Roxanne's Cars
Roxanne's 2000 F-150 XLT truck is quite a vehicle. It was rated as one of Consumer Digests 10 Best Buys. Perhaps I should revise my previous "...quite a vehicle" statement. I believe it's perhaps the best product Ford has ever produced! I am continually amazed when I drive this truck. The way it handles, tows our trailer up the famous California Grapevine (Interstate 5 - north of Los Angeles), the supple ride, the lack of noises, rattles and vibrations all contribute to a pleasurable ride each time we go somewhere. The 5.4 liter Triton engine, with 260 horsepower, 345 ft-lbs of torque and 3.73 rear end gears, all contribute to spirited performance, despite pulling 5,000 lbs. of weight. The engine has no weak spots, starting quickly, running efficiently and pulling as much weight as the 7 liter (460 cubic inch) engine it replaced. We intend on keeping this truck around for as many years as it will run (and perhaps beyond that).
Some of you may know that Ford's awesome SVT Lightning is based off the F-150 truck. This monster has around 380 horsepower and almost 500 ft-lbs of torque. It can easily beat most every other car on the road in a variety of performance measurement. I had the chance to speak with John Coletti, Ford's SVE head honcho, during the 2001 Fabulous Ford Forever show. I asked him about the possibility of a Supercab Lightning, stating that it was perhaps the best performance family car ever built. He laughed and suggested that perhaps I might have been one of the blasphemous 4 door Corvette advocates. I withdrew my question....only to find that Ford (not SVE / SVT) had just released the Harley Davidson F-150 Crew Cab with a detuned version of the supercharged Lightning engine in it. Obviously, Ford had thought there was a market to be captured with this vehicle. John, your an ass. Anyway - Roxanne wants a SuperCrew Truck, and if I watch the used market, we might get one of these versus the V8 Explorer.
Ah....the Exploder.....er....Explorer. While there was alot of anticipation when we got this vehicle, I was appalled by it's reliability. The repair list was extensive....four radiators sprung leaks and required replacement, one transmission was rebuilt (with under a 100,000 miles on it), a complete braking system - including rotors, drums, pads, shoes and calipers, one rear glass window (kinda my fault...something about an Xmas tree and the garage door meeting one day). As much as the wife loved this car, and as much as I liked it's seats, ride and utility...it had to go. Perhaps I'll get the detuned Cobra V8 version that was made in the late 1990's as a replacement 3rd car. I think that might fair better (once I put some F-150 or Mustang brakes on it).
Roxanne had two Ford Probe's - one burgundy red 1989 4-cylinder LX and a burgundy red 1990 V-6 LX. We both liked these cars, but the birth of our son forced us into a more responsible car. Plus both of these years ate up brake pads & rotors at a alarming rate! Something about reducing the rotating mass to make the car "feel" better is why Ford didn't put some real meat on these components. I'd venture to say they'd last about 20-30k miles before requiring replacements. To compare, a Mustang can sometimes go 100k miles before requiring brake pad replacement. And I've personally put close to 200,000 miles on atleast one Mustang, and it's rotors were no where near needing replacement. Probe rotors can be turned once, MAYBE twice and they are toast. Consider these and the CV boots as regular replacement items and you'll love the rest of the car.
The 1993 Escort LX-E. I just loved this little car! It was essentially a 4 door family version of the new for 1991 Escort GT. The car put out 130 HP, had 14 inch wheels on stylish aluminum rims with 4 wheel disc brakes and enough power to hit over 130 MPH! It's essentially based on the Mazda Protégé LX, which is a fine platform, especially for a small economy car. I should sheepishly admit to receiving a ticket from California's finest (California Highway Patrol) going over 100 in this car on a trip to Laughlin. Now - BEFORE you go ballistic....you should know the wife and I were trying to get away from some complete idiot (from out of state) on the road who cut us off and then sandwiched us in-between himself and a semi tractor-trailer. I nailed it to get away from him, and noticed a Mustang 5.0 doing the same thing. I figured since we didn't bring my convertible, running with this Mustang would (A) get us away from the whacko and (B) get us to Laughlin alot faster than our first 2 hours of track jams. Unfortunately, it was a CHP 5.0 Mustang....argh! The officer mentioned he was doing almost 120 to catch me, and noted that he was going to give the other weirdo a ticket until he saw us take off. He saw what the driver had done to us and was somewhat sympathetic....we got off for 90+ MPH in 70 MPH zone near the no-man's land that is Barstow, California (sorry to any Barstownian's in the audience). ANYWAY....it was really a great car for the money. We didn't have to put a penny into it for the 2 1/2 years we owned it - except a battery that died because we had 3 cars and didn't drive this car enough. I might just have to get another one for a fun shit-kicking, grocery getting car. I can always let Robbie drive someday too (although he thinks he's getting my Cobra).
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