malibu3105

I have NAV and use if for simple stuff or long trips. But ... I always have WAZE running as my main navigator, and I also have a Garmin NUVI. So really the NAV on my Fusion is more for entertainment anymore. When I bought the car I assumed it would be a fully functioning asset to my car. I was wrong. Useless if the car is moving. Map updates are expensive for my Fusion, and Free for my Garmin. And of course free using WAZE. So I am happy with it. Will never update it. In fact, during the last couple of weeks the GPS could not figure out where I was. Had me a couple hundred feet over. Interesting. Maybe Satellite were having issues. But as always my WAZE was perfect.

lol, but there is no CTRL-ALT-DEL on Sync. You can power off, but no reboot. Of course it does sometimes reboot itself. it does this by going completely blank with no warning, stays completely blank for 2 or 3 minutes, and then finally starts booting up. Typical Microsoft.

Honestly, I love my car. If I was Ford, contact Microsoft and give them 6 months (this would have been in 2013) to rewrite the OS for Sync, make it blazing fast and make it work well. If the issue is that Ford is using 20 year old processors for Sync, spend $20.00 and get a dual core processor and another $30.00 and add a couple Gigs of RAM. Do a recall update the hardware / software and have happy customers. But my guess is they really don't care, most people may not care either. But I do, and so here I am talking about it.

I don't think it's a Microsoft issue, but maybe. But how hard can it be? Control the climate, which has been in cars for ever, control the entertainment system, and actually use Blue Tooth as well as most headphones, or other Blue Tooth speakers etc. As far as GPS, just use Garmin and pay them whatever. So simple. My guess is they don't really care. Or didn't. But I love tech, and when it's a botched job I really hate it. So Ford has probably lost me forever. But we will see, I have another few years on my car.

Also, if I rent, I can rent for a couple weeks to make very sure I want that car. I may test drive several cars before making a decision. I usually order custom from the manufacture, so don't mind the wait.

When you test drive these, at least when I did, the GPS is not enabled. since it is an option I am guessing the dealers don't want to spend the money. Or, maybe they just don't want anyone to see how bad it is. In any case, none of the new cars at my Ford dealer had GPS working.

This is an old thread, but here is an update. I own a 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid Titanium. I just got a notice that there is a map update for the price of $149.00. First, I will address the Garmin owners above, I bought my Garmin with lifetime updates, so I can update my maps anytime I wish. They are all free!! Second, as far as my Ford Sync GPS, my guess it is worth about $50.00. Yes I paid about $800.00 or whatever it was to be included in the car. I did not realize that there was such a slow GPS or SYNC software in existence that was so slow. I use my GPS as convenience only, I have a Garmin in my car for any trip where I need quick info or changes. I also use WAZE. So no need for my Ford GPS. Pay $149.00??? Knowing what I know now I would probably not pay that for the entire GPS. Also, before I buy a new car next time, I will rent one and test out the GPS and computer system to make sure I don't get junk like I did with SYNC. Most likely I will not even buy a Ford, as they have never attempted to update it to work correctly. Spending almost $40k on a car I expect more. Computers, GPS, Etc. are super cheap. Ford should have just contracted with Garmin for an awesome GPS. I love my Car, 40 MPG + all the time. Sound system is great, everything is great, except for Sync, and GPS. Although I will say the A/C doesn't get very cold, but my previous car was a Grand Prix. That A/C could freeze meat!! Long live the Grand Prix :) Anyway, after owning my car 2 years they want me to pay for map updates. Why, Waze is Free, Google Maps is free, Garmin is Free. LOL, they are on crack if they think I am paying $149.00 for a broken GPS. For those who have never used Sync, imagine touching the screen, wait 1,2,3 seconds, then it refreshes. Ok, maybe it's only 2 seconds. But Garmin is instant. My phone is instant. If I have to make 7 or 8 clicks to find my location, it take a good 30 or more seconds, version about 5 with my Garmin. Love the Car :) Hate the Sync !!

Well, first, my mileage does seem to be improving now. So I am guessing, or assuming, that after the "Recall Update" the car needs to relearn in order to give great mileage. So on that thought, I will give it a few more thousand miles. They do want me to go for service, Oil change etc. and it's free so I will go do that. Maybe they have a tweak they need to do and it's just easier to ask me to come for a free oil change then admit they need to tweak something. But, interesting thoughts on Gas. I usually buy at Costco. Anyone have an opinion on Costco gas quality? I sometimes get it at an AM/PM Arco type place. Pretty run down actually, but it's cheap gas. I also did the Sync update last Thursday, seems to have helped. Time will tell. :)

Majorleeslow, Those are great tips, but part of the point is the car get the good mileage and not the driver, at least to a point. If I drove my Grand Prix that way I probably could have got 25 to 30 mpg. Here in this part of California, you don't drive the freeways under 60 or you will get a ticket, or get shot, unless the traffic is bad which is a lot of the time. Lots of speeding up, and slowing down with traffic. If you don't move with the person in front, the person behind will swerve around you, many times getting really close to make a point while honking. My current issue is since the update for better mileage, my mileage has gone down. Less EV time for some reason. Was coasting yesterday, in the afternoon so engine was warm, and it still was using ICE and mpg showed about 5. Would not go EV until I used the break. Maybe it needs to break in again as it got reset, or maybe something is wrong with my engine. It has over 6,000 miles on it. They have called me in for a service / oil change. Strange since they originally told me 10,000 is when my oil gets changed. Of course, that was before I purchased my car. Figures. Well it's mine now so at least I am averaging between 39 and 40 mpg most of the time.

BTW, you guys all have better mileage then me :( Feel like I'm loosing... lol. Good ol' California traffic. I did get the "Recall" update. Seems like my mileage went down after the update, not up. But maybe the computer needs to re-memorize my driving etc. Just saying.

OHHHHH I like these ideas!! That is why the Forum is awesome. yes,... Tinting would be awesome. I will have to check. Do they do illuminated door sills? That also sounds cool.

I used the Costco Auto Buying program to purchase my Fusion Hybrid Titanium. I did get a great price, $600.00 over invoice, minus a $750.00 Private Cash coupon, and the $500.00 Ford incentive, so $650.00 under Invoice. What I am disappointed in is Costco's $200.00 voucher they send. I had assumed I could use it to purchase anything at Costco, food, or whatever. However, the voucher they send can only be spend at my dealer for service on my "New Car". And it expires in 6 months. Well, if my Fusion requires any service during it's first six months then the car must be a lemon. I am putting a lot of miles on it so maybe I can get an oil change,.... but wait.... my dealer promised the first oil change was on them, so it is free. Well, I will probably try and go use it on other things, like maybe a Ford leather jacket, or key chains. Very disappointed in the Costco Voucher. :(

lol. Bad Truck Driver !!! -- Looking for flatbeds now --

As for my Gap settings I change it all the time. Normally I like two bars, but on the freeway if I see a big truck, I get behind it and set to one bar to draft. I get lots of EV that way if the truck is under 65mph. Like that. But if I see traffic building up ahead, I go 4 bars to increase distance and allow more automated speed. I don't have to interveine with brakes as much this way.

I agree but then sometimes if someone cuts in front of me but is going faster (moving away from me) it works just fine. Like the car knows and doesn't slow down. But then sometimes it doesn't do that, and slows down, the car moves accross my lane into another lane, no one is in front of me at all and the car continues to slow down another couple of seconds before releasing. That bugs!!! But can't be perfect I suppose :)

Corncobs, Good info. In driving to work this morning I was watching the bars, and I agree that staying below or inside the second bar (of the 5) is a good rule. Seems the hardest time to get mileage is first thing in the morning. Even at 70 degrees outside, the engine needs to warm up I guess. But also this morning my EV battery was almost gone so it had to charge also. Got it half way up pretty quick. My drive to work is just under 2 miles, so a very short distance. Trying to make those trips high MPG but not easy. Anyway, good points.

On the braking, I have noticed that if I used the Adaptive Cruise, and someone cuts in front of me, or traffic slows really quick, my car can slow down (on its own – I don’t touch the brake) from 60+ to 10mph very fast. I always assume this is only using the regen braking. But maybe I am wrong. Any opinions on this? If it’s using only the regen braking, then is it charging at a higher rate because of the fast braking effect? In other words, generating more charge due to the harder regen action? Or is it actually using the friction brakes as well as the regen? I would love to learn the limit where it goes to friction. But maybe only the computer can max out the regen braking, and won’t do that when the driver is using the brake pedal.

Quick question on accelerating, I have played with many of the 'My View' configurations, one by using the RPM display. Has anyone found a good general limit for accelerating from a stop to say 40mph? Like a max of 2,000 or 3,000 then dropping into EV mode? Flat surface of course, and assuming the engine is warmed up.

Well, I assume less mileage is better. So probably would not benefit me as I drive a lot. Already have over 1,700 miles in just over two weeks. So averaging over 70 miles a day so far :) Good part is my company is paying me for my miles, or the business ones anyway. Definatelly helps with the car payment !! :)

So my vehicle health report finally worked. I am just over 1,400 miles, so I guess it is true that you have to be over 1,000 miles for it to work. Now that I have seen it, I am very dissapointed. Really no usefull information. A bunch of OK's did not show my odometer, or how old my oil is, etc. Why am I expecting that?.. Because in my Grand Prix that had OnStar I got a report each month from OnStar with lots of useful information like that. So I am dissapointed in the report, and will probably never run it again. 90% of it is coupons, etc. regarding me going for service, advertisements, sales, etc. That is what most of the report contains. Useless if you ask me. Well, at least the car is awesome !!!!

I should receive my car this week, so am looking for someone to take over being the "Executor" of the spreadsheet. Please PM me if interested :)

So, I should get my car next week, and it's coming up on that time to pass the wand. So... if anyone is interested in taking over the progress spreadsheet, please let me know. :)

So, I should get my car next week, and it's coming up on that time to pass the wand. So... if anyone is interested in taking over the progress spreadsheet, please let me know. :)

Spreadsheet updated :)

Spreadsheet updated :)