Recently I hit 100,000 miles on my 2012 Ford Fusion. Always an exciting event, these mileage milestones demand close observation in those last few miles. Jen and I were glued to the odometer as the tenths ticked by:
99,999.7
99,999.8
99,999.9
100,000
WOOOO!! EXCITING! Wait… what?
The tenths position disappeared. Ford chose to limit the digital display to six characters instead of allowing for seven. This is mildly annoying. I used the tenths place all the time. “Take exit 42 in 6.5 miles” Dang it. Sander pointed out that I could still use the trip gauges, but I reset these at gasoline fill-ups and oil changes to monitor the car’s performance.
Ford sold about 250,000 Ford Fusions in 2012. If we guess that the extra character would have cost Ford 5 cents more per display (maybe this is high) then in 2012 alone, their decision to use one less odometer character saved them $12,000. BUT, that’s only one year. I bet they used the same display in proximal years and similar models. This four second decision by some random engineering manager in Detroit could have saved Ford $100k.
I think I would have made the same decision.
Good call, Ford.
” I used the tenths place all the time. “Take exit 42 in 6.5 miles” Dang it. Sander pointed out that I could still use the trip gauges, but I reset these at gasoline fill-ups and oil changes to monitor the car’s performance.”
If you can add 6.5 miles from whatever is on the odometer, can’t you also add 6.5 miles to whatever is on the trip gauge?
My car doesn’t have tenths on the odometer, but it does on two trip gauges. One I set every time I fill the tank. The other I’ve never set.
The info panel on the Ford has six different settings:
Trip A, Trip B, Miles ’till empty, Efficiency scale, Timer, and blank
The difference between the Trip gauges and the odometer is that the odometer is viewable in all the settings (except blank). Usually I drive with either the Miles ’till empty, or the efficiency scale. Cycling through is far from impossible, but it’s an extra step that’s mildly inconvenient.
And THATS why Ford didn’t need to be bailed out.