Cat's out of the bag!

[baxterdown]

From Autoblog

Report: Mulally facing pressure to fix Ford tech and quality glitches
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/03/mulally-facing-pressure-to-fix-ford-fix-tech-and-quality-glitche/

 

[donm527]

Too bad they didn't used those laser guided robots to install the windshield glass and a-pillar gaskets/appliqués to reduce wind noise. Lol.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

I notice that he didn't say anything about actually fixing the lousy existing tech. But I guess the acknowledgement is its own reward.

 

[drober30]

I'm sure that all our post on these forums get read and picked up by all the major reporting entities. The Internet and forum specific communities are common place today.

I'm glade to see news outlets highlighting the problems so Ford will expedite the fixes but I still want to recognize Ford for having such a cool user interface such as MFT and the glamor that it adds to the interior of the vehicle.

The MFT is a major selling point for this techie and I love the vibrant colorful display. Ford will get it right, that was never a concern of mine, but in what time frame is a different question, so again, I'm glade that this is getting some press.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

The MFT is a major selling point for this techie and I love the vibrant colorful display. Ford will get it right, that was never a concern of mine, but in what time frame is a different question, so again, I'm glade that this is getting some press.

The question, will they get it right for existing MFT owners, or will they merely get it right in some future vehicle? I realize there is a price to pay for being an early adopter, but most of the problems that I have would seem to be software issues. I'm hoping we'll see major updates moving forward, and not merely orphaned as Ford moves on to the next gen.

 

[drober30]

The question, will they get it right for existing MFT owners, or will they merely get it right in some future vehicle? I realize there is a price to pay for being an early adopter, but most of the problems that I have would seem to be software issues. I'm hoping we'll see major updates moving forward, and not merely orphaned as Ford moves on to the next gen.

I agree and our only concern is the hardware not supporting future software releases.

I'm not sure what the APIM is but if it is the brains/computer and we can upgrade this module for future features, then all we have to worry about is at what price.

I'm pretty sure I read a long time ago that Fords position was that their customer could upgrade the technology in their car thus not making the car outdated as newer features are released. I believe this to be beyond the software updates from the dealer and syncmyride.

 

[ben_hawaii]

this is why lemon laws exist. ive been three times to my dealer. next time i get a problem im seriously considering asking for the magnusson moss act to help out.

 

[dco43054]

this is why lemon laws exist. ive been three times to my dealer. next time i get a problem im seriously considering asking for the magnusson moss act to help out.

The Magnuson Moss act is not a "lemon law". Lemon Laws are typically state statute.

In Nevada - the Lemon Law statute says something like "The lemon law covers any defect or condition that substantially impairs the use and value of the motor vehicle to the buyer." according to the BBB site.

 

[Loganfilm]

I would say that the problems I/we have would all fall under most Lemon Law if this isn't fixed soon. Having the system shut down on you while you're on the freeway to "perform scheduled system maintenance" is a huge insult. It's a crash. Call it a crash. The system is completely unstable and it's running most of the car. No bueno.

Where's Steve Jobs when you need him? Apple would never have let this happen.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

I would say that the problems I/we have would all fall under most Lemon Law if this isn't fixed soon. Having the system shut down on you while you're on the freeway to "perform scheduled system maintenance" is a huge insult. It's a crash. Call it a crash. The system is completely unstable and it's running most of the car. No bueno.

Where's Steve Jobs when you need him? Apple would never have let this happen.

Eh, I dunno if I'd say that it's actually "running most of the car." I admit that I'm completely ignorant of lemon laws, but I'll bet getting it invoked over your "fancy radio" would be a tough sell. But I guess you never know.

 

[celly]

It's like the 2002 model year all over again. Gawd bless early adopters.

 

[WDinSD]

I would say that the problems I/we have would all fall under most Lemon Law if this isn't fixed soon. Having the system shut down on you while you're on the freeway to "perform scheduled system maintenance" is a huge insult. It's a crash. Call it a crash. The system is completely unstable and it's running most of the car. No bueno.

Where's Steve Jobs when you need him? Apple would never have let this happen.

My iphone 4's have been a joke from the begging. Why would you want that snake oil salesman Jobs trying to fix My Ford Touch. Dude sold a phone because it looked nice, but if you hold it wrong it WONT make a call or TEXT. I waited hours for my texts to go out on IPhone 4, until Apple gave a nice rubber case that ruined the phones looks but allowed the phone to work.

I'll take my MFT everytime. And when I can renew my phone I'm probably going to a DROID or Windows based phone.

 

[drober30]

Where's Steve Jobs when you need him? Apple would never have let this happen.

I bet you Steve Ballmer doesn't even know what sync is. What, we have a software alliance with Ford? The car company? In their cars?

 

[StunnedMonkey]

It's amusing to blame Microsoft for the MFT woes, but my guess is that they merely license the sync technology to Ford and have very little to do with the hardware and user interface. You have to admit that MFT looks far more like something an auto company would develop than something Micrososft would put out.

 

[baxterdown]

It's amusing to blame Microsoft for the MFT woes

Hoping to settle this once and for all. Microsoft has NOTHING to do with the MFT problems. Microsoft's automobile operating system (OS) is very robust. Proof is that it ran the first generation Sync, which was flawless. I can attest to that -- I had a 2009 Ford Flex with Sync and nav. It never EVER had one bit of a problem.

MFT problems are user-interface (UI) related. The system's UI is Ford's and Ford's alone. Ford is to blame 100% for all of MFT's woes.

 

[Vic]

Hoping to settle this once and for all. Microsoft has NOTHING to do with the MFT problems. Microsoft's automobile operating system (OS) is very robust. Proof is that it ran the first generation Sync, which was flawless. I can attest to that -- I had a 2009 Ford Flex with Sync and nav. It never EVER had one bit of a problem.

MFT problems are user-interface (UI) related. The system's UI is Ford's and Ford's alone. Ford is to blame 100% for all of MFT's woes.

Ford is responsible no matter the ultimate source of the problem. The MFT UI was developed for Ford by a company called BSquare which is the lead integrator for MFT, the integration role basically ties together the different systems, i.e audio, HVAC, Nav, VR, etc. and overlays the UI.

Bsquare "System Integration Services: End-to-end program management and system integration services. BSQUARE was the lead system integrator for the Ford SYNC generation II program and the Ford MyTouch managing nearly a dozen vendors for Ford Motor Company" http://www.bsquare.com/automotive.aspx


http://www.bsquare.com/EventCalendar/EventDetails.aspx?pageid=137&mid=268&ItemID=276


From what I've heard, Ford has been using internal resources to fix the code delivered by Bsquare.

Oh, and just to stir the Microsoft pot, Bsquare was founded by ex-Microsoft people and is based near Microsoft.