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I have to agree with the OP. We rented a Mondeo 6 speed diesel a couple months ago in Europe. It was fantastic! I felt the same way about us not being able to get one here. It was not a small car at all. My family of 5 and all our gear easily fit in with plenty of room left over. It had good power, and easily went 90 mph with no problem. Gas mileage was very good over the 10 days we had it. I saw other cars I wish we could get here. I'm kind of sad about what is happening to the US.
No, you could get the new Ranger instead of an F150. The Ranger we won't be getting and is about the size of the early to mid 80's F150. And if a person has the money for a Shelby you could get it anywhere.
What's the point of that Ranger here then? Get an F150 that is oodles more capable for marginally more cost. My F150 tagged for $25,300ish ($22k from the factory) back in 2003 and even by today's money, it's still a way better deal than the loaded 2wd SuperCab Rangers I've seen tagging for $24,000 on dealer lots. I can't imagine the price on that newer Ranger and it making ONE IOTA of sense over here.
The Aussie F150 is actually a US F250 last I saw Ford's ozzie website some years back. Not too many of those trolling around from what I remember the price tag being, either.
I agree with the premise of the thread, though. The Sport Trac was a POS and even the Focus was a recycled generation-old Euro platform by the time the US got it...
You can get a Shelby, or less intense Mustang, in the UK. You can also get a Camaro.
However, you can't get this in the US:
Or this:
The thing is that a lot of those little cars over there now have similar 0-60 times to most midsized sedans you'll get here, and the main gripe the OP had is that you can get midsized diesels with adequate performance and greatly-superior MPG over there that never make it over here.
the first car is hideous and i've seen plenty of old model skylines and even the newer gtr's. clubsportiva had the new ones for rental
edit- and when i was in france i thought all the cars were too small and ugly. those fiats/peugeots/renaults are all ugly
What's the point of that Ranger here then? Get an F150 that is oodles more capable for marginally more cost. My F150 tagged for $25,300ish ($22k from the factory) back in 2003 and even by today's money, it's still a way better deal than the loaded 2wd SuperCab Rangers I've seen tagging for $24,000 on dealer lots. I can't imagine the price on that newer Ranger and it making ONE IOTA of sense over here.
The rest of the world gets a crew cab(4 real doors and a real back seat) along with an available diesel. A lot of people that buy f150's don't need a truck like that but want one any ways. The new global ranger makers more sense now then ever before, and we are not getting it.
The new Ranger, and lots of other high MPG, well-made cars available overseas, would be a great fit for sensible people in the U.S. who need a truck but don't need one that is a mile wide. However, we have an all-time deficit of sensibility here.
I live in rural England and have lived in Houston.
For the last year our daughter has been driving herself in her Toyota Aygo to school about twelve miles away in a nearby town. It suits her very well and on her commute of small roads, main road and then crawl across town and she gets over 50mpg (Imperial).
If we were back in Houston and she were commuting somewhere there's no way I'd let her drive such a car. She'd be a sitting duck for all the SUVs and pickups that career around that metropolis.
The point I'm making is that certain vehicles suit particular markets and though some are suitable both in the US and elsewhere, others do not.
if you want to blame someone for us not getting the same cars as what the europeans get, dont blame the automakers, blame the government and blame the people of THIS country who want the big SUVs and the big trucks instead of small diesel powered cars, and small trucks. i agree that many of the cars that they get in europe are more desirable in many ways, but the cars that sell here are the ones that the people here want.
Sometimes I think if I see one more obese person driving a big fat SUV I will get out of the car and scream at them.
LOSE WEIGHT. DRIVE SOMETHING SENSIBLE. What a waste of breath and stress that would be.
I have to agree with the OP. We rented a Mondeo 6 speed diesel a couple months ago in Europe. It was fantastic! I felt the same way about us not being able to get one here. It was not a small car at all. My family of 5 and all our gear easily fit in with plenty of room left over. It had good power, and easily went 90 mph with no problem. Gas mileage was very good over the 10 days we had it. I saw other cars I wish we could get here. I'm kind of sad about what is happening to the US.
So we are like the Soviet Union used to be then. We are being limited by our government on what we can purchase and own? I don't know any other way to look at it.
So we are like the Soviet Union used to be then. We are being limited by our government on what we can purchase and own? I don't know any other way to look at it.
Yeaaahh.. Thats EXACTLY what it's like..
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