Chicago Sandy

A month ago, I had been planning to buy one when my 2002 Taurus SEL was to eventually give up the ghost (I had just spent about $2K in various cooling, suspension, steering, and electrical doo-dah, plus the 100.000-mi. servicing). For me, it was down to the Fusion Hybrid or the Prius V "microvan" (which isn't out yet and Toyota is not saying when it will be in the US). The regular Prius IV is just a tad too narrow, with cargo capacity less than you'd think. We rented one on a trip last year--the handling is sluggish and the seat cushions too short for my tall husband. I can't imagine carrying adult passengers in the back seat. Well, Friday night en route to my son's midnight improv show, about a mile out from my house I stopped for a couple gallons of gas. Leaving the station and turning on to the street leading to Lake Shore Drive (our urban freeway), as soon as I finished the turn--with foot off the pedals--the Taurus started accelerating like crazy. I had to stand on the brakes to avoid crashing into the car 2 blocks ahead of me waiting at the last intersection before L.S. Drive. I put my left foot on the brake and tried to lift the accelerator with my right--no success. I tried shifting first into N, then P, then turning the engine off and back on again. Each time I shifted, the transmission clunked and the car jumped like I'd been rear-ended--and it was revving way into the red. I realized there was NO WAY I'd dare get on the freeway! I could have turned right after the light turned green and pulled over, but standing there were a police car AND three fire trucks in front of a church--I didn't want to be stopped across the street from a fire. It was almost midnight, and the streets were otherwise deserted. I was barely a mile from home, so I turned around and drove home, braking so hard all the way that I still have shin splints. I had to wrestle this now-raging bull (Taurus was never before a more fitting name) through the alley and into my garage--I had one chance to get it in straight. Made it, turned off the engine, shined my maglite at the accelerator--no debris around it, no floor mats other than the factory-installed one still anchored in place and not touching the pedal assembly. Stepped out of the car--the fan was going like gangbusters, I smelled burnt brakes, and the hood was blazing hot. So I went online and asked the two closest Ford dealers (in the near n. suburbs) for bids on a fully-loaded Fusion Hybrid. Found out one was owned by the same guy who owns the dealership in the south 'burbs where the Taurus was serviced (my husband's on staff at two nearby hospitals), so I arranged for a tow up there Sat. morning. Got a prelim. bid on the F.H. that looked good. Tow operator had a difficult time wrangling the Taurus out of my garage and on to the flatbed (it was roaring and bucking), and the service staff at the dealership were terrified of it--as if I'd brought them a rabid pit bull. While I was waiting for the estimate, the second north suburban dealer called and tried to talk me into a regular Fusion because there were no dealer incentives on the hybrids. I said I wanted the real thing and they said they didn't know when they'd be getting one in. Meanwhile, the estimate came in--between the throttle, brakes and transmission I was looking at another $2K repair. So I knew I was walking out with a new car. I asked the salesman if he had a fully-loaded FFH (the bid they'd given me was for the base trim line). He asked me what I wanted, and I reeled off all the bells & whistles my Taurus had. He led me outside to a baby blue with the full "moon & tune" package, with SYNC nav & Sirius, plus BLIS and a rear-camera. We did the math, and it came in $3000 below my limit (including the protection package I'd normally have eschewed but for the brutal salt-and-snow winter and two hailstorms we'd just had). Declined the extended warranty--it's never worth it, and my insurance includes mech. breakdowns. I am two days into owning it and I can't wait to get back behind the wheel. Even in today's near-100-degree heat, with the A/C cranked I got 43 mpg. on a 60-mi. round trip drive I took today--which included both freeway speeds and traffic jams. The stereo is awesome, the backup camera and BLIS saved me from two potential accidents, I was able to raise the seat high enough that getting in & out was easy. The nav works better than my Garmin portable did. My iPhone synced without a hitch (knock wood). I have only two quibbles, both relatively minor: because the car's narrower than my Taurus, so is the trunk; and the trunk is, well, truncated because of the battery array. The back seat doesn't fold, but in the nearly 10 years I'd owned the Taurus I'd never used that feature. I am a touring musician in an acoustic duo; for long trips where we'll need full-sized suitcases and a P.A. system, we'll still have to take my singing partner's Forester (which I hate-- it has "meh" fuel economy, barebones trim, and because of its height it's horribly unstable in crosswinds); but for short ones where we can take small suitcases, two guitars & dulcimers and won't need a P.A. the FFH is fine. (The trunk won't hold those giant packages of t.p. and paper towels from the Costco, but big deal--the back seat will). The other downside is that I've subscribed to XM for 6 yrs, mostly to listen to "The Village" folk channel. I found out Sirius has that ONLY via internet, not on-air. So I can either sign up through the Sirius deal or keep the XM subscription and plug its receiver into the power port and audio-in jack. I chose the former option--I can stream via web on my other phone that has unlimited data. There is a steep learning curve for those unaccustomed to cars that are smarter than we are, but I'm getting there. Gave my husband the old GPS unit, and am giving him my XM receiver because his has a broken display. Oh, and I found out that my new FFH is one of only FOUR available (in any trim line) in the entire Chicago area. So be patient--it'll be worth the wait.

I have a sort of unusual problem. I have been a long-time XM subscriber--I had an aftermarket XM receiver in my 2002 Taurus SEL (and my husband has one in the 2005 Five Hundred he still drives). I am a professional touring folksinger, and my favorite channel is XM 62, The Village--the only folk music channel (it's the only one on which I sometimes get syndicated airplay). I traded in the Taurus yesterday when I bought my Fusion Hybrid. Now, Sirius & XM are co-owned, most channels are on both (even the artist-specific ones like the Elvis and E Street Radio channels), and some have the same channel numbers. So imagine my chagrin when I found that the Sirius listings card doesn't mention The Village, and channel 62 is something else entirely (I think it's Christian music--I'm Jewish and have no use for it). I went via search to Sirius' website; the dedicated channel for The Village doesn't mention a channel number, only how to get it online for a $13 monthly subscription. The general channel guide on Sirius' homepage lists it as "SIR-8." When I tune to that, I get "'80s on 8" instead. So, anyone know how and if I can get The Village on Sirius using my SYNC system? Voice commands aren't cutting it--I get either "invalid channel" or the channel name that sounds closest, whether I say SIR-8, 62, or The Village (the latter takes me to Catholic Radio, which also does me no good). Assuming I can't get The Village on Sirius (it isn't in their "Best of XM" add-on either), I will probably have to continue my XM subscription. (I already found out I can't convert the XM subscription to Sirius). I left the connector dock, cables and antenna back in my Taurus--they can probably remove it for me, or I can get new connection equipment at an audio installer. I think there might be a stereo-out minijack on the dock; if so, can I plug it into the mp3 player jack in the console and treat it as a User Device? My only alternative is to cancel the XM subscription and listen to The Village via my HTC Evo 4G's Web browser (thank God for unlimited Sprint data plans). I'd use my iPhone, but that's synced to SYNC as a handsfree phone. Does anyone here who re-upped their Sirius subscription after the trial period also listen online? If so, does that come free with the car's subscription or do you have to pay the thirteen bucks a month (which option is also available to those without a Sirius account)? I know it sounds silly to be concerned about one channel, but it's the one I listen to most often. The Coffee House is NOT the same thing, as it's basically major-label acoustic pop/rock. The Americana and Bluegrass channels also won't do--although there's some crossover with folk, neither one plays folk music nor the few shows on which I get played. And I do take VERY long drives between gigs--which is why I bought a hybrid.

Hey, I just bought the same color FFH yesterday. (My 2002 Taurus SEL developed sudden acceleration--while idling--and in order to keep from crashing the mile home, I probably burned out my 3rd set of brakes and wrecked the transmission trying to shift it into neutral. BTW, "driver error" and "stacked floor mats," my foot--even the tow truck driver struggled getting it out of my garage and up on to the flatbed, and the service dept. looked at it in terror as if I'd brought them a rabid dog. Oh, well, 9.5 yrs and almost 100K miles, can't really complain....except about the nearly 2 grand I threw at different problems last month). I've driven nothing but Fords since my first Escort wagon in 1981, and Tauruses since '87. My husband has an '05 Five Hundred AWD (now also called a Taurus). I went for all the bells & whistles--SYNC, visual assist, etc. Figured if I was going to have to give up cargo capacity (the battery takes up the entire back half of the trunk) I'd better get as much bling as I could. Drives beautifully, but have my hands full programming everything & discovering what it can do. Glad to be here!