kyle Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 (edited) Guys I was in New Orleans this past week and grabbed a 2015 F150 for 4 days of rental. I drove it less than 100 miles so I did not get a lot of seat time but was in and out of it over a dozen times. It was a white, XLT with the 3.5 ecoboost motor-2wd, crew cab. The vehicle had 13K on the odometer and had the center bench seat. My impressions were mostly favorable from the ride, fit and finish, performance and comfort level. It has a huge cab with plenty of room in the back seat. This is the first time I have driven the 3.5 ecoboost motor and it really hauls. It has just a moments worth of turbo lag but boy will it fly. I switched off the traction control and tried lighting up the tires but no such luck. Having said that, mileage was 13 MPG on the trip computer. But a couple of things just drove me crazy and I wanted to comment on them and get your thoughts. First off, I was AMAZED this thing did not come with a standard back up camera. Now wonder why these things are cash cows but to me that is not even a option-should be standard across the board. I wish Ford put wheel well liners on their vehicles-at least on the high end trims (XLT to me is no longer a high end trim) and this is what I saw looking at the back of the vehicle. In my opinion the vehicle has way to many damn buttons. The center stack is just packed with buttons and some of them seem to handle the same controls (at least while in radio mode). These center arrow buttons all do the same thing-bring up the list of preset stations-the outside left and right arrow button scan the radio-which makes sense-but is it just me or does anyone else have a problem with all these buttons? Plus I would like to know if others are using the key pad to the right of the radio? It just seems excessive and could be cleaned up. Same thing I noticed on the heater/ac controls-extra dummy buttons looked cheap. One other observation on the interior-I've gotten used to Ford's My Touch system and do like the controls on the left side of the steering wheel-plus the info displayed in the center screen between MPH/RPM. ON this model the info is limited and the screen looks very small and lacks the ability to have all the fuel info on one screen. Maybe they have a different set up on higher trims? I am highlighting a few of the things that drove me crazy since the accolades have been well documented. Edited July 26, 2015 by kyle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerLS Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 Out of curiosity, what do you normally drive? I'm guessing it's not a truck, because those aren't the kinds of thing that would annoy people who drive trucks regularly--at least, they wouldn't annoy any of the F-Series owners I know. As for the buttons on the dash, meh. I almost never use them. I occasionally use the Sirius button and the radio presets (for Sirius only--terrestrial radio is a craptastic spectacular of suckitude), but even that is rare. And I'd love to have those A/C controls. Being able to directly choose the vent mode is a step up from cycling through modes by repeatedly pushing a button. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY93SHO Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 You had a rental truck. It had the base radio/ info screen. GM and Ram have the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle Posted July 26, 2015 Author Share Posted July 26, 2015 You had a rental truck. It had the base radio/ info screen. GM and Ram have the same thing. No they don't-go check a few pictures and tell me if there are over 17 buttons on the center console-that was my point. And personally I hate the argument...."well that is what GM or Toyota or Ram or do." If that logic was applied we would have shit for market share and would of joined them in bankruptcy. Out of curiosity, what do you normally drive? I'm guessing it's not a truck, because those aren't the kinds of thing that would annoy people who drive trucks regularly--at least, they wouldn't annoy any of the F-Series owners I know. As for the buttons on the dash, meh. I almost never use them. I occasionally use the Sirius button and the radio presets (for Sirius only--terrestrial radio is a craptastic spectacular of suckitude), but even that is rare. And I'd love to have those A/C controls. Being able to directly choose the vent mode is a step up from cycling through modes by repeatedly pushing a button. I currently drive a Sonata but have owned or had as company cars in the past 5 years-Suburban, Tahoe, Avalanche, Escalade and Yukon. I've owned at least 6 trucks and know what they are used for, but trucks are used in many different lifestyles today, not all of them as a work/towing truck. Now having said that, you make a good point. But I have been in a dozen Ford vehicles in the past 12 months or so and damn near everyone of them have that key pad off to the right. So my question was/is are people using this? I don't drive them on a regular basis but I never have touched that keypad on any of their vehicles I have been in. Plus the up/down/back/forward center stack to me was a waste. And I liked the AC controls-just did not like the multiple dummy switches-thought it could of been better thought out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92merc Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 On some Ford cars, they tried to eliminate buttons on the dash. But many complained that having to hit the touch screen or steering wheel for controls was too confusing. So they put the buttons back on the dash. Plus, you have to consider a lot of trucks are used by workers who may be using gloves. Bigger buttons are the only way to tackle that. That's why the new F150 still has keypad buttons outside an not the touch flush buttons my Escape has. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneekr Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 kyle, thanks for sharing your rental F-150 impressions. On F-150 XLT, equipment groups 301A (Mid) or 302A (Luxury) include a rearview camera and the larger 4.2" TFT productivity screen within in the instrument cluster. Also, wheel well liner is available as a pre-installed accessory with 301A or 302A. With equipment group 300A (Base) like your rental truck, rearview camera is a standalone option but wheel well liner is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle Posted July 27, 2015 Author Share Posted July 27, 2015 Thanks aneekr The take rate on the wheel house liners must be minimal since I damn near never see them on the 150. I've worked with GM and Ford before on truck accessories and GM dealers push the hell out of them. On light colors it is really apparent and stood out on my white truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerM Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 I have the backup camera on my 2013. It was part of a package, and the image appears in the rear view mirror. It's a nice touch, and I find it handy looking at it in the mirror moreso than if it were on a larger screen on the dash. I don't have to look down. I just glance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 IIRC, didn't the government require backup cameras to be standard on all 2015 models? Or was it 2016? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneekr Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 IIRC, didn't the government require backup cameras to be standard on all 2015 models? Or was it 2016? NHTSA's rule requiring "rear visibility technology" on cars and trucks with a GVWR of 10,000 lbs. or less will be phased in over the next three years. The milestones for automakers are as follows. Rear visibility technology must be included on: 0% of the vehicles manufactured before May 1, 2016; 10% of the vehicles manufactured on or after May 1, 2016, and before May 1, 2017; 40% of the vehicles manufactured on or after May 1, 2017, and before May 1, 2018; 100% of the vehicles manufactured on or after May 1, 2018 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 The d-pad is basically a necessity if you're going to have a disc player that reads MP3s (left/right moves backwards and forward through the directory tree). Frankly, you're not going to be happy with any button solution these days. You've either got one button for each function, or you're doubling up functionality, or you're using a touch screen. I'm not a big fan of buttons instead of dials on the HVAC controls, but the industry's been moving away from using a dial to select the HVAC mode for, seemingly, a couple decades now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerLS Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I'm not a big fan of buttons instead of dials on the HVAC controls, but the industry's been moving away from using a dial to select the HVAC mode for, seemingly, a couple decades now. I'm still too pissed about the switch from levers to dials to worry about switching from dials to buttons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I'm still too pissed about the switch from levers to dials to worry about switching from dials to buttons. Not at all surprising from someone with a reg cab SWB pickup............ Did you know carburetors were replaced with fuel injection? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerLS Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Did you know carburetors were replaced with fuel injection? WTF? When did this happen? Why doesn't anyone tell me these things? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 WTF? When did this happen? Why doesn't anyone tell me these things? Um. I've got some bad news about disco. You'd better sit down. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 WTF? When did this happen? Why doesn't anyone tell me these things? Ask Lawrence........ (inside joke) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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