Why doesn't Detroit make a vehicle for folks like me

Emission controls, exhaust system that meets required noise and fire standards, heat and sound insulation, DOT approved seatbelts, air bags, safety glass, safety latches on doors and trunk lid, DOT approved fuel system with vapor recovery, DOT approved brake lines and components, energy absorbing bumpers and frame structure, cooling and lubrication systems that don’t require frequent maintenance, DOT approved tires and wheels, DOT approved space saver spare, etc.

There is a world of difference between a race car and a “stripped” but legal street car.

Right, but the things that you mentioned generally DON’T fall into the category of simply removing items, but instead REPLACING items with others. For example, replacing power brakes with standard brakes. Ford would have to find someone to build that other braking system, retrain employees to install it, figure out a way to determine how many of those trucks without power brakes would sell, interrupt the production lines to divert enough frames to get this special handling, and so forth.

Ultimately, as someone else has mentioned, it is like asking why cars don’t come in hundreds of thousands of colors, instead of about ten. You can buy any color for your house, and you can have an auto body shop paint your car any color you want, but increasing specialization of a vehicle production line means decreased economies of scale. It is exactly for this reason, as you recall, that Mr. Ford said that his customers could have a car in any color they wanted, so long as that color was black.

And by the way, I found a brand new 2005 Ford Ranger XL in my area that is selling for under $12,000, taking into account the current “employee discount” promotion. You can even get low financing rates, apparently. That seems like a very reasonable price. It doesn’t have air conditioning, so it might be right up your alley. :slight_smile:

It’s all about economics of scale. Say Chevy decides to put manual windows and locks on their Colorado. They now have to source parts, redesign the door panels, manufacture different door panels, and interrupt the assembly line. Each of things cost them money. For what, 1000 sales a year? And chances are most of these sales would have happened whether or not they offered a “Old Codger” version of the Colorado or not. So they may gain 500 new sales for an expenditure of a couple million dollars. That doesn’t sound like a sound business plan to me.

The above doesn’t even factor into the equation the increase in price to the base vehicle to offset the changes, driving 2000 customers to the comprably equiped, but cheaper Ford Ranger. By the way, the Ranger is now cheaper because of your need for manual windows. Chevy soon goes bankrupt and the US economy tanks as a result. This quickly leads to the US being classified as a fouth world country. So by eschewing power accessories, you are letting the terrorists win.

Gee WhiteyFoo, did he make baby Jesus cry too? Now I feel bad for not getting power windows in my truck.

You can get what you want but it will probably have to be a light pickup and you may have to jump through a few hoops to get it.

Only if he decided to not get the Baby Seal covered seats. Baby Jesus loves him some Baby Seal fur on his butt.

And you should. I bet you have busts of Lenin and Marx on your mantle too.

Disclaimer:
All posts by Whiteyfoo are to be read with tounge firmly planted in cheek.

Again, I’ll say that they do make those cars. But, for all of the reasons the previous posters said, take that and apply it to the dealerships instead of to the manufacturing plant. I know for a fact that we can get completely stripped down Focuses, because it surprised the hell out of me the first time I saw one. I simply assume that since I never saw one, that they didn’t exist. Many of my coworkers are currently driving Focus without power brakes, no ABS, manual locks and windows, no cruise control, but (this being the desert) do have air conditioners. When I was in the market for a Ranger a few years ago, I found conclusively that completely, totally stripped down Rangers are available, too.

These are order-from-the-factory-vehicles. No dealer in his right mind is going to stock these vehicles and take the risk that he can’t sell it.

Now, as for manufacturability, it’s not really such an issue for economics of scale. Many of our vehicles – like the Focus and the Ranger – are built for the entire western hemisphere, and variants thereof for the entire world. Now it’s a fact the American/Canadian consumers don’t want stripped down cars. Who the hell wants to buy a stripped down brand new car for $12,000 when for $12,000 you can get a perfectly good, slightly used vehicle with bells and whistles. It’s a lesson we’ve all learned in the USA/Canadian market. But we design our lower priced vehicles with other markets in mind. In Mexico and most of Central and South Americaca it’s still very comm to buy a stripped down brand new car. So while some of the previous posters are right in their ideals, in practice it’s not economically unfeasible.

Okay, now you want to move up into a Ford Fusion or 500. For your money, you’re stuck with power windows and locks. You’re not going to get into anything more austere andywhere in this hemisphere. Why? This is a more affluent market. People don’t buy higher end cars just for basic transportation. Cheapskates buy cheap cars, or used cars. This market pressure – unlike for the stripped down small cars – is the same in the Latin American market as for the USA/Canada. People that can suddenly move out of “cheap” transportation don’t want to spend more money for “cheap” transportation that’s merely larger. (Of course, for pickup trucks, there’s still substantial utility use, and so stripped down versions are available in the entire hemisphere.)

Consider also that for Latin American markets there’s also a lower class of vehicles that we don’t see in the United States. So stripped down, small cars are actually at a level below the Focus and Ranger class that’s the smallest currently available in the USA/Canada.

Quote balthazar

sic transportation. Cheapskates buy cheap cars, or used cars.(quote)

Gee thanks guy.

(Quote)
Consider also that for Latin American markets there’s also a lower class of vehicles that we don’t see in the United States. So stripped down, small cars are actually at a level below the Focus and Ranger class that’s the smallest currently available in the USA/Canada.
[/QUOTE]

So I gotta go to Guatamalla(sp) for my next light truck huh?

As I said, a contractor truck. I bet they have ABS, if only for insurance reasons. In any case, dealerships do not want to sell them, you may have to order one, but you can in fact just get one.

Even better for you might be a used contractor truck. Some guys buy a truck and remover the bed at once to replace it with one of those tool-box-on-wheels things. When they are ready to sell, they take off the contractor thing and replace the bed.

Just keep an eye on the classified ads, or put out the word that you are in the market.

Out of curiousity (and i really dont want to debate it here), why would you want to buy an American vehicle?

They’re mostly made in other countries, and foreign auto-makers tend to provide cheaper vehicles that are more durable.

Where Carmen Miranda wears the most fragrant hats.

:smiley:

More seriously, Balthisar, is ordering from the factory a good way for the average Joe Blow to buy his next vehicle? It seems like there are more options, but how is the price affected?

A new super-cheap car (less than $7000) that meets all your no-needs is being made by Renault in Romania.

(Trouble is, buyers want to have air conditioners, CD players etc. !)

here are two

I’m not calling you a cheapskate (although I don’t know you, you could be one). But you’re taking that way out of context. Proper context would be more like “People don’t buy higher end cars just for basic transportation. Cheapskates buy cheap cars, or used cars.” And since you, yourself, mentioned “real economy vehicle” in your OP, it’s obvious that you’re not interested in stepping up to a higher class of car.

I was going to suggest you go to Mexico in my previous post, but I didn’t know if you’d appreciate the humor. Now I see you wouldn’t have! :slight_smile: But… you missed this: “(Of course, for pickup trucks, there’s still substantial utility use, and so stripped down versions are available in the entire hemisphere.)” So no, you don’t have to leave town. All you have to do is go to your dealer and tell them to order it. If they won’t play ball, go to another dealer (I hate dealers). Heck, do it online: the cheapest (using ZIP 50309 Des Moines, invoice prices) Focus:$13,309.00 F-150: $18,584.00 Ranger: $14,713.00

Then it’s totally inappropriate to even bring it up. This isn’t the early 90’s.

Should be absolutely no difference in price. But… your dealer can’t be a jerk. They have an incentive to move their on-lot inventory more than get something special from the factory for you. They can be disinclined to order something special for you. This doesn’t mean they won’t – they have to – but they’re going to try to talk you out of it. In short, factory options are the same price no matter where you buy the car. Dealer options – Honda does this a lot – can have an MSRP but they’re free to charge what they want. Luckily most of the American manufacturers don’t have a lot of manufacturer-recommend dealer options. That’s why dealers try to rip you off with paint protection and undercoating and window etching.

Well, there’s the Focus, which is finally just as good as a Honda Civic. And I mean that. I owned two Ford Escorts and promised never to drive another Ford again. I switched to two Honda Civics (in series, not in parallel!). Truly excellent cars, and you can never go wrong with a Civic. Quality-wise, the Focus is there, too, after stumbling a bit at the outset. Hondas are, though, a lot more expensive than they appear to be, mostly because there are very, very, very few factory options. Take a look at their website. Most of the options that you add have MSRP, and there’s a small disclaimer stating that that price doesn’t include installation. That’s because they don’t install them on the assembly line, but rather at the dealership. The dealer, then, can charge hourly labor or whatever he wants for the installations!