Carguy3J
Explorer Addict
- Joined
- June 21, 2008
- Messages
- 1,525
- Reaction score
- 3
- City, State
- North East New Jersey
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '99 4dr. XLT SOHC A4WD
Ok, I have a question. I'm not in the market for a new vehicle at this time, but I am curious about something.
It seems to me that all this "entertainment" crap, whether it's Ford/GM/foreign/etc.... all just seems like a bunch of trouble prone unnecessary junk that will eventually send many modern cars to the junkyard long before they will be mechanically worn out.
For example, lets say Ford replaces this MFT system with something new in a few years. Now, fast forward to the point that your 2013 Explorer (or Focus,Taurus, or whatever) is now just a 150k mile 15 year old used car. Mechanically, it may still have another 50-75k of life left in it, assuming proper maintenance. However just imagine that your fancy touchscreen gadget, that happens to occupy a huge chunk of dash real estate as well as controlling a number of critical vehicle functions, has stopped working. At this point, it would be highly unlikely that Ford would still offer new replacements, at any price, let alone at an economically feasible one. What do you do? Sure the junkyard is a possibility, for the physical chunk of hardware, but I'm assuming you can;t just plug in one of these units from one vehicle to another with out dealer ($$$$$) reprogramming. This also assumes that there are units in good condition still available used.
I know, you're going to say "no problem. The aftermarket will step in like they do with any other part". Well, I doubt it. There is very little "interchangeability" with specialized electronics. I don;t see it being economically feasible for the aftermarket to develop and produce replacements for proprietary vehicle electronics like MFT. Of course, I also highly doubt Ford would give them access to the software/source code, even 15-20 years later.
If I were to find myself in the market for a new car, I would absolutely refuse to purchase a vehicle that came with all this built in add-on crap. No touchscreen HVAC controls, no built in subscription based navigation (maybe, if it came with absolutely contractually guaranteed perpetual functionality- even if the manuf. went out of business/bankrupt,etc..),etc... If it were a GM, I would refuse On-Star, or anything similar from another manuf. Why? Well, they've already abandoned the early generation of On-Star, leaving certain older GM's with a non-functioning hunk of hardware that taunts the owner with it's presence every time they get in the vehicle. No matter how much you're willing to pay, it is never going to be able to function again. I can see similar situations becoming more common as the whole in-vehicle electronics "craze" matures; as more and more older systems are abandoned and left with no support.
So, my question is this:
Is it possible to order, say a 2013 Explorer (or Taurus, etc...) with a complete "delete" of all MFT-type systems. In other words, traditional cable/vacum operated HVAC controls, "traditonal" DIN/Double-DIN radio which is independent of any other vehicle system, "normal" power locking system with no more than a standard key-fob remote, perhaps old-school remote start, and no "phone-home" on-board diagnostic that send emails/texts to you/Ford, or anybody else,etc.... Basically, early 2000's level of technology.
While it is not quite related, I would also be very leery of anything with a drive-by-wire throttle, or traction/ stability controls that can't be completely, permanently (unless I choose to reactivate it) , 100% disabled
It seems to me that all this "entertainment" crap, whether it's Ford/GM/foreign/etc.... all just seems like a bunch of trouble prone unnecessary junk that will eventually send many modern cars to the junkyard long before they will be mechanically worn out.
For example, lets say Ford replaces this MFT system with something new in a few years. Now, fast forward to the point that your 2013 Explorer (or Focus,Taurus, or whatever) is now just a 150k mile 15 year old used car. Mechanically, it may still have another 50-75k of life left in it, assuming proper maintenance. However just imagine that your fancy touchscreen gadget, that happens to occupy a huge chunk of dash real estate as well as controlling a number of critical vehicle functions, has stopped working. At this point, it would be highly unlikely that Ford would still offer new replacements, at any price, let alone at an economically feasible one. What do you do? Sure the junkyard is a possibility, for the physical chunk of hardware, but I'm assuming you can;t just plug in one of these units from one vehicle to another with out dealer ($$$$$) reprogramming. This also assumes that there are units in good condition still available used.
I know, you're going to say "no problem. The aftermarket will step in like they do with any other part". Well, I doubt it. There is very little "interchangeability" with specialized electronics. I don;t see it being economically feasible for the aftermarket to develop and produce replacements for proprietary vehicle electronics like MFT. Of course, I also highly doubt Ford would give them access to the software/source code, even 15-20 years later.
If I were to find myself in the market for a new car, I would absolutely refuse to purchase a vehicle that came with all this built in add-on crap. No touchscreen HVAC controls, no built in subscription based navigation (maybe, if it came with absolutely contractually guaranteed perpetual functionality- even if the manuf. went out of business/bankrupt,etc..),etc... If it were a GM, I would refuse On-Star, or anything similar from another manuf. Why? Well, they've already abandoned the early generation of On-Star, leaving certain older GM's with a non-functioning hunk of hardware that taunts the owner with it's presence every time they get in the vehicle. No matter how much you're willing to pay, it is never going to be able to function again. I can see similar situations becoming more common as the whole in-vehicle electronics "craze" matures; as more and more older systems are abandoned and left with no support.
So, my question is this:
Is it possible to order, say a 2013 Explorer (or Taurus, etc...) with a complete "delete" of all MFT-type systems. In other words, traditional cable/vacum operated HVAC controls, "traditonal" DIN/Double-DIN radio which is independent of any other vehicle system, "normal" power locking system with no more than a standard key-fob remote, perhaps old-school remote start, and no "phone-home" on-board diagnostic that send emails/texts to you/Ford, or anybody else,etc.... Basically, early 2000's level of technology.
While it is not quite related, I would also be very leery of anything with a drive-by-wire throttle, or traction/ stability controls that can't be completely, permanently (unless I choose to reactivate it) , 100% disabled