[Christien]

The old slogan "have you driven a Ford lately?" was retired for a good reason. I've driven 4 Fords lately, and I would never buy any. We have an Explorer in the family (dealership car we're long-term "borrowing"), fully loaded, pretty much every option, and it's a POS. The suspension is bouncy as hell, it handles like a shopping cart, and sucks gas like there's no tomorrow. Why would you ever want a V8 in a SUV? My father in law has an Explorer Sport Trac which I also dislike. They both have the same transmission which is miserable. Believe it or not, I've peeled the tires accidentally several times - IN REVERSE! The gas pedal is completely unpredictable in its sensitivity. I also had the misfortune of driving an 01 or 02 Mustang V6 auto recently. I can't believe they have the nerve to put the Mustang logo on that car. It's uncomfortable, slow, heavy, drives like a pig, and has none of the fun of a sports car whatsoever.

We put some 100km on a used 93 Lexus ES300 - probably the best all-around appliance car I've ever driven. Superbly comfortable, great sound system, good gas mileage, extremely low maintenance. Man, do I miss that car!