I have a question to see what thoughts are out there. I did make a comment about it in another thread, but thought I would make it more direct with it's own thread.

I am wondering about the MFT system, and what it would entail to replace it down the road.

What I mean is, possibly down the road, could you swap out the MFT for another double din deck. Technically, since everything is redundant, you should be able to pull it out, and still have no problems with climate controls, or the radio (since the new system would have a radio).
How do you think this would affect the MyFord screen on the dash?
I'm sure that if you had navigation, and then got a new deck with navigation, it wouldn't be compatible to readout the direction on the MyFord display.

What other issues can you foresee if you replaced the MFT system?

Most importantly......would it even be possible?

It may be possible, but it definetely would be messy.. I doubt you could retain 100% of the functions that come stock, in fact you'd be lucky to retain 75%..

I'd say the best option would be to order a car with the bare bones radio. The integration level is much, much less.. and also, you pay so much extra up front for MFT.. Why bother getting it in the first place is you want to replace it?

I did my homework and found that there are more complaints than positives when it comes to MFT.. and therefore, I ordered an SE with the most base radio possible (not even Sync)..

Still, there will be some obstacles as far as my situation is concerned.

1. The hazard and door lock buttons appear mounted on the radio. These would need to be replaced.
2. Aftermarket needs to come out with a dash kit which may take upwards of a year.
3. Retain steering wheel controls (not sure what exactly since I don't have the car yet.)
4. Retain functionality of two LED screens (non Sync model LED's are lower quality and contain less information though, so it should be easier. Again, I'll have more details when I see what information exactly both LED screens provide).

Yes, I miss the old days where the radio was just the radio, and that's it. These days, there are a few more obstacles to deal with, but in my case it seems doable, although time will tell.

I plan on doing a write up when I get my car. I need some time to play with the steering wheel controls and the LED screens to see what effect removing the radio will have.

I have been debating back and forth about getting the MFT, and there is only 2 reasons why I am considering not getting it.

1) So many problems with it right now (which everyone says will be fixed)

2) I plan on keeping the car for a long time, and I have fears of the system failing completely after 8 - 10 years. I imagine it would EXTREMELY expensive to repair, when and aftermarket touch screen system would be way cheaper.

I would like to get the MFT, as I think it such a great system, but I want to know that I have some sort of a backup if there some sort of a system failure down the road.

One way to look at it is how modular the system is with and without the MyFord Touch system. I went with the SEL without MFT, and also see how difficult it would be to add a different radio, or to add Sirius or XM radio functionality. Now, this may not be as difficult in the long run if all that is needed is to add a module. The SE with the 203A package gets Sirius, while the SEL requires MyFord Touch(no option for just the Sirius). Now, if the SE can get it with the addition of just one module, the SEL should also have that option if Ford would have offered it. If it is JUST a module, it should be something that could be added, and the real difficulty would be in making SYNC know that it is there, plus the antenna for it.

I have been debating back and forth about getting the MFT, and there is only 2 reasons why I am considering not getting it.

1) So many problems with it right now (which everyone says will be fixed)

2) I plan on keeping the car for a long time, and I have fears of the system failing completely after 8 - 10 years. I imagine it would EXTREMELY expensive to repair, when and aftermarket touch screen system would be way cheaper.

I would like to get the MFT, as I think it such a great system, but I want to know that I have some sort of a backup if there some sort of a system failure down the road.


I was really worried about it failing down the road when I bought my car last week, and I decided to go ahead with the bumper-to-bumper 6 year/ 100,000 mile warranty. While it won't last as long time wise as you are looking for it is still much better than the standard 3 year/ 36k.

1.) the fact that MFT controls everything from climate control, to radio volume

+

2.) the fact that current owners seem to be reporting an AWFUL lot of random "shut downs" of the system

make MFT a real loser, to me. Sure, the idea of a fast, reponsive, and stable touch-scren system, to control everything in the car seems like a REALLY cool idea. But for whatever reason (maybe Ford hired the same cheap Chinese people who screwed up the mustang transmission), MFT has been a real buggy, slow, and unstable mess.

1.) the fact that MFT controls everything from climate control, to radio volume

+

2.) the fact that current owners seem to be reporting an AWFUL lot of random "shut downs" of the system

make MFT a real loser, to me. Sure, the idea of a fast, reponsive, and stable touch-scren system, to control everything in the car seems like a REALLY cool idea. But for whatever reason (maybe Ford hired the same cheap Chinese people who screwed up the mustang transmission), MFT has been a real buggy, slow, and unstable mess.

One thing that is interesting is that the non-MFT version with just the 4-inch display does not seem to suffer from all of these problems. Now, the non-MFT version is still called SYNC Gen 1, while I believe the MFT is SYNC gen 2, which may be the reason. The non-MFT seems to use the more mature first generation SYNC.

1.) the fact that MFT controls everything from climate control, to radio volume


However, it is all redundant. You can control radio volume without using MFT, as well as the climate. This is why I was thinking that you might actually be able to replace it.

However, I doubt that the MyFord system would connect to a new radio unit (i.e. no display on the dash with radio station).