Illuminated USB ports

[EARLSAYS]

Could be a part 'revision', i.e., an A, B, or other letter suffix - although I can't imagine someone with a '21 getting service and having them say "sorry, they don't light up anymore".

I could see them doing it - the illuminated USB I found was one of two left in the entire nation - if those are gone, they're just gone, and ports that no longer light up is just what you get. Sucks, but that's what happens sometimes.

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[coopny]

Missing pencil holders and now this!?!?!?!?! I'll never buy another Ford....No lit USB ports???? How dare they!!!!!

I mean, it put a sour taste in my mouth for sure. I certainly will have a more cynical read doing research on my next Ford, because I can't trust that features that I see in images or magazine reviews or YouTube reviews of the car are present.

Not having the temperature display on the HVAC controls surprised and annoyed me. It wasn't the end of the world, and COVID era chip shortages, blahblah fine. Then the rear camera washer... and the folding headrests... and the pencil holder... and the engine cover... and the passenger underdash cover panel.. etc. so on and so forth.

The pencil holder is three cents of rubber. The folding headrests don't have chips. Neither does the front passenger underdash cover.

If you have to plug in a phone to the USB port in low light, it just makes it a pain in the ass without turning all the interior lights on. Again, not the end of the world, but it's a puzzling deletion.

 

[Mark S.]

It wasn't the end of the world, and COVID era chip shortages, blahblah fine.

To be fair, it wasn't just chip shortages. And in some cases it wasn't actually a shortage of products or materials, it was an inability to get things from here to there. Further, it's not just Ford.

 

[coopny]

To be fair, it wasn't just chip shortages. And in some cases it wasn't actually a shortage of products or materials, it was an inability to get things from here to there. Further, it's not just Ford.

There were shipping challenges, granted, but your second article talking about other automakers pretty much all involves features that are either driven by chips or electrically controllerd at a minimum (touchscreens in BMWs, heated seats and ventilated seats in GMs [that GM said they would retrofit later], audio systems for Mercedes, navigation systems for Nissan...

It's why the lack of temperature knobs on the HVAC controls, I said fine. Lack of illuminated USB ports, fine but likely chip driven, or at least electrical related.

Ford managed to ship headrests of equivalent size, minus the button and folding mechanism. Unless there was a shortage of buttons or springs or something, it makes no sense, unless in the era of inflation and ramped up demand, Ford was trying to penny pinch wherever they could on the BoM. Saving $5 on a part adds up quick when you sell 122,000 of a vehicle in a year... especially when you do it on multiple parts.

 

[KevinL]

I could see them doing it - the illuminated USB I found was one of two left in the entire nation - if those are gone, they're just gone, and ports that no longer light up is just what you get. Sucks, but that's what happens sometimes.

Did you install it and if so did it light up ok? There are a lot of ‘21 BS’s totaled out and ripe for pull-a-part.

 

[EARLSAYS]

Did you install it and if so did it light up ok? There are a lot of ‘21 BS’s totaled out and ripe for pull-a-part.

Yes, I installed, and yes, it lights up just fine, and it works just like it should - just like the other non-illuminated USB worked. You have to disassemble the console to properly remove the old one - tolerances are just too tight to get the old USB hub out without damaging the plastic around it. Overall, a very easy swap, just time consuming due to the disassembly and reassembly.

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