A Ford Fusion driver posted a viral video warning against a new parking feature while fixing the car’s alignment. He says that most new vehicles have pesky features like this installed.
Wes (@weazel_diezel) has reached over 364,000 views on his TikTok and left a caption telling viewers that, “New cars are annoying.” It’s part of a larger “They don’t make them like they used to” conversation happening online about cars.
To start, Wes, a mechanic, is sitting in the driver’s seat of a Ford Fusion and says he was trying to set up the alignment. As he records the gear shift and changes it from park to neutral he then moves to open his door.
Before pausing and opening the door, he carefully records the gear shift and explains. “It switches back to park” he says, every time he opens the door. “By itself,” he emphasizes.
While moving the gear out of park Wes says, “Stay your [expletive] in neutral,” before quickly ending his video.
Why does the Ford Fusion switch to Park when you open a door?
According to Ford, this “Return to Park” feature, introduced in 2017, is all about safety. Writes Ford:
“The 2017 Ford Fusion has a ‘Return to Park’ feature that automatically shifts the car into park when the driver opens the door while the car is stationary and the safety belt is unlatched. The feature is designed to prevent the car from rolling away while unattended and can also be triggered by turning the car off. It can help drivers who forget to turn the dial to park or accidentally leave the car in another gear.”
“Nobody reads the freaking MANUAL!!” a user told Wes in the comment section of his video. “It has an override. Just look in the manual.”
Another said, “Sometimes, we just don’t need new inventions. Don’t fix what isn’t broken.” However one user responded disagreeing that, “This is not one of those things though, this is a great safety feature..”
“Switch to neutral and hold down the ‘L’ until the ‘N’ starts blinking. Boom neutral,” a different user explained.
“Why doesn’t a mechanic know that you have to push the L after putting it in Neutral to get it to stay?” another added. “Ford has had this on cars for several years now, nothing new…”
How to stay in neutral on a modern Ford
Ranger5g states that to stay in neutral in a Ford vehicle, “Move the transmission selector to Neutral (N). A message will appear in your information display screen prompting you to press the Manual (M) button. Press the Manual (M) button again to enter Stay in Neutral mode.A message will appear in your information display screen when your vehicle has entered Stay in Neutral mode. To exit Stay in Neutral mode, apply the brake and select a different gear.”
@weazel_diezel New cars are annoying #fypage #mechanic #ford ♬ original sound – Weazel Diezel (Wes)
The Daily Dot reached out to request a comment from Wes via TikTok direct message and comment section and Ford via email.
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