chucky2

An ElectricStar PHEV with a large battery, say 200mi range, along with completely removable seats instead of just fold flats would be nice. Gas engine there for the longer trips, plugin, all electric for in-town/shorter trips. EDIT, internal width in-between an Explorer and F-150. EDIT2, a suspension that raises and lower the vehicle so step-in height, settable, is lower than ride height, thereby negating need for running board. Bonus if it looks like a modern version of the Aerostar...

True, but the pain of using FordParts.com is like 200% mental anguish increase....

Good testing env for Ford...

4x4 Plug-in hybrid with an all electric range of at least 35mi unloaded (80% electric charge if that's what you need to charge to w/o damaging battery, full tank of gas and 200lb driver). Cup holders that aren't vertical arrangement but horizontal. Storage bin in front of cup holders that has nice large storage size and easily accessible so the massive vehicle can be used by more than the singular 5'6" skinny college grad tester who buys a Starbucks and thinks that's the entire use case for how it'll be used. Chuck

Someone at EU Ford Design is going to get canned, Ford is all about the sh1tty vertical cup holders and joke of a storage area, this design obviously is "flawed"...

so instead of the of diff engaging the other wheel mechanically it just stops your drive wheel? This is really as good as a limited slip?

Other than 99% of these SUVs will never not see the pavement, am I missing something here with everything being non-limited slip rear?

Can't happen soon enough IMO. Ford needs to own their dealerships and service centers so they can make them adhere to their standard instead of whatever each stealership wants to implement (from well run to a total joke). They can have a small stock of cars for test drives, then people can order their cars at the dealer via an online ordering experience that THEY go through, with dealer assistance if needed, or better, go home and order exactly what they want online in the comfort of their own home with no pressure from the sales staff. Service can actually be run properly instead of complete hit and miss it is now. Just a better overall culture all around is needed.

We had a 2000 Expedition w/ 4WD do this and it turned out to be the front input shaft speed sensor for the transfer case causing the truck to go into 4x4 mode while on dry pavement. I'm sure hte system in your Aviator is worlds different but one wonders if you're getting bind in the drivetrain somehow...

So then the passengers sleeve, who is doing the same thing, can wipe across my cup? Thanks, but no. A far better solution is just to have side by side cup holders and drop the faux 4 on the floor shifter stupidity. Who wipes their arm on the door? Instead of grabbing or pushing the door handle/door, we make sure we're using our sleeve instead of our bare hands; having people with medical issues you take more careful actions than people who don't have to care (and I used to be one of those, so I get it). It leads to knowing that your sleeve is not a clean thing, and so why Ford designers would make the decision to have that contaminated thing wipe across someone's cup that they'll be putting right on their lips, to have a faux floor mounted shifter rather than a light years more practical cup holder arrangement, is beyond me. And Ford isn't the only one who is guilty of this, so not picking on them solely....

It's cool to see stuff you were involved with in action....

Yes, bad design is bad design... Whatever you want to call them, I don't want to have to unnaturally fidget with my drink when another drink is in the way, all the while the sleeve of my longsleave shirt/coat that I open doors with (including bathroom door stalls, entrance/exit) drags across the other persons drink. TANDEM cupholders are just a really bad idea (and yes, I realize how many vehicles employ them)...

Vertical cup holders...no, no no no no no.... ?

For me I'd just like to get the column mounted shifter...I find the fake '4 on the floor' wannabe shifter on the console idiotic, regardless how many designs have them. Post next mid cycle refresh going to see what it would take to get the column mounted shifter in something like a Limited...I'm sure it'll be painful... :(

Gotta wonder what they're going to do for the F-35 $500k a piece helmets. Hopefully the OLED screens that they had to put in them because the LCD screens produced a GLO when it was black out don't have IR/burn-in issues like OLED TVs have... Given # hours on vehicles vs aircraft though, plus the constant content, it'll be even worse for autos...

MicroLED tech that can deliver true blacks (like OLED) without image retention (like OLED) can't get here soon enough for...everything...

No idea if it'd help or not, but make sure you clear your cache between hits.

I know it's not the same vehicle, but my parents 2014 Ford Flex has the same type of issue. We keep our vehicles a long time, and nothing has this amount of small pitting in the glass in such a short amount of time. I think over at www.fordflex.net there was a thread on it and I wasn't the only one that had the issue. Hate to see what this'll be like in another 5-8 years...

Thanks FordChief, I'll bookmark that and try it out next time I need to order something!

Sorry that I abandoned my own thread. The entire parts lookup on the current Ford Parts is problematic, they have references in non-US terminology, and I'll just stop there as I've had a longer post that crashed and don't feel like retyping. What's even more crazy is, I just did an order from Tasca and you get better pricing through that than FP...I realize their an affiliate but gezus you'd think at least FP with 15% retiree benny would be cheaper than Tasca. Plus Tasca at least has a working parts lookup system...I guess I shouldn't be too mad, I don't think I've had one correct experience with Ford IT - ever. It's like they hire just rejects or something...

I don't know what options are out now, but my dad Ziebart'd his 2000 Expedition and it rotted out in the door bottoms and rockers. Stuck finger in one of the holes and the coating had fallen off, clogging the drain holes and basically acting a sponge for water at same time. An oil spray on bottom of vehicle might be best if you're going to do something like that...but then have to worry about it getting all over driveway/garage...

The old FordParts.com before the current format was plagued by incorrect lookup values, but at least it was functionally usable. This new FordParts.com, that they've had for probably 2 years now, is just flat out - horrible. I'm wondering, for those that have used it (or, tried to use it), if anyone gets the idea that Ford Leadership (who MUST know how absolutely F'ing bad FP.com is, it is THAT bad) intentionally makes/allows the site to be that bad to push people to just direct deal with the stealerships?

VW went through this with their CR 2.0 TDI here in the States. There's a guy over at tdiclub.com, 2Micron I think, that put together a filter package or something like that where it catches the debris after pump degradation so it doesn't contaminate the entire fuel system. We just don't have repeatable quality diesel here in the States like EU does...

The solution to LCD tech 'black glow' is to use OLED as the TV world has done for the last short few years now. The drawback is unlike LCD tech, OLED can suffer burn-in, which isn't good when for years on end you have the same buttons in the same position on the screen. It also is not as bright as LCD...not sure if that's an issue for full sun viewing. MicroLCD (or is it MicroLED?) is being looked at by at least one manufacturer, which might get us the best of both worlds, however it's no where near prime time (for non-automotive use at that) so it'll be a while before the perfect solution is found...

1. Good to hear that MAYBE they have their SUV 2nd and 3rd row somewhat fixed so MAYBE it's usable as a Utility, proof will be in pudding. 2. LOL at tablet stuck vertically, it's like they wanted to be Tesla but couldn't obviously pull it off so they just did that instead. Horrifying... 3. Already have seen one shot where drivers leg is crammed right up against plastic cockpit, just what I want in my new $50k ride on a trip lasting longer than run to local Starbucks alone (which I'm convinced is about as far and how many people I think they do product testing with, small ones at that). 4. Looks like will be waiting in hopes mid cycle refresh will gives us shifters that aren't needlessly (and it seems proudly, given how they emphasized them in their pictures) taking up center console space and thus, if that ever happens, we'll get horizontal cup holders rather than joke and germ spreading vertical arrangement (but the necessary console shifters!). Pretty F'd up launch for such an important vehicle IMO...