darrel.e.wise

Dealership where I bought the car called yesterday saying they needed to replace my shift knob. I thanked them and told them that the dealership where I have it serviced had already replaced it.

7600 miles and no funny sounds

Last weekend was a 1600 mile jaunt from Kansas City to Houston and back. Averaged 41 mpg for the entire trip which was mostly at 65 to 75 mph. Whether it gets EPA estimate or not, I feel like that was pretty good mileage.

Took mine in for an oil change today and while waiting they came out and told me there was a recall on my Fusion. 13B03 replace leather shift knob. Took an additional 45 minutes. Earlier in this thread I said I didn't mind the urethane shift knob, but since they had the part on hand, I told them to go ahead. So now I have the leather knob also and didn't even have to ask for it.

Just got back from driving from Kansas City to Dallas and back and concluded that the EPA highway mileage test is totally a fantasy. I don't blame Ford. You can't expect the EPA results when they don't drive 70 mph for an extended time. If they would simulate Interstate highway driving they would get more realistic results. 9 hours at 65 to 70 mph produced 38.7 mpg. Am I upset? No. It is still way better than the 27 mpg I got with my previous car. So those of you who are expecting 47 mpg highway, I simply say to you. Stay off the Interstates and keep it under 60 like the EPA does. I used much less fuel on this trip than I did on all the previous trips.

That is the same story I heard in October when my car had a stop ship order on it.

I gave the car great reviews. No comment on Ford Customer Service because that wasn't what the review was about. The car is FANTASTIC.

Good luck on the call back on Customer Service. They NEVER called me back. I got to the point that I could call him every Friday morning, (Ford updates the list on Thursday evenings). I ordered mine in June, knowing that they would not start manufacturing until September. Was hoping to get it the end of October. The end of November came around and nothing. The Social Rep on Facebook volunteered to look it up and keep me posted. Found out the Car was built on October 4. Every post she told me that it was awaiting shipment and nothing was wrong. I had heard rumors on this site about headlight problems and I asked if there could be a problem with mine, and she told me that QA inspections were quite common and mine was not affected and it was still awaiting shipment. Finally I called Ford Customer Service and was assigned to Jason and he told that my car and 20,000 others had a "stop ship" order on them but could not (or would not) tell me why. Then I hear about the recall for the headlight issue and how they have to ship cars to Flat Rock for "inspection and repair" because they ran out of room on the lots at Hermasillo. I guess he got tired of me calling once or twice a week for updates and to appease me he gave me a 3 year 45,000 maintenance agreement. (Oil changes and tire rotations every 5,000 miles). I had downloaded the owners manual and noticed that the hybrids were scheduled for oil changes every 10,000 miles so I asked if he could extend it. He said no. I took it anyway, of course. My local dealer told me that it states oil changes every 5,000 miles so since Ford was paying for it, to change my oil every 5,000 miles for the first 45,000. In December he finally told me that the car was on route either to Flat Rock or the Dealer, he couldn't tell me which. The next week he told me that it was in Voltz, MO. I googled Voltz, MO and found out that there is no such city in Missouri. I just googled Voltz and discovered that there is a Voltz Railyard which is an automobile distribution point so I knew it was headed to the dealership. I also found out that the rail yard was located less than one hour by truck from the dealership. It took an additional 13 days to get to the dealer. No trucker wants a one-off load, they want a full load to one dealership so it sat there until that happened. It arrived December 27. Due to tax reasons I waited until January 2 to pick it up. What is another week after 3 months? Bottom line, I will never special order a car again, I will let them find one with the options I want. The wait nearly drove me crazy. Bottom, bottom line. The car is FANTASTIC. All is forgiven. And the mpg keeps climbing every day. When I picked it up it said "lifetime 6 mpg". Now the lifetime is 39.8 and my recent tankfulls have it at 41.1. Last night on a couple of 20 minute trips it got 46 and 54 coming and going. I'll take that any time.

There has to be something wrong with the car to get that low mileage. I normally don't drive it, (my wife does) but today I did get to drive the 30 trip to work. It was on Interstate highways mostly and all during rush hour traffic. I did not do anything special other than keep up with traffic. Speeds ranged from 10 mph to 75 mph. There was an accident that slowed down a portion of the drive. Most of the trip was between 55 and 70. It told me I got 45 MPG on my morning commute. Oh yes, it was 22 degrees this morning, I consider that pretty cold. On my "engage" view it tells me that the car gets 40.6 average and the lifetime when you shut it off is 38.9. I think that is low because when I picked it up it had a lifetime average of 6 mpg and I didn't reset it. I don't understand this. Can someone explain to me why it tells me that lifetime is 38.9 and "engage" says 40.6 average. Shouldn't they be the same? I know I am not getting 47 but am very satistified with the mileage I am getting. It is much better than the 25 I got in the previous car.

I went to a dealership that sells all cars for $50 over factory invoice. I also had an Xplan number and the Xplan was less that the $50 over invoice. Didn't get as much of a trade for my 12 year old Pontiac (172,000 miles) as I wanted, but I also didn't expect much so it wasn't a dissapointment. i also got $500 for buying a hybrid and an additional $750 coupon that Ford mailed to me.

Definitely a must have. Personally I love the auto high beams. They dim to oncoming traffic faster than I can react. Rain sensing wipers are ok, but will hardly use them. Lane keeping system is excellent. Rear view camera a must. Cross traffic alert has saved me more than once from cars I couldn't see. Adaptive cruse control is also fantastic (not part of the package but worth the price).

It was reported on our local morning news. It appears it only effects those who stream via their cell phones. So I should be good. 1.5 hours a day on the cell while driving to and from work equals 30 hours in 4 weeks and 37.5 in 5 weeks. Just under the limit. My computer time at work and home will still be free.

Interesting. I listen to pandora on my 45 minute drive to and from work (through my phone) and often 6 to 7 hours a day (on my computer, with ear buds obviously), and they haven't contacted me yet.

Is the chrome on the top a button or just decoration? The urethane one does not have that.

We have 1200 miles on ours. When we picked it up it had a lifetime milage of 6 mpg. I guess it will take a while to erase that. It says lifetime is now at 38.8 and it with it in "engage" mode on the left view it usually shows 40.6 and has been steadily going up. We still have plenty of cold weather here also. I know it isn't 47 mpg but hey, I am pretty happy with 40.6 for a car as big as this one is. My Pontiac Gran Prix GT V6 got only 25 mph and my current Saturn Vue is getting 22 to 25. 40 looks pretty good to me.