Next-Generation Lexus IS F in 2022?

GNS

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Bit of a little rant incoming.

Ford has a history of promising stuff and stacking the numbers on paper, then completely under-delivering or botching it. A particularly sore point for me was the Focus RS. I wanted the Focus RS right when I heard about it, despite being leery of Ford and their quality. It is hard NOT to like what you see on paper - 350hp, torque vectoring AWD, 6 MT, hatchback, 19" wheels with Brembos (front only), aggressive pop-pop exhaust.

Aside from the price up here in Canada ($59k after taxes for a Focus, anybody?), other troubling details began to emerge. The headgaskets were failing because the design was not good enough and/or they used the wrong gasket at the factory. The exhaust pipes at the rear are crushed/bent from the factory in order to make room for something. The propshaft is a 3 piece unit with the middle section being significantly thinner than the rest. The turn radius of the vehicle was enormous, the AWD system overheated on track, the cabin and cargo space was severely compromised because they shoehorned the AWD system in, etc.

Then Ford killed it off after only a few years, along with all the other cars except the Mustang, and that was it for me. If I had given in to impulse and bought the Focus RS, I would now be stuck with a compromised car that Ford doesn't even acknowledge anymore. I would bring it into a Ford dealership and they'll be like "sorry, we don't service anything other than Mustangs, SUVs, trucks and trucks, get out of here with your foreign junk".

You just can't go back to trusting Ford after that.
 

Gecko

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Bit of a little rant incoming.

Ford has a history of promising stuff and stacking the numbers on paper, then completely under-delivering or botching it. A particularly sore point for me was the Focus RS. I wanted the Focus RS right when I heard about it, despite being leery of Ford and their quality. It is hard NOT to like what you see on paper - 350hp, torque vectoring AWD, 6 MT, hatchback, 19" wheels with Brembos (front only), aggressive pop-pop exhaust.

Aside from the price up here in Canada ($59k after taxes for a Focus, anybody?), other troubling details began to emerge. The headgaskets were failing because the design was not good enough and/or they used the wrong gasket at the factory. The exhaust pipes at the rear are crushed/bent from the factory in order to make room for something. The propshaft is a 3 piece unit with the middle section being significantly thinner than the rest. The turn radius of the vehicle was enormous, the AWD system overheated on track, the cabin and cargo space was severely compromised because they shoehorned the AWD system in, etc.

Then Ford killed it off after only a few years, along with all the other cars except the Mustang, and that was it for me. If I had given in to impulse and bought the Focus RS, I would now be stuck with a compromised car that Ford doesn't even acknowledge anymore. I would bring it into a Ford dealership and they'll be like "sorry, we don't service anything other than Mustangs, SUVs, trucks and trucks, get out of here with your foreign junk".

You just can't go back to trusting Ford after that.

I will add onto this with similar experience. I think many of us have sat back over the last few years with tremendous respect for what Ford has done - The Raptor, the current gen Explorer has been nice, Ecoboost, Fusion Sport, nice designs, etc. However, I haven't forgotten so quickly what our experience with Ford has been like to OWN.

We had an '03 Explorer in the family that burned through four transmissions during it's 120k mile life. The '06 4Runner that replaced it is now at 160k miles with nothing but routine maintenance.

My best friend is an F-150 guy and always has been. CONSISTENTLY, their transmissions fail between 50-60k and have to be replaced, at which time the dealer just rolls him into a new one.

One of my other good friends has a 2015 Escape Titanium. It only has 80k on the clock and has been through countless electronic failures, the SYNC system has been replaced twice, and most recently, there's an issue with the starter.

Working in the industry, I know several techs, service writers and service directors who have told me without fail that they'd never own a Ford product after working on them/the brand. The construction is shoddy and the company knows it, but also doesn't really care. Many of the folks who buy Fords are so engrained or loyal to the brand that they put up with such quality, or the dealers do what my friend does - roll into a new model and wash their hands clean of the old one. There's not an expectation of quality and reliability like many of us have with Toyota - it's just a different approach to building cars.

It's a shame that things aren't different, because as you note: on paper, they look really, really good.
 

meth.ix

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Bit of a little rant incoming.

Ford has a history of promising stuff and stacking the numbers on paper, then completely under-delivering or botching it. A particularly sore point for me was the Focus RS. I wanted the Focus RS right when I heard about it, despite being leery of Ford and their quality. It is hard NOT to like what you see on paper - 350hp, torque vectoring AWD, 6 MT, hatchback, 19" wheels with Brembos (front only), aggressive pop-pop exhaust.

Aside from the price up here in Canada ($59k after taxes for a Focus, anybody?), other troubling details began to emerge. The headgaskets were failing because the design was not good enough and/or they used the wrong gasket at the factory. The exhaust pipes at the rear are crushed/bent from the factory in order to make room for something. The propshaft is a 3 piece unit with the middle section being significantly thinner than the rest. The turn radius of the vehicle was enormous, the AWD system overheated on track, the cabin and cargo space was severely compromised because they shoehorned the AWD system in, etc.

Then Ford killed it off after only a few years, along with all the other cars except the Mustang, and that was it for me. If I had given in to impulse and bought the Focus RS, I would now be stuck with a compromised car that Ford doesn't even acknowledge anymore. I would bring it into a Ford dealership and they'll be like "sorry, we don't service anything other than Mustangs, SUVs, trucks and trucks, get out of here with your foreign junk".

You just can't go back to trusting Ford after that.
wow, I was considering to buy a used RS in college, guess not now that I know how unreliable it is.
 
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