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Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan

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Comments

  • podpod Member Posts: 176
    While washing the winter crud from my New England 2010 Milan I noticed that the forward portion of the rear wheel wells contain a "shelf" that is about a quart in capacity. It was filled half way with sand and other damp road debris that washed right out with a hose. The rest of the wheel wells are sealed by rubber flaps but the forward wells of the rear wheel wells do not have this feature. I would recommend that people be aware of this "storage bin" and keep it dry. I wonder whether it would become a source of rust in 4-5 years. I'm thinking of ways to fill it. Expandable foam insulation is my first idea but I have to consider whether that would trap a layer of water between the foam and the metal and make things worse. Ideas?
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    I wouldn't fill it, you will trap moisture and cause problems for sure. The most likely cause of rust is water trapped internally, between two sheets of metal as in the lower door, or rockers when the weep holes get plugged up, but if it is outside of the body where the paint covers the metal, it is less likely to cause a rust out. They put these cars through extreme conditions to accelerate rusting, and if it was a potential problem, they would have addressed it.
  • podpod Member Posts: 176
    Good point. Perhaps just slathering it with epoxy or a asphault like material would add some protection. It is a closed space and open to the air so it should self ventilate and dry after the wet road conditions do abate. Thanks for cautionary note..I agree.
  • cannon3cannon3 Member Posts: 296
    Vehicle now as 67,000 trouble free, rattle free miles. I did have to have my rear brake pads replaced. I put ceramic pads on. My front pads still had 80%!!!???. I also had my transmission fluid flushed. I am told I am going to have to get new tires in the next 2 months... so far a great car.
  • winter2winter2 Member Posts: 1,801
    edited April 2011
    I have a 2010 Milan Premier with Sync. When I first got it, everything worked except the voice command feature, which was deaf. :surprise: I took the car to the dealer and after some diagnostics, they replaced the radio and the microphone. Everything then worked fine until they moved the car and Sync went deaf again. :mad: I gave the car back to the dealer for almost two weeks. They did some diagnostic work by connecting the car to the internet and determined that the core unit for sync was broken. That was replaced and Sync was still deaf! :cry:

    This past Friday, a field engineer from Dearborn came in to evaluate the car and after hours of testing, determined that a wire was broken. Unfortunately, I do not know which one was broken but now everything works just fine. :shades:

    Overall, the car is very comfortable and economical. The four cylinder engine is perky and smooth and going back and forth to work in metro D.C. traffic has yielded fuel economy of 26 - 30 mpg (calculated).

    In July, trip to NYC is planned and we will be taking the Milan to see how it does on pure highway driving.
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    Glad they were able to resolve it. Goes to show, it can always be the simplest thing to go wrong on these. Problem is, many of the new school techs lack the ability to be able troubleshoot old school. Too much reliance on computers and modules, too little knowledge of tracing wires and using meters. I'm an old school tech, worked on cars when they still had points(remember those), and you used a dwell meter to set the gap.

    These days, I'm afraid to touch a car, to add a radio, or trailer hookup, or anything that touches the electrical system, since putting in the wrong load, or resistance can blow up a module, or worse yet, the main computer.

    I have a 2010 Flex EB SEL that I am installing the factory hitch on, they have a kit for the trailer wiring, but does not include the connections for the 7 pin socket that includes the brake wiring, YET, under the dash is the connector for adding the brake controller. I need to obtain the wiring diagram so I can tap into that connection properly to use it, without breaking anything. At least they use color coded wires, imagine working on something where all the wiring is made with white wires.
  • winter2winter2 Member Posts: 1,801
    It took the dealer a good deal of effort and serious help from Dearborn to get this problem resolved.

    As to electrical issues, I have owned cars for many years and have had exceedingly few problems in that department. One I do remember was way back in the late 70's where a wire to the left rear brake light got pinched by a bolt causing a fault. I blew three or four fuses and then went to the dealer who found the problem in about twenty minutes.

    As to diagnosing issues, the use of computers to control most everything is both interesting and scary. If the computer fails, you are basically screwed. With the mandating of OBD, that has made fixing a problem harder. I also have a Jeep Liberty (2005) Limited CRD (diesel). If you cycle the ignition four times, the OBD codes show up at the odometer. The issue here is that the codes are wrong 90% of the time and you need a sophisticated scan tool connected to the OBD port to get the correct answer. Now tell me that isn't nuts!!!

    This is my first FoMoCo product in over thirty years and except for this issue, the car is really decent. Now let us see if it stays this way.
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    I have 33K miles on my 2010 Fusion Sport, and not a single problem since I got it. You should be good with yours for a very long time.
  • cannon3cannon3 Member Posts: 296
    Flex is cool!! Seeing more of these around lately. A nice alternative to an SUV or station wagon.
    My 2006 Fusion SEL V6 has been a great vehicle. Just keep the maintenance up on yours and it should take you many miles.
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    Dropped my Fusion off for warranty work before it runs out. Nothing big, just a skronk from the suspension bushings when you stop after so many miles. The drivers inside door panel squeaks when you pull on the handle to close it.
    Aside from those two little things, the car has been great the past 34000 miles.

    While I was there, I thought I would check out the new Explorer. Well it is nice, and for $47k it had damn well better be. Would I trade my Flex for one? No Definitely NO.
  • winter2winter2 Member Posts: 1,801
    My wife and I drove the Mercury to Florida this past weekend. Very comfortable ride and seats. Very good fuel economy too. At speeds of less than sixty-five MPH the car got nearly thirty-two MPG. At a cruising spped of seventy-two MPH, the car returned a bit better than twenty-eight MPG.

    The four banger is smooth and quiet but lacks any low end grunt at highway speed.
  • podpod Member Posts: 176
    edited May 2011
    Many manufacturers are promising a feature that shuts off the engine after so many seconds of idling and restarts when the accelerator is pressed, (for fuel economy). I don't know that much about the system but wonder if someone who does would address the issue of whether it would harm the battery and starting motor which weren't designed for so many repetitive cycles. Doesn't the starting motor draw over 100 amps while powering the flywheel before ignition? It seems intuitively that this would be hard on a battery and perhaps on the starting motor pinion system. Any comments?
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    Just a guess,

    I believe either Toyota or Volkswagon has a design where the flywheel spins with the engine off, and when you press the pedal it runs up the engine, so no starter motor is needed. Of course it will only spin for a short period of time, so long lights would see the engine spin up at least once while sitting. I think it is electromagnetic in design, similar to the clutch on the AC compressor. When stopped the clutch is off, when engaged, it powers on to spin up the motor.

    The other way they can do it is with the hybrid system, where the starter motor is also a drive motor. Instead of a flywheel, its an electric motor/generator. Instead of a large bank of batteries like in the hybrid though, it may only have a few cells to provide power to spin up the motor but not to provide traction, after the motor is running it switches to recharge.

    Those are two ways they can do it, whether or not they do is another matter.
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    Too late to edit my previous post, BUT, Peugeot has it.

    Diesel Hybrid

    On this particular car, the Hybrid system is not the same as the Synergy drive or Ford, or Hyundai systems. This one has 2 different drive trains, the diesel direct drive in the front, and the electric motor in the rear. It uses a high voltage starter/generator for starting the engine. So basically just as I had described, Peugeot is doing. Pretty neat.
  • lilengineerboylilengineerboy Member Posts: 4,116
    Many manufacturers are promising a feature that shuts off the engine after so many seconds of idling and restarts when the accelerator is pressed, (for fuel economy).

    The term is Auto-start-stop (you can figure out the acronym on your own) or Micro-hybrid. Minis in Europe have this feature, as does the European Ford Focus. I believe Range Rovers do as well.

    Ford is planning to introduce this feature to all it's vehicles, since idling gets you 0 mpg.

    I don't know that much about the system but wonder if someone who does would address the issue of whether it would harm the battery and starting motor which weren't designed for so many repetitive cycles.

    Yup, it would, so the micro-hybrids use a more robust starter and flywheel gear. Also, some systems use sensors to track the position of each piston and what cycle its on so it can use that information to make "lite-off" faster. My understanding is the battery is still conventional.
  • podpod Member Posts: 176
    Have a 2010 Milan I-4. Great car. I have noticed that the view through the rear view mirror during rainy driving is distorted and busy because of specks of dirt and water which act like lenses or some such. I don't like the rear wiper solution that many cars offer and I'm glad I don't have it. I suspect that the shape of the roof and airodynamics don't sweep wind over the rear window very well. I wanted to ask if rain-x on the rear window would eventually lead to clouding from the the retained material? Otherwise it escapes the only criticism of rain-x on the front wind shield is that streaking with each wiper swipe can occur if you apply it incorrectly. There are no wipers on the rear of Fusion/Milan cars so putting it on the rear window seems a good match?

    Am I missing something?
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    Rain-X works fine, been using it for years, and never had an issue. Every couple weeks I would wash the windshield with a good window cleaner and reapply it. Most of the problems people have using rain-x is due to not applying it correctly. You need to clean the glass thoroughly, then apply the rain-x, let it dry, apply a second coat, let it dry, then buff it off. The last step is where people have problems, if you don't buff it off, it hazes over and streaks. Use a good micro fiber cloth to polish the glass, and you wont have problems.
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    It doesn't play well with automatic wipers. Other than that I've never had a problem.
  • ckone0814ckone0814 Member Posts: 71
    edited July 2011
    Need to get a new daily driver. Commute is 80 miles per day. I'm used to Toyota, Honda, Acura quailty but want to give Fusion a shot. Would probably be looking for used, 08-09.

    I AM EXTREMELY ANAL about squeaks, rattles, etc. I have an 07 Mustang GT convertible and it's not a quiet car but I don't expect it to be. For my everyday car I need peace.

    Will Fusion fit the bill? Thanks.
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    well So far my 2010 Sport has 38k miles on it, no complaints, it's about as quiet as it can get with the low profile tires and big 3.5 V6. I traded a Camry Hybrid in on it and the Fusion is quieter than the Camry was. It is also holding together much better than the Camry.
  • podpod Member Posts: 176
    I chose the 2010 Milan because it was the quietest car I test drove (an I-4) even with 17" tires. After a year I delight in it's quiet ride--no squeaks or rattles either. I imagine that high end cars are more quiet but in the mid size market I found the Milan (which I suspect is just like the Fusion--or does it have more noise insulation?) to be the quietest. Triple laminated windshield and double door seals make a difference. I doubt the models pre-2010 would be as quiet if they don't have these features. Tires make a huge difference and I am stayig with the OEM Michelilns until they wear out. I may go to a 16" goodyear assurance when the change occurs in search of even more quiet. I had them on my last Mercury and they make an huge difference. An additional feature is that you can dim the inside lights (all of them) so the night ride is dark as well as quiet. A well engineered car which has not caused one moment of buyers remorse; to the contrary I like it more now than when I bought it.
  • temj12temj12 Member Posts: 450
    I purchased a 2008 Fusion SEL 6 cyl in May of 2010. I have driven the car 11,000 miles. I like the car. It is quiet on the road. It gets good gas mileage in the 20's. Check Consumer Reports and note, repair wise, that it has top ratings.
  • cannon3cannon3 Member Posts: 296
    Being the owner of the first generation Fusion (2006 SEL V6). I have about 70,000 trouble free/squeak free miles on this vehicle. I do have a small amount of wind noise coming from the right side of the windshield when the car reaches 60MPH.
    I do however recommend you go with a 2.5 4cyl Fusion, rather than the 2.3 4cyl. I believe the 2.5 became available in 2009/10 model year. You get a bit more HP and better MPG.
  • igozoomzoomigozoomzoom Member Posts: 801
    The 2.5L replaced the 2.3L for the 2010 model year, when the redesigned Fusion was released. It gained 15hp and fuel economy ratings improved by 2mpg city and 3mpg highway (20/28 to 22/31). The 2.5L has a 6-speed automatic vs. the 5-speed auto used with the 2.3L, which explains the improved fuel economy.

    The 2011 models have even better ratings at 23/33 for the 2.5L/6AT, unless it has one of the two "Appearance Package" options. They add the SelectShift manual shifting feature and are programmed with a slightly more aggressive shift pattern. They are rated at 22/30mpg.
    2015.5 Volvo S60 T6 Drive-E Platinum, 2012 Mazda CX-9 GT
  • podpod Member Posts: 176
    Just completed the one year anniversary and average MPG (mixed) is 31.9. Highway MPG@67mph is approximated at 36.0 (with the occasional tailwind assisted 41 mpg thrown in there). The 31.9 is calculated based on gallons pumped and miles on odometer and correlated quite well with the dashboard calculator which is a bit optimistic at 32.4. I have the 6 speed automatic. I do not try to hypermile or try to keep at 55 mph (it's all about rpm's/mile and that is why the highway numbers are so good). In fact it gets worse fuel economy at 55mph than it does at 67mpg. The engineers have selected a good gear ratio for overdrive which puts the sweet spot near 65 (provided it kicks down to overdrive which it always does unless there is a high hill or some other load which requires a downshift). I am very pleased with the performance of the car as well; I rarely need extreme acceleration. I regard fuel efficient driving as rather like riding a bike--there are times to put the energy into it and there are times when you can coast with minimal energy input and hold speed. The hills and the wind are the enemy. I rarely have to use the brakes on the highway since my eyes work well and my neck pivots and I manage to avoid situations which would require braking. I'm sure these numbers (and the numbers of any car except a hybrid) would suffer substantially in stop and go traffic. I have about ten minutes of such on my return commute each day which probably cost me about 2 mpg overall. If the Fusion is essentially the same car as the Milan I highly recommend it as a well engineered vehicle which would be hard to best for the money. By being firm I was able to get the brand new 2010 Milan for $18.3K despite a $25.2K sticker. Part of that was that the Milan was discontinued in 2011, part of it was good negotiating skills at the end of month quota time. Very satisfied with my last 20 years of Mercury (aka Ford) products.
  • cannon3cannon3 Member Posts: 296
    Took the 2006 V6 SEL on a road trip. Average speed 75MPH. Average MPG per computer was 27.8MPG. I am very satisfied with the MPG. Even had the a/c running at times. Great vehicle.
  • sabian69sabian69 Member Posts: 1
    2007 Mercury Milan Premier AWD V6, audiophile system, etc. We have everything except the kitchen sink on this vehicle, except the CD GPS, couldn't figure out that piece of engineering, since at the time I could buy a $100 Garmin. Also didn't understand why the passenger seat has all manual controls, but leather, with a 2 stage seat-heating system. These minor issues aside, this Has been an excellent vehicle for us. But I am writing because of a bigger problem. This car has a Mazda motor/trans. Excellent engineering, except for the fact that this trans has a slip mechanism for FWD (when powered off), that, when parked on an incline on snow or ice will allow the vehicle to move with gravity. I won't get into detail about this, but it caused me to take pix and send this car back To the dealer, at which time the workings of the trans and differential transaxle were explained. It was recommended that we use the parking brake while stationed on an incline. We adhered to this recommendation for about a year, and then we parked the car for a month with the parking brake on, because we were used to this at this point. When we returned and drove the car, the rear rotor was warped, and I decided at this point to just replace all rotors, because they were almost due. However, I learned about this parking brake rotor warpage phenomenon the hard way, and I hopeto spread the message: if your rear rotors are thin, do not leave your cable brake squeezing one section of your rotor like I did. It can be an expensive oversight. Remember that each rotor is actually 2 discs supported with gussets, or ribs, for cooling. If your caliper squeezes these 2 discs where there is no gusset, it will warp your rotor (and in our case it seized the caliper, most shops will insist on replacing the entire caliper assembly, rather than replacing parts or getting it to work like you or I would.

    I hope this helps somebody, because I learned the hard way. Otherwise, Ford and Mazda made a pretty good Mercury, that we hope to enjoy for a few more years.
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    Actually it doesn't matter what car it is, parking it for a long period, especially outside has detrimental impact on brakes. I had parked my F350 outside for one month and seized all the calipers, at least I thought it was the calipers, it turned out to happen again, and this time I found it was the pads themselves that caused the problem, they expanded from rust and they were seized in the slides. After driving it a while I noticed the brakes were getting hot then the rotors all warped. Most likely the pads were the main reason, and I highly doubt the parking brake would put enough pressure on a cast iron rotor to warp it. Most likely it was the pads that did the damage, you may have inadvertently applied the parking brake while the rotors were hot, and left it long enough for cementite to build up, which is what really causes rotor "warpage". It takes a LOT to actually warped a disk, and 95% of all cases of warpage are really cementite deposits from hot pads.

    I'll trade your rear rotors on the Merc for the rears on my dually! ;)

    Some interesting reading if interested. Rotor warpage myth
  • winter2winter2 Member Posts: 1,801
    The issue with rotor warpping is nothing new. All manufacturers with few exceptions put rotors on their vehicles that barely pass muster in terms of safety/durability. I had a 2005 Jeep Liberty CRD prior to owning my 2010 Milan Premier and at 42K miles replaced all of the rotors. I learned that resurfacing them was not a solution because they would warp even faster under normal usage, in other words, they had barely enough metal on them to be resurfaced once.

    I purchased some high performance rotors that were cross drilled and slotted along with Hawk pads. The price of these parts turned out to be cheaper than OEM parts at the dealer. Stopping performance was significantly better and at 33K miles I had more pad left than the OEM pads had at the same mileage. Also, the rotors did not warp.

    When the OEM rotors and pads wear out, I will install similar rotors and pads on this car as I had on the Jeep.
  • podpod Member Posts: 176
    First let me clarify that I love my new 2010 I-4 Mercury Milan and am regularly impressed by the excellent engineering foresight the design and production team displayed. So this is not a criticism rather a question about a minor annoyance which is new to me as a car owner.

    OK, truly minor. Have I set it up well enough? I love the car and have no substantive criticisms. It may be the best engineered and coordinated car I ever owned.

    When I drive in light or moderate rain at either highway or residential speed if I keep the driver's window open 2-3-4inches (as I am wont to do), a significant drippage begins top of the wilndow line into the car onto the armrest and (this is the reason I am curious) onto the switchgear for the door and windows on the armrest. Since there is no abnormality on examination of the door gasket or seal or alignment, I assume that it is related to the roof design (with or without a ridge, etc.) which choice likely is most determined by aerodynamic considerations regarding wind resistance and lift. Nonetheless it appears that this roof design allows water to run off the roof and fall into the car from the top of the window opening.
    Have others found this true? There are many simple solutions but first I want to know if "everybody has this" as would be expected if it were intrinsic to the design of the roof and door housing. If nobody has this, I will have to try harder to find a defect in my particular car which is not intrinsic to all 2010 Milans and Fusions. I'm interested.
  • bdymentbdyment Member Posts: 573
    I have not had a vehicle in a good number of years that didn't do what your Milan is doing. Since the manufacturers removed the rain gutters from the roof in the name of style and aerodynamics they all leaked as yours does. I am presently driving a Ford Edge and the rain will run in as you describe. A normal occurrence for this day and age,
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    Doctor, doctor - it hurts when I do this.........

    :)
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    Going way back, I had this problem with my 1992 Crown Vic. Problem solver is to install the window ventshades that stick on the doors and allow you to have the window open a few inches and not get all wet. Drawback is it cuts down on your cars COD, but whats a little drag when you want fresh air.
  • podpod Member Posts: 176
    Thank you acdii, I am considering adding a drivers side shield of that sort. I do like the fresh, unprocessed air. I find Akirby's humor a little dry for such a wet problem but appreciate it none the less. Now only if I could construct an antigravity shield that was flexible and could be attached to the roof near the driver's side...then I could.... Actually I think the windshield wiper toss adds to the problem which is why it is less noticeable when it is only lightly raining. I consider it a tribute to the design engineers that I have to search for such minor issues to serve a kindling to keep this thread alive from time to time. Great car.
  • lilengineerboylilengineerboy Member Posts: 4,116
    Vent Shades sound like a great solution to your issue, pod.
  • desgnrdesgnr Member Posts: 19
    I cannot turn the radio off or change stations,it is stuck,nothing works,it only plays the station it is on.
    I disconnected the battery ground cable to reset the radio but still won't work.
    Any suggestions ?
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    Sounds like your Sync is sunk.

    Since you already removed the ground, provided you left it disconnected for a few minutes, the next step is bring it in. There are no repairs for radios, just replacements.
  • podpod Member Posts: 176
    I post here because I own a Milan which, relatively speaking is a quiet car. My question is a general one. NVH is an issue in most cars. Honda uniformly gets panned on this aspect of their cars. For the engineers out there: is it possible to have microphone pickups in the wheel wells which send a composite signal to an amplifier which plays them back out of phase through the radio somewhat along the lines of noise cancelling earphones. It wouldn't eliminate all the noise, even theoretically, since resonances and structural vibrations would still be present but it may eliminate the tire, wheel well noises which seem dominant. A crazy idea? The cancel signal could be played without interfering with the music on the radio. Since there are smart engineers in the industry I expect this will no help but I'm interested in hearing opinions.
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    I thought I read that Lincoln is doing exactly that with their new generation vehicles but I don't have a link.
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    Anything can be done, it boils down to cost. What would it cost to add 4 weather proof mikes, and a bose type noise canceling system? It's like the BLIS, you dont see it in all their cars, even though it is a very good system. You don't see adaptive cruise control in all cars, only top end ones, mainly due to the cost. I think something like what you ask would fall somewhere along those lines of top end cars.
  • podpod Member Posts: 176
    I live in NE where the weather is fickle. I know in Florida sudden rain storms are routine. I don't know why manufacturers have no provided an automatic "close the windows and sunroof it's raining" feature. As a golfer I have returned to a wet interior more than once when a quick moving storm came by on a very hot day. If you leave the roof tilted and the windows partially open at the top you are at risk of this wetting. It seems all that would be required is a rain sensor and some interlock safety features. For example it would only be activated if the seat sensors showed no occupants. There would need to be some clutch like override if the closure was obstructed and encountered resistance so the "what if a baby was crawling out the window when the closure occurred?" crowd would be assured.
    Cheap to make it seems to me but not available. Either that or a bilge pump. A friend's S2000 was filled to the seat bottoms after a quick storm since he left the top down. Yes? No?
    I rather this than mytouch. Call it myumbrella. I always wonder about damage to the switch gear in the doorsides when the rain comes in.
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    Seems to me the cheapest solution is to simply close the windows or leave the top up...........problem solved!
  • podpod Member Posts: 176
    Boy, you are dry, pun intended.

    Believe it or not some days you do not want to leave the car locked up when the sun is blistering hot and there is not shade. A little ventilation and a reflective windshield shield go a long way to keeping the inside temperature down.

    You had earlier commented that the solution to the rain dripping in an open window as happens in the Fusion is to close the window. Again I guess you are not a fan of outside air.

    To each their own. I would place you in the minority. Walk around a business parking lot on a hot day and see how many cars are with a cracked windows and tilted roof. I guess, being a reductionist, you must be puzzled why the windows open at all. Fixed windows and no sun roof would keep the costs down and reduce the drag coefficients. Your AC must get a workout in the summer.

    Incidentally, for those who do crack their windows when driving, the drip in the fusion is from the windshield wiper toss. There is no drip on the passenger side. That makes it easier to fix without using the vent shields that were recommended logically by many.

    Akirby you know an awful lot about fords of all types but your views on ventilation seem a bit eccentric. I expect your tongue is in your cheek; otherwise it must hang out like a St. Bernard's in the summer.

    I do enjoy all your posts most of which are very informative; all of them provoke reactions. You keep this forum entertaining. Stay dry.
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    Other than the sun roof, the ventshades work wonders when it rains when your parked. You can crack the windows about an inch with them on and it helps a lot. I do think there is a vent shade made for the sunroof, whether that would block rain while parked I dont know, it covers the leading edge, so you can crack it back a bit like the window, and there is a rain gutter surrounding the opening so rain will drain away while it is down. The glass drops down when opened, JIC you haven't noticed
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    I wasn't being sarcastic - I was just being practical. While automatically closing the windows when it senses rain would be neat it's a rube goldberg solution.

    I park my car outside all summer long in 95 degree heat and unless I know it's not going to rain I leave my windows closed. It's hot for a few minutes but then it's fine.

    It would be more appropriate for cases where you forgot to roll up the windows or close the sunroof.
  • podpod Member Posts: 176
    Dashboard temperatures in a closed car parked in the open sun on a 95 degree day reach 192 degrees farenheit. Air temperatures reach 165. Trunk temperatures in the 140s. CD's melt. Soda cans explode. Burns occur when touching seat belt buckles. And, of course, small children and pets die. Assuming the car is empty the principal concern would be fatigue and separation of the dashboard surfaces and, for that matter, all surfaces directly exposed to the sun. There are multiple reliable reports of such temperatures on the internet where actual temperatures were taken. One, of course, was by a windshield shade company.
    I cannot find similar measurements for a situation where the windows are partially open and the roof tilted but my experience suggests there is a huge difference.
    Most electronic components are rated only to 120 degrees.
    Surface temperatures to that degree cannot be good for any material and most dark surfaces, especially metallic ones, will be hotter than the air, i.e. hotter than 150 degrees.
    These facts, and my comfort when I do return to the car (look out if you're wearing shorts on leather seats) are the reasons that I, and most people, choose to let some ventilation occur when parking a car in open sun.
    To each their own but these strike me as valid and logical arguments for the majority who ventilate. When you golf the car may sit in the daytime sun for 6 hours. When you work and the parking lot is shadeless, 6-7 hours of hot sun exposure.
    That choice is what exposes me to the rain issue. Your choice eliminates the concern about rain at least. I suspect many would find a "rain mode closure device" a welcomed and useful design feature. It should be an optional accessory, of course, and would be damn site more useful than the self parking feature or mytouch. In fact if I directed my touch to a hot dash under such circumstances I would use my mouth to cry out from my pain.

    Reasonable men differ. Not uncommon.
  • akirbyakirby Member Posts: 8,062
    I said it would be a neat feature, but from a practical standpoint a sunshade and vent visors with the windows cracked an inch or so would do the same thing as far as reducing interior temps and providing ventilation.
  • baggs32baggs32 Member Posts: 3,229
    For what that feature would add to the price of the vehicle you could probablly just opt for the remote start. That way, assuming you have a 2010 Fusion or newer, you could open the front windows, vent the moonroof, and start the car with the air on using the standard key fob from the 18th fairway and have a nice cool cabin when you finally get to the car.
  • temj12temj12 Member Posts: 450
    I leave my vehicles out without the windows or sunroof open. I have always done this. I live in Tennessee where the temperatures have been from 93 to 100 the entirety of the summer. I have never had any of the issues you list. My CDs don't melt; my dash does not get damaged. Of course, I would never leave a soda can in the vehicle and, certainly, never an animal.
  • acdiiacdii Member Posts: 753
    Get an MKS. We have one and it does exactly what you asked for. Press and hold the door open and the windows go down, sunroof opens. Press and hold lock and they all close.
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