Control placement standards
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,200
Likes: 4
From: Ottawa, Ontario Canada
Control placement standards
I drive mainly an F150 and sometimes our Explorer or Expedition. Why do all the buttons and switches have to be in completely different places? Why can't the cruise control, wipers, washers and headllamp, and radio buttons be standardized like a gas and brake pedal? Drives me friggin crazy when I reach for a control and it does the opposite function from what I am used to. Are there any FORD people listening who can take this feedback to the engineers who design this stuff? JREEEZUS!
Lead Driver
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 5,871
Likes: 356
From: Mts. S. of San Francisco
Someday maybe. At least they all have the steering wheel, gas pedal, and brake more or less in the same place. At least you are sticking with Fords. When you switch between brands it can be even more disorientating.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 1,634
Likes: 72
Yes! I just got my first Ford, an F150, about 3 or 4 weeks ago. Nothing is where I expect it...except the steering wheel and pedals.
My wife had a Grand Caravan at the same time I had a Durango, both used identical controls. I could go back and forth between them and know exactly where everything was located. it was nice.
Now that I have the Ford and she has a Lincoln....
My wife had a Grand Caravan at the same time I had a Durango, both used identical controls. I could go back and forth between them and know exactly where everything was located. it was nice.
Now that I have the Ford and she has a Lincoln....
Tuned
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 369
Likes: 16
From: Pleasant Grove, Alabama
I came from a 2012 F150 Lariat to a 2016 F150 Lariat. You'd think it was a different brand. The turn signals don't cancel the same. The cruise control buttons are laid out differently. The window switches are in a different place. I've had the 2016 nearly 6 months and I'm still learning.........
Elder User
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 536
Likes: 5
From: Phoenix, AZ
Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 6,801
Likes: 7
From: DFW, TX-GoldCanyon, AZ
I'm with the OP... That is the KEY reason I will no longer buy a factory NAV system also. Seems like no one can agree on how to best do it.
I thought I was about to crash the truck trying to find the wiper controls the first time in a flash storm.
Yes I had familiarized myself with the controls ahead of time but it seems to take a good 6 months for everything to "sink in"...
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,200
Likes: 4
From: Ottawa, Ontario Canada
ya, it sinks in just fine, then you go to your other Ford vehicle and need something turned on in a hurry like wipers in a storm, or bluetooth phone answering switch and they are on the wrong multi-function control lever, or wrong position on the steering wheel. Wouldn't take a rocket scientist to standardize this.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 1,801
Likes: 48
From: Abilene TX.
I agree that Ford could do a little better placing controls between model lines better. The controls on my 2015 steering wheel are backwards from the 2012 I came out of and the difference between it and my Escape..... completely different again! i can deal with the center stack but controls on the steering wheels should be more similar.
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 155
Likes: 4
From: Tennessee USA
Can you imagine what it would have been like to have had a car with the dimmer switch on the column the first time? I'm sure that even if I knew about it I'd have been stomping the floor trying to dim my lights. I bet there are very few of the younger generation that knows that it was once on the floor.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 6,801
Likes: 7
From: DFW, TX-GoldCanyon, AZ
Can you imagine what it would have been like to have had a car with the dimmer switch on the column the first time? I'm sure that even if I knew about it I'd have been stomping the floor trying to dim my lights. I bet there are very few of the younger generation that knows that it was once on the floor.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 1,597
Likes: 83
From: N. Texas
I personally prefer it on the turn signal stalk. Much easier to just flash than stomping on that switch.
Lead Driver
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 5,871
Likes: 356
From: Mts. S. of San Francisco
I thought that for a while. However, if you have a manual transmission, it's difficult to press the clutch pedal & the dimmer switch at the same time. Much easier on the turn signal stalk. Maybe not an issue if you have an automatic transmission, but I think that ship has sailed.