Owner Survey fron Ford

[REC]

I put this in another post, but it bears knowing. If you do the owner survey, you may be called. See below:

IF you recieve the survey after purchase from Ford, fill it out and return it. I thought it was just another survey... BUT. Around 10:30 this morning, I recieved a call from a "group conference" of engineers on the Transit project.

For close to half an hour, they sought information/input/comments regarding the vehicle and whatever points I cared to mention - good, bad or indifferent. I brought up most of the comments that I've made, as well as others I've read here and on the UK Transit forum. It was interesting to say the least.

I think they are honestly seeking to make sure they understand the general public's thoughts on the product, and it sounds like they will be looking into some of the issues brought up more in depth.

I forgot the one that seems to be Madlock's most major concern - the computer and its continual failure. I remembered it just as soon as the call was concluded. I wish they had called when I was sitting at a computer - I would have read some of the posts from here.

Anyway, we'll see what happens. My personal list of stuff wasn't huge, but had to do with the bare metal parts on the underside of the car, the resonant floor acting as a sound board for road noise, and the sound from the tin cans hooked to the radio by kite string. That was one that they seemed to be genuinely intersted in a complete understaning. I should have said "go drive one and try hearing the radio while driving." Didn't come to mind...

Sooo, if you take the survey and give them your contact number, you may hear from the group too.

Roland C.

Happily Transiting

[PBXgeek]

Good for Ford! Excellent. I'm going to dig through my mail pile and see if I got one of those surveys.

The only point of criticism I have at present is that the radio is needlessly complicated. There is no instruction for clearing unwanted stations from the buttons, and it appears to be necessary to press the AM/FM selector before pressing a button to choose a preset station on the other band (e.g. going from an AM station on button #1 to an FM station on button #2). There is no need for each one-touch button to store three or more stations at the expense of over-complicating the menu system.

It would be nice to have more configurable space for storing small odds & ends between the front seats. I smoke a pipe, and there isn't an obvious place to put it along with a tin of tobacco and so on, so I may end up rigging some kind of container for the purpose. Also there isn't an obvious place for a litter container (snack wrappers, beverage cups, etc.), so that's behind the seat for the moment.

OTOH the narrower space between front seats is part of how Ford managed to get the overall vehicle width down to "compact" level, which is a major plus for parking in cities. If I had to choose, I'd keep the narrow width rather than increase the width to get a few inches more space between the front seats.

Aside from those minor points, no complaints whatsoever. Everything works the way it should, the truck is doing its job admirably, and I think Ford is going to have a major hit with this one.

One more suggestion though: Since the odometer cluster can already show "estimated miles before refueling" (highly useful feature), it should be able to show instant MPG and trip MPG. Putting an MPG meter right into the standard instrumentation will immediately cause most drivers to change their driving habits to save fuel. That is the simplest thing any auto maker can do to improve overall fuel efficiency in the US, and it ought to be standard on all new cars. (I'm going to install a ScanGauge to get MPG readout.)