Morning all-

I've been a lurker here since I took delivery of my SC 4x4 Lariat in Feb 2015.

The truck has been perfect mechanically, which is impressive considering all of the changes.

However, I am thinking about selling it because I am so irritated by all the technology "features" that are so intrusive I have to manually disable them every time I use the truck.

For background I use my truck for construction and small farming using it as a place to escape the heat/cold and as a climate controlled kennel for my labs that are with me everyday.

Basically I leave it idling a lot, leave the dogs in it everyday, etc.

Leave it running and take the key, horn honks, HATE it
Leave it running key in it, locked with keypad, auto shutoff must be manually disabled EVERY time I get out.
Key out, locked, alarm sensors must be manually changed to perimeter sensing EVERY time I get out or the dogs start the horn honking.

I don't think it will take car thieves long to realize that many owners are leaving a key under the center console mat giving them the perfect opportunity to pop a door and drive away a truck with the key. These trucks are already high on the theft list and this "feature" is sure to make the new ones great targets which seems counter-productive to the smart key concept.

I would just live with it except that I am worried that one day, one time, I will be in a hurry and forget or just fat finger the auto shutoff disable and in a black truck in 100 degree temps that will be it for my dogs. This almost happened a couple of times before I figured out how all of this worked.

Anyway, I guess I'll have to go back to the key in the ignition, engine running, door locked with keypad/2nd key simple system that has worked for me for years. Too bad you can't buy a truck with basic tech but the higher end creature comforts.

Anyone else have similar concerns? Thoughts?

 

"Key out, locked, alarm sensors must be manually changed to perimeter sensing EVERY time I get out or the dogs start the horn honking."

I've learned that if you lock the truck with the fob or the button on the door, that the alarm includes the interior motion sensor.

If you use the little fakey key inside the fob to manually lock the doors, the doors are locked but without the interior motion sensor. Learned this because my dog kept setting off the alarm, too.

Only a partial fix to your laundry list of issues, but thought it might help.

 

could have bought a truck without all of that.

and XLT for example. or built one with the stuff you wanted, and without the stuff you didn't want.
you did buy a Lariat.

 

In my opinion they should have offered leather in an XLT and you would have the best of both worlds. I thought about going up to a Lariat for the leather but didn't want to deal with all the other stuff.

 

I'm certain your Ford salesperson along with Ford described the features to him perfectly before he bought the truck? About how intrusive and aggravating Ford made their trucks. Some people just want a really nice truck, without Big Brother, telling them which hand to use to wipe their butts!

It's like a bunch of Gee Whiz kids were designing some of those features for the WOW factor and never thought about just how they would affect normal people!

 

Just some of the reasons I went XLT.

 

I'm not 100% sure, but I think I read that someone with the Ford software can turn those features off permanently. As far as locking your key in the truck, if I remember right from reading the owners manual, when you lock the key in the vehicle with the key pad it disables that key so if somebody breaks into the truck that key will not work.

 

You can add leather to any vehicle for 1-2.5k (even at the dealer, any dealer) so that should never be a reason.

The XLT interior kind of sucks unless you get 302a and sport package (just my opinion) so I understand this position somewhat, but the sport/302a package is pretty sweet.

I mean the only real/functional difference between the base lariat and the loaded XLT is power folding mirrors and memory seats? (maybe im wrong, but from my research this is what ive found)

out of curiosity... why did you get a lariat vs XLT?

 

Between a BASE lariat and loaded XLT, you get:
Smart Key
Dual zone climate control
Auto climate control
Memory Seat
Memory mirror
Pedal Memory
Body color mirrors
Cooled seats
leather
rear armrest
7 speakers standard


That's a lot of nice features in my opinion.

 

The only thing I want on that list is cooled seats. I'm doing fine without them.