 Suzette Ponte-Izbicki and Jacquie Bird. Click image to enlarge |
“Let’s face it, we have two or three generations of consumers who have been contaminated by the poor quality of the products produced by the Big Three during the 1970s, 80s, and even 90s. Over the last decade Ford has been getting rid of a lot of the inferior products in their line-up and has concentrated on quality.” (In fact, Ford now has the highest initial quality among all non-luxury brands, according to J.D. Power’s closely watched Initial Quality Study).
Here are some of the people who took part in the drive event and their comments:
Subjects: Suzette Ponte-Izbicki and Jacquie Bird – Teachers
Vehicle: 2010 Ford F-150
Teachers and partners-in-crime Suzette and Jacquie jumped at the chance to take Ford’s venerable pick-up for a spin. “It was a nice experience for me as you see these trucks everywhere and I always wondered what they were like on the road. It rides like a car!” exclaimed Suzette.
“I chose to drive the F-150 because I have a friend who is interested in a truck and he just so happens to like Fords. Now that I’ve driven one I will have a much better idea as to what he is talking about when we discuss his car shopping experiences,” said Jacquie.
Subjects: Peter and Evelyn Johnson – Grandparents
Vehicle: 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid
Proud grandparents Peter and Evelyn Johnson dropped by the school to have their first look at a hybrid vehicle. “Our granddaughter goes to school here so she asked us to come out. She was very enthused by it as she is graduating next year. It’s very encouraging to see company’s like Ford giving back to the community like this,” said Evelyn.
   Peter and Evelyn Johnson (top); Mark Greenshields; Timo Itkonen (bottom). Click image to enlarge |
“This was our first experience with a hybrid vehicle. I was surprised by the pick-up it had. That little four-cylinder engine went up the hill with no effort at all,” said Peter.
Subject: Mark Greenshields – School counsellor
Vehicle: 2010 Ford Fusion Sport AWD
Mark admitted that he would not have gone to a dealership to check the car out as he had recently bought a new car, but was pleased to have the opportunity to test drive a Ford as a way to help out the school’s fund-raising efforts.
“I really enjoyed how this car handled. You could really feel the road due to the sport suspension and it cornered very well. It is obvious that Ford has really stepped up when it comes to improving their automobiles. I also like the fact that there is a reasonably priced domestic sedan with all-wheel-drive on the market. The Fusion is a really nice car!”
Subject: Timo Itkonen – Teacher and avid cyclist
Vehicle: 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid
Timo tries to live his life in an environmentally responsible manner, which includes riding his bicycle to work several times a week. Like many potential hybrid buyers Timo has questions about the battery units with regards to reliability and costs. “I have wanted to test-drive a hybrid vehicle for some time. I think my next car will be a hybrid of some type for obvious environmental reasons, but I do have some concerns about the technology. I was happy to see some representatives from the dealership (MSA Ford) here so I could ask some questions about the Escape Hybrid. However, I got no answer as to how long the battery units will last, nor did he have any idea as to how much the batteries would cost should they eventually need replacing. These are concerns I have with this technology that need to be answered before I would buy a hybrid vehicle. ”
In our post-drive interview he came away impressed by the quality of the vehicle but still had some reservations about the hybrid system.
After interviewing each of the selected participants it became obvious that they were impressed with the overall quality of the vehicles on hand and for the most part, liked the direction Ford is taking with its model line-up. While the opportunity to help the Grad Class of 2011 with fund-raising for Dry Grad was the initial draw, it appears that the Drive One 4 UR School program helped change some of the participants’ pre-conceptions about Ford as a brand, and all commented on how generous it was for the company to offer such an innovative program to help educational programs in this still troubled economic environment. I suspect when it comes time to go shopping for a new vehicle most of the test drivers I spoke with will now consider a Ford product for the first time.
