CarpeNivem

I had to use a relatively long and thin flat head screwdriver. It needed to be inserted what I would describe as "further than reasonable" in order to disengage the locking tab. Speaking precisely, how far was that? Uhmm, about an inch, maybe? I forget. But, yeah, it was definitely weird. Not really difficult, but not really easy either.

I just ordered the Intro-Tech Ultimate Sunshade from autoanything.com, and I have to say, I was very impressed with their customer service. It's likely I'll buy from them again. See, I had a little bit of trouble making the purchase using the $50 gift card which Ford gave me in exchange for test driving the CMax (which seemed like a very appropriate use of that card), but after speaking with customer service, it all worked out in the end, so I'll have one soon. I'm looking forward to it; they really do look super nice! Thanks for the suggestion, everyone! PS: If you're not familiar with the $50 test-drive gift card, the way it worked was, my wife and I were looking at the CMax at the Denver Auto Show, along with several other cars. We weren't in the market to actually buy anything; we just enjoy looking at cars. (Isn't that why most people go to those shows?) Anyway, so a Ford representative said if we test-drove a CMax, we'd get a gift card for $50, no strings attached. So we figured, hey, free money, and did it. What we weren't expecting (but clearly Ford was) is that we'd totally love the car, and want to buy one. We would've gotten the gift card either way, but since we did wind up buying a CMax, this seemed, like I said, the perfect use for that card. Yay. :) But anyway, point is, AutoAnything's customer service rocks.

I'm sure consistency has a lot to do with it, but I think my idea should be consistent across all of Ford's hybrids, and the way it is now should be consistent across all of their non-hybrids. ;-p

Speaking of the hybrid screen, can I just say, I hate the fact that's an extra button instead of just replacing the climate controls? I mean, think about it. We don't really need a climate screen. We have the actual climate controls themselves! If the hybrid screen took over the blue corner, first of all, we would be able to see the motors' status in the corner even while in other screens, which would be nice. We wouldn't have four buttons across in that bottom center group, which is pretty cramped right now. AND, the big screen would match the little screen. That is to say, to the right of the speedometer, that screen is red for entertainment, and the big screen is red for entertainment. Yellow for phone, on both screens. Green for nav. But the blue... the blue doesn't match. Efficiency leaves on the little screen, and climate control on the big one? Phft, no. Efficiency leaves on the little screen and hybrid status on the big one would be more more appropriate. So, yeah, that's how I would've designed it, if anyone had asked me. ;)

By the way, Laurel, just in case it was not clear, yours DID go out yesterday. It's officially on its way, in the hands of the US Post Office. :)

Laurel's was packaged and addressed last night. It's on its way, sort of, in so much that it left the house with my wife this morning, who will place it in the "actual mail" either on her way to or from work. So, it's at least no longer here, is the point. Like I said, it's on its way, sort of. ;) Also, I've made three more, for whoever wants them. :) Here is a picture of remaining inventory for now. I'll make more as needed. (...oh, and apparently there is also my toes. Oops.)

mtb9153, your order was shipped last night. :) Laurel, yours has been made. I'll try to get it out tonight. Thanks for the extra click! :thumbsup:

Payment received. Shipment should go out tonight. I'll also pick up more plastic, and make more. I'm glad to help. :)

Shipped. :)

The piece is 10" wide and 1.6" tall. The adhesive strip is .5" thick (the same thickness as the front of the shelf).

Alright, so I made two more, and these are much nicer. I need to go get more plastic AGAIN, because there is just a ridiculous variance in quality here. I hate the ones above now. The "good ones" look like this... Just peel that red sheet off, and stick. It might be easier to remove the shelf first, attach this, and then replace the shelf. You can just grab the shelf and pull it out (it clicks in and out of place). I used black adhesive, so it blends perfectly, as shown in the top picture of this thread. Sorry for the production delays, but if I'm going to ask for money, I want to do this right. ;) Anyway, if you would like one, [LINK REMOVED] (or PM me to discuss some other arrangement). That price includes shipping. I'll get them in the mail the same or following day, depending when funds arrive. Thank you! I'll send these to whoever pays first, and I'll make more ASAP.

I just made five, and had intended on shipping them out, but... I think I over did it with the grinding. :doh: I tried to make the edges smooth, but they're pretty uneven now, and, uh, never mind.

Alright, so the verdict from a mechanic is, "Don't worry about it. I can replace it if you'd like, but I think just taping it up will be fine." Looks like another item just got added to my to-do list.

50mpg is pretty intense, wow. My wife and I average 41mpg, which we're totally happy with. Yeah, it's lower than the EPA rated amount, but we're achieving it without actually trying. We don't feel like we even own a hybrid at all. We just drive it how we want to, it responds how we ask it to, and we're rocking out 41mpg. I really don't think there's any other car available that can do that. So, yeah, we're very happy with it! But, still, damn, 50mpg. Wow!

So, I haven't forgotten about this; I've just been busy. I did go out and buy five pieces of plexiglass yesterday, all cut to the right size. I had planned on coming home, making these, photographing them, posting that picture, and asking who was still interested... BUT, when I returned home and looked at the plastic in my bag, they were all shoddily cut. Crooked lines, chipped edges, terrible. I plan on returning them, politely asking for my money back on account of how improperly they were prepared, and then buying replacement parts. I hope no one is waiting too impatiently. Sorry. :-/

Yes, rolling down the window solves the problem instantly. The reflected image of the bezel is entirely on the glass, not in the mirror. And I believe it's the tint which is making the window more reflective. If the sunlight was entering through the driver door window, I'm sure the tint would help, as it would cut down on the amount of light hitting the bezel in the first place, making it less bright, and its reflection less strong. However, since the light is pouring in through the un-obstructed windshield, the bezel is absolutely as bright as possible, and the tinted window is bouncing almost all of that light back. If the window were not tinted, it wouldn't be as reflective as it is. So really, depending on the position of the sun, you win some, and you lose some. Over all, I don't regret the tint, but it's clearly a contributing factor here. I don't know exactly what's in the tint, but it IS the kind of tint which blocks heat. That is to say, it's not merely cosmetic. And it does do an admirable job, by the way, of blocking the heat. That's not just marketing; you can feel it. So perhaps it does have metal or ceramic in it, is what I'm guessing.

Oh, yeah, a repair is definitely called for. I would never leave that as is. My question is really: Do you think the whole shield needs to be replaced, or do you think it can be bent back into shape and fixed with heat tape? I'm guessing the latter would be fine. I'll be finding out from a mechanic ASAP, but I haven't had the time yet. I do consider the problem minor enough that I can wait until my schedule allows repairing, but still serious enough that repairing it all is non-negotiable. That WILL be happening.

Oh, and our tint is pretty dark. It's 15%. As you can see above, it's not blocking any incoming light, because in this case, the light is coming through the windshield. If anything, the tint is just making the windows more susceptible to interior reflections. Although, we had the tint done almost immediately, so I don't really know what the vent reflections looked like before. Anyway, they're pretty terrible now. It does look great from outside though. =)

To illustrate the problem, for those unfamiliar with it, I took these two pictures yesterday, literally within a second of one another. I was in the passenger seat at the time, as you can see, but the view is the same from the driver's position. I've leaned to the left within my seat, and oriented my phone to simulate the driver's view. The sun was off to our left, low in the sky, and very bright. First, here is the car in shade, as we pass a tree on the left, thus blocking the sun's rays... Notice the presence of a car in the mirror, just behind us! Remember that this next picture is taken literally one second later. If you look carefully, you can recognize the exact same buildings outside. The same car is still in that same position. See if you can find it. This is after we passed the shade of the tree, thus allowing the sunlight to pour in again... The mirror has been rendered practically useless by the extreme reflection off the vent in the (tinted) window. And as you can see, it's not just the shiny bezel either; it's the whole vent. This is why Plasti-Dip didn't solve the problem for us, and why I frankly don't think anything will. We're just going to have to get used to it.

So, how important do you think that is? Because I kind ran over a large rock, and, uhm... ...that happened. I imagine that can just be bent back into shape and secured with heat-resistant tape, right? Like, the kind that's used to wrap exhaust headers. Should be no big deal, right? :-(

The tint we put on our windows seems to reflect internal shininess even more than the bare glass did. Perhaps we purchased the wrong tint? :-/ We used Diamond/Sun Guard/Solamatrix, whichever of those name is more useful. It does an admirable job of blocking heat, but a terrible job of preventing reflections off those chrome vents.

No, I mean the big, main, 8" display. It should be over there too, but it's definitely not. Wait, or are you saying that if BOTH screens to nav (the one to the right of the speedometer, AND the big, main one), THEN the speed limit displays on the big screen? That just seems silly. I mean, would be silly of Ford to do, not silly of you to say. Unless I'm misunderstanding, or perhaps we're both misunderstanding each other. Anyway, yeah, bottom line, the speed limit should be displayed on the big, main screen all the time. I would prefer that, and it puzzles me that the system isn't designed to do so.

I thought exactly the same, and was really hoping someone had tried putting something like this on the roof of our cars... http://peelandsticksolarenergy.com/recreational-solar/rvs/ ...I really wanted to know how much it cost, and how well it worked. I'm sure it costs entirely too much, and works entirely too little, but I was curious anyway! :)

Rest it on its side, to the right of the emergency brake handle. Also, hope you don't have an emergency. ;)

No one makes a hybrid convertible, so for that reason alone, yes, I could go back to a gas-only car in a heartbeat, because man do I love convertibles. That said, hopefully someone will make a hybrid convertible, so I can lust after that, and answer "No" to this thread's question. ;)