So... kinda mad at Ford right now!

[tmorris1]

Originally Posted By: SubieRubyRoo
Originally Posted By: dishdude
You actually use that? It's pretty much spam. I don't need an email telling me my check engine light isn't on.


Nope, I don't use it. But that's not the point. It was there when the car was bought and paid for, and now they are "stealing" a feature that may have been useful to someone. Considering it likely requires ZERO of anything from Ford considering it's been in use for 7 years now, WhTF?

Where does it stop? How long until they come for your electronic niceties that can disappear with the stroke of a keyboard?

This isn't bluetooth directly to your phone. There is communication with a server somewhere that your phone connects to, so they are probably discontinue it so they don't have to maintain a server to support the feature.

 

[KrisZ]

I would be very upset as well. I would probably cry myself to sleep at night because if this. I'm so glad I don't have any Fords.

 

[Smokescreen]

The idea of a select number of Ford cars some what appeal to me: The Fiesta ST, The Focus RS and ST, The Mustang with the flat plane V8....

...all look good on paper, but then reality sets in with the multitude of transmission, engine issues that seem to plague the company on various models and the idea goes sour for me enough that I don't consider Fords for vehicles I would actually own.

There are those that are happy with their Ford vehicles and I hope that you continue to enjoy your choice.

 

[dogememe]

Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
The idea of a select number of Ford cars some what appeal to me: The Fiesta ST, The Focus RS and ST, The Mustang with the flat plane V8....

...all look good on paper, but then reality sets in with the multitude of transmission, engine issues that seem to plague the company on various models and the idea goes sour for me enough that I don't consider Fords for vehicles I would actually own.

There are those that are happy with their Ford vehicles and I hope that you continue to enjoy your choice.


Man, I wish people were this level-headed with politics. I for one don't give a hoot about this useless feature on my Ford

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Well, now here is the real rub... ALL of the Sync functionality outside of Bluetooth (so navigation, vehicle reports, yada yada...) are ALL no longer supported by Ford. So yes, it is bigger than one little thing, and yes, it WILL stop me from considering Ford (cars).

This reinforces my fondness of cars made in Lafayette, Indiana. They didn't take any money from government either, and just posted their 60th straight month-over-month sales increase. They get it- good, solid, safe engineering, features people actually want, reliability (98% in last ten years still on road), and resale value (highest residual value 3 of last 4 years). Plus I keep people in my home state employed with good jobs!

 

[Mr Nice]

Subie,

How many Fords do you own ?

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

One right now; in my life I've probably owned a dozen. Several Mustangs (Fox and SN), a couple SHOs, an F250, a Bronco 2, an Escape, and now the Fusion. I had been eyeballing a Transit Connect because the wife liked them. How's that relevant to being upset at Ford today?

How many pairs of Hanes/Fruit of the Loom/Jockey underwear are in your drawer?

 

[tmorris1]

I would guess navigation will still work, but they probably aren't going to update it any longer.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: SubieRubyRoo

Nope, I don't use it. But that's not the point. It was there when the car was bought and paid for, and now they are "stealing" a feature that may have been useful to someone. Considering it likely requires ZERO of anything from Ford considering it's been in use for 7 years now, WhTF?

Where does it stop? How long until they come for your electronic niceties that can disappear with the stroke of a keyboard?


Coming from an IT background doing enterprise-level IT suff let me add $0.02....

This feature (at least on mine) works like this:
1) Sync runs its diags.
2) Sync uses your cell phone to call an 800 (or 866, I forget which) # and transmits the data to a server.
3) The server processes that data and sends an e-mail.

That phone line costs $$, the server costs $$ in power, cooling, upgrades, and other associated support costs. That money adds up quickly. Considering that feature debuted in Sync 2.0 (around 2010) considerable upgrades have been needed since that time. We're talking Server 2008, 2012, 2016 as it's probably MS based. Even if they put it in "the cloud" there's still lots of costs associated. You have to upgrade your stuff and that's more $$ and time.

I've used it a few times. Did work when an intermittent airbag light got caught so the dealer could fix it. It's set up to go off every 5000 miles. In the 8 years/125k I've had my car it's automatically done it 1 time.

GM went through something similar with OnStar when the Analog cell networks were turned off in 2008 or so. Technology marches on. Did you get mad when MS stopped updating Windows XP, Vista, or put 7 on life support?

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: tmorris1
I would guess navigation will still work, but they probably aren't going to update it any longer.


It will work as long as the hardware works.

Updates for almost all the major OEMs are here: https://here.navigation.com/north-america/

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: tmorris1
I would guess navigation will still work, but they probably aren't going to update it any longer.


It will work as long as the hardware works.

Updates for almost all the major OEMs are here: https://here.navigation.com/north-america/


Shows that neither of you actually have the Sync system like I do, because I went into the feature on the radio, and my phone called an 800 number for the Navigation, and it clearly told me “this Sync feature is no longer supported.” Again, disabling features that were clearly paid for is NOT cool, whether you like it or believe it. I, OTOH, have to live with this BullS. It’s not getting any update, they just turned the whole system off.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: SubieRubyRoo

Shows that neither of you actually have the Sync system like I do, because I went into the feature on the radio, and my phone called an 800 number for the Navigation, and it clearly told me “this Sync feature is no longer supported.” Again, disabling features that were clearly paid for is NOT cool, whether you like it or believe it. I, OTOH, have to live with this BullS. It’s not getting any update, they just turned the whole system off.


Which Sync do you have? In my Taurus I've got the 7" or 8" LCD with the navigation maps and it most certainly does. And I just went to the link at navigation.com and they will sell me an update disk for $149 for the maps.

Now if you have the hokey 2 line LCD like my truck that ties to tell you turn by turn directions with no maps, sorry that's no great loss. I tried it once and it was, well junk.

And that service, Sync Services was never "free" but a subscription service that you got for some period of time as free: https://owner.ford.com/tools/account/how-tos/sync-services/purchase.html

 

[Broo]

Originally Posted By: dishdude
You actually use that? It's pretty much spam. I don't need an email telling me my check engine light isn't on.
Some people need notifications since their cell phone is all they look at.