DailyTech - Quick Note: Ford Respond to JD Power MyFord Touch Criticism... Sort of

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Auto Quick Note: Ford Respond to JD Power MyFord Touch Criticism... Sort of
Jason Mick (Blog) - June 21, 2012 5:50 PM

15 comment(s) - last by catzsites.. on Jun 28 at 4:47 PM

Ford defends its infotainment system

J.D. Power & Associates this week announced its second-straight scathing review and quality down-ranking of Ford due to its MyFord Touch infotainment system. Ford has plummeted from 7th to 27th in that high profile quality ranking over the last two years based mainly on its infotainment system. In the wake of the latest downgrade, Ford released some numbers defending its platform.

A Ford spokesperson writes us:

We’d like to share with you some of the early positive feedback received from customers:

Owner feedback from customer clinics reveals that MyFord Touch was a key purchase reason for customers; 56 percent saying the technology was an important part of their buying decision.
According to a new internal survey of MyFord and MyLincoln Touch owners, those who installed the upgrade report a 25 percentage point increase in satisfaction.
Also, 71 percent of owners with the upgrade say they would recommend MyFord Touch to their friends.

Now Ford didn't mention that the figures were released as a response to the J.D. Power report, but the timing seems highly coincidental. The message Ford seems to be wishing to send is that it feels that its customers like the system, even if "haters are gonna hate”.

MyFord Touch in the F-Series. [Image Source: Jason Mick/DailyTech]

Ford recently completed a major overhaul of MyFord Touch, which fixed certain stability issues such as unexpected Bluetooth pairing-related reboots.

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Still a PoS

By BioHazardous on 6/21/2012 6:35:50 PM , Rating: 2

I have a 2012 Ford Focus, and even after the update I think it's horrible. The update got rid of a number of things that made it easy to use. The only positive thing that came from the update from my experience is no more hard crashes where the system is completely locked-up and unusable.

-Voice commands don't ever seem to work.

-It randomly changes the screen I'm on when using the iPod connection.

-It has to reindex (which takes forever) the iPod every time you start the vehicle for anything to work like shuffle mode, voice commands, etc.

-The system often yells at me to pay attention to the road when switch to the iPod and also tells me video will resume when the car is stopped (I have no videos on my iPod).

-The iPod display doesn't show who the artist is even though it used to before the awesome update.

-Hands free Bluetooth quality is awful, people tell me just to call them back it's so bad. I've also heard that if the other person is talking while when I am, it's like a walkie talkie, and they don't hear what I say.

-The little popup menu for your phone when you get a call doesn't show up anymore and I have to navigate multiple screens to hang up a damn call. (I've for the most part stopped using the bluetooth integration)

-Navigation system is so slow and cumbersome to use it's worthless. You also can't search easily for things while the car is in motion. (no I'm not trying to, the passenger is and can't do a number of things because the car is in motion)

-While driving the car started talking to me asking me if I wanted to run a vehicle health check.. I was like wtf is going on.. then I thought maybe it knew something I didn't.. I said yes.. Got the report when I got home.. everything was good. The next day.. same thing, asked me again.. Why for the love of god is my car harassing me while I'm driving?

I could go on and on.. but I think you guys get the point. MyFord Touch is a huge failure. Let's hope whoever contacted you guys reads my post. Their software is the most ridiculous system I've ever used. Did they even test it out with consumers before releasing anything?

RE: Still a PoS

By chmilz on 6/21/2012 7:09:54 PM , Rating: 2

Oddly, the 8.4 Touch UConnect in my 2012 Journey Crew is actually quite good. The phone pairing and voice dial works perfectly, which is easily the most important feature for me. My wife connects her iPod and says the touch interface is good, no problems. It doesn't have nav so I can't comment there.

Normally I'm a huge Ford fan and hate Dodge (Journey is a company vehicle) but this system seems pretty solid.

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RE: Still a PoS

By Mitch101 on 6/21/2012 9:22:50 PM , Rating: 2

I haven't tried one but but it seem like you cant feel your way around so you pretty much have to take your eyes off the road to make changes.

Great if you have a passenger but I prefer voice, steering wheel, and something I can feel.

Do you find it a distraction compared to knobs and sliders? I would imagine you have steering wheel controls and voice to back up the screen so its not all screen.

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RE: Still a PoS

By chmilz on 6/21/2012 11:11:54 PM , Rating: 2

I haven't experimented with the voice controls too much, but the steering wheel controls are very robust. Also, there's real buttons/knobs for the dual climate control, though it can also be controlled through the screen. Once I set all my radio and other settings, I really haven't had to use it a lot. The only real annoyance is that there's no hardware button for heated seats, but once it's below a certain temperature the vehicle automatically turns them on, and I usually turn them on before I start driving anyway.

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RE: Still a PoS

By Mitch101 on 6/22/2012 8:30:08 AM , Rating: 2

That actually sounds pretty good to me. I have an early generation sync and once I learned the commands I can do quite a bit. Overall sounds pretty good to me thanks for the feedback.

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RE: Still a PoS

By Richard875yh5 on 6/21/12, Rating: 0

RE: Still a PoS

By Apone on 6/21/2012 7:32:27 PM , Rating: 1

Not sure what flavor Focus you're driving there in HI but here in the mainland, I know for a fact that the 2012 Focus has a 6-speed automatic transmission. I've driven both base models of the 2012 Cruze and Focus and I can tell you the Cruze's engine was way underpowered (outdated OHV Inline-4) while the Focus' automatic transmission has some shifting issues that can be rectified with a tranny software update at the dealership (I don't think there' a recall on this). Both are solid cars but I like the Focus because its styling design and bloodline is derived from Ford Europe (yay) and the Cruze's interior reminds me of a typical GM rental car (boo).

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RE: Still a PoS

By Marlin1975 on 6/21/2012 9:23:37 PM , Rating: 1

If you are going to lie at least try and keep it so its believable.

EVERY Cruze motor option is OHC. 1 is OHC natural aspiration, the other is OHC with a turbo.

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RE: Still a PoS

By Samus on 6/22/2012 11:40:04 AM , Rating: 2

Absolutely. OHV implies a pushrod engine (to me) and I haven't seen a I4 pushrod engine in over a decade.

He must be driving a third-gen 'American platform' Focus if he doesn't have a 6-speed, and as we all know, those were based on the original Focus platform dating back to 1998 (2000 for the American market.) While not a bad platform, even today, it is outdated as far as NVH goes. The new 2012 'Global platform' Focus, while not having the highest quality interior in my opinion, is a great car for the money. The hatchback has more cargo space than the Cruze, it's more fun to drive, and the exterior looks great. But when compared to the Cruze Eco, which gets better fuel economy and costs thousands less, the Focus is a tough sell, which is why I still drive my 2003 SVT Focus. I've had a hard time replacing it for years because there just isn't anything compelling (other than the MazdaSpeed3 and new Beetle TDI)

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RE: Still a PoS

By kmmatney on 6/21/12, Rating: 0

RE: Still a PoS

By BillyBatson on 6/22/2012 2:34:41 AM , Rating: 3

What does your car which isn't a ford of have ford my touch have anything to do with this article lol

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RE: Still a PoS

By aGreenAgent on 6/22/2012 1:51:32 PM , Rating: 3

I have a 2012 Ford Focus, and I don't have any of these problems.

-My voice commands work every time. A lot of the music ones don't while you're indexing, but the indexing just happens once.

-Mine has never randomly changed screens

-Mine only indexed once and that was it

-I've never had it tell me to pay attention to the road, or say anything about videos

-My bluetooth quality is fine and nobody has ever said anything about bad voice quality

-Isn't there a hang up button on the steering wheel?

-You can easily do voice searches for the navigation while driving, but it does disable buttons.

-I've never had it say anything about a health check, either.

I think the system is great, maybe you should take it to the dealer and tell them your system is having trouble?

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RE: Still a PoS

By catzsites on 6/28/2012 4:47:11 PM , Rating: 2

I have a 2012 Ford explorer and love it. This is my first Ford and I am very impressed. One of the most appealing features of the car was the MFT. Initially I had enough BT connection problems to where it would get very annoying. After their recent overhaul of the software I have been running clean with no issues at all for about two months.

- My voice commands work all the time even with my kids screaming in back

- I don’t hook up my phone through USB I just use the BT audio streaming and utilize the steering wheel controls. Works perfectly.

- Phone conversations over BT are the best I have experienced in any vehicle I have been in.

- Navigation works great and you can find just about anything quickly and easily. This was difficult at first and required a little practice.

- The Vehicle Health report is a setting that can be disabled or adjusted. This generates a report about your vehicle that you can view online.

Sounds like you got a bad one or just haven’t figured it out yet. Getting use to new software can be frustrating. After the dealer confirms the system is working correctly and you still hate it. RTFM.

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Dear. Mr/Ms. Ford Spokesperson....

By Apone on 6/21/2012 7:36:15 PM , Rating: 2

.... yeah it's a bit difficult to take your “findings” at face value considering the "internal survey" you mentioned could have been conducted and/or skewed by Ford to make the results look appealing.

Ford

By Richard875yh5 on 6/25/2012 9:05:08 AM , Rating: 2

I just got back from a vacation in Maui,HI and drove a Ford Focus while I was there. The Focus compared with my Chevy Cruze is a piece of junk. The Focus has issues with it transmission, road and window noise, and poor gas mileage.

Why anyone would buy the Focus over the Cruze tells me they did not do their homework.