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Freshly Installed MyFord Touch - MFT Performance Upgrade




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After waiting a year for the "Performance Upgrade" I was hoping NONE of the previous bugs would still be present.

If they are still present I don't think any arbitration panel would disagree that we as owners have given Ford a reasonable amount of time to fix the issue.

Thereby classifying the vehicle as a Lemon and returning it for a full refund.

If there are new bugs I will be really surprised given the fact that Ford was quite open about the Upgrade being delayed because they were "Field Testing" with Ford employees.

We will each have to decide on our own whether or not the Upgrade is acceptable, but if some of the key issues like BT intermittent connectivity, BT sound quality, system shut down and reboots while driving are not fixed this will be a deal breaker. I won't be pulling anymore fuses.

The fact that there is still some reduced functionality with the world's most widely used smartphone is baffling to me.
 
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After waiting a year for the "Performance Upgrade" I was hoping NONE of the previous bugs would still be present.

If they are still present I don't think any arbitration panel would disagree that we as owners have given Ford a reasonable amount of time to fix the issue.

Thereby classifying the vehicle as a Lemon and returning it for a full refund.

If there are new bugs I will be really surprised given the fact that Ford was quite open about the Upgrade being delayed because they were "Field Testing" with Ford employees.

We will each have to decide on our own whether or not the Upgrade is acceptable, but if some of the key issues like BT intermittent connectivity, BT sound quality, system shut down and reboots while driving are not fixed this will be a deal breaker. I won't be pulling anymore fuses.

The fact that there is still some reduced functionality with the world's most widely used smartphone is baffling to me.

Before you go passing judgement. Why don't you wait until you get it and then start hacking it apart. There's no intermittent blue tooth connectivity, I've only seen posts saying that the BT noise has improved. Mine has. No where have I seen a post on the system rebooting while driving.
 






There's no intermittent blue tooth connectivity...

Actually, I'm still having the exact same problem with intermittent BT Audio connections. That is, BT Audio mysteriously doesn't work about 20% of the time. The phone is connected via BT, and I can make and receive calls. But music streaming via the media player's BT simply won't work. The only "fix" seems to be shutting off the car for 10 minutes or so. This has happened under 2.8, 2.11, and now the Performance Upgrade.

And yesterday I was driving down the road listening to an audiobook over BT and there was a pause, and then MFT shifted back to FM on its own. I tried to reconnect the media player back to BT and just got "connecting to iPhone...". All the while the Phone quadrant showed my phone connected.

I've had two different phones during this time, an iPhone 4, and an iPhone 4s. Both iPhones, but two different pieces of hardware. The only bluetooth connectivity problems I've had with either phone are with MFT. You can say that it's Apple's fault (even though I have no problems with anything else) but I'd say that a system that can't interface reliably with the market's leading phone has a problem.
 






What I've read a good number of times now in various places online is that the one phone that connects flawlessly to MFT, with every single feature working perfectly, is Sprint's HTC Evo 3D (not the plain 4G...the 3D has two cameras on the back for taking 3D pics). Just FYI.

As a software engineer for several decades, and someone who has written a number of hardware drivers, I can say that Bluetooth has been one of the most poorly followed 'standards' I've seen implemented. Various cell carriers hack it, and various BT chips inside the handsets provide their own customizations that vary from the spec, thus breaking the so-called standard.

As such, it really is hit-or-miss when the consumer tries to use this connectivity. Whether it's a BT headset or connecting to a car, it's a roll of the dice. And it is frustrating...very frustrating.

There are plans to scrap BT and go with a new, low-power WLAN technology. As opposed to BT which has various levels of functionality that leaves room to implementation interpretation by the OEM's, WLAN is pretty straight forward.

Regardless, the Lemon Law, at least in NJ, doesn't apply to such a thing.
 






...As such, it really is hit-or-miss when the consumer tries to use this connectivity. Whether it's a BT headset or connecting to a car, it's a roll of the dice. And it is frustrating...very frustrating....

...Regardless, the Lemon Law, at least in NJ, doesn't apply to such a thing.

The frustrating thing for me is the "sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't" aspect. Drives me crazier than if it just never worked at all. :(

As far as applying a Lemon Law to a balky entertainment system...seems like a long shot no matter where you are. I mean, if the physical components repeatedly failed and had to be replaced, maybe. But just poorly implemented features? Nah. That's more of a "next time avoid Ford" sort of thing.
 






The fact that there is still some reduced functionality with the world's most widely used smartphone is baffling to me.

I assume that you are referring to the iPhone. The issue with the inability to read texts on MFT is not a Ford issue. Apple and certain Android phones do not support the standard MAP Bluetooth protocol. Your question should be directed to the iPhone forum. BMW has the same issue with the iPhone.
 






I assume that you are referring to the iPhone. The issue with the inability to read texts on MFT is not a Ford issue. Apple and certain Android phones do not support the standard MAP Bluetooth protocol. Your question should be directed to the iPhone forum. BMW has the same issue with the iPhone.

My issues have nothing to do with text messaging and I never said anything about that.
 












Outdoor temp?

So based upon the pics posted in this thread, it appears Ford removed the outdoor temp reading that was located next to the clock. Can someone confirm this, and is the outdoor temp displayed anywhere in the new release (on the home screen)?

Thanks!
 






Never said you did. Was responding to a post by sgt1411

Ah, my bad. Your quoted section was almost exactly what I'd said above concerning something different. Thought it was my quote. Sorry about that.
 






I assume that you are referring to the iPhone. The issue with the inability to read texts on MFT is not a Ford issue. Apple and certain Android phones do not support the standard MAP Bluetooth protocol. Your question should be directed to the iPhone forum. BMW has the same issue with the iPhone.

Yes, I was aware that Apple decided not to support MAP in the BT stack. There's at least a half dozen threads on it in this forum alone.

There's even people here on this forum who are choosing a smartphone based on its compatibility with MFT. I just find that amazing, your vehicle actually influences your phone choice.

Lets hope iPhone5 uses Wlan with iOS6 and so does MFT v4.0
 






So based upon the pics posted in this thread, it appears Ford removed the outdoor temp reading that was located next to the clock. Can someone confirm this, and is the outdoor temp displayed anywhere in the new release (on the home screen)?

Thanks!

Center instrument cluster
 






As far as applying a Lemon Law to a balky entertainment system...seems like a long shot no matter where you are. I mean, if the physical components repeatedly failed and had to be replaced, maybe. But just poorly implemented features? Nah. That's more of a "next time avoid Ford" sort of thing.

Yea. I utilized the lemon law a couple of years back. I called 1-800-Lemon-Law, and a month later I had a check for every payment I had made, plus a percentage for my trouble. The car was a 2008 Volvo XC-90 V8 AWD SUV. $62K car I got on a two year business lease. It was in the shop seven times just for the continuously failing DVD players; wiring harnesses would arrive at our house from Sweden(!!) for us to take to the dealer. The lemon law activating issues were electrical, but affected the ability to drive the car and drive it safely. This was and is the burden of proof to a successful lemon law application in NJ.

For us, the car might randomly drop to first gear while on a highway, or all of the locks, lights, and windows might begin to open/close - lock/unlock - turn on/turn off like the car was haunted by a poltergeist. Pretty scary the first time it happened. The power seats might begin moving themselves while driving, running me right up to the dash board, unresponsive to my frantic manipulation of the seat position switches, while having my knees jammed into the dash and the wheel pressed into my chest. Or the car might not start. And all of the symptoms might disappear upon turning off the car and restarting.

I called Volvo (owned by Ford at the time) and asked for a solution. They said they could only keep trying to fix it, but refused any other type of reparation. I told them that I would contact a lawyer and that they would definitely end up settling, and that I hate lawyers and don't want to give them a dime for anything, yet Volvo wouldn't budge. Instead, they sent engineers to my dealership to look at our haunted car. They fixed it over and over, only for us to, on three occasions, drive out of the lot, have something fail, turn back around into the service bay, get back into the loaner car (which had none of the features that I was still paying for -- a $60+K car remember) and leave.

In the end, we were offered the option of handing back the car for a refund, receiving a refund of all payments paid thus far and keeping the car (still making payments), and in either case also receiving additional funds for inconvenience. Further, Volvo paid all legal fees (I warned them), and this was settled out of court.

The local dealership's service department actually lost a star or some such thing ("A five star service center" -- no more), and part of the settlement was that I was not to mention to the dealership that there had been a settlement.

That's really the crux of the matter: There needs to be three repairs for issues that rendered the car unsafe or unusable for a significant period of time (subjective), and you need to have copies of all of the service records.
 






Actually, I'm still having the exact same problem with intermittent BT Audio connections. That is, BT Audio mysteriously doesn't work about 20% of the time. The phone is connected via BT, and I can make and receive calls. But music streaming via the media player's BT simply won't work. The only "fix" seems to be shutting off the car for 10 minutes or so. This has happened under 2.8, 2.11, and now the Performance Upgrade.

And yesterday I was driving down the road listening to an audiobook over BT and there was a pause, and then MFT shifted back to FM on its own. I tried to reconnect the media player back to BT and just got "connecting to iPhone...". All the while the Phone quadrant showed my phone connected.

I've had two different phones during this time, an iPhone 4, and an iPhone 4s. Both iPhones, but two different pieces of hardware. The only bluetooth connectivity problems I've had with either phone are with MFT. You can say that it's Apple's fault (even though I have no problems with anything else) but I'd say that a system that can't interface reliably with the market's leading phone has a problem.

Well, now I can stop waiting anxiously for the update in the mail. If Ford did not fix the bluetooth audio streaming issue for the most popular (ok maybe 2d most popular) smart phone, it just reinforces the opinion I had before: namely. Ford's beta test population was too limited. I don't know why Ford would not invite more broad participation to beta test such an important update. Like other CE manufacturers, the participants can be selected based on a set of categories and would have to sign the standard beta test participant agreement (with stock non-disclosure/ confidentiality provision). Its not like any of the features are secret or confidential any more. Ford needs a broad enough beta test population to test more common and real world use cases (something it probably would not get with a limited sample size based only on its employees).

Also, while blaming Apple may be valid, if other manufacturers can figure it out, so should Ford especially given all of its advertising as a technology leader.

I just hope the update fixes my other issues including, frustratingly, my issue trying to get streams and music to play over USB (only works for me some times, and will cutoff often/ if bluetooth audio and USB audio are buggy, there is no reliable solution to getting content to play in car from an iPhone, which is a little ridiculous). Since I am now used to printing out maps again, the intermittent nav failure will not be as big a deal (I just wish I did not give my old Garmin to my Dad). I guess I will wait for the update just to make sure, but early reports are not encouraging.
 






It may not be an issue of Ford "figuring it out" as much as Apple not playing along. It is a possibility.
 






It may not be an issue of Ford "figuring it out" as much as Apple not playing along. It is a possibility.

If it is an issue with Apple (very possible though Ford has its own issues as evidenced by host of other bugs), then Ford should not advertise compatibility with iOS devices without disclosing incompatibility issues with advertised features (official chart indicates bluetooth audio functionality for the iPhone 3GS, 4 and 4S).

If Ford wants potential buyers who own iPhones to buy cars equipped with MFT, it should do what other manufacturers have done and figure it out. Otherwise, just be honest and tell potential buyers that bluetooth audio and USB audio are not compatible. Ford can even blame Apple for these issues saying such functionality requires update from Apple.

Funny thing is I am not an Apple fanboy as the only Apple product I own is an iPhone (I have PC based computers and an Android tablet). It has just been very frustrating dealing with the bugs I have had with this vehicle. I am a Ford guy and I am as disappointed as everyone else seeing Ford's quality ratings drop so much since MFT was launched. I just hope Ford can figure it out before any tech lead they had with MFT vanishes.

I'll take that tissue now.
 






It may not be an issue of Ford "figuring it out" as much as Apple not playing along. It is a possibility.

My wife has a UConnect from Chrysler, and she has problems with Bluetooth streaming as well with her iPhone, (although her problem is that the artist/track info will randomly not work). I did some investigation and it seems that Chrysler has problems with streaming with Apple as well.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f309/iphone-ios-5-1-now-available-1340919/

(I can't find the exact thread, but that one describes a user having problems with iPhone).

My money is that Apple's software is the culprit.
 



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