Why does Ford pinch pennies with their radiators?

[Capri306]

Ford's in the business to make money, plain and simple. If they can shave 5 cents off the cost of each vehicle they make, multiply that by how many they're making, and you quickly see why they strangle their suppliers to reduce costs.

As far as your petcock goes (heh, I said cock), it should come out with a little love, unscrewing, and yanking. Seriously, they make replacements for it, and are available at most retail parts stores. It's not that uncommon to have the plastic thumbpiece bust off like that.

If you're that worried about reliability, buy a Honda. Mine served me well through two years of college, and ran like new @ 181,000 miles when I sold it.