My MMH came with the auto dimming mirror from the factory.

 

Yea, this is the first vehicle I have owned in decades, that doesn't have, at least, an engine temp gauge. Possibly, for the hybrids, even have a mark on the value that denotes EV mode now possible.

I am sure that the computer knows the engine temp, plus a lot of other info. I don't understand why they don't simply right the software to allow the Message Center to display such info, at the driver's discretion. While there would be cost associated in writing such software, there would be no "per vehicle" cost.

 

I would like the driver's power window "lock" button to only lock the passenger's window controls.

This is the first vehicle I have owned, where the power window "lock" button, locks out the driver's controls too. Yea, I know the driver can unlock the controls temporarily, open/close the windows, and re-lock the controls, but why should he have to? There is absolutely no sane reason for the window control "lock" button to lock out the driver's own controls.

 

No reason at all, I installed one myself with no problem (see my pics)

~John

 

My 08 MMH does too. The mirrors with an electronic compass and those with the Homelink functionality aren't available for the hybrid.

Curious why Homelink isn't available for the hybrid... it's not like that's got anything at all to do with the powertrain.

 

Good question, I added it to mine & it works just fine....

~John

 

Because it includes a compass, and so does the NAV system.

 

You MUST be marketing!!!!

 

If that's the case, then it should be available in any FEH that doesn't have NAV.........

~John

 

Sometimes they omit features due to the complexity of building the vehicle on the assembly line. The hybrid is built on the same line as the non-hybirds -- it doesn't have a dedicated assembly line. When one vehicle requires lots of special features that require multiple stations to complete the install, it makes it complicated to schedule the build order so as to not conflict with the assembly stations before or after where that feature would be installed.

It's possible that they decided to omit the mirror option because it created a conflict on the assembly line -- not with the vehicle, but with the staff (e.g. someone needed to be inside the vehicle installing something hybrid specific at the same time that those mirrors would have been installed). I'm not saying this is the case, I'm merely suggesting that it *might* be the case.

I have a neighbor who worked for Ford and, at one time, worked in the Kansas City plant where these are built (and still knows lots of friends who work there). He was able to share all sorts of insight as to why features are or are not available on one version of a car when those features are available on other versions of that same car model. Sometimes it is marketing 'packages', sometimes it actually a conflict in vehicle design, but other times it's just a conflict of figuring out how to efficiently get those features installed on the assembly line without having to do strange stuff in scheduling of the order in which the cars can get built.

The feature omission that he couldn't figure out was why the keypad on the door used to unlock the car without needing keys was not available on the hybrid, but was available on others. That's a single station fast install that doesn't conflict with the install of anything else. He suspected that they simply forgot to consider it when they spec'd the vehicle options.