Ford decision makers have me wondering at times

[FGII-XR6]

Originally Posted by geckoGT

I can see your point and see that someone has touched a sore point with you, maybe through a poor choice on words, maybe more sinister than that.

You are completely right that some have more difficulty adapting to change than others for very good reasons through no fault of their own, that is fair. Having said that with time spent learning to adapt to the change, people with your condition can overcome that difficulty, as I have no doubt that you have had to overcome similar changes.

Please do not take offense to what I have said, like I said I see your point and respect that it may be more difficult, I just don't believe it is impossible.

As for the others, perhaps they can play a bit nicer and we can cool things down a bit.

your point is valid where only one car is driven but if you drive more than one car as I do the adapting would never happen. if I were buying a car and would not be driving any normal cars yes I would learn to adapt

what got me fired up was being refered to as a moron not in one post but in 2 posts by the same member, the second one after I had explaind my ( and many others) situation

I have strugled with my problem all my life and normally keep it quiet but at times like this I feel it appropriate to mention it.

[Supercharged]

Post is about Ford loosing sales as a result of the indicator being on the left not about which is better or worse.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by geckoGT

AAAHHHH, funny guy ha

[Snippy Latino hairdresser tone]
Next time I will hesplain myself more clearly......

[prydey]

Originally Posted by jpd80

Funny thing is that the fairer sex has a huge problem with using left hand more often...

i think you are clutching at straws here mate. i bought my 70yr old mother in law a focus last year, and within 5 min she had adapted. if a 70yr old can do it.....

i also bought my wife a focus shortly after and she has no issues. i drive an fg falcon so if you alternate between cars, you have a different setup, and still its no issue.

[gtxb67]

i understand the predicament. i used to have not just an auto, but a manual as well and strewth . . . was it hard to get used to them. forgetting to change gears in the manual and throwing it down into 1st in the auto. that wasn't the worst part though - when trying to change up into third i would get reverse - lousy car manufacturers



for most of the population, it ain't a big deal. just like driving a left hand drive car is not a big deal. by the first gear change, you have the hang of it. i assume that after one or two turns, you would have a rough idea how to use your indicators. certainly when driving a left hand drive car, the indicators are easy to adapt too. i am sure even sitting on the right, the average mortal could do it

[Franco Cozzo]

Indicators are on the left in the Focus and the Fiesta, doesn't bother me, what does though was the first few times using the wipers, as its up, not down to turn them on, but I got used to that too.

It really threw Mum off LOL.

[Bucknaked]

Can't you adapt. Like wiping your bum with your left hand. You break your arm, have to use the other hand, I bet you'll never go back because your now used to it. Its not hard to adapt.

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by 1TUFFUTE

if someone is so challenged that they cant or wont drive a car with lh blinker stalk then they probably shouldnt be driving on the road. You need alot more hand eye coords and motor skills to drive properly then that being a problem. Its actually a better design once you get used to it. We have it in our Golf and i prefer it to my utes right hand side

Ford could take the fuel gauge out and tell you that you are an idiot if you cant get use to using the trip computer to work out your remaining fuel, like most motorcyclists.

Doesn't make it right though.

Its not skills, its not difficulty. Its paying a good chunk of change for something that has been cost cutted by not being properly converted and that is the only reason it is not done. Ford, VW or whatever. You can put up with it in a Focus for example or buy a Mazda that doesn't have the issue to start with for example. I prefer to buy a car properly adapted for right hand drive.

That is a legitimate choice. Same as I expect Ford to make a diff that works on a GT. Shocker I know.

For the record I drove left and right hand vehicles in a past job and had no issues, but I wont buy a car for myself that is not properly setup and that means the indicator belongs on the right hand side in Australia.

Perhaps the fact so many people don't know how to use an indicator (pullng out from the kerb etc) means they aren't bothered by the location of the indicator. Not like they use it often anyway.
Dan

[Zero_PSI]

Cbf reading the pOsts but has anybody considered how hard it would be inna manual. But truth be told... Indicator stalks will not turn me off a great car.... You wouldn't say no to a audi

[prydey]

whats really funny is this thread has gone 3 pages!!

[prydey]

Originally Posted by Zero_PSI

Cbf reading the pOsts but has anybody considered how hard it would be inna manual. But truth be told... Indicator stalks will not turn me off a great car.... You wouldn't say no to a audi

asked and answered

Originally Posted by geckoGT

The correct system of vehicle control when making a turn is to check your rear view mirror, indicate your intention, apply the brake to slow down, change gear, continue to slow down and execute the turn at a suitable speed and in a gear appropriate for the turn. You should be indicating before you slow down and should not find yourself in a situation where you have to indicate and change gear.

[Road_Warrior]

Originally Posted by prydey

i bought my 70yr old mother in law a focus last year

My what a generous son in law you are.

What a funny thread.

Now pass the popcorn Charles, for these are the days of our lives

[Kieron]

Originally Posted by aussie muscle

Probably if it was a government department doing it

seriously how expensive is it going to be? get CAD drawings, flip over, send to C&C machine, send new parts to Ford Assembly Line.

Focus/Mondeo etc (as well as any other Euro) car are not assembled in Australia. Therefor, it would be a change on a production line and if memory serves, for Focus it's South Africa for the base model and Germany for the XR5's.

There are also logistic problems with carrying spare parts unique to Australia for what could never amount to more than maybe 40,000 odd sales/year.

Ford's in UK have LONG had LH indicators too, I can think to at least back to the late 60's and it's simply never been an issue there, again same applies to ANY Euro car there so why would Australia be any different?

To me, it's like driving between a manual and an automatic, a few mins to get used to it then I never even give it a second thought. Hell, even my ole LHD Mustang had it's indicator on the left (like all US car's i've ever driven) and that simply wasn't an issue neither.


Ford Australia have got more things on their plate to sort out than this in my view

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by MAGPIE

If you base your car buying decision on what side the indicator stalk is on your a moron

People seem to base buying a car because its not called what they want. Normally sounds like an excuse not to buy.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by prydey

i think you are clutching at straws here mate.

I don't think you understand the concept of sarcasm.....
Earlier posts were using women's objections as reasons.

[Fordman1]

What the .... ?

Ford make bad decisions because of the indicator position

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by prydey

i think you are clutching at straws here mate. i bought my 70yr old mother in law a focus last year, and within 5 min she had adapted. if a 70yr old can do it.....

i also bought my wife a focus shortly after and she has no issues. i drive an fg falcon so if you alternate between cars, you have a different setup, and still its no issue.

Similar story, didn't stop my 79 year old grandfather from replacing his Subi with a Focus.

[SLO AU XR8]

Originally Posted by au3xr6

your point is valid where only one car is driven but if you drive more than one car as I do the adapting would never happen. if I were buying a car and would not be driving any normal cars yes I would learn to adapt

what got me fired up was being refered to as a moron not in one post but in 2 posts by the same member, the second one after I had explaind my ( and many others) situation

I have strugled with my problem all my life and normally keep it quiet but at times like this I feel it appropriate to mention it.

I can sympatise with your situation, I have a brother with Dysphraxia, but he is still at an age where he is unable to drive. I, myself have Aspergers, yet regularly rotate between 7 vehicles, one of which has indicators on the left hand stalk. This is no cause for concern, as I alway take the 2 seconds to pay attention to what car I am getting into. By the 30 seconds in takes to realise what car you are in and where the controls are, you should be confident enough to idicate with the correct stalk.

[Benjamin Smith]

i have the problem with this sometimes when changing down gears and indicating at the same time possible to in tghe falcon but in the GF's Fiesta it can cause some confusion with what the left hand is ment to be doing but i get use to it and indicate a bit earlier or just don't do it at all lol. but i like it, make getting in the fiesta a bit more fun for some reason.

[BlueOvalPrint]

Personally - no biggie. Learnt to drive in a Escort which all had LHD setup stalks even back then, had a BMW a few years ago - first couple of corners were wiper time, then it sunk in quickly. And every day I jump from a manual car to my G6ET (which i left foot brake in) and have never gone for the wrong pedal.

Though I don't think it's a deal breaker, you just couldn't imagine one of the Jap brands like Toyota or Nissan etc not bothering to design and mirror image LHD and RHD setups for any car they produce. Likewise, can you imagine any "foreign" car being sold on the US market that stuck with a RH indicator setup? They'd be sued out of the market the first time somone bumped their bucket of coffee when they had to make a right hand turn!

[Dave R]

They lost a sale from someone in my family over this. It was all good until they saw the indicator on the wrong side, then it was crossed off the list.

I also know someone else who decided against the Focus because they thought they'd be hitting the wipers all the time.

$15 million to develop an indicator stalk? Keep dreaming.

[P6LTD351]

ok ok ok, now I've been critical of many of Ford's decisions lately (particularly their marketing or lack thereof), however I have to laugh with regards to this topic. If someone decides not to buy a Ford because of where the indicator stalk is located, I'd rather they don't buy the car. They are not worthy of owning a Ford. I think more people don't buy the car because it's called a Ford. Case in point at work the other day. Staff member's car broke down. Another staff member asked what car it was. They answered "It's a Ford but it was made by Mazda (it's a Laser)." Embarrassed by the Ford name it seemed. I will always be proud of the Ford name though.

[small_ford]

From the late 70's Escort and Cortina had LH indicators. UK has coped with them since then, a bit more recent in this part of the world, whose to say which is the correct side? I personnally prefer the LH indicator, have manual Focus and no problem at all indicatiing. It is a matter of personal preference and clearly Ford don't think $15m is worth spending for the number of people put off. Don't forget they would also need to change the Fiesta, Mondeo and Transit over as well, $60 million?

[2011G6E]

I too have a big problem with the claim of $15 million to change the stalk over...the factory is already required under law to provide any imported vehicles be re-engineered at sometimes vast expense just for our market and be made right hand drive before being allowed to be sold here...why not do the indicator stalk while they're at it...?

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

I too have a big problem with the claim of $15 million to change the stalk over...the factory is already required under law to provide any imported vehicles be re-engineered at sometimes vast expense just for our market and be made right hand drive before being allowed to be sold here...why not do the indicator stalk while they're at it...?

FoE does the RHD for UK, they're good with using the LHD steering column on the right.
some people can't get over it but I've owned Escorts and Mondeos, driven lots of others
with indicator on the left, there's a little brain switch needed but it's not that difficult.

Ford were only interested in it as a cost proving exercise IF a local Focus was happening
and local manufacturing was to be for RHD only, they could justify a single supplier order...

[MexicanBatman]

People are crazy to not buy a car because of this

In had a car that was built in Australia in 1964 where the indicator was on the lhs,

If anything it's good and I prefer it there, when driving a car like that I'm more likely to keep both hands on the wheel, unlike now where I drive via cruise control buttons fat arm it and only use the left thumb occasionally to skip tracks LOL.

Still gotta say I much prefer rhd vehicles than LHD, and in saying that I spend 100hrs a fortnight driving true LHD vehicles, compared to maybe 5-10hrs I'm my own vehicle, the rest of the time I'm on a bike, smack bang in the middle, an pretty much universal

While I'm at it, I do prefer lighting controls on the stork, not the euro ****** way on the dash, just like my 1964 Val, even though most cases lighting is auto, and what ever happened to the dip switch, bring that back too ;)

[fairmont1998]

Originally Posted by prydey

whats really funny is this thread has gone 3 pages!!

Couldn't agree more.
I think we're done here.