Partial result of our trip from Kansas to Indiana then Michigan

[vulnox]

Complete! result of our trip from Kansas to Indiana then Michigan

We are currently in Michigan for a wedding and came from Kansas. The first part of our trip had us going from Kansas to Indianapolis. The Ex drove great, and I was extremely comfortable in it compared to the same trip in our former 2010 Fusion. I am 6'4" so interior room was one of the main reasons we went to the ex.

I used the navigation system the entire trip, played music from Sirius, a thumb drive, and from my wife's iPhone connected by USB. Also used the weather features and my iPhone was connected by Bluetooth. No crashes, black screens, anything. It even came up a few times to tell us about possible traffic issues ahead and if it should route us around them.

I reset the trip computer for door to door mpg, and was very happy with the final result. Especially since the start of the trip for quite awhile had us going through some pretty big hills in Missouri.

While visiting family in Indy we got a chance to use all three rows of seats going in to the city. Had six people, and they all loved it and said it was very roomy. They were also really liking the MFT. They just got a 2011 Nissan Rogue, and they have a Nav system. It's smooth and that, but doesn't come near the MFT for features and screen size, etc. Plus, since so many here complain about the maps, I found that their Nav doesn't accurately report where their house is and has them going a different way, where MFT took us down the correct street and the correct route. It did try to tell us their house was about 2 houses down from where it was though, but even my handheld Nav systems did that a lot. Overall the more I get in other competing brands, the more I like MFT and wonder why Ford isn't getting more appreciation for a lot of the thought that went in to the system. But anyway...

The next part of the trip was going from Indy to Detroit. We fought a headwind all the way up I69, so the MPG suffered quite a bit.

It was still smooth, and wind gusts were easily managed. Used Nav the entire way again, still no issues. So now we are in MI, and are going back on Sunday, will report on how it does after the trip back since it will be a straight shot from MI to KS so a longer constant trip.

Also I typed all of this with my iPad so please forgive any strange spelling mistakes I may miss from autocorrect or whatever.

 

[vulnox]

Dang sorry for the gigantic pics. I don't have a way to make them smaller currently since I just brought my iPad.

 

[TIO M]

Nice little review, its great to hear Awesom Positives. On our Trip to Hot Springs we recieved a ton load of nice extremely nice complements. My favorite was, Dang dat Fancy!!

Enjoy the Trip and report back please, no worries about the photos awesome size I think!!

 

[Spengracin]

Great posting, we appreciate it for sure. Question how do you post pics on our forum, I need to post some of our new x, thanks

 

[MikeFreas]

Great to see someone else reporting they liked their X vice the steady stream of issues. Don't get me wrong, resolving issues is a big part of the forum, but a guy like me who hasn't signed the bottom line makes me worry sometimes.

Is this a V6? FWD or AWD?

 

[Sgt1411]

Great posting, we appreciate it for sure. Question how do you post pics on our forum, I need to post some of our new x, thanks

Cant post as a Wannabee

 

[vulnox]

Great to see someone else reporting they liked their X vice the steady stream of issues. Don't get me wrong, resolving issues is a big part of the forum, but a guy like me who hasn't signed the bottom line makes me worry sometimes.

Is this a V6? FWD or AWD?

Yeah I was the same. I have been a Ford guy my entire life but almost went with an F-150 because I was concerned Ford had some major issues with the Ex. Mine was built in June, which I think helped a lot, and almost 3,000 miles later it's been solid and no trips to the dealer besides when I wanted them to get me 2.11 before I made this trip. I've talked to some other X owners since I got to Michigan since they are everywhere and they were all very happy with it.

It is a V6 with 4WD/AWD, whatever. It's been non-stop raining since I got to MI and this AWD system adapts so well. I'm glad I got it.


As for the question on posting pics, I have a dropbox account and I uploaded the pics from my iPhone to the public folder on my dropbox account. I then clicked the "create link" button on dropbox, and when making the post I clicked the insert Image button on the forum. It basically just puts the HTML tags around your picture link.

You don't have to have any special membership on the site to post pics that way, just have to have somewhere that is hosting them. A basic dropbox account is free, and infinitely useful.

 

[vulnox]

Drive home is now complete. Mileage for the trip home was a decent 22.5MPG average. We started out in some decently cold weather (high 50's low 60's) compared to what it has been, plus fog and that, so I imagine that had some impact. The MPG was sitting around 20.5-21 during that, and once it hit 75+ and the sun was out, the MPG started climbing. I imagine if it was good weather the entire way it would have been another mid-23, low 24 trip. All in all, very happy for the size of the vehicle.

No issues with MFT, used the Nav the entire way back, no crashes, freezing, or other major issues. One or two times it didn't immediately connect to my iPhone, but picked it up after about 10 minutes or so. We had both phones plugged in by USB on the trip back, played music through Sirius, and even used the iPad connected through the RCA so my wife could watch a movie.

Use the Sirius Travel Link weather map a few times, use it to hunt down better fuel prices, overall was very useful.

I like that with Sirius you can pause and rewind and replay tracks and that while listening. No other vehicle we had could do that with the OEM system, and I have not seen another from any other brand that allowed it. May seem small to some, but its a long time coming IMO.

So although there is a lot of negative posting on this board, I hope it is limited in the actual number of people it impacts, because ours has been great.

 

[vulnox]

Also, check out where the fuel gauge is in each picture, kinda funny that I ended up just about the exact same spot each time we completed part of the trip. The first two were about identical.

 

[calb]

Thank you for that good news story. I'm planning on ordering this month with December delivery (if dealer's don't put me off) and am constantly watching the issues.

Overall my impression is that the issues are slowly dropping away as Ford tweaks. MFT will take a little longer, but at least it is something that can be dealt with over time, and constantly improved.

 

[vulnox]

Thank you for that good news story. I'm planning on ordering this month with December delivery (if dealer's don't put me off) and am constantly watching the issues.

Overall my impression is that the issues are slowly dropping away as Ford tweaks. MFT will take a little longer, but at least it is something that can be dealt with over time, and constantly improved.

Yeah, I was more concerned about the A-pillar rattle and some of the other stuff than MFT which I knew would just take time to iron out. Only 4k miles, but a lot of long highway miles which seemed to trigger the rattle for most, and no issues. No pinging sound on the roof when it rains, basically nothing so far that I have seen mentioned with one exception. I do sometimes see the lines on the driver/pass windows when you roll them all the way down and back up. It has not been bad, and seems to be going away, but it was a complaint on here and I can say I did have them. I imagine a 2012 or newer won't have it though.

 

[Saundman]

Thanks for the update.

 

[FordService]

Thank you for that good news story. I'm planning on ordering this month with December delivery (if dealer's don't put me off) and am constantly watching the issues...

calb,
Enjoy picking out all the options on your new Explorer. You’ll have a blast.

...Only 4k miles, but a lot of long highway miles which seemed to trigger the rattle for most, and no issues...

That was a great read, vulnox. I love hearing about road trips like this because I feel like I’m traveling vicariously through you.

Now that you’re back, you could re-post the pictures from your Dropbox. I’d love to see them!

Cory