... finds the windscreen heating elements obtrusive when the sun is low and in your face?

... finds the heater controls fiddly and annoying to use (I'm used to contoured rotary switches that I can use by feel, without looking, rather than push buttons with indicator lights that are low-down so I have to take eyes off the road to use them or see theier settings!)?

... finds some of the "reset when ignition is switched on" electronics a damned nuisance (revert to auto headlamps, revert to auto-stop-start enabled and so on)?

... finds the splash screens at startup to be a nuisance (yes, I know how many people are in the car and yes, I know they need thier seatbelts on!)

... finds the brakes to be powered rather than power-assisted, with "Brake assist" far too sensitive?

Or is it me?

29 minutes ago, RMurphy195 said:

Or is it me?

It's fair to say "thats you" 🤔

You sound like an ex-BMW driver

Most of that stuff is just 'new cars' rather than Fords.  Annoying splash screens and auto-defaults for safety or emissions is standard nowadays.

Climate control has always had buttons...you don't need to keep fiddling with it like manual knobs.

The screen wires is an interesting one though.  I had a Mk2 Focus for 3.5 years, and a Mk3 for 6 months, the screen elements didn't bother me.  Yet in the Mk4 I find them really noticeable.  Not sure if I've just more irritable (possibly!) or if the angle of the screen makes them more prominent.

47 minutes ago, RMurphy195 said:

... finds the windscreen heating elements obtrusive when the sun is low and in your face?

You get used to it, First Ford I had with QuickClear was 1989 (Sierra Ghia)

47 minutes ago, RMurphy195 said:

finds the heater controls fiddly and annoying to use (I'm used to contoured rotary switches that I can use by feel, without looking, rather than push buttons with indicator lights that are low-down so I have to take eyes off the road to use them or see theier settings!)?

I've always thought Ford's ergonomics are quite good TBH. Do you have climate control? If so you can add Climate controls to the Sync screen using Forscan

47 minutes ago, RMurphy195 said:

finds some of the "reset when ignition is switched on" electronics a damned nuisance (revert to auto headlamps, revert to auto-stop-start enabled and so on)?

EU regulations 

 

47 minutes ago, RMurphy195 said:

... finds the splash screens at startup to be a nuisance (yes, I know how many people are in the car and yes, I know they need thier seatbelts on!)

EU regulations

47 minutes ago, RMurphy195 said:

... finds the brakes to be powered rather than power-assisted, with "Brake assist" far too sensitive?

Or is it me?

No, that's definitely you

As Tom says, as lot of the stuff is common to most new cars, much of it down to legislation. Can be pretty annoying though.

I'm a well known technophobe but love climate. Why do you need to fiddle with the buttons? I set my desired temperature when I first get the car, press "Auto", never touch it again.

Heated screens - yes, I seem to notice it on some cars more than others but I imagine they're pretty much a standard design so don't know why that should be - angle of the screen, perhaps? Used to be a Ford "thing" but I believe the patent has run out so they're available on lots of brands now. Not something I would pay extra for, tbh, particularly as the temperatures are so hot nowadays, or so we're told!😀

When I had to have the heated screen replaced in the previous car, the new one had much more noticable elements than the old one.

No climate control, the buttons I refer to are the ones that direct the air to the screen, face, feet, and a rotary switch for the blower speed which doesn't have a start/end so to speak

And no, not a BMW driver - ex Skoda/VW/Vauxhall, still using a (15-year old) MX5! The last Ford I had was an Orion for those old enough to remember them.

Oh and it is a Mk4 focus. Interestingly if I put my reading glasses on, I can see the windscreen filaments very clearly (just not whats on the other side of them!)😉

I hope the OP hasn't got the HUD screen to contend with.

The reflection from the housing on top of the dash in direct sunlight is about as bad as it gets.

When I first got my mk4 Focus I did find the small heated screen switches difficult to find at first.

My previous car was a mk2 Focus and had 2 nice big switches all on there own, which were easy to see.

7 hours ago, RMurphy195 said:

No climate control, the buttons I refer to are the ones that direct the air to the screen, face, feet, and a rotary switch for the blower speed which doesn't have a start/end so to speak

And no, not a BMW driver - ex Skoda/VW/Vauxhall, still using a (15-year old) MX5! The last Ford I had was an Orion for those old enough to remember them.

Oh and it is a Mk4 focus. Interestingly if I put my reading glasses on, I can see the windscreen filaments very clearly (just not whats on the other side of them!)😉

Are you glasses polarised lenses. My wife’s old glasses could see laminations, on large panes off glass. 

17 hours ago, RMurphy195 said:

No climate control, the buttons I refer to are the ones that direct the air to the screen, face, feet, and a rotary switch for the blower speed which doesn't have a start/end so to speak

Ah, my bad, no experience with those, I hadn't actually seen the peasant spec HVAC controls on a Mk4 now I think about it!  

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

Ah, my bad, no experience with those, I hadn't actually seen the peasant spec HVAC controls on a Mk4 now I think about it!  

Lol, I'd jumped to the same (wrong) conclusion and assumed it was an ST-L X. So I agree with the OP, I prefer my manual heater controls big and round!😀

Interesting subject. I'm coming at it from the other side - I've only ever driven 60-, 64- and 67- plate Focus models, where almost everything is pushbutton, and now I'm driving a Mk6.5 Fiesta van which seems almost agricultural with its rotary switches and key ignition. I feel like I've stepped back in time... 

On 11/9/2021 at 9:35 AM, TomsFocus said:

Ah, my bad, no experience with those, I hadn't actually seen the peasant spec HVAC controls on a Mk4 now I think about it!  

Me neither. I thought all the mk4s would be the same set up in general.

What's this "peasant spec" one speaks of ? 

Poverty version of Mk4 climate control

12 minutes ago, Wino said:

Me neither. I thought all the mk4s would be the same set up in general.

What's this "peasant spec" one speaks of ? 

I wonder what the ratio of pov spec to decent spec Focus's sold is now.  Doesn't seem worth all the extra design & manufacturing costs to produce manual AC alongside climate control nowadays. 

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

I wonder what the ratio of pov spec to decent spec Focus's sold is now.  Doesn't seem worth all the extra design & manufacturing costs to produce manual AC alongside climate control nowadays. 

They use the same across the range including the transit, custom and connect. Some of them get a low spec, there’s probably not much difference in price considering the amount of units they make.