2006 Ford F-250 Super Duty Lariat Extended Cab 4-door 6.0l Diesel No Reserve on 2040-cars

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U.S. auto sales fall in July, as Detroit dials back on inventory, rental sales

DETROIT — U.S. carmakers said on Tuesday they continued to slash low-margin sales to daily rental fleets in July as General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles struggled to curb a slide in retail sales. July is on track to be the fifth straight month in which the annual pace of car and light truck sales declined from the same month a year ago, in part because of fewer fleet sales, analysts and industry executives said. July 2016 sales hit a strong 17.9-million-vehicle pace. GM said the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate fell to an estimated 16.9 million vehicles in July. At midmorning on Tuesday, GM shares were down 3.4 percent at $34.77, Ford was down 2.8 percent at $10.91, and Fiat Chrysler shares were down 0.3 percent at $12.05 in New York. GM sales dropped 15 percent from a year ago to 226,107 vehicles, as the company cut rental fleet sales more than 80 percent. The automaker said inventories of unsold vehicles at month's end were 104 days, down from 105 days at the end of June. GM has promised investors to reduce inventories to 70 days by year-end. Ford said its July sales dipped 7.5 percent to 200,212 vehicles, as it cut fleet sales more than 26 percent. Inventories fell to 77 days from 79 the previous month. Fiat Chrysler said sales dropped 10 percent to 161,477, as it also cut back sales to daily rental fleets. Among the top Japanese companies, only Toyota reported a year-to-year gain, with sales up 4 percent to 222,057 — just 4,000 units behind GM. Honda sales were down 1 percent to 150,980 — its first-quarter sales continuing to decline in North America but seeing a big increase in China. And Nissan sales fell 3 percent to 128,295. GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler have cautioned that second-half financial results likely will be lower than first-half results, in part reflecting production cuts in North America and pricing pressures. The automakers this year have been deliberately dialing back sales to rental-car companies, which often generate little to no profit, while struggling to keep retail sales from sagging further, according to industry analysts. Industry consultant LMC cut its full-year forecast for new vehicle sales to 17 million vehicles. Automakers sold a record 17.55 million vehicles in the United States in 2016.

Ford recalls 462,000 SUVs over faulty rear camera

Ford has had some issues with its backup cameras in recent years, and the troubles are continuing with yet another recall announced today. In this recall, certain Ford and Lincoln vehicles equipped with the 360-degree parking camera could lose the rear-view camera feed. The newest recall affects some 462,000 vehicles worldwide, Reuters reports, including 382,759 in the U.S. under NHTSA recall 23V-022. The recall applies to the 2020-2023 Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator, as well as the 2020-2022 Lincoln Corsair. The remedy involves dealers updating the vehicles’ image processing module software free of charge. This latest issue expands a previous recall, and applies to vehicles that have already been serviced under recall 21V-735. Owners will be notified by mail around February 20, and owners can also contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford told NHTSA that it first became aware in October 2021 of a small number of complaints of a blue screen from the rear camera feed on vehicles that had already been repaired. Ford worked with suppliers to track down the potential issue, and said warranty claims remained low until December 2022, when it started to see more claims for blue screens in vehicles produced after the last remedy, at which point Ford ordered a stop-ship on those vehicle lines. Ford said itÂ’s aware of 17 minor accident reports related to the issue, but no injuries. In addition to this recall, Ford has had other camera issues in the past few years that resulted in recalls. NHTSA recall 22V-151 applied to 2021-2022 Edge SUVs experiencing “a distorted, black and white, or discolored screen” when reversing. 2021-2022 Ford Broncos had an issue where the rear-view camera would remain on even after the vehicle was put back into a forward gear. Last year, Ford recalled 330,000 Mustangs for faulty cameras, as well as 277,000 Super Duty trucks over foggy rear-view cameras. In 2021, NHTSA opened an investigation into whether Ford was slow to recall more than 620,000 vehicles for faulty cameras. Recalls Ford Lincoln Safety Crossover SUV

Best and worst car brands of 2022 according to Consumer Reports

It's that time again, Consumer Reports this morning lifting the curtain on its 2022 Annual Car Brand rankings and its 10 Top Picks in the car, crossover, and truck category. Drumroll, please: This year, Subaru climbs two spots to claim the winner's circle, having come third the last two years. Last year, Mazda climbed three spots from 2020 to take the crown. This year, Mazda slipped to second, BMW taking the last spot on the podium, also a one-spot drop from 2021. Six automakers in the top 10 hailed from Japan, which is one more than last year, and five luxury makers occupied the top 10, which is two more than last year. And South Korean representation didn't crack the top this year, after Hyundai managed tenth last year. The seven makes after BMW are: Honda, Lexus, Audi, Porsche, Mini, Toyota, and Infiniti.  The magazine and testing concern says its Brand Report Card "[reveals] which automakers are producing the most well-performing, safe, and reliable vehicles based on CR’s independent testing and member surveys," and that "Brands that rise to the top tend to have the most consistent performance across their model lineups." The domestics also took steps back among the 32 OEMs ranked on the 2022 card. Chrysler and Buick were the domestic carmakers who made last year's top 10 in eighth and ninth, respectively. This year, Buick dropped to eleventh, Chrysler to thirteenth. Dodge went from fourteenth to sixteenth. CR continues to ding Tesla's yoke steerer, the not-exactly-natural handhold responsible for the electric carmaker going from sixteenth last year to twenty-third this year.