Per the manual of the 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid: change the engine oil at the earliest of: (1) one year; (2) 10,000 miles; or (3) when the computer tells you to. Personally, I get it replaced at 6K miles.

The manual says 10K but the oil life sensor on my car said there was 15% left at 5,800 and a year. I would definitely get an oil change at earlier than 10K miles. I'm a stingy guy but stretching to 10K miles per oil change on the stock semi-synthetic stock would give me agita.

I took my 2013 FFH Ti to the dealer for the 5,000 mile service. My car had 5,800 miles on it after about of year of driving. (I did not get to drive a lot because of family obligations that kept me bottled up at home.) Anyway, the oil life monitor still showed 15% left but I didn't want to push it. I only went to get an oil change, tire rotation, and inspection sticker. The dealer recommended a 5K mile service package that included BG motor oil additive. The guy wasn't pushy but he did say it was a Ford-approved additive, which is bullshit because Ford, like most manufacturers, do not recommend motor oil additives. Anyway, the manual only recommends an oil change and tire rotation every 10K miles. There are also multiple inspection elements that my dealer does for free. If you go by the manual, the car really does not need too much maintenance. However, I would get my tires balanced every other oil change and my car aligned at least every two years because I drive in NYC, the city of a million potholes. Getting the car rotated at the dealer costs an extra $10 but they make a record of it on their systems so I can put in for tire tread insurance were my tires going to wear prematurely. (It's part of the tire warranty fine print that you document all your rotations, balances, and alignments.) I haven't put too many miles on the FFH, but it has proven to be a pretty solid car. My last car was a 2004 Nissan Maxima, and it required multiple visits to the dealer to get the suspension and other issues fixed (there were TSBs on the front struts, tires being out of balance, etc.—real frustrating for a new car!). I am very pleased that Ford was able to get a quality car out.

Hybrids just don't do well in cold weather, especially on short trips. My commute is 12 miles each way, and the problem is that I spend the first ten minutes on clogged local streets where I can't use the ICE. Therefore, if I want to heat the cabin, I have to run the ICE even when the battery is full, which lowers my fuel mileage. For those who make really short trips, like 6-7 miles, the Energi would be the better vehicle in terms of fuel efficiency. You'll be on battery power most of the time. Sometimes, on the way home, traffic will be very light, and I can start my trip off with a spirited burst of ICE usage to get up to speed as well as warm up the engine. I can get 44 mpg on those trips. Otherwise, it's just mid-thirties. However, things can be worse. I was in a livery taxi that averaged 18 mpg. The driver had the fuel efficiency for his last few tanks on the display, and none was past 18 mpg. This was a four cylinder sedan. I was kind of surprised that it got such horrific mileage but I guess hybrids are more efficient than regular cars on most regimes.

Just be aware that the dealers will do dumb things that ruin your reported fuel economy when the car is new. For instance, the dealership burned nearly a quarter tank of gas when they installed the PCM update. I know they had the AC blasting on MAX because I had it set at 74 when I dropped it off and picked it up with MAX AC. I just don't know how you burn that much freaking gas without adding a single mile to the odometer.

Wow! You got a great price!

The upgrade worked wonders for me. I dropped off the car on August 19, picked it up on August 20, and drove it a bunch since then. I got the highest mileage I've ever gotten since I picked it up on July 28. I got 51 mpg on a short, local trip and 48 mpg on a mid-range trip on a local route. I got 47.2 mpg on a long highway trip, and 42.8 mpg on a shorter highway trip. My previous high was 46.2 mpg.

Push button start and BLIS are two features that don't sound important until you get them. Now I can't get a car without push button start and some sort of BLIS.

I added my car in!

I took delivery on Sunday of a 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid Titanium in Sterling Grey with basically every feature except for adaptive cruise control. The MSRP was $36,795 and the Truecar factory invoice was $34,661. I haggled out a price of $34,135, which includes all of the stupid dealer fees, such as the "doc fee" and "dealer prep fee". After the $750 in private cash and the $1,000 rebate it was $32,385. After tax of 8.875% and tags of $240, the final price was $35,500. That was a nice, even number that I calculated to knock off a hundred bucks. ("Hey, can we make it an even $35,500 out the door?" "Uh, yeah, if you can figure out the math." "No problem!") I told the finance manager that I'd been pre-approved by Chase for 2.6%. Even after knowing that, after a thirty minute wait, he said his best rate was 3.9% and that I had to finance with their guys to get the price. I was going to walk. "You're going to walk over a point," he asked. "Yes. The 1.3% difference on a $33,000 balance is $429 a year, so that's in excess of $2000 over five years. And that's simple interest." The finance manager looks at me dumbfounded because I can do math in my head. "Uh, so I'll give you 3.19% and ask that you try to make payments for six months before repaying it so our dealership gets the cash." "All right. I'll try my best." Deal! The price before the rebate and incentives was about $500 under invoice so I think I could have gotten a better price. However, this is what I would recommend: (1) Keep your private cash a secret until you're ready to sign. I told him about it an hour into negotiations. That was stupid. (2) Eat and drink before you get there, and make sure you have no appointments for the day. These guys will wear away at you so you'll be desperate to leave. I made a crucial mistake by not thoroughly inspecting the car upon delivery because I was tired. I had inspected the car carefully the day before and I thought it was okay already. However, the guys detailing it had ironically stained my passenger door with some oily stuff that I can't get out. Inspect it immediately before pick up! (3) Be very polite and understand that it's a game. I was very honest with the salesman. He blurted out something along the lines of "What, do you want the car for free?" I responded, "Yes, if I could. Wouldn't you?" He laughed. Then I explained that he was trying to get money from me, and my job was to keep money from him, so let's be respectful while we did our respective jobs. (4) Don't be shy about using a calculator to double check everything. (5) All fees are negotiable. Every single damned one except for taxes and the actual fees charged by the DMV. The salesman tried to stick me with the $296.50 "fee" and a $75 doc fee. I said I wasn't going to pay it. He was annoyed and said, "it's a DMV fee!" I pointed to the contract, which said that the fee was negotiable, and since it was negotiable, I wasn't going to pay it. He ended up taking the money off the sale price of the vehicle. Do not pay the marketing fee or destination fee if it's already on the sticker. After the deal concluded, I held a postmortem with the salesman. He said that the price I haggled was $1,000 under invoice and the holdback was $1,080 so I made a very good deal. I knew, however, that the price was only $500 under invoice, which meant that I probably could have knocked $500 off. The TrueCar price was $33,395, but that didn't take the $750 in private cash into account. The adjusted TC price was $32,645. My price was $260 under so it was okay. I think that the prices are going to drop after another month. However, I couldn't find a 2013 Ford Fusion Titanium in stock anywhere in Sterling Grey or Ingot Silver anywhere close to me for a decent price ("uh, we'll give you MSRP and whatever the rebates are." "can I negotiate?" "No, these are hot selling cars, even the 2013." "So you don't want me to come in?" "Um, I'm sorry, I don't want you to make a trip down here for no reason but I can't take anything off MSRP." LOL) I think it was a good price for me but I keep thinking that I could have knocked off $500. However, I do get free oil changes for a year from the dealer and lifetime road inspections!

My 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid Titanium had an oil stain in the rear passenger door. I was in a rush to pick up the car after a whole day dealing with the paperwork and missed it. Now the dealer won't respond to my emails and phone calls about the problem. Buyer beware!

The manual says that the cutoff for the EV mode on the Energi is 85 mpg so it's not unprecedented. Of course, the Energi also has a much larger battery than ours so perhaps it wouldn't make sense to push that speed increase onto the FFH.