Five Habits that will Ruin your Vehicle | Tri-State Ford Amarillo TX

Avoiding these habits can go a long way in preventing an expensive repair bill.

Most things you own will last longer if you take care of them and treat them well. Your car is no exception to this rule. While neglecting your car may seem harmless in the short term, regular neglect and mistreatment will add up and will reduce your car’s lifespan. To keep your car running longer and stronger, avoid these five harmful habits.

1. Delaying regular maintenance

Regularly maintaining your car is vital to your car’s longevity. Regular maintenance includes oil and filter replacement, as well as transmission fluid, air filter and brake pad care. Every vehicle manufacturer specifies a different maintenance routine, which can be found in your owner’s manual. While regular maintenance requires you to invest some time and money, it’s peanuts compared to the cost of a new engine or transmission.

2. Ignoring dash warning lights

When a warning indicator lights up on your dash panel, it’s important to address the problem immediately. If you don’t know what the light means, check your owner’s manual or call your mechanic. Dash warning lights can alert you to some very serious problems, such as a coolant leak, which can cause your engine to overheat. A simple preventative repair can often prevent a large problem down the line.

3. Shifting while moving

The transmission is one of the most complex and expensive parts in your car and it’s important to use is as it was intended. Be careful not to shift from drive to reverse or vice versa while the car is still moving. This “jerky” shifting places excess strain on the transmission’s internal gears and can instantly destroy it.

4. Jerky driving

We all know someone who accelerates wildly on every straightaway only to brake hard at a traffic light or stop sign. This type of driving won’t destroy your car immediately, but will cause your engine, transmission and brake system to deteriorate much more quickly than intended. Cars that have been abused will have premature fluid leaks, broken seals and mechanical problems.

5. Putting off tire replacement

Tires for some cars can be expensive, so replacing them is an unwelcome cost. Driving on bald tires is very risky, however. If a tire blows out while you’re driving, you can lose control of your vehicle and have a serious accident. And if you drive with bald tires in the rain, the risk of hydroplaning goes up tremendously. A new set of tires may seem pricey, but probably costs less than your car, and even less than your insurance deductible.

Ford adds 850 jobs to build 2015 F-150 | Tri-State Ford Amarillo TX

By Noah JosephRSS feedGoogle+

Pickup trucks tend not to advance at quite the same pace as the rest of the industry. That's what makes the new Ford F-150 so remarkable, jettisoning its old steel construction in favor of aluminum. It's a game changer that Ford is betting big on, and in anticipation of surging demand, the Blue Oval automaker is adding 850 new jobs to put the thing together.

Those 850 new employees will be centered at Ford's Rouge complex in Michigan – with 300 at Dearborn Stamping, 50 more at Dearborn Diversified and 500 at the Dearborn Truck facility, the latter of which has already kicked off what Ford describes as "the largest manufacturing transformation in decades." Old manufacturing equipment is being replaced with the latest technologies, and even the Ford Rouge Factory Tour is undergoing a complete overhaul.

The new jobs come as part of the commitments Ford made to the UAW in 2011 to create 12,000 hourly jobs in the United States by 2015 – a number which Ford has already exceeded at 14,000. Over 4,000 of those are centered in southeastern Michigan.

Secrets Behind the New Ford Power Stroke Diesel | Tri-State Ford Amarillo TX

Tori Tellem,

 

10/5/2014

 

Secret #1: Ford engineered its own powertrain for the 2015 Super Duty^®

Secret #2: The 6.7-liter Power Stroke^® V8 makes more horsepower and torque than the previous model

Secret #3: First rule of the Power Stroke? There are no secrets

The design of the 6.7-liter Power Stroke V8™ is something you would think would be cloaked in darkness, even within the walls of the Blue Oval. ™ Not so – Ford is proud of what it accomplished with the second-generation diesel model optional in the 2015 Super Duty, and admitted building an efficient engine* required a lot of openness. “Keeping everything in-house gives a competitive advantage because there are no go-betweens,” explained David Ives, Ford Power Stroke Technical Specialist. “The engine guy can just walk over to the transmission guy and they can work together to find the best solutions, breaking down barriers.”

The upgrades to the Power Stroke resulted in 440 horsepower – the previous 6.7-liter Power Stroke made 400 – and 860 lb.-ft. of torque – up from 800. This pertains to all Super Duty models, from F-250 to F-450. That’s what happens when you engineer a work truck to be a work truck, and as a team. Ford is the only manufacturer that develops and builds its own powertrains in this class. And there are innovations galore: a compacted graphite iron engine block and reverse-flow layout. About that no-secret rule? “Strong communication built a better diesel truck,” David added.

“The designers of the original 6.7-liter Power Stroke V8 Turbo Diesel predicted that it would eventually need to be upgraded for higher output,” said David. “They designed it in a way that made it easier to add a larger turbocharger, increasing airflow and creating more power for dramatically improved performance, yet we haven’t lost any efficiency.”

So, looks like the cat is out of the bag: This purpose-built truck has been improved from (cylinder) head to tow.

*Based on Ford simulated city-suburban drive-cycle tests of comparably equipped 2015 Ford and 2011-2013 competitive models, consistent with SAE Standard J1321.

The New Old Reliable | Tri-State Ford Amarillo TX

Ford Social Member,

 

9/19/2014

For Loveland, Ohio lawyer Doug Nienaber, Ford has always been a family name. “We’ve had Fords in my family for as long as I can remember,” says the 38-year-old father of two. “My dad was a business manager at a Ford dealership, and he was always bringing home demo vehicles. We got a lot of attention. One time he brought home an early Taurus. Sometimes he’d bring something even more exotic.”

He brought home a Mustang in 1979, the year it was the pace car at the Indy 500. “That was amazing,” Nienaber says. “The car had a graphic logo on the side, and everybody wanted to know more about it.”

And while Nienaber loved the glitz and glamor that rolled into the driveway with each new Ford his dad brought home, he always felt a deeper connection to the Blue Oval.

“We’ve always been attracted to the quality,” he explains. “The first car I ever had was an Escort that I bought from my dad back when I was in college. It wasn’t a muscle car by any stretch, but it served me well for a long time, gave me a lot of great memories—I dated my [now] wife, Jennifer, in that car—and it never let me down.”

That Escort carried Nienaber to the purchase of his first Focus in 2002—a car that, he says, became a trusted member of his family. “I bought it the year I graduated from law school, and it was the first time I bought a new car with my own money. It endured 130,000 miles and took me through everything my twenties had to offer. I brought my daughter home from the hospital in that car!”

In fact, he loved that Focus so much that he didn’t want to part with it. “I cared for it like it was one of my kids. I changed the oil, did the repairs. I didn’t want it to leave the family, so I sold it to my cousin. It still rides like it’s brand new.”

What’s new in his garage is a 2013 Focus ST. He wanted something that he could depend on, but that would also be exciting to drive. “It’s a lot more powerful and a lot faster [than my 2002 Focus], but it’s got a similar feel and the same reliability,” Nienaber says. “It’s reminiscent of the old car, but it’s modern. My kids love it.”

“It’s also great for hauling around all the kids’ stuff and friends,” he explains. “I coach my son’s T-ball team, and we can fit all the equipment in the back.” The five-door hatchback makes loading and unloading the kids easy.

No matter the task at hand, the Focus ST always adds a little Ford fun for the Nienaber family.

2015 Ford Mustang fuel economy ratings leaked | Tri-State Ford

Thinking about buying a new Mustang, but want to know what kind of fuel economy it'll get? Well we have our first indication as the pony-car enthusiasts over at Mustang6G.com have gotten a hold of the Monroney window stickers for a few of the new 2015 Mustang models.

Although the V8 model is not among them, we can now see how the EPA has rated those models with a half dozen pistons or less. The Mustang EcoBoost with the turbo four and a manual transmission has been rated at 22 miles per gallon in the city and 31 on the highway. The V6 manual gets 17 city and 28 highway, while the V6 automatic squeezes out a bit more in the city at 19 mpg but carries the same 28 highway rating.

By way of comparison, the latest Chevy Camaro with the V6 and a stick shift gets the same 17/28 EPA rating as a similarly equipped new 'Stang, and the V6 automatic Camaro gets 18/27 (slightly behind the Ford, but if you opt for the Camaro 2LS with its V6, automatic and 2.92 rear axle ratio, you'll be looking at 19 and 30).

Dodge doesn't offer a manual on the six-cylinder Challenger, but with the new eight-speed automatic, it gets the same 19/30 rating as the Camaro 2LS, both better than the six-cylinder, automatic Mustang on the highway – though the EcoBoost has, as expected, emerged as the most fuel-efficient pony car on the market.

Source: http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/21/2015-ford-mustang-fuel-economy-ratings-leaked/

10 Driver Friendly Features the Ford F-150 Team Thought of So Customers Wouldn’t Have To | Tri-State Ford

There are 10 features of the all-new 2015 Ford F-150 pickup that were designed to satisfy customers without them ever even noticing.

 

"If I do my job, the customer simply intuits that things are right – both inside and outside of his truck – without even having to think about it," said Cary Diehl, Ford human factors engineer, who worked on the design and development of the all-new F-150.

The 10 things F-150 engineers thought of 

1. Hard buttons on keypad: Designers wanted smooth capacitive touch keypad buttons on the outside of the driver-side door, but pickup truck drivers prefer tactile feedback, allowing easier usability for when they’re wearing gloves. For customers who wear bifocals, hard buttons also enable input by feel, instead of having to tilt their head back to read numerals.

2. Beltline armrest on front doors: The beltline on the front doors is wide enough to accommodate most arms with the window up. The feature could be considered an armrest, and is at the same height as the center armrest.

3. Sculpted, finger relief inside door handle for easy hold: When grabbing the inside handle, the hand is already holding the door – a helpful feature to avoid losing control of the door on a windy day.

4. Buttons clustered for ease of use: Customer surveys showed a strong preference for controls clustered together. All lighting controls – headlamps, side spotlights, bed light – are grouped together on the left-hand side of the instrument panel, while all radio controls are to the right and below with the climate controls. Towing and other controls are to the right of the steering wheel as well.

5. Steering wheel feel: Finger indents remain on the back side of the steering wheel, a feature that on some competitor trucks is now smooth. These indents allow a lighter feel on the wheel for ease of maneuverability, especially when backing up a trailer or off-roading. 

6. MyView productivity screen customization: Because each customer uses the truck differently, the importance of specific features can vary. The truck is the “multi-tool” of vehicles. Some truck owners haul produce to farmers markets, while others tow horse trailers or go off-roading, making it tricky sometimes for engineers to determine the most essential information to include in the instrument cluster. Ford’s solution is MyView, which allows truck customers to sort and organize their top seven favorite gauges in the cluster on the 2015 F-150’s 8-inch screen. One button click can shift between individual tire pressure, trailer information, off-road mode or trip fuel – whichever their favorites are.

7. Entertainment information exclusively in center stack: Ford made a data-driven decision to not include any radio or entertainment features in the instrument panel cluster behind the steering wheel. “Our customers were adamant that trucks are different from cars, and vehicle information is essential,” Diehl explained. “Their truck is their tool, and they need to know what it’s doing. Other stuff can be in the center of the dashboard, or what we call the center stack.” The only entertainment information that appears in the instrument cluster of the F-150 are incoming calls and turn-by-turn directions.

8. Four-spoke steering wheel: F-150’s traditional, four-spoke design allows for a comfortable grip on the lower portion of the steering wheel. Other pickup truck manufacturers have closed off the bottom portion of the steering wheel. 

9. Grooves in tailgate handle: For ease of grip and use, grooves in the tailgate handle allow a customer to open and close the tailgate with one hand. 

10. Large box step: Ford made sure there was enough surface area on the box step of F-150 for a customer to place a full-size work boot – both to stand on the step and to push it back under the bed when not in use. 

Always Built Ford Tough

From nose to tailgate, the 2015 F-150 is an entirely new vehicle, right down to its signature feature – an all-new, fully boxed ladder frame with more high-strength steel than ever to make the truck stronger yet lighter. For the first time, high-strength, military-grade, aluminum alloys are used throughout the F-150 body. These alloys, already used in aerospace, commercial transportation and other industries, make the new truck’s body lighter, stronger and more resistant to dents. Overall, F-150 is up to 700 pounds lighter, helping it tow and haul more, accelerate and stop faster, and operate more efficiently.

Source: http://www.at.ford.com/news/cn/Pages/10%20Driver%20Friendly%20Features%20the%20Ford%20F-150%20Team%20Thought%20of%20So%20Customers%20Wouldn%E2%80%99t%20Have%20To.aspx 

Nail Polish, Mustang Style | TriState Ford

Everyone knows the Ford Mustang is an icon: a performance icon, a design icon and an innovation icon. But it’s also a fashion icon! And in conjunction with celebrating 50 years of the Mustang, there’s now a way to sport that style yourself: the limited-edition OPI Ford Mustang nail lacquer collection. Six Mustang-inspired shades will be available starting July 1, 2014: Race Red, 50 Years of Style, Queen of the Road, Girls Love Ponies, Angel with a Leadfoot and The Sky’s My Limit.
Now, you might be wondering, “Mustang nail polish?” But think about it: Your vehicle is an expression of you, and the color you picked says something about your style and passion and spirit. Ditto the personalization of nails. And the Mustang has colors that speak to its sportiness, power and eye-catching ways! And nail polish makes bold statements that capture the wearer’s personality, too. More like “Mustang nail polish!” Right?
Race Red is a tribute to one of the signature colors of the Mustang, while 50 Years of Style is a golden pearl. Queen of the Road was inspired by the black interior, and Girls Love Ponies is pink – playful like the Mustang. Angel with a Leadfoot is celestial white, and The Sky’s My Limit calls to the open road, top-down view of the blue sky. Trend alert: this aqua hue is a chic shade for summer going to fall.
And the neat thing is you can get creative and mix and match to create nail art! For example, how about a racing stripe that mixes Race Red with Queen of the Road? We also dig an ode to the GT logo using 50 Years of Style and Queen of the Road!
What will be your way to use the OPI colors to show off your Mustang style?

Source: http://social.ford.com/our-articles/cars/mustang/opi-mustang-nail-polish%E2%80%A6or-how-to-have-mustang-style/

Decoding Design: What Does Your Ford Mean? | TriState Ford

The way your Ford vehicle looks isn’t only about, well, how it looks. It’s about the experience, the connection and the feeling you get while looking at it and driving it. And we all have a unique taste–think about a vehicle that you’ve seen on the road and thought, “Yikes, that’s ugly!” Obviously that reaction wasn’t the designer’s goal, but the appearance spoke to someone else.

Within a vehicle design is a code that you interpret. How does the vehicle strike you emotionally? The proportions, the stance, the silhouette–these need to convey a message about the vehicle, and designers want you to hear what that message says: sporty, rugged, high tech, refined, elegant or something else. Your response to color and materials is a factor too.

In many ways, vehicles are pieces of art, and think about how art moves you and you connect to some pieces enough to want them in your home, aka your life. That makes vehicle designers and artists after the same thing–wanting you to take a closer look–and of course to buy their masterpiece!

One of the people who helps you connect to your Ford in this artistic way is Moray Callum, the Vice President of Design at Ford. He leads the design of all concept and production vehicles for Ford and Lincoln brands globally. He began working for Ford in 1995, when he designed North America products such as the Taurus and the last-generation Super Duty.^® In 2006, when Moray was executive director of design for The Americas, he was responsible for the design of all cars and trucks created in the Ford North America and South America studios. Talk about a person who knows how to connect consumer and design–his work included the Ford Mustang, Explorer and Fusion. His schooling included a bachelor’s degree in industrial design and a master’s in transportation design from Royal College of Art in London.

So, what statement does the design of your Ford say? And what does that design say about you?

Source:  http://social.ford.com/our-articles/suvs/explorer/decoding-design-what-does-your-ford-mean/

2014 Ford Fiesta Earns Multiple Awards at Texas Auto Writers Association Rally with EcoBoost Engines

It’s no doubt; here at Tri-State Ford in Amarillo, TX we love the 2014 Ford Fiesta. Sure, trucks are our big movers and that’s what we sell mostly, but we can really get behind the idea of a super efficient subcompact with great styling and all of Ford’s innovative features. That’s why we’re excited to announce that the Fiesta has earned multiple honors at this year’s Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) Rally! This 49 car event is a chance for auto journalists to judge all sorts of new cars and was held at the Texas Motor Speedway.

First, the 2014 Ford Fiesta SE equipped with the 1.0-Liter EcoBoost engine has been awarded the Sub-Compact Car of Texas title. This small but powerful three-cylinder manages to put out over 120 hp and runs so smooth you wouldn’t even think it was anything but a four cylinder. With an EPA estimated 32/45 mpg it is one of the most efficient gasoline engines on the market. It is for the excellent engineering and refinement that TAWA also named the 1.0L EcoBoost as the Best New Feature.

The 2014 Ford Fiesta ST, a sporty hot hatch that is quickly earning a name as one of the most fun-to-drive cars on the market, also earned some recognition at the TAWA event. Equipped with the surprisingly powerful 1.6-Liter EcoBoost, the Fiesta ST boasts 197 hp and 202 lb-ft of torque. For such a small vehicle these are some serious numbers and make for a great driving machine as they are matched to an excellent chassis and superb suspension tuning. More than 50 Texas auto writers at the event named the ST as the Best Value product at the rally. The Fiesta ST also earned the title of Performance Compact Car of Texas.

NEW FORD F-150 -- FIRST TRUCK TO OFFER TOUGHER, BRIGHTER, MORE EFFICIENT LED HEADLAMPS

MAR 18, 2014 | DEARBORN

• Segment-first LED headlamps available for all-new Ford F-150 will last more than five times longer than conventional bulbs
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• Use of LED technology in F-150 headlamps picks up on lighting trends in smartphones, tablet computers and TVs

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• Ford engineers subject LED headlamps to extreme heat and saltwater baths, and pummel with rocks, rock salt and ice to prove lamp toughness

When the assignment is to reinvent the Ford F-150 while maintaining its heritage of being Built Ford Tough, even the headlamps matter.

Until now, headlamps often needed to be replaced long before the end of a vehicle’s life. For the all-new 2015 Ford F-150, Ford wanted durable headlamps that would last as long, or longer, than the truck. Ford lighting expert John Teodecki and his team found the answer in technology they believe could change truck lighting forever – light-emitting diodes, or LEDs.

“Stand on it,” Teodecki said, perched atop an 11-pound F-150 headlamp unit. “This lens just won’t break. We fire stones at it, expose it to extreme sun, soak it in saltwater, shoot rocks, rock salt and ice – this thing is very tough to crack.”

No other light-duty pickup truck on the road today has LED headlamps. LED lamps use 63 percent less energy than the halogen bulbs seen in competitor trucks, and the light quality and aesthetics of the technology are superior, Teodecki explained. Most important, the LED headlamps in the new F-150 are more durable than conventional lights, and are made to last more than five times longer.

LED is the fastest-growing segment in lighting technology, according to trade magazine LED Inside. Applications include smartphones, tablets,computers,TVs, luxury sedans, industrial, commercial and outdoor lighting. Even supermarkets incorporate LED lighting to make produce look fresher.

What sets F-150 LED technology apart is how the headlamps are made, and how superior they are from what the industry has traditionally used. To develop this cutting-edge headlamp technology, Ford leveraged the expertise of its longtime lighting developers OSRAM and Flex-N-Gate. The program is creating more than 30 jobs at the OSRAM Hillsboro, N.H. facility.

Halogen bulbs have been in use for most vehicle applications for years. The design is similar to standard household light bulbs. Thin filaments inside the bulb last for about 40,000 miles before needing to be replaced. Extreme temperatures and vibration from washboard roads can shorten the life of halogen filaments even further.

The next step up from halogen is high-intensity discharge headlamps. HID light illuminates the road more uniformly than halogen bulbs. Ford offers this type of lighting on many of its vehicles, including the current model F-150.

With the LED lighting system available for the new F-150, Ford lighting experts had more freedom with the lamp design, because LEDs are smaller than typical headlamps and are easier to package.

The new Ford F-150 LED headlamp unit uses semiconductor chips to control the light. The technology is much simpler than halogen or HID, which helps make LED lights more durable and therefore longer-lasting.

Ford designers created a unique lens for the F-150 LED headlamp with special machines that carve out 16 precision optical surfaces and 80 facets on the lens face to spread the light evenly. The innovative design magnifies the light, allowing Ford to better illuminate the road for the new F-150 driver using just a single LED per lamp.

Teodecki, a University of Michigan graduate with 29 years’ experience in automotive lighting, puts on a white glove to handle the fine lens – much like a jewelry expert would before showcasing an expensive ring or pendant.

“We don’t want to get fingerprints on the surface, because that would change the lens’ ability to spread the light evenly,” Teodecki said.

The crowning touch for the lighting on the all-new F-150 is another first for the auto industry. Ford designers outlined the LED headlamp with a thin LED tube to create a signature appearance for the new truck that can be spotted from great distances at night.

“Remember the craze in the 1980s with truck light bars?” Teodecki said. “It looks so cool. I’m telling you, this LED light tube is going to be the next big thing. Our new F-150 owners will be longing for dusk every day, just to show off their trucks in dramatic lighting.”