ChrisAshton84

My paint has been scraped up a bit from curbs. Would plasti dip be a good way to fix this up?

Wow everyone, thanks for the responses. I haven't tried full throttle again, but I will just to see whether it cranks out more smoke. I was surprised since I understood the engine operates at close to full load (peak efficiency) whenever possible, though I know it isn't also peak RPMs. I have some other issues the dealer needs to take care of, so I'll take it in no matter what. The slow acceleration did surprise me, but I had probably 600 pounds of people & gear in the car, so I didn't give it much thought. The car may normally seem zippy but 180 claimed HP doesn't seem like much for that much weight. BTW, I wasn't exaggerating about the smoke. It was a solid cloud thick enough I couldn't see through it for a good 50 feet or so.

I decided to see how quickly the car could accelerate, turning onto an open highway (it's good to know in an emergency!) I was _very_ surprised to see a huge black cloud of smoke appear behind me. It was thick enough that I couldn't see a car behind me through it until they passed through the cloud. It looked like what a diesel will sometimes belch out when they're going all-out, very sooty. The engine didn't make any horrible noises or anything, but it also didn't accelerate too quickly... it still probably took 10 seconds to get to 55. No CEL, and oil life is still reported at over 50%. Any ideas what this could be? I won't have a chance to take this in until next week.

I noticed my right rims have scratches when I was washing the car. I don't recall ever running up on a curb, so I think it was the valet I had park it (can't prove it though). They're the painted Ti rims. I'm not sure where to find paint for that.. do the dealers have that paint too?

Hmmm I bought mine used w/ 3k miles, full warranty, from a Lincoln dealer. I sure hope I qualify as a 'current owner' - I'm the one who's going to be paying the bill the next 10 years, not the original owner!

The promo I got was for everything _except_ music. Which in the city is fine, I just stream music through bluetooth. It still did say I had no subscription, and there was no indication in MFT I could find that explained why I was getting the services for a little while.

Oh, I had no idea they did promos. I ended up signing up for the 3 mo trial, thanks previous owner for not using it. It'll still be nice since I'm driving to the middle of WI for the weekend and a good chance to try the radio. Is there any way to see current traffic conditions besides the list/icon format? I'm thinking something similar to Google Maps traffic indicators where the road color changes. Also, is there any way to tell that the current traffic has been taken into account when it plans a route?

I was going to see whether the previous owner activated their Sirius travel info, and my vehicle for some reason had everything except radio activated. I know the car was on the lot since at least November and I got it in March. I didn't activate it. Free Sirius travel link? Also, I don't have a photo, but I did see up to date construction info show up on maps a few times which really confused me!

I meant overall - I'm averaging 36 mpg so far, and I was getting around 38 in the Neon for the same driving patterns (actually, more aggressive driving). I'm only seeing 50+mpg on a few < 5mi trips.

I'm finally reliably seeing 50+mpg if I do side streets for my drive in to work - it's 5 miles, either on a 55mph (realistically 60) interstate or side streets with a few stops. For some reason, EV+ mode kicks in really early with the side street route which helps a lot. Unfortunately overall mpg is still less than my 2003 Dodge Neon :-( I'm not a fast driver, and don't put a lot of miles on. I only accelerate at 2 bars if at all possible (i.e. not merging), and my brake score should be pretty good. This is a job 2 car so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, besides having the Ti model tires.

Hey, I've noticed in the past that 'surround' gets switched to 'stereo' due to some events. I wasn't sure what, but I thought that switching devices could cause it. Yesterday I think I found one trigger - muting the stereo using the steering wheel button. Could someone try putting their audio in 'surround' then toggle mute on and off? If I'm right it should come back on in 'stereo' mode. Annoying!

I'm curious what the physical cause of lower mpg with larger diameter wheels is. Don't larger diameter wheels cover bumps easier? I would have assumed that would lead to better mpg, not worse, once the wheel is rolling. I do see how they probably weigh a bit more and have a larger moment of inertia, so starting and stopping could be more expensive. But they're also more inefficient on the highway, where you're basically going a constant speed? Is that really due to the radius or some other difference? EDIT: Also, one thing my dealer told me and I never double checked was that the passenger side was a 10 way power seat. He made sure to point that out! Guess the 15's finally actually get it :-X

After reading about that I tried in mine. It takes several attempts but does eventually work (it keeps going back to the menu for POIs until it works randomly).

Well, it seems tied to the radio volume for me. I didn't try with the radio off though... hmm.

Just curious (and I'll try on mine w/ rear sensing in a bit), but can you adjust the volume w/ the steering wheel buttons? I know navigation and entertainment have separate volumes - perhaps this does too.