$470 Backup Camera for 2011???

[madlock]

Well, as a shareholder, I suppose I should tip my cap to Ford for having the moxy to ream TC owners for $470 for a simple backup camera (that's mounted in one of the corner indents on the rear license plate compartment. Nothing like making a simple backup camera cost about 2% of the vehicle's overall price.

Believe me, nobody's drunk more Ford Kool-Aid than I, but I want to speak to whomever is in charge of their fleet-wide backup camera decision making. I just bought a $60K GT500. And for my extra money, along with the Supercharged 550HP V8, I get front seats that aren't heated, a manual passenger seat, and - because Mustang's backup camera is spoiler-mounted - no backup camera option with the Shelby spoiler (you know, the one that's actually meant to affect aerodynamics). Oh, and no reverse sensors either. Combine this with the fact that Taurus went almost an entire year with no backup camera available in any non-SHO vehicle because it too was spoiler-mounted.

Fortunately, I've already bought the goodies to wire an aftermarket camera into the Navigation system, and I found a slick sensor product that uses electromagnetic sensors (rather than radar) to save my Shelby's backside when reversing, but the point is I shouldn't HAVE to. And in a vehicle like Transit Connect that can be SO fraught with blind spots, the company that brought us BLIS and so many other safety technologies shouldn't be commanding the same price for a backup camera as they do for ESC.

Unless people are willing to pay it, I suppose.