Scorpiorefugee

I think we might start a new topic - " What questions should be asked when interviewing prospective car designers?" Perhaps... How much experience do you have of innovating creatively dangerous improvements? or, Can you give an example of someone getting killed or seriously injured as a result of something you've designed?

The electronics industry has been going down the path to make it uneconomic to repair anything and the recycling centres are full of virtually new goods with very little wrong with them. I wonder if cars are going the same way. So much for the green revolution.

Gregers, I had the same sort of problem with my last MKII. driving along one night and one dipped bulb went out. I went through the headlight out routine next day and the next time out at night the bulb the other side failed to com on. I had replaced both as a pair about 18 months earlier with expensive 'long life' bulbs. The prospect of losing both on the same trip is a bit worrying especially because of the insane way the things are made making roadside replacements a joke. I believe that it is illegal to drive a car with any headlight bulb faulty. On the subject of losing lights I have recently had some nasty experiences with the wife's Picasso which is now getting a lot more use after getting the MKIII. The headlight control has the same insane arrangement where the same action for flashing, head and dip control is used but also has the light switch as a rotary control on the end of the same stalk with a lip on to indicate position. The trouble is that if the stalk is pulled back to dip or head and it is done a bit off centre the lip causes the switch to rotate and ....no lights. On a pitch dark bendy road at 60 MPH that definitely causes a tightening of the buttocks, Certainly when it happens for the first time. Who allows this sort of lunatic design?

Acecard, It's a bit of a win lose with the seats. Even the grandchildren ask to go in the Picasso and I haven't found anyone who wants to get in the back more than once so I might as well leave them down permanently. The only benefit of leaving them up is that it improves the sound dampening.

Have you explored the options that tell you how well you're driving, how much air you have in your tyres, voice control etc.? Wives tend to ignore all of those as well. Perhaps the voice control might amuse her though. :D :D someone to talk to who doesn't answer back.

Gregers, Mine's got voice recognition and it is actually very good. The only trouble is I can't stand the bl00dy awful Samsung phone that I got to work with it. OK. Minus 4 - maybe. I got the fright of my life when I caught the button on the indicator stalk (You know! Where the horn used to be in the good old days.) and this voice came from nowhere and kept asking me to select a function. I've thrown the Samsung thing into the kiddies toy box after a month 'cos I got fed up with charging the damned thing every 36 hours or so. I wanted a telephone not a kiddies toy and games machine. I've got a proper one now - with buttons! and the battery lasts nearly a month. Proper job! I know I'm a dinosaur but I don't care! :21:

Acecard, The starter button is a result of technological progress - not a design improvement. I hate the folding seats because the horribly uncomfortable rows 2 and 3 are a direct result of that change. The seat pack is an optional improvement on all models and was available on previous models. The rear heated switch on the MKII and MKI was replaced by a useless climate control on the Ghias but I preferred your version. The climate control on the MKIII is less complicated but still fiddly. Still prefer the old 3 knobs which could have been made thermostatically controlled without a computer and a myriad of buttons and LED displays. The trip computer on the MKII was much better, easier to use and gave more options. I think that puts us at about -5 OK. The radio is sort of better but you need a co-driver to use it. :29: Gregers. Life gets tedious, don't it. :22:

Gregers, I was commenting on the lack of suggestions about any ways in which the MKIII is better than the MKII & MKI.

Another improvement. They've taken the difficulty from near impossible to totally impossible. They must have spent a lot of time on that one. How do they do it for the price? :27:

That had me puzzled too. The Titanium X does have motorised ones like the old Ghia and there seems to be a provision for the motor. The windows seem to have hinges and everything else so I suppose it might be possible to get them back to the old standard and it could have been included at minimal cost. Personally I should have been delighted if they had not "upgraded " the front seats to sports seats and given us the motors. I guess it's one of the many negative improvements. I wonder if they will learn from all of this and try to restore the Galaxy to what it used to be or will they give up like they did with the Granada/Scorpio and leave us with something which is just not in the same class.

?? There has to be something.

Sorry Acecard, I forgot about the spare. Ain't progress wonderful. Another case of the lunatics running the asylum. When you actually compare the MKIII and the MKII and perhaps more so the MKI you really wonder if they have lost the plot completely. They've improved the emissions by about 15% but increased fuel consumption by the same amount. That should please the green lobby! They've replaced comfortable adult seats with a park bench. They've removed cheerful interiors in favour of two tone matt black. They've added so many distractions to the control panel it's a wonder the driver ever gets round to actually doing any driving. And, as far as the spare wheel is concerned, what happens if you get a blow out in the wilderness on a Sunday night? I think some of these "improvements" have been forced upon us since the Ghias were replaced by Titaniums so they're still at it. I wonder what the next stages of lunacy will bring. Actually, there are some improvements such as ......... Suggestions please. :5: :5:

Acecard. I can't remember what my insurance was but it will renew in about 4 weeks. I think it was about

Acecard. Well done mate. I'm sure it will be fine but don't ever get into a MKII again otherwise you might get second thoughts. From what chrispb123456 has posted Ford have fixed a lot of the problems which seem to have occurred when the MKIII was 'improved' Get to know it and come back please. Gregers. I must have got confused. It happens a lot lately. I thought Google was a contraction of goggle and ogle. One of my grandchildren explained it. :49: And, no. It was the 60s. Petrol 4 gals for

Not had that one but it was often a case of "Tells yo owt, thinks yo know nowt." The trouble is that they're all at it now, the government, the bankers,.......... I think that came from a song from about the same time. Any offers? One of the west country groups I think. Did you stay in the trade long enough to go through the phase of all sorts of pets secreting an an assortment of bodily fluids in video recorders and then leaving it long enough for the acid to remove the copper from the legs of ICs by electrolysis. It also made a mess when it went into the tapes and when the machine fired up it wrapped the tape around the video head about 50 times and then stuck fast. All to be repaired on site in 20 mins with said pets sniffing at your bum. Whoopee! And then back to your car to find that some low life had squirted a full tube of superglue in the locks. That's always assuming your car was still there and still with another 20 calls to do. Oh, any movement on the new car yet? I don't know how much longer Gregers is going to let this continue and he's too young to take part. :27:

Way off topic, but it's fun and harmless, although I'm not too sure about Gregers 'googling' at that innocent little test card girl :9: . As far as the magnetic fields do you remember wandering around the rooms with a degaussing coil muttering weird incantations? :44: Field service isn't any fun these days.

Back to colour TV in the 60's. Does anyone else remember Test Cards and demo films in the afternoons. Jack Nicolas winning the same Golf tournament in glorious weather several times a week, an educational film about polymers with men carrying a long plastic pipe and SIDE, (Switch off, Isolate, Dump and Earth) a safety film for HV electrical workers. I got quite addicted to test card music. :46: Now that's a test for oldies. If you can remember that you ain't no foreigner.

Is it? Oh dear! I'm in trouble again. I might need a room somewhere now. I could always move into that Galaxy thing in the garage. It doesn't seem much use for anything else. :( 'Ere, who started this?

Hi Acecard, This is getting like a friends reunited topic on it's own. I agree your comments about VH. They went through many takeovers growing at a huge rate and making engineer's life appallingly difficult and finally under the nickname of Titanic Rentals died taking a lot of good loyal staff down with the remnants sucked up by Granada. I jumped ship as an alternative of joining the enemy and, would you believe, spent 10 years with IBM Sys36 and AS400 using Cobol and RPG before post 2000 everyone spent trillions on American software and 'Consultants' at

Acecard, small world. I started in 64 and in 67/69 was Area Eng in South Yorks and ended up in the tech training South West to 88. Your test drive sounded good. The seat pack is probably an improvement and your comment on the lack of power seems a bit strange although I find it no real improvement on the old 115 and the whole power range just seems very one ended and nowhere near as smooth and progressive as the old VW unit. I'm afraid I am rather old fashioned in preferring knobs that turn and give immediate results, switches that click and you know by feel what you've done without having to look at an LCD display somewhere out of the way or wait for a bloody computer to make up it's mind what it's going to do. I also like seats that leave you fresh after a long day in the saddle so mine is never going to live up to the old MKI. I might have gone for a Titanium X but couldn't face the depressing severely tinted windows that made it look like a Mafia bus. I live in hope that my son may let me have the old Ghia back.

Acecard, does your reply indicate that you, like me, are are a refugee from Visionhire? AKA Titanic Rentals. I blame them for making me a lifelong skeptic. Re the Galaxy. Now I've ditched the runflats, it is growing on me and the engine management does seem to be learning and evolving 'cos it has still only done 13K so I recommend a good iong road test for any of them and take your time as there are bargains to be had and some overpriced ones too. There still do not seem many about and those that are seem to be in the car supermarkets. Unfortunately, for all of it's faults, there doesn't seem to be a great deal of competition. Certainly, most of the MKII and MKI owners I have spoken to, including a long standing employee of our local Ford dealer, seem committed to hanging on to their Galaxys until they die. It will be interesting to read your progress reports.

Re the duratorq engine, I'm not convinced about any of the claims for it. It is supposed to have lower emissions but it is more thirsty than the old 115 MKII unit and it does seem to heat up more quickly. Most seem to get 42 ish against 45 -50 in the older ones. I'm not at all convinced about the claimed 140BHP and the power all seems to be at the top of the pedal and gear changing is a pain in lower gears. The front seats are hard and heavily bucketed so I have a special cushion and the rear seats are very hard and flat making cornering unpleasant and forget adults in row 3. I don't think I shall ever stop apologising to anyone who has to get in the back. Having looke around before and since I got mine I think the seats in the Zetec are better than the Titanium and the leathers in the Titanium X look better. If you find one with runflat tyres, walk away or change them immediately, even if they are new or in good condition. Other than that they seem to be marginally better than VWs and Seats although 1-2 year olds lose value pretty quickly. I gave my old MKII Ghia to my son and bitterly regret it but it's all a matter of taste I suppose. They do grow on you after a while - but it's a very slow process. Maybe in a couple of years or so... :( :( :( . Like you, I just couldn't take to the S-Max, possibly because I kept banging my head getting in and out because of the lower profile front and I still have sudden urges to upgrade back to a MKI..

Hi Doug and welcome. Methinks you're in the wrong section. Maybe Gregers can fix it but try going to the top of the list and look in the MKI and MKII FAQs. There's a lot of help in there and once your post is in the right section you might get a bit of a response. I've been through the mill with my earlier Gals but nothing related to your problems. It may be too late now but have a good browse anyway just to get the feel of things. I do miss my old MKI which was probably the best of the bunch - in my opinion anyway. Ron.

This does get better. I have just returned from a 250 mile round trip on mixed roads. I said earlier that the change of tyres had improved the ride and steering. Today has proved just how bad the run flats were. The car now feels totally different and I found myself going into bends now with a feeling of confidence that I haven't experienced since I handed over my old MKII and that is on the cheapest replacements available. I now realise that the car with the run flats was actually dangerously unstable on anything but a dead smooth dry surface. I had tried them at the recommended pressures and above and below.but there was no stage when the car felt safe. The tyres when discarded were still with 4-5 mm tread undamaged and evenly worn. My next step is to go back to the fitters to check the make but I believe they were fitted as original equipment as the car had only 8000 miles when I bought it and has done less than 4000 since. Run Flat tyres on these Galaxys are seriously dangerous and should be banned!!!!

This does get better. I have just returned from a 250 mile round trip on mixed roads. I said earlier that the change of tyres had improved the ride and steering. Today has proved just how bad the run flats were. The car now feels totally different and I found myself going into bends now with a feeling of confidence that I haven't experienced since I handed over my old MKII and that is on the cheapest replacements available. I now realise that the car with the run flats was actually dangerously unstable on anything but a dead smooth dry surface. I had tried them at the recommended pressures and above and below.but there was no stage when the car felt safe. The tyres when discarded were still with 4-5 mm tread undamaged and evenly worn. My next step is to go back to the fitters to check the make but I believe they were fitted as original equipment as the car had only 8000 miles when I bought it and has done less than 4000 since. Run Flat tyres on these Galaxys are seriously dangerous and should be banned!!!! Sorry, Got confused and posted on the wrong topic but is still in context. Oops - where's me pills?