Ford penny pinching on 2020's?

[Deleted member 17706]

As I mentioned in one of my prior posts, minor things are not a big deal (ie less LEDs on side mirrors), but having 100s and 100s of posts on PRND indicates it is something that has been noticed, and to quite a few folks lights under PRND appear as a missing feature.

Not having a light under the PRND shift column is a minor thing too. If you all would stop beating a dead horse, nobody would be talking about it—there are not hundreds of post about the issue. I don't need a lecture on culture relativism and how everyone is entitled to their own preferences.

Did it ever occur to some of you that Ford researched the subject with its customers and found most customers do not care about a light under the shift column and a light around the usb port? Who knows whether they did or not. But it is at least possible they did.

 

[K223]

True! Only reason why we have the redundant manual shift buttons on the shifter is because the shifter is carried over from the F-150 parts bin. Or that could have been axed.

Oh dang, did I just put gas into this fire lol

 

[Deleted member 17706]

True! Only reason why we have the redundant manual shift buttons on the shifter is because the shifter is carried over from the F-150 parts bin. Or that could have been axed.

Oh dang, did I just put gas into this fire lol

Lol you nailed it. The Raptor is built on the most mass produced truck platform in the world. The $70k you are paying for a Raptor is not for the interior and creature comforts. Rather, it is for the near exclusive engine, off-road suspension, body panels, and a full factory warranty. I don't know what else you can ask for from a non-luxury brand like Ford. Sure, consumers have say into what companies bring to market. But such say is limited to the company's overall philosophy in how they plan to sell goods and experiences to consumers. Hence, why Lincoln has a totally different service experience and quality division than Ford because it is a different brand philosophy than what Ford offers.

It doesn't matter how much money you spend at Longhorns for a steak, you are still eating at Longhorns. No different with buying a Ford. I don't know too many 2020 Shelby GT500 owners who are complaining their vehicle doesn't have this or that feature because they all knew what they were getting when they bought it: a high performance vehicle that can run on a track with vehicles that cost more than double what they paid for their GT500. Expectations people. Expectations.

 

[Oldfart]

I’m grateful they quit with the spring loaded cup holders. Pain in the ass. My wife has them in her 2018 expedition and I hate those cup holders. So this is good news if or when my 2020 ever comes in.

Bro

 

[K223]

Wow ain’t that the truth in all respects. That Longhorn steak is exactly that. You have to half know what your gonna get into based on the brand. Built Ford tough is drivetrain and chassis!

 

[dreys]

I guess to summarize this thread:

- There are die-hard apologetic Ford customers, who had Ford products for quite some time. They're used to Ford products, they like Ford products, and will continue to purchase Ford products regardless.

- There are fleet and police customers, who buy F-150 regardless as well. There is a lot of things Ford can get away with here. Nobody cares about PRND light in this segment.

- And there are customers who come from different brands, who compare Ford to other trucks/SUVs in $70k+ range. This is where cutting corners by Ford is very visible and it is much more harder for Ford to get away with "cheapness" on the interior and exterior.

I absolutely agree with original post, Ford is trying to get away with savings costs, yet there is still enough demand in #1 and #2 type of customers, so items we're talking about here are not "really issues" for Ford. Customers of type #3 are very small percentage of overall Ford sales, unfortunately.

 

[EricM]

- And there are customers who come from different brands, who compare Ford to other trucks/SUVs in $70k+ range. This is where cutting corners by Ford is very visible and it is much more harder for Ford to get away with "cheapness" on the interior and exterior.

Why did these types buy an F150 then? Is it because the other trucks/SUVs in the $70K+ range are vastly inferior in lots of other areas?

So you are saying you want the Ford Raptor engine, body, trans, suspension, but fancy it up with top-end interior and exterior parts.

If Ford could sell a bunch of $125K Raptors by fancying it up more, they would. They know what they market will bear, and what you want is not going to sell in enough volumes to warrant creating those nicer and more expensive trim parts.

 

[Fireguy144]

Can you replace the cup holder part in the 2020 with one that is spring loaded? Anyone know that part number?

Spring loaded ? What's that ? Lol

 

[jabroni619]

Did it ever occur to some of you that Ford researched the subject with its customers and found most customers do not care about a light under the shift column and a light around the usb port? Who knows whether they did or not. But it is at least possible they did.

Since you didn't mention anything about Ford reaching out to you specifically or surveying you about this ommission, I'm going to assume you weren't part of this "potential" case study that ford may have done. I can tell you that I wasn't reached out to either. Did Ford reach out to anyone else reading this regarding the lighted USB ports and shifter?

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, and I'm pretty sure you do to, which begs the question... If you can't even fool yourself into believing it, what makes you think you can fool anyone else?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Since you didn't mention anything about Ford reaching out to you specifically or surveying you about this ommission, I'm going to assume you weren't part of this "potential" case study that ford may have done. I can tell you that I wasn't reached out to either. Did Ford reach out to anyone else reading this regarding the lighted USB ports and shifter?

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, and I'm pretty sure you do to, which begs the question... If you can't even fool yourself into believing it, what makes you think you can fool anyone else?

Companies do survey groups all the time with people, who may or may not be customers, to get their thoughts on x, y, and z. Often times, those groups are made up of a couple hundred people or less and take place at an event of some sort. Companies often want to look at trends and feedback to make decisions about tweaks and future changes. You can’t argue that Ford is not doing the above.

Ford could also have conducted a survey internally asking certain employees whether they pay attention and/or care about a usb light and/or PRND light.

The above surveys are at least possible. And if they are at least possible, then I am not begging the question.

I said such a thing not to try and fool anybody. It was to show that simply saying Ford is penny pinching because they cut out some lights is a fallacy because we don’t have all the facts of why they did what they did. Maybe they did it to save money. Or maybe they did it because they didn’t think many people care. Who knows.

Also, Ford wouldn’t contact many Raptor owners if they did reach out to customers about these issues because Raptor owners make a very small percentage of the F150 customer base who have such features. This isn’t a Raptor issue per say.