweden can almost get away without social distancing because half the population lives alone. Same with some remote rural areas like northern Wisconsin until summer comes. Worked for a while here in soutrhwest Minnesota, now we're a COVID-19 "Hot Spot" because the slow spread of the virus here due to our remoteness lulled people into a false sense of security.

Is that a Postal Service truck?

Pardon me, been about 3 weeks since I last posted on this thread and I'd forgotten what a wrenched sewer you guys had made of it. All I did was post the relevant info- Trump was given the opportunity to screen for the Teamster's endorsement and he hasn't responded. So I'll let y'all get back to bashing firefighters and unions and fighting among yourselves in my absence.

Mach Tech, we were hosed by Trump- He hasn't asked for the Teamsters endorsement! Check this website https://teamstersvote.com/ . The Teamsters asked the candidates to submit a video and sign a pledge to support basic union goals like supporting pensions and collective bargaining- And no surprise, Trump refuses to sign that pledge.

I've had similar experience with NAPA- Used to be great service with lotsa American made parts at reasonable prices. Living out here in the country 20 miles from the NAPA store it was nice to go online, order the part, and pick it up next day. Then the great NAPA store franchisee left town, leaving me with a couple other NAPA franchisees who couldn't or wouldn't do online orders. Finally got another franchisee to open up in the same town 20 miles away, but they group all their online inventory with their other store 50 miles away so you don't know which store has what in stock.

And just where are we to find all these "American made" parts? Case in point, '98 Ford Ranger I've been working on this summer- Great truck but Ford ran out of half the parts years ago- I've had emergency brake cables on back order since 2003! I shop all the usual aftermarket suppliers from NAPA on down, sometimes I can find Mexican parts, but often the only parts available are Chinese. I actually have better luck finding non-Chinese parts for my VWs because VW and their owners are a fussy lot.

That's exactly what's happened- Ford historically has an over 60% customer loyalty rate, but only 20% of Focus owners shopping for a replacement have bought another Ford. The only way to hang on to these car customers is to rebate and discount that sacred "transaction price" down to that of a comparable car, with Ford and the dealers making even less profit!

As far as cutting off China's bean supply, there's plenty other countries they can buy from- World wide, there's four times as much crop growing acreage as is need to meet world food demand. I try to buy American made, but there's Chinese content in just about every vehicle and even for an "American" vehicle, often the only replacement parts available are made in China.

Dropping all their sedans is the biggest flaw in Ford's current strategy- Minority buyers of all ages and young buyers of all races tend to prefer cars to SUVs and trucks. The effect of dropping cars is most visible in California, where Galpin Ford lost it's title as Ford's top selling dealership due to the loss of sedan offerings. FFI: https://sfvbj.com/news/2020/feb/27/galpins-long-streak-no-1-ford-dealer-ends/

And why do we lead the world in software? Diversity! There are few places in the world like the bay area in California and Seattle where you can find people from enough varied cultures to produce software in dozens of languages that users around the world will be comfortable with and buy. And software trumps hardware- You know that little company on Infinite Loop in Cupertino with the trillion dollar valuation? Their hardware is made from the same parts as PCs and Android phones, but their superior Macintosh and iPhone/iPad software earned Apple that trillion dollar valuation.