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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mr. OAM" data-source="post: 221439" data-attributes="member: 9816">You can't go on the past record of car companies anymore. Toyota is hopefully the eye opener on this point.As for the Germans, they've been having trouble over the last several years as well. In JD Power rankings for 2006 BMW dropped from 3rd to 28th and Mercedes from 6th to 26th."This year's influential Initial Quality Study (IQS) from J. D. Power was surprising for the poor showing from three of the leading German carmakers. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi--widely respected as titans of engineering and pioneers in car tech--all suffered a considerable drop in the nameplate rankings, with BMW slipping from 3rd to 28th and Mercedes falling by a similar margin, from 6th to 26th. Audi skidded from 8th place last year to 19th in 2006."<a href="http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6543837.html" target="_blank">http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6543837.html</a>But they did improve greatly in the next year..."To us, the more important aspect is the problems per hundred vehicles. In that category, Mercedes-Benz improved roughly 20 percent and is now the fifth-ranked automaker in the (JD Power) study."<a href="http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2007/06/jd_power.html" target="_blank">http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2007/06/jd_power.html</a>Right now Ford's quality is tied with and surpassing Toyota as Toyota falls to more and more problems. The only one ahead in the US market in quality it Honda, and we have them in our sights. 8)Ford has the safest full sized sedans in the market.The Mustang CONVERTIBLE became the first convertible to ever score 5 stars in every safety crash test(NHTSA).Ford had the highest number of recommended buys (Consumer Reports) who doesn't particularly care for Ford in my experience) with 41 out of 44 vehicles, 93%, the highest of any automobile manufacturer.The way things have been are not the way they are now, and the way they are now is not how they are going to be tomorrow. Get the info for yourself and see what's been happening. I work at Ford and it is not the same company it was 2 years ago, and in another year it is not going to be the same it is today.Steve</blockquote>