2012 Ford Explorer Limited Review

[JStellato]

Hello Everyone, we put our first 750 Miles on the 2012 limited Explorer with 302. I have some comments,

First of all, MFT sucks. It's slow, and tries to do to much. At Mile 350 it performed system maintenance, or AKA BLSOD and auto Reboot = Enabled.

Who's idea was it to put the 4 Way Flashers where they are? Terrible, it needs to be up above the MFT. Or at least a physical button. I can't tell you how many times I rested my hand there and hit that "button".

The voice control, meh. It tries to do to much. Simple commands like, Call Joe, or Cancel Route work every time. Anything more than that and you are asking for your Sirius satellite to tune to Grateful Dead.

Saying "Climate 70 Degrees" for example works every time as well. However saying "Driver seat cooling on" doesn't because they didn't include it in the voice control options. [sic]

On our trip we found a fatal flaw, we drove about 200 miles from home, we have an 11 week old, and a 2 1/2 year old. My wife grabbed my key, remote started the car, put my key in the passenger door cup holder area, shut the door. I was standing outside the vehicle at the time, both kids inside.

Does anyone else see the problem? It's 88 Degrees yesterday, and both kids are in the car, which is running - thank God. But the doors are locked, and even though the key is within three feet of the door you can't unlock it. I know what you are thinking, "outside entry" , yes I tried to memorize that number, I remembered a few of the digits, tried a couple of times and got it! Whew, crisis averted. But the car is new, luckily I spent time trying to memorize the keypad code.

This needs to be fixed, if the key is within 3 feet of the door, it needs to unlock when you put your hand in it, every time.

And yes, after a good hour and some coffee, mama calmed down.

So if you are looking at purchasing one and wondering what features you'll use:

1. Adaptive Cruise Control - Amazing
2. BLIS - Completely Necessary, the Ex's BlindSpots seem very big to me
3. Backup Camera
4. iPod plugged directly into Sync - I know everyone wants to use ipod/droid bluetooth stereo. A dedicated iPod is probably more reliable, less points of failure.
5. Cooled Seats - this is amazing on a hot day
6. Power Liftgate - I am seriously lazy

What kind of mileage? 22.9 on the trip back last night, all highway. Too early for a real accurate number on city/highway.

MFT Glitches thus far

1. iPod Touch 2nd Gen plugged in via USB Cable randomly stops working and it defaults to some radio serious station or something - Unplugging and plugging the iPod in fixes this.
2. iPod Touch 2nd Gen plugged in via USB Cable shows incorrect songs, or starts the song, then skips it - Unplugging and plugging the iPod in fixes this.
3. I am a Christian and listen to Sirius the Message, on MFT Big screen it shows up as Christian Genre, on the Right Hand LCD behind the steering wheel if you go to Entertainment while on that station I'm no longer a Christian, I'm a Chrstian. Sounds like Churchstian, which is a topic for another discussion.
4. Performing system maintenance at 350 miles, really? Black Screen and reboot. Not that I mind, but it put the radio on some bizarre station while it rebooted, and didn't fix itself when it finally came back up.
5. I'm a tad ocd, and some of the buttons on the mft do not have the letters centered. Where the ones above it do.
6. It's slow. I can't believe it was slower in previous versions.

MFT Tips -

1. When you connect your phone, manually download the address book, when it asks to auto download, the answer is no
2. Be patient
3. Use your finger tip, not your finger nail - I had to say that a few times
4. Be patient
5. Skip MFT and use Driver Controls

ADD Moment, the HID Lights are awesome.

Navigation:

Wow, I would call the navigation terrible. But really it's just overly complicated. I love how when you are in a strange location and you are about to make a turn, and the suddenly your map SPLITS IN TWO and you have a random map exit location on the right and roads on the left.

That's not confusing at all [sic] Because 2 maps definitely make it easier in a strange location when you have 2 seconds to figure out where to go.

There's a lot you can do with the NAV, it's far more feature rich than my Garmin (260w I think). However it's so cumbersome and incredibly slow, you aren't going to use them.

Here's a tip for new NAV users, when setting the destination, even though street number is in the top left and it looks like you should enter that first, don't. I know it makes since to do it that way, but this is MFT, do it backwards. Start at state in the lower right, then city, then road, then number. It'll work a lot better.

You know what else it cool? Setting the destination, then clicking on Go, and starting to drive. Again, I'm the idiot, because I clicked "GO" on my address, and assumed it meant the NAV was going to, you know, Go there. What "Go" really means is, "Go to the next screen". Ugh. When you get there, it doesn't look like it, but the top option of fastest route is probably selected, and then you click Start Route or something, whatever, seriously a $60 Garmin is better. I quit.

Anyway if you were curious of the accuracy of the NAV, it worked on 100% of my addresses I put in, it was off by about 30 feet in some instances, and 10 in others.

So, on the forums everyone seems to focus on the negative. Even me, but let me say this. These problem's with MFT and NAV are actually minor compared to then entirety of the vehicle, in my experience thus far. At this point I would say make sure you can live with the MFT Slowness and glitches, this was something my wife and I accepted before we purchased, so we weren't let down.

However if I removed MFT and NAV from the mix, this car is amazing, the design, the color, the safety features. We love it.

I of course am holding a decision on if I would recommend buying this to someone else until I hit 3-4K miles.

[gdecamp]

Awesome review!

Tip: I put the Keypad Code in my phone as a contact entry....now I always have it handy!

Oh by the way, the only reason I did that was because I got locked out of the car at a car wash and had to come up with a better idea....

[peterk9]

I guess my first question would be why did someone lock the doors with the kids and key inside?
With the vehicle running the only way I could do this was to lock the car by using the keyfob lock function and also by manually pushing the lock button down. If I tried locking it by using the lock/inlock switch on the door, the door automatically unlocked when I closed it.
It seems that if use the fob to lock it and leave it inside, it does not recognize it for some reason. With the fob inside I tried locking the door with the button in the handle and it would not lock meaning that in this case it did recognize the key as being inside (did this without engine running). So the answer here is do not use the fob to lock the vehicle if you are going to leave the fob inside, unless you know the door code or have a spare fob with you.

[JStellato]

Yeah or it's a bad design. If the key is within 3 feet, it should unlock, despite the circumstance.

[JStellato]

Originally Posted by gdecamp

Awesome review!

Tip: I put the Keypad Code in my phone as a contact entry....now I always have it handy!

Oh by the way, the only reason I did that was because I got locked out of the car at a car wash and had to come up with a better idea....

Actually, a great idea, I will probably do this!

[MikeFreas]

Can't you set your own code?

[sdmcwilliams]

I set my code to what my code was on my previous vehicle. That way I did not have to memorize another code. Setting the code to your own code only takes 10 seconds.

[jkintn]

Originally Posted by JStellato

Yeah or it's a bad design. If the key is within 3 feet, it should unlock, despite the circumstance.

So if you happen to be driving in a bad part of town or just stopped at a red light, would you be comfortable if someone could just walk up and open your door because the key was inside the vehicle? Not very safe to me but I understand your concern at least until you remembered the code.

I actually like the feature. If I want to leave my keys in the car to go running/biking, etc, I can just use the keypad to enter when I return...no need to carry keys.

[donm527]

thought the very same thing... worked the way it should... otherwise you open yourself up the possibility of someone carjacking you or worse.

should have kept the keys in your pocket. fortunate you remembered the code.

Originally Posted by jkintn

So if you happen to be driving in a bad part of town or just stopped at a red light, would you be comfortable if someone could just walk up and open your door because the key was inside the vehicle? Not very safe to me but I understand your concern at least until you remembered the code.

I actually like the feature. If I want to leave my keys in the car to go running/biking, etc, I can just use the keypad to enter when I return...no need to carry keys.

[Car 54]

Thanks for the review.

To keep the car running and cool, I like to close and lock the door like normal, then just do the remote start. This way no one can drive off with the car, or kids.

There's a way to extend the remote start time but I forget it right now.

[JStellato]

Ah see, I see it differently. If the system were in Drive/Reverse I can understand the doors being locked, and if it were remote started outside of the 3 FT distance I can understand that as well, I would not want it to unlock by anyone.

However when parked during a remote start when the key is 3 feet from the door makes no sense to not unlock. There is no reason to remote start from inside the car, because the ignition and accessory mode can activate if the key was in the radius anyway.

There is no logical reason I can see for it not to work that way. It would assume that the key inside the car is useless during remote start.

Anyway, thanks for all the feedback I'm glad I did remember the number.

[peterk9]

Originally Posted by Car 54

Thanks for the review.

To keep the car running and cool, I like to close and lock the door like normal, then just do the remote start. This way no one can drive off with the car, or kids.

There's a way to extend the remote start time but I forget it right now.

Settings/Vehicle/Remote Start/Duration/5,10,15.
I had to look it up too.

[Car 54]

Originally Posted by JStellato

Ah see, I see it differently. If the system were in Drive/Reverse I can understand the doors being locked, and if it were remote started outside of the 3 FT distance I can understand that as well, I would not want it to unlock by anyone.

However when parked during a remote start when the key is 3 feet from the door makes no sense to not unlock. There is no reason to remote start from inside the car, because the ignition and accessory mode can activate if the key was in the radius anyway.

There is no logical reason I can see for it not to work that way. It would assume that the key inside the car is useless during remote start.

Anyway, thanks for all the feedback I'm glad I did remember the number.

I think I missed your scenario. Let's just state, there's a difference between FOB inside and FOB outside. Knowing that might arm you with how to expect things to operate. Having the FOB inside (perhaps a second key left accidentally in the car or purse) should not allow doors to open by the tug of the door handle. Right?

Originally Posted by peterk9

Settings/Vehicle/Remote Start/Duration/5,10,15.
I had to look it up too.

Thanks Peter!

[VinceL]

I would think I would not want the locks to be defeated by someone on the outside while the fob is inside the car for personal safety reasons.

But maybe, they can tie the functionality to sensors in the seat. If the front seats are not occupied, then let the doors open with exterior door handle. If one of the seats is occupied, then do not allow the exterior door handle to open the locked door.

[Sgt1411]

Originally Posted by gdecamp

Awesome review!

Tip: I put the Keypad Code in my phone as a contact entry....now I always have it handy!

Oh by the way, the only reason I did that was because I got locked out of the car at a car wash and had to come up with a better idea....

+1

[calb]

Originally Posted by jkintn

I actually like the feature. If I want to leave my keys in the car to go running/biking, etc, I can just use the keypad to enter when I return...no need to carry keys.

I agree. I was wondering what the purpose of the keypad was if you couldn't lock the keys in the car.

[donm527]

at this point with remote access on the keys and fobs... it's just a gimmick imo.

my mom had a lincoln mark vi... believe one of the first cars to ever have the keypad.

and back then there was no electronic controls on keys or fob... heck, cell phones were 'bricks'

the keypad was neat for the rest of the family members that had the code cause then you can get in or access to the car/trunk without waiting for mom and dad following behind. but it was crude... a lot of times you could just keep hitting random buttons until it hit the right combo and unlocked. not very secure. friends kept doing that on our mark vi and later mark vii.

ford kept it cause it's like a signature feature of theirs. not sure how many other car manufacturer use them if at all. i mean seriously, with a key fob that can unlock all doors and open the trunk, why need the keypad?

i have gone biking/running once or twice and left the key in so that i dont lose it on the trails or just run without carrying anything... but i dont find it secure doing that. i mean, if by bad luck, someone was to burgular your car, the last thing you want to do is give them the option of now driving away in your car because you left the keys for them to find/use.

that's why i have only used it once or twice. my nine year old has probably used it more than me because she thinks its neat to use it... just like I was when I was a kid.

i would rather have the proximity sensor that GM uses on the Caddy's or Vette's to open on touching the door handle and using the start button all while leaving the card in the pocket.

Originally Posted by calb

I agree. I was wondering what the purpose of the keypad was if you couldn't lock the keys in the car.

[bobby299]

Originally Posted by jkintn

so if you happen to be driving in a bad part of town or just stopped at a red light, would you be comfortable if someone could just walk up and open your door because the key was inside the vehicle? Not very safe to me but i understand your concern at least until you remembered the code.

I actually like the feature. If i want to leave my keys in the car to go running/biking, etc, i can just use the keypad to enter when i return...no need to carry keys.

+1

[donm527]

Originally Posted by Sgt1411

+1

ford needs to put out an an app like the gm app for onstar...

http://media.gm.com/content/media/us...0721_onstar_gm

[JStellato]

Originally Posted by donm527

ford needs to put out an an app like the gm app for onstar...

http://media.gm.com/content/media/us...0721_onstar_gm

+1