akirby

When smart phones first came out I was thinking they should have some type of universal A/V input (HDMI maybe?) that would allow the phone applications to use the touch screen and audio speakers and voice command in the vehicle. I think applink will be capable of this at some point since it just provides APIs. But getting the phone apps to support it won't be easy - they're used to only dealing with small built-in displays. Then again that would make OEM navigation obsolete so that's not a good incentive for Ford.

How would you feel if somebody did that to your vehicle without your permission though? I just don't think it's fair to the dealer, that's all.

I can't believe you did that to the dealer. What if it locked up? Apparently the VIN is encrypted or stored as binary. At least now we know.

Isn't that basically applink?

Seems to be a common Ford problem.

They batch the vehicles to each area so the cars/trucks are full. So it is possible some areas will get their shipments later than other areas.

Sorry, I thought the directions were straight forward even for non-techie users. Let's say the file is widget.cab on the E: drive. You would run it like this: Open a Command Prompt. Run the following command: strings.exe -a -n 10 E:\widget.cab and see if the VIN appears.

And I've posted elsewhere that I've had 5 vehicles eligible for an extended warranty (kept more than 2 years beyond the factory warranty). Not a single repair that would have been covered. So in my case I would have spent at least $7500 and gotten nothing in return. You can always get lucky (or unlucky) on one vehicle. Or even two or three. But in the long run the odds are not in your favor. In my case I can pay $4K for a new engine and still be $3500 ahead.

I see you didn't read the directions: Using Strings Usage: strings.exe [-a] [-b bytes] [-n length] [-o] [-q] [-s] [-u] Strings takes wild-card expressions for file names, and additional command line parameters are defined as follows: -s Recurse subdirectories. -o Print offset in file string is located. -a Scan for ASCII only. -u Scan for UNICODE only. -b bytes Bytes of file to scan. -n X Strings must be a minimum of X characters in length.

Maybe you're misunderstanding what we mean by coin-op. We're talking about the open bays with a pressure wand, so you're basically pressure washing the undercarriage with clean water. Doesn't get any better than that.

Sure - Select Ford dealers can lock in rebates at the time of order.

The comment has nothing to do with what's in the binary cab file. Try this one. Run it against the cab file and see if the VIN shows up. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897439

I wonder if the cab file binary has the VIN embedded? Does anyone have access to a Linux or Unix system and run strings on the CAB file to see if the VIN is in there? Or a binary editor? If not you should be able to just post the files and it should work for everyone. Or someone could just try it and see.

Every mfr has reports of unintended acceleration and 99.99% of the time it's simply pedal misapplication by the driver. Modern vehicles have brake systems that cannot be overpowered by the engine even at full throttle. Just hold the brake and nail the throttle - it won't move. And the brakes are always proven to be working after the accident, so the only way that it could be caused by the vehicle is if the accelerator surged and the brakes experienced a temporary failure at the exact same time.

Sorry, I was oversimplifying the "louder" comment. I was referring to an amp that supports 2 or 4 ohms and using a 2 ohm sub versus a 4 ohm sub. With the 2 ohm sub you'll get almost double the power as stated above. But don't put a 2 ohm sub on a 4 ohm or higher amp. 5x7 and 6x8 speakers are interchangeable. Most mfrs and retailers refer to them as 5x7/6x8 but some will show one or the other. Both are fine as are 5.25" or 6.5" component sets.

They're known as 5x7/6x8. The base system doesn't have separate tweeters. You can put them in yourself with components somewhere on the A pillar but that's a little more advanced for a newbie. The upgraded systems have built-in tweeters in the front corner of the front window near the outside mirror. 2 ohms is better/louder, but your amp must be capable of supporting a 2 ohm speaker. All things being equal a 2 ohm amp and sub would be better. Depends on how many channels the amp has.

Nobody here knows and the people who do know never talk about rebates before they're announced. They could go up. They could go down. No way to tell.

X plan is only $100 but that's still a better deal. Provided they didn't sell you any dealer add-ons (paint protection, warranty, etc.).

Local coin-op rinse should be fine. Don't forget the undercarriage.

Nope. It's like gambling in Vegas - the odds are never in your favor (over several vehicles). You could get lucky (or unlucky) and get your money back. I certainly wouldn't buy a 6 yr 60K mile warranty because the factory powertrain warranty is 5 yr/60k miles so that's not much additional coverage. Go for the 7 yr/100K mile version if you're going to get one.

How much was the documentation fee? Did you have a trade-in?

It's certainly possible it checks the VIN - or that could just be a CYA move. Are these binary files or text? Did you try opening them with Notepad?

You couldn't find a local track to satisfy that urge?

I answered in the other thread - because some manager somewhere is afraid of bad PR (hey, Ford released a ctrl-alt-del solution because MFT is screwed up) or potential liability and nobody is willing to escalate above them to get the ok. After all, Ford is still a large corporation and that's just how these things work. They also don't have much experience with complicated software and end users. I'm sure support would love to do it but their hands are tied. Has anyone tried looking at the files on the immediate reboot to see what's in there? Or is it just a binary?

Because somewhere a manager is scared that it would cause a PR problem or that it could cause some problem if someone did it while driving. And nobody is willing to go over their heads to get permission. Welcome to corporate America.