artfd

Last year when I looked at new Ford pickups, some of them had consoles in the center of the front seat & some of them did not. Ford does have other ideas, they just didn't apply them to the Transit Connect very well.

I take it you are not a touch typist. I believe that after you cycle a few times through the different push buttons available on any car you will soon come to remember their positions by muscle memory. It works for me with headlights, emergency brakes, ignition switch, emergency flashers, radio, etc. No reason why that couldn't work with transmission settings, except for the human tendency to always do something the way it's always been done before.

If it's a gear selector, does that mean it could be replaced with a series of push buttons mounted just about anywhere else? If so, this really is form over function.

I have an F150 with a column mounted shifter & a jillion dash gizmos, the OEM stuff & the stuff I've added. Zero problems seeing or reaching them.

I think floor mounted shifters are a triumph of style over substance, just like having the TC's driver seat crammed up in the left front corner with a vast of amount of space behind. Perhaps having the shifter very close to the transmission saves a few bucks on construction. I've been looking for aftermarket seats for over a year now, have turned up none. Ain't buying a TC unless I can find one.

I asked Ford service people what was under the console. Part of the floor mounted shifter is there - but not that much. There is a box for some electronics and a bundle of cables, also not very big. Otherwise it's just empty space. If Ford wants your business, perhaps you can persuade a dealer to unbolt the console to have your mother try it out. When I took the TC on a test drive, I told the salesman the only thing that kept me from buying it was the lousy driver's seat - this info obviously went into one of the salesman's ear & then out the other.

I would have bought a TC last year, but found the seating and space it grudgingly provided for me as a driver was intolerably painful within about 25 minutes of my saddling up. The console intrudes on the gas pedal, there was very little space around it. Service people have told me the console covers mostly empty space. Other than that, I have no complaints -- I was once able to tolerate a Datsun mini-pickup with a 1.9 L engine for 135,000 miles. What improvements I would like More space for the driver Get rid of that useless and space wasting console Optional power seat for the driver.

A Ford service person said it was mostly empty space with a small metal box containing some electronic device. Does anyone have more information? Is it possible to operate a TC with the shell of the console removed?

The OEM driver's seating is the only reason I haven't already bought a Transit Connect. I've read queries on this subject in many places on the internet, useful replies are never posted.