tgara

Not sure about your first problem, but I can tell you that whenever I run a VHR, the system says something like the service is activating or connecting. Have you checked all your settings at Syncmyride.com? Often, if there is any glitch there people have issues.

You can make a User Profile using your own voice so the system is more accurate. This is all described in the owner's manual.

Did you try looking in the Owner's Manual... it is described in there.

Press and hold the little button with the phone receiver icon on it. RTFM.

You need OS4 for the iPhone.

If you have not done so already (and you should have), go over to syncmyride.com and check out the user forum there. There are multiple threads of too loud, too soft. Too darn many, imho. The Too Loud problem is a know issue for non-Nav equiped vehicles . There is no solution yet... Ford is aware of it and has beentrying to fix it for months. The Too Soft problem is usually traced to a bluetooth setting on the phone. When you are on a call, try increasing the volume on your phone (not all phones can do this -- my Blackberry cannot). In some phones, it helps the low volume.

There are multiple posts about the volume being too low. There are also multiple posts about the volume being too high.

My Sync is actually quite good at understanding my speech. The only time it has difficulty understanding is when it is raining outside. The noise from the rain seems to cause issues.

I know this is a radical question, but have you tried pairing your phone with Sync?

Set your phone to Pairing mode first. Then sit in the car with the engine running and ask sync to pair up with your phone (effectively putting Sync into pair mode too). Sync should provide you with a "pairing key" which is a number of about 5 digits that establishes a connection with your phone. Watch the screen on your phone because it will be waiting for inputs from you regarding whether or not you want to establish a permanent connection to sync for this device. Didn't your dealer help you with this? They are supposed to do this for you, at least that's what my Lincoln dealer did. Not sure what the service is like on the LESSER Ford brands. If you bought a USED vehicle, all bets are off because Sync will only work for the original owner I think.

Is your phone set to "Pairing" mode when Sync tries to connect? That has to be done first before you can establish a permanent connection with Sync. There should be some settings in the control panel on your phone to do this.

The VHR is pretty useless IMHO. The report itself is based largely on the warning lights on the dashboard. So for whatever reason the light is on, you will be notified in the VHR to check that system. For example, if the "Brake" light is lit on the dash, the VHR will advise you to check the brakes, even if the light is lit because you are parked and have the parking brake on. Basically, you don't need a VHR to tell you something is wrong because presumably you will see any warning lights on the dash. A sample report is here: http://www.syncmyride.com/Own/Modules/VHR/vhr_pdf_sample.pdf The VHR can be set to run automatically at 5K, 7.7K or 10K miles I believe. All that said, do not confuse the VHR with the service warning reminder that tells you when service is needed. I believe this is what the OP was referring to when he mentioned DIY maintenance. My understanding is that this reminder is based on time (the circuit is actually just a timer), and can be reset by the DIY'er using instructions provided in the Owner's Manual.

My iPod is "formatted" on an iMac, and it works fine.

No.

This was discussed in another thread, but the short answer is that Sync cannot handle extensions very well. You'll have to live with it, or type in the extensions manually (if you have a screen that shows a number pad).

What did the dealer do? What car? Do you have Navigation?

There have been a number of reports of funky behavior with third pary cables and Apple products when using Sync. I would use the OEM cable that came with the iPhone if you can. For your reference, I use the OEM cable when connecting my iPod 4th Gen Nano, and it charges.

Go into the Phone screen in Sync, then hit Settings, and then "Advanced". From there you should be able to scroll through a few options including ringers. Sync has several of its own ringers, but I find them annoying. If your phone is capable of sending the ringer via Bluetooth, you can set that. My phone, a Blackberry 8830, cannot do this. You can also select the option to turn the Sync ringer off.

I think he should use a 2 TB hard drive and do an experiment to see how long 100K songs takes to index.

I don't know if there is a limit. If I were you, I'd just get one and find out if it works. Please let us know!

Scots is on the right track. Chowda, let's start with some basics.... what car do you have? Also, what phone do you have and with which carrier? Did you buy used?

Mine knows Sirius channels and works exactly as you describe. If I'm on Sirius and I want to change channels, I say Sirius, and when the Sirius menu comes up, you can say the channel number or the name (Fox News Channel, Watercolors, etc.). It then jumps to that channel. When I'm in Sirius and want to change to another source (USB, say), I just say USB and it switches. Or say Bluetooth Audio and it switches. Not sure how the lesser Ford brands, or Canadian vehicles, work.

Why not upgrade to OS 10.6? OS 10.5.8 is an ancient operating system. I'm not surprised the Sync phonebook app doesn't work with it.

What's a sel? Is that a Focus? In general, it is not a trivial task to add the factory navigation unit to a vehicle that does not have it. There are many components to the system, (GPS antenna, electrical switches on the steering wheel, etc.) so if you could not afford the OEM navigation option when you bought your car, you will certainly not be able to afford installation of an OEM unit now. If you want a navigation device in your car, your best option is to simply get a good Garmin device, clip it to the dashboard, and use that for Navigation.

My guess is that it is not the nefarious reason you think it is. The media keep telling us that Corporations are money-grubbing organizations that only care about profits. Well, if that's true, why would they voluntarily NOT sell something to a whole country of people willing to purchase it? The likely reason it is not offered is because there is probably some stupid government regulation in Canada that prevents Ford from offering it. I've spoken to Ford engineers about this. Trust me, they would offer the service to Canadian customers if they could.