Dial Shifter causes accident in car wash

[cjwagner]

So after the rain stopped and looks like a few days of good weather. I decide to stop in the car wash. I pull and the guy directed me in. I roll down the window to accept his 'dash wipe' to dust off the dash and other components. Windows are getting suds. I open the pack and start wiping things down. Steering, radio, top of the dash, console... I glance out the window and it appears that I am moving rather quickly. Thinking I got just the basic wash, maybe it was jumping ahead and skip a process. Then I remember, there was a car in front of me and through the soapy windshield, I see it. BAM!! I had just applied the brakes, but not before contact. It appears that while dusting off the console, it had brushed against the shifter and rotated it one notch to drive. Very minor damage but if one had hit the gas instead of the brake, a real catastrophe could have occurred.

Any ideas on how to remedy this other than don't clean the interior while in the car wash? Maybe a button to press to put in drive?

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[jsus]

Any ideas on how to remedy this other than don't clean the interior while in the car wash?

Paying attention at all times while in the driver seat of a vehicle in motion, in gear, and/or on a roadway/shoulder/ditch sounds like a good plan to me!

 

[jtpc2021]

So after the rain stopped and looks like a few days of good weather. I decide to stop in the car wash. I pull and the guy directed me in. I roll down the window to accept his 'dash wipe' to dust off the dash and other components. Windows are getting suds. I open the pack and start wiping things down. Steering, radio, top of the dash, console... I glance out the window and it appears that I am moving rather quickly. Thinking I got just the basic wash, maybe it was jumping ahead and skip a process. Then I remember, there was a car in front of me and through the soapy windshield, I see it. BAM!! I had just applied the brakes, but not before contact. It appears that while dusting off the console, it had brushed against the shifter and rotated it one notch to drive. Very minor damage but if one had hit the gas instead of the brake, a real catastrophe could have occurred.

Any ideas on how to remedy this other than don't clean the interior while in the car wash? Maybe a button to press to put in drive?

I avoid washes that your car rolls through. They usually aren’t touch-free and end up scratching the clearcoat anyways.

Maybe turn on the brake hold feature as well. I always use that feature. Never have to put it in Park unless I’m done driving.

 

[jsus]

Maybe turn on the brake hold feature as well. I always use that feature. Never have to put it in Park unless I’m done driving.

How does that work when the vehicle needs to be in Neutral so it can roll on through?

 

[Maverickman74]

Key off in nuetral?

 

[icegradner]

Key off in nuetral?

Won't work in the Maverick, it automatically goes into park and applies the parking brake.

 

[Maverickman74]

Won't work in the Maverick, it automatically goes into park and applies the parking brake.

Yep new cars are utter trash. How does one push a new car when out of gas?

Also what about flat towing behind an rv? Are people supposed to let their engine idle for 6 hours at a time?

 

[icegradner]

Yep new cars are utter trash. How does one push a new car when out of gas?

Blame the vehicle for foolish operator use, brilliant. Who runs out of gas these days anyway?

There is a manual release under a plastic cover in the center console, to put the vehicle in natural if it needs to be towed or pushed off the road.

 

[Maverickman74]

Blame the vehicle for foolish operator use, brilliant. Who runs out of gas these days anyway?

There is a manual release under a plastic cover in the center console, to put the vehicle in natural if it needs to be towed or pushed off the road.

Umm poorish people who can only afford the cheapest new truck in the country? Arent gas prices supposedly high right now(yet still cheaper than bottled water at the gas station)? Seriously if there was no way for a vehicle to roll freely with the engine off, that is a serious design flaw. Like as bad as square wheels.

I suppose the emergency center console neutral release would be what you want to use in a car wash. Silly stuff but atleast they did it. I see no reason why a parking brake would engage when you turn off an engine. Seems like it makes you take extra steps to do things like wash, tow, change breaks, check wheel bearings, and check driveline play. All to protect people who are too dumb to put on a parking brake when they park on a hill? Gotta love this beautiful, glorious, and utterly brain dead country.

 

[Bob The Builder]

Well, a problem with the Mav that I know will not affect me and my Mav. I stay away from all car washes touch less or otherwise.

 

[gte105u]

Don't you have to apply the brake to put it in gear? Either there's more to the story or a defect. Don't think you can just spin the dial and have the vehicle start rolling. Seems more likely OP never put it in neutral.

 

[apstephen]

Well I don't think that Ford will be asking for a VIN and the nearest dealer concerning this issue.

Also the title of thread is incorrect because the dial shifter didn't cause an accident in a car wash.

 

[jsus]

Well I don't think that Ford will be asking for a VIN and the nearest dealer concerning this issue.

Why would anyone think it's Ford's problem when drivers crash due to no fault of their products? You might as well make the same comment on this other thread: https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/threads/deer-vs-maverick.23453/

 

[TonyS]

The entire neutral thing is IMHO a problem. This illustrates that. What is also a problem is just how easy it is to accidentally bump that dial to other positions inadvertently . twice now - in five weeks of ownership - I've bumped into neutral. The cup holders are right there by the dial. And it takes no force or effort to change the dial position. The slightest of touch is enough.


There are situations where you might need to put the transmission in neutral without having electrical power. And it would have been easy to have done something like you have to push down a little bit to move the gear selector to a different position.

Yes, drivers should be perfect and never make mistakes. Welcome to the real world. Manufacturers of near everything - especially cars - are expected to design their products to minimize user errors. If everyone was perfect there would be no accidents. So no need for seatbelts, air bags, emergency braking. Windows could still be made of plain old glass.

I love my Mav. But there are a few surprising oversights that impact safety.

 

[icegradner]

Umm poorish people who can only afford the cheapest new truck in the country?

If someone really is that poor, cannot afford to regularly put gas in the tank, buying a new vehicle likely isn't a smart idea.

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