Small Maverick gripes, and why the dial shifter exists.

[Old Ford Guy]

Not to argue with you about why the rotary dials exists but in this months issue of C&D they had an article about the aging population of the US and how auto manufacturers are responding to it.

The article mentioned that Ford is moving to the rotary dials for ease of use and putting them within easy reaching distance . Not sure if you're aware but as of 2018 there were 45 million licensed drivers over the age of 65 in the US and it's projected that by 2030 1 in 5 Americans will be 65 or older.

As these numbers grow automobile manufacturers will have to account for this trend by making their vehicles easier to operate for an aging population.

i dont know your age demographic but we 'Boomers' were(and are for a while longer) such a large % of the population of America that their effects are still reverberating throughout our society and will continue to or the foreseeable future IMHO.
i beleive that as the 'Boomers' age out of the labor force(death or retirement at last) there will be HUGE opportunities for the Gen Z & millennial to fill all those openings.

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[Joester]

OK. My gripes... but they are little and I can deal with them.
Auto-dim Headlights... Disabled.
I live in an area with lots of "smaller hills" and the auto-dim sees the reflection from those signs as oncoming headlights. Literally dim, HIGH BEAM!, dim, HIGH BEAM!... Enough.
Rotary shifter - Getting used to it... I think.
Still over-shoot reverse and end up in park when backing up.
Start/stop - Wish I could disable it.
My vehicle will shut off and immediately restart several times between work and home as I come to red lights configured to change almost immediately (traffic depending) and stop signs. Literally stop-restart within 1 second. Same thing when pulling into my driveway. Pull in and stop... engine shuts off as I'm reaching for the shifter. Restarts as I shift into park followed by me shutting it off with the key. Should be disabled by default with a steering wheel button to activate when I know I'll be at a stop for longer than 10 seconds.
Rear View camera - Almost worthless during travel in rain
Learning to ignore the camera in rain. The lens seems to be a water magnet and the view is not useable due to water collection on the lens. Being the first vehicle I've owned with one, I can easily work around it. Would be willing to try Rain-X if I was sure the plastic lens would not be damaged.
Cubby hole... Yeah.
Found a sample bottle of Apple Pie Moonshine fits there well. Besides that, ???????
Android Auto - Locks up frequently
I've updated everything I can think of too. If I leave the radio on (Not Pandora or SiriusXM) it isn't as bad.
Auto-Locking doors.. Why?
Hopped out of my truck to move something out of the way, left the engine running. When the door closed, the locks initiated and it locked me out with my keys and phone inside. NOT COOL. Thank God I have the keyless entry and remembered the code. Hoping to find a disable setting for that!

These things said, I still love this truck and it has met or exceeded my expectations in way too many other ways and I'm keeping it.

2.0L Eco, 4K, FX4 and averaged 33MPG on a recent trip from upstate NY to VA and back. Hauls my trailer well. and makes trips hauling supplies very easy. Had a 500lb load of chicken halves for a church picnic recently. Almost didn't know they were back there.

 

[Guardian]

Guess the year, make and model of this one.

Beautiful!

 

[Skeeter163]

When it comes to what you get for the money (if you paid MSRP) and how well designed the Maverick is, I could not be more impressed. These are just 2 minor things I would have changed and some possible clarification on why something exist.

A lot of people don't like the dial shifter, but it took me one day driving the Maverick to figure out why Ford went with that.

A normal shifter on the steering wheel would have been too close to the infotainment screen. Like literally an inch or two. Which means you would hit the screen and potentially damage it if it was on the steering wheel. Or at the very least, keep annoyingly hit a buttom on it. The other option would be the second most normal shifter option...in the center console area. It wasn't put THERE because it would block the pathway to all the storage area in front of it. It would probably only be marginal, but still be a nuisance. The option Ford went with takes up the least amount of space. And overall, the Maverick does a great job utilizing space. There is nothing bulky or protruding in or around the Maverick and I have never seen such a small vehicle feel so roomy and have so much storage.

But, one way they could have fixed this and the biggest change I would have made...get rid of that center cubby next to the screen and move the screen right 3-4 inches. That way, you could either put a normal shifter on the steering wheel, or move the middle air vents to each side of the screen instead of keeping them down low and harder to reach the back.

Also, I would have made the cubby hole behind the screen deeper and have a lip on it so a phone could be placed there for GPS purposes. Having something like that on the bottom doesn't make much sense since it's unsafe to look all the way down there while driving.

But that's it. I still can't explain not being able to keep the car in Eco mode always and during start up. I assume there's a reason for it. I would hope.

Nice of you to tell the reasons for the dial, it is all new cars by all makers . The $70,000 Mach E and all fords has it.

 

[Mite-o-Dan]

Nice of you to tell the reasons for the dial, it is all new cars by all makers . The $70,000 Mach E and all fords has it.

It was still relatively new in 2022. I'm sure well over 90% of 2022 Maverick owners never owned a vehicle with a dialer shifter before. It was a common complaint and "nuisance" a lot of Maverick owners first brought up about the truck.

It was wierd for me at first, but I quickly got used to it and then preferred it once I realized any OTHER kind of shifter would have been a bigger nuisance.

 

[TheWizziard]

This dial shifter thread has over 80 posts and has lasted over 13 months

 

[Capn Tom]

I like the dial but wish it was on the dash. I had a bottle hit it and shift to reverse while driving on the highway and the system was smart enough not to do that.

 

[Capn Tom]

Just bumped the shift dial today. Doing about 25 mph, moved my hand accidentally past selector dial, it rotated, got Vehicle warning screen (didn’t read it) but saw selector indicated flashing P for park, car still moving forward about 25 mph, car did NOT try to shift into park, quickly spun dial back to D.
No harm no foul!!

 

[Old Ford Guy]

When it comes to what you get for the money (if you paid MSRP) and how well designed the Maverick is, I could not be more impressed. These are just 2 minor things I would have changed and some possible clarification on why something exist.

A lot of people don't like the dial shifter, but it took me one day driving the Maverick to figure out why Ford went with that.

A normal shifter on the steering wheel would have been too close to the infotainment screen. Like literally an inch or two. Which means you would hit the screen and potentially damage it if it was on the steering wheel. Or at the very least, keep annoyingly hit a buttom on it. The other option would be the second most normal shifter option...in the center console area. It wasn't put THERE because it would block the pathway to all the storage area in front of it. It would probably only be marginal, but still be a nuisance. The option Ford went with takes up the least amount of space. And overall, the Maverick does a great job utilizing space. There is nothing bulky or protruding in or around the Maverick and I have never seen such a small vehicle feel so roomy and have so much storage.

But, one way they could have fixed this and the biggest change I would have made...get rid of that center cubby next to the screen and move the screen right 3-4 inches. That way, you could either put a normal shifter on the steering wheel, or move the middle air vents to each side of the screen instead of keeping them down low and harder to reach the back.

Also, I would have made the cubby hole behind the screen deeper and have a lip on it so a phone could be placed there for GPS purposes. Having something like that on the bottom doesn't make much sense since it's unsafe to look all the way down there while driving.

But that's it. I still can't explain not being able to keep the car in Eco mode always and during start up. I assume there's a reason for it. I would hope.

great post! i agree with you on almost all your observations with just a few caveats and maybe on consideration of shifter placement that occurred to me.

as a hybrid powertrain equipped with a E-CVT there are no mechanical gears to be shifted by the driver. it could in a real sense be described as a 'drive by wire' system in that the various engine/transmission and other control modules constantly monitor and adjust 'gearing' based on throttle inputs/driving modes/engine load and a multitude of other data points to determine the appropriate 'gear'.
i said all that to say this, since its all electronically controlled why not just locate the 'shifter' dial or maybe shifter buttons to the dash and free up that precious center console space? same thought for the little button cluster right in front of the armrest, they are just n the way as located IMHO.
also i could'nt agree more about the Mav retaining the last 'drive mode' upon the next startup. there are myriad settings that are not reset everytime you turn the truck on or off. i am most certainly NOT a electrical engineer but i find it difficult to believe it would be that hard or prohibitively exspensive to incorporate a chip and or circuit to the engine control module telling it to start in whatever drive mode it was in when last shut down. am i missing something here?

 

[Old Ford Guy]

I like the fact that I can push the engine cutoff button in Drive and it shifts straight into Park. I don’t see how you can do that with a lever.

equally cool is that the Mav will automatically shift into Park if you open the driver's door with your foot on the brakes while stopped. not sure if it works on the other doors or while the trucks moving.

 

[Clayspace273]

Old school shifters are no longer needed. Its all electric. So just need a way for the driver to select what there doing. I'm getting use to the dial and don't mind it. Jumped into wife's crv and initially put my hand down looking for the dial.

People just don't like change.

Not that anyone reading this post will do it. Read this great book called the Design Of Everything. Cognitive science and how to design for people. I'm guessing the author would have been upset with dial shifter. LoL

I agree all electric, but I like to rest my hand on the shifter while driving. Is there a palm rest aftermarket anyone’s seen? Maybe like this on Audi q8 etron

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