I think the following might be a joke. I just got a call from my dealership again, they have revised the original installation cost of the Ford auto-dimming mirror from $245 to $1500!! Yeap you heard me right, $1500. They are even saying things that "oh, we need to install a new electronic module, buy a new electric harness blah blah blah". I told her she might have gotten her information wrong, then she called back to tell me she has talked to all other dealers in Vancouver and they either don't think the mirror can be installed or that the cost will be more than $1500 for the installation alone"

Can you believe this? Are they trying to blow me off by quoting a high number? She even tried to convince me not to install it because it will not have resale value? What does installing a mirror have to do with resale value? I got my car for 1 week, and I have to start thinking about reselling?

 

Take it as a sign not to let them touch your vehicle. All the signs point to them either having no clue, no skill or no desire to do the job (or a mixture thereof), none of which bodes well for you and your new vehicle -- at any price they quote.

 

But if they denied service or warranty, what do I have to do to get them to service my vehicle?

Even if I know the law is on my side, I still have to get a lawyer? Go to court? It will still mean considerable expense and time to me, and maybe that's why a lot of customers like will be scared of the prospect of paying legal fees and risking time-wasting, so we will choose to play by the dealer's "command"?

I didn't think installing a mirror would be so much "trouble?" After all, these mirrors are listed as standard accessories on the 2006 and 2007 Ford Accessories Guide for the Escape!

 

GeekGal, I think you got it right.

NO CLUE, NO SKILL OR NO DESIRE sums it up.

In fact, I remember her saying that the last time they had to install a mirror was 5 years ago.

I just can't believe how lame these West Coast Vancouver dealers are. Why don't they admit of their own incompetency instead of quoting me a ridiculous number to try to scare me off? $1500 for mirror installation excluding the price of mirror, come on?!

 

Hi guys, if you're still reading this thread, first of all let me thank you for the detailed description. It provided me an idea what's involved in the process.

However, NONE of the dealers in my city (Vancouver, BC) will install this mirror for me (except for a ridiculous blow-off price of $2000), I have no choice but to learn to install myself.

The challenge I face now is, I don't understand many of the parts/locations/terms described above. For example, where is "A-pillar", "trim at driver's side kick-panel," "firewall," "headliner" and "shelf on passenger side of radiator"? Also, how does a "3M connect-lock splice connector" look like?

Ultimately a picture is worth a thousand words, if there's a pro living in my area, I'd gladly document the process with my camera, create some sort of picture guide, and post online to share with the rest of the world. But this possibility is remote, so.. perhaps some of you already have photos of various positions, sections, parts and components of the car to post? Even if your car came with one, I'd appreciate your feedback/photos.

Seeing the photos will help me tremendously. If you send me those photos, I could even use a photo software to label the pictures properly and re-post them to show others how it's done properly.

Another option is, I could post a photo of the interior of the car and label the parts/locations on my OWN photo, post them on this board, and get feedback on how closely I have identified the parts based on the description here?

 

I wish you didn't live so far away from me(I live in upstate NY) or I would be glad to do the install it for you at no charge. If you lived in Toronto, it would be a piece of cake but you're an awful long way from me.............

I am working all day today, but I am off tomorrow & I will be doing some work on my FEH(I bought a set of leather seats off ebay for it & I will be installing them tomorrow). If I get time, I will try & snap some shots of all those parts & label what needs to be removed etc.

I can't believe you are having such a problem finding someone to do this for you, I literally had mine installed, wired & working in about 1/2 hour........

My mirror is not a Homelink setup(I mainly needed/wanted the outside temp, but that is no harder to install(I've installed those also). I was a little paranoid about using a Homelink setup where I live because my garage is connected to my house & I don't want somebody to be able to gain access to my house with one button push from a car parked in my driveway(we rarely park the cars in the garage, even though I have a 3 1/2 car garage it is filled with tools/welders/motorcycles etc & there is no room for cars)

~John

 

The Exon one. http://myweb.hinet.net/home5/exon/pr.../b1/index.html.
I bought it through Advance Mcs on ebay in case you are interested.

 

Hi John, it's good to know that it can be installed in 1/2 hour in a best-case scenario. I know I'll be much slower, but using your photos with labels, I should be able to perform the installation step-by-step using the already excellent description.

The irony of the whole thing is, it might be faster for you to install for me physically than posting and labeling the photos I do appreciate the offer though, too bad we lived too far away from each other

Hi Dsewhuk, thanks for the confirmation, I called Advanced Mcs store featured on eBay just now. I went with the Gentex instead because they are saying Gentex is a much "superior" and "quality-controlled" product, with almost 0% failure rate. The Exon, although looks "cool" but it's not as reliable as Gentex. Since the installation will already be a big challenge for me, I don't really want to uninstall and reinstall should there be a problem.

 

I can say that finding that I did not get the overhead storage console on my MMH when it arrived at my dealer's, is one of my major disappointments. Yea, I know. Sometimes is it the little things which seem to count the most.

Now, I don't have the moon roof option, but I did get the premium package.

On the regular MM, their "comfort package" includes a long list of nice little things. The Hybrid has all of them, except for the overhead console. For the life of me, I don't understand why. It is not like it might decrease mileage, like the roof rack cross bars, or the side steps.

I was thinking that I would not need to get the Homelink mirror, since I could easy store my regular garage remote up in the overhead console. I guess not.

Has anyone tried ever adding the overhead console to their MMH or FEH ????

 

That overhead console is pretty cheaply made, so you're better off without it. Anytime I go on a rough road (which there are a lot of in Seattle) it rattles like mad.