Failed Console Gear Shift Lever

[Snakebitten]

My appointment is for Xmas day 2:00 pm? What dealership expects their employees to work 12/25?

Pretty much indicates that the whole process is automated and not indicative of an actual human being inviting you to your spot in line.

Been working for a company 24 years that the CEO refuses to allow any automation in the customer service procedures. None!

He takes a lot of heat for it, most in good nature, but in my opinion the company prospers as a result.

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[F-150 Prius]

My appointment is for Xmas day 2:00 pm? What dealership expects their employees to work 12/25?

So that's just a software mistake, the dealer's not really open on the 25th?

 

[Prufrock]

Same exact thing happened to me today in my 2 month old 2022 Lightning. Was stuck in my truck at my daughter's school parking lot for 30 minutes. When I stepped on the brake pedal after a bunch of tries, the lever moved by itself into P. I guess I'll be dropping it off at the dealer. What a PITA!

 

[F-150 Prius]

Same exact thing happened to me today in my 2 month old 2022 Lightning. Was stuck in my truck at my daughter's school parking lot for 30 minutes. When I stepped on the brake pedal after a bunch of tries, the lever moved by itself into P. I guess I'll be dropping it off at the dealer. What a PITA!

That's bad news for everyone with this absurdly complex and fragile shifter. I'm paranoid-careful about using it and I expect it will be broken by someone borrowing the truck or someone in service … all it takes is a little impatience when it takes a ridiculously long time to release from being "locked" in Park.

I'm really surprised in an auto industry era of reducing complexity, reducing production costs, reducing parts, Ford was so insistent upon wasting the whole front of the center console with a "floor shifter" it would develop this plastic toy replica of a shifter (and for a transmission that doesn't use a shifter, it's all electronic.) When they decided on the "workspace" armrest (which I like) why not quit the console shifter and put it as a dial on the dash (just too similar to RAM and that's just an ego bridge too far?) This would have been cheaper and freed up prime real estate in the cabin to either continue the six-seater option up to the top of the line or at least create a lot of volume and space in the center console. I have a Platinum and would certainly have optioned it as a six-seater (preferably meaning the whole front row can fold flat, which would have made for a great sleeping space in the cabin) but just having six seats is a big advantage and the center console with the flimsy T-shifter is not a plus, in my humble.

As ever with these "driver aids" and "safety mechanisms" there should/must always be a mode where the driver has complete manual control. There should always been the default that the driver is in control (e.g. when I press on the "release this lever" button, that's not a conversation or a request or a passing daydream notion of a better future, it should be an immediate action of the vehicle to do what is to be done when a given control is used by the driver.)

There are exceptions (ABS "knows better" and Stability/Traction usually "know better", so they intervene and that's that … there should still be a real "off" button for those back-seat drivers, and there are things like accidentally pressing the accelerator instead of the brake or pressing both the brake and the accelerator … most people need to be protected from "unintended acceleration" but there should still be a button to turn off these "safeties" even if the button is followed up by a "are your sure?" challenge … fine … but then, whatever it is has to be turned off.)

Why not have a "safety delay in Park" setting?

Why not a "manual override shifter" setting for _when_ the damn thing breaks?

 

[amschind]

The shifter and 4WD buttons are absolutely bonkers. They are all just electronic switches....they can be placed anywhere. So why build the E-locker button into the mode select switch surrounded by the 4WD buttons (i.e. the thing that I have to adjust every time I drive, the mode, is surrounded by buttons that I explicitly don't want engaged unless I'm off-road). The shifter should not be a completely different part, and the fact that it's just an electronic switch means that it could be located somewhere that doesn't require it to fold.

I'd prefer that the off road switches (hill descent, e-locker, 4A/H/L) were located on the roof where the raptor light rockers go (that way they're easy to add or remove since not all trucks will have all/any of them). The shifter and mode selector should just be incorporated into the steering wheel. You only need F/N/R/M because the lockouts are built into the modes. You could also add paddles pretty easily, and all of that still adds up to less cost than the shifter while giving customers the entire center console back.

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