oldschool1962

10,000 miles just as it's written. As a side note and for what it's worth.............. For years and years......I was never one to use the Dealer Service Department for scheduled maintenance. As some have mentioned it's out of convenience or cost. Yet after years of this choice I decided to start using the dealerships. Less record keeping on my end since the dealer enters everything in a file for my car but also because of what the customer loyalty benefits that it can bring. We were able to get to know the last three Service Managers (2 Honda and the current at Ford) very well and it paid off. Yes the service is a couple buck more but if you have any issues that are questionable when the warranty has just expired......they have stepped in and taken care of the issue. Even when the warranty was in force they took care of things that could have been disallowed. This may not and has not been the case with all Dealership Service centers so I guess we have been lucky with the last three. Just food for thought before using the quick lube places. Everything has it's benefits and drawbacks. Just have to decide what fits your plans.

So....it's been a few months since anyone has posted in this topic and as a whole we've changed a couple seasons. For us, we changed cars too so I'm actually happy to reply to a topic without issues. The car is just about 4 weeks old now and we have around 989 miles. On the second fill-up but not whole tank. I reset the Long-term MPG last fill-upbut not this one. I reset Avg both times. Forgot to get the receipt so can't compare the read-out to manual but.........Fopr average I've been hovering in the 39's since it was picked up but now I am hovering around 44 with the same trips. Long-term is right at 40 but as I said....I didn't reset that this fill-up. Not going near anything relating to our "other FFH" so...........what will I say is.....other than it's nice to experience how the vehicle was actually intended to perform....... I'm still looking forward to future improvements but for now.....it's .....actually...........relaxing. Did purchase vent visors for the windows and roof today. First step toward actually enjoying the car. Now we need a hitch mount luggage carrier. Found a 1" receiver for just that purpose. I'm guessing that it may affect mileage some but if we do it right.........hopefully not much. It won't be used much except for trips. When we win the lottery......Hehehe...we'll add the DVD Headrests and maybe a wood kit. Verdict is not out on the Charcoal interior with as hot as it has been around here but...weather or not......... it really needs the accents changed. Later. Oh Yeah.....the highest trip mileage happened today as well.........12.6 miles.......... 67.1mpg Highest prior to today was 56.3 at about the same miles.

Fair enough. Acronym.......Ahhhhh......that's the word I couldn't remember.

Okay.....I see the extra weight..........didn't realize the pack was so deep into the rear seat. Yet...........If the current battery pack...with all the extra casing, blower and ducting is 120lbs why would it take 200lbs of extra batteries to make it more efficient? That's more than ndoubling the current and adequate battery pack. I stand my ground on my belief that if there was a pack with 50% more capacity as FFH owners, we would benefitduring intown driving. So I'll revise my statement and say that adding an additional 60lbs should do the trick and not make the car too heavy. Ford can take half that weight from the hood alone. By the way.....I'm a Baby Boomer and I have no desie to use deep text abbreviations so....... what the heck is "TANSTAAFL"

Good point but that's for a complete battery pack on a strictly EV. I'm not asking that the FFH be turned into a complete EV........That was not what I mentioned. I think the hybrid system is the way to go for now. So....... If you look at your battery pack that's currently installed in the car.....unless it is strictly made up of dark matter......the thing can't weigh more than 40-45lbs. Not sure about those numbers but I'm not going to take it out and weigh it. Anyhow........ Even increasing the capacity by half and allowing for an increase in charge storage during city driving or allowing for a charge to be maintained while idle would be a great help.

sullied, you kinda lost me on your post but that's not too hard. I did want to mention....the plug-in and some form of better battery.....I made that point in the post. And yes....the argument of added weight has been made against a larger battery but there are several areas that weight could be trimmed in this vehicle "IF" the addition of what I could only guess could be 20lbs max would affect. It's not like we're asking that 400lbs of battery be added to the thing. I also wanted to mention that if the regenerative braking were allowed to provide more charge to the battery during city and short trip driving......instead of the system holding the battery to a Mid level state of charge........the mileage could benefit. But the argument has been made that will affect battery life. But like I mentioned one other time, we did the math and for our usage of the vehicle.....the cost of replacing the battery should we own the car 8 years from now is far cheaper than the amount of gas used during that time. We would definitely benefit if the system were allowed to do this. That's just us. But I can't believe that we are the only folks out there that use the car under these driving conditions........Average daily usage of 42 miles and average speed of 35mph.

Lee, First off let me say that I think you are a terrific asset here. You have a vast technical knowledge of the hybrid system and have provided some great insights. But I can't help but wonder why you are always set on the design being the most efficient in it's current form or that EV mode is completely inefficient when operated to drive the vehicle? If EV mode only performed the way you just mentioned....then 700 miles on a tank of gas would not even be close to possible. Understanding that this is a Hybrid and not an Electric vehicle.........I personally can't see how .........if I travel 20 miles in EV mode it is less efficient than traveling 20 miles using the ICE/traction motor hybrid. Not using gas is not using gas. For git's an shiggles today........I drove the car a good long way after reading your post and to be honest........if the car does not go into EV mode then my mileage (average, trip and Longterm) really tank. You can drive the car around town and keep the system from going to EV mode. All it takes is pedal pressure. I found a decrease of 3-6mpg by not allowing the EV mode to engage. With that said.......... it would make sense to the "Systems under-educated consumers" like myself that....... if the car were able to use the EV mode more frequently around town......speeds of 25-40mph.....more frequently during a short duration trip..............there would be a marked improvement in mileage performance. After all......... the car itself.....wants to go to EV mode....without effort........... during certain times. Albeit when there is a charge level above 1/2 and the roads don't exceed 1-2 degrees of incline.....that is my experiences with the new vehicle. I personally believe that the system has the capability to be improved and............... will eventually be improved. The 2010 design version of the FFH Hybrid system is not and can not be the "end all best" to the line as far as mileage performance goes. Granted the car will never see the numbers the Prius will. But those numbers can be relative to the vehicle and if Ford would provide a "Plug-in" version of the car with a better battery.....there is no reason why the car couldn't achieve 50+ MPG. After all the Plug-in Prius is said to be able to achieve 100MPG for the first 150 miles or so I've read. For better or worse....everything eventually evolves

fusionff.........You're correct. Have a 2010 FFH so I tried this tonight and................. it will perform a seek of all stations for what ever mode you are in........AM, FM, Satelllite 1,2 and 3 If you are in Jukebox or playing a single CD/DVD it will scan forward or reverse only for the song/movie playing.

It's always been my understanding that........if you run just under the max pressure as stated on the tire you shouldn't have issues with abnormal wear or safety concerns. Just remember not to exceed the maximum pressure and take into consideration the 1-3lb increase in pressure as the tires heat up. To get a good gauge of this you should check pressure after you have driven for a while. You can always reduce to set it under that max stated pressure if it exceeds it. We have typically run the higher side of the scale with no issues...... at least what I can recall over the last 40 years.

For those that may have missed it..........They did deliver our new car today. It is a nice vehicle and for the most part is great. I am not starting anything here because I know this to be an issue with the BLIS mirror sensor but.....the BLIS did malfunction at 38miles but then reset itself and didn't act up again at all. I gotta say I almost smacked a tree because I laughed so hard when it happened. We had a nasty storm roll through and thought for sure I would be struck by lightening or maybe the car..... Anyhow there was no melt down like the last time so we kept the car. Like I said it's ours now and I know there is a fix for what happened should it happen again. Service Manager fell out of his chair when I told him too. You could compare me to George Costanza and honestly....but that wouldn't be the first time. To the credit of the Sales Manager....he did apologize several times when we finished the transfer of collateral paperwork tonight. That really goes a long way with things. In all honesty he is a fairly decent personality. We've sat and discussed several different topics on many occasions and have the same interests in racing and in the Earnhardts'. As far as the access to a vehicle during transportation I can understand it would be hard to pinpoint an exact location. Transit is transit. But for the car to just appear seems to be hard to comprehend. I have a decent understanding of inventory controls and tracking but have never run across a system or industry where there can be such a communication blackout. Even my wife, who works in manufacturing, can't understand. When they make boxes, they are scanned into a system when they are loaded on every form of transport and they can actually pin-point where they are at any given tome until the customer receives them. Oh well it is what it is and I hope those of you that are waiting for you vehicles and info about them find what you need or ask for. as well as take delivery on you vehicles soon. Oh yeah.......the things I noticed different on the 4th build cycle versus my original were...... A microphone mounted in the headliner just above the drivers seat.... New floor mat mounting system for the driverside......it's two points not instead of one and it's not a hook but a clip. Unfortunately the floor-mat is still not cut correctly and is the wrong shade for the carpet. A big, green "Car is ready to drive" in the information center just after starting. The trunk strap is most excellent Still no amber "Cruise on" light that the other Fusions have as some mentioned in another post.

I think you hit the nail on the head smr2112. You won't believe it but something happened on the way to the Forum this morning. my car miraculously arrived for delivery. After all the BS yesterday and the lecturing and the pissey attitude from the Sales Manager and even after he explicitly said he would receive info once it arrived in port........... Sullied....you mentioned that you didn't understand? I was talking about how many dealerships over the years have openly complained about how unfair the Name plate treats them regarding things. It usually involves money or rules. As far as the whole Ford riding high thing.......With the way the dealerships are acting toward the base......my issues for example........that's a rather poor way to represent the name plate especially when things are going well for them. The customer service doesn't match the product in this case. It dawned on me yesterday....... something that I once regarded an important thought process. It goes like this........ How well the customer is treated when things are going well is not how the service should be judged. Service should be judged on how the customer is treated when there are issues. To alienate is how I was treated by the majority of the process. I've already mentioned the two gentlemen that were focused on the issue and am grateful they were involved On my way to finalize paper work. There are some very distinct differences in how this car and driven right from the get go. Granted I don't have many miles but I can feel and see the difference in things already. It's our's no matter what. Just hope things are on the right path now. Later

Sullied, thanks for the info. I'll do that. At first and probably for the longest time I kinda felt empathy for the Dealerships with some of the things they get put through with the Name Plate but after this I'd have to say that many of them...... they have gotten exactly what they deserved out of the deal.

You're on! But you'll probably win given the Dealership we have. I've seen some real questionable things in my time but what is happening here beats all. As I said we've had our VIN# for a couple weeks now.....even though we're not entitled to it per our dealership........Found our Window sticker out there too. Did a VIN search on Google last Friday and found our car listed for sale by the dealership in their on-line inventory. We were initially giving them the benefit of doubt regarding this thinking that it was just something the computer did but after the crappy discussion and not getting anything close to a straight answer from the Sales Manager why it was listed..........He just kept throwing things I've previously mentioned and more back in my face.............I think they will try and sell it as soon as it arrives. Why not! The same sales Manager initially said they weren't going to order the car until Ford released reimbursement funds to the Dealership and since it is ordered....I hope and that he didn't just pull a frickin VIN outta his..............they got their money so as far as they seem to be concerned why not keep stringing us along. Ya know......If the Sales Staff at Haley Ford in Chester Virginia were capable of giving straight forward and honest answer as well as accurate info and no double talk out of every orifice in the human body about what is actually going on and when this will definitely end.........we wouldn't be speculating any of this. But I'm sure our sales manager has had quite the discussion today about how impatient and unreasonable I am being when I should be so grateful and bow to their supremeness for being the greatest dealership in the world for allowing us to complete the transaction through them. Just the arrogance portrayed by the sales side since the throughout things sets me off. I am constantly being told how much work they have to do to complete this transaction and how much of an inconvenience this is for them.....the work that is. Sheesh!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reorder was placed March 29th at 1:15pm

jfouche, I was going to start a new topic about VIN#'s but figured I'd just tag on my comments and questions here. Don't want to appear to be stealing any of your thunder about the new car but....what I have to say is along topic lines. Anyhow........ I went to see the Dealership today to check on status after they didn't reply to my email. I have only inquired 3 times since March 29th and the first 2 times....one was for service and the other was about the VIN. I guess what set me off on all this was how I was treated. First words out of the sales managers mouth were......"I thought I told you I would call you when the car was in!" After the next ten minute exchange and double talk from the sales manager I just walked away. This has led me to this post. I've been stewing about it all afternoon and finally got calmed down enough to decide to post something. So.......My first question would be......after the car has been manufactured and is in transit........is there any way for the Dealership to track where it is in transit? Second....... Why would the dealership sales manager tell me he was never to have given me my VIN# and by doing so.......acted like he did me a favor and I should be kissing his feet? He further explained that they never provide a VIN number to any of their customers after that customer orders a new vehicle. Why does it appear that the Dealership....well....lets say that right now I believe they could muck up a one car funeral procession. Honesty and candor. That's all I ask for but I guess that is asking a whole lot of many on the the Sales side of the Auto industry, For the record........Told delivery in 4-5 weeks by General Manager of Dealership. Now in week 7 and not expecting car for another week or so. Sales person said that was 4-5 weeks production and didn't include transit time. Why couldn't they just say 7-8 weeks in the first place. We based our whole decision to accept a Retail order as a replacement vehicle based on that 4-5 weeks. There were 20+ vehicles that we could have chosen from in the area that met our criteria for a replacement. Then the Sales person has the audacity to say that's what we get for going with a retail order instead of a DX after he and the Dealership gave us the run around and then refused to DX a vehicle for us. All the while I am left with using the POS FFH I have. All I can say is if this thing acts up one more time I'm dropping it at their door step. Just gotta make it one more week. I hope! For the record this guy is talking out of every hole he's got. Maybe I should have posted this in the "Is the dealership lying" topic. I dunno. Edit: I guess what is really the primer for all this is when you here things like....." We (the Dealership) are not to do any work on the car.....Fix anything, replace anything, any work what-so-ever. Yet Ithe same person that said this told me to do the Sceduled maintenance at the dealership. By the way..... I did the the maintenance with the assistance of the Service Manager whom is the only person throughout this whole processl that has been upfront , honest, candid and acted with integrity. Forgot to mention the Ford Zone manager as well. Heis the only other person to act as like the Service Manager.

Lee, First off a disclaimer. I don't doubt or challenge what info you have provided and my knowledge about batteries and systems ends with what info I've been given here and in reports available to any consumer. I have no technical experience but only practical from owning the top 2 Hybrids That said....... When we purchased our Prius (09/2009).....it was explained to us that the HVB would last for approx 8 years or at least the duration of the warranty. After that........... we should be prepared to replace it. Something we just expected even when we bought the FFH. So we were a bit surprised when......knowing the similarities between the two systems.........the FFH system didn't perform similar to the Prius. Technically speaking and not fuel economy....the numbers were clearly explained on the window sticker. As far as the HVB is concerned.......We did a break down and based on costs today, our driving habits and fuel savings.......we found that the increased fuel economy that we get in the Prius is just about an even trade for replacement at 8 years. The FFH would take us an additional 3 years of savings to replace the battery. Now....if the economy could be increased to the level we get in the Prius.........we're pushing 58-60 from fill-up to fill-up. I wish I could give you a number for the FFH but I seem to fluctuate between 37-43. The reasons for that have been over explained and it should all end for us in a week or so....... so I'll leave it at that. For now it can be considered reasonable to claim "life of the vehicle" because of the cost and available battery tech but in the not so distant future I can see batteries improving and if an after market one become available that would help the car perform better....then I would welcome a chip to change things. Then again the battery....HV or LV is the one thing I personally would not expect to last much past the warranty period. Then again they may design a battery that fits what we are asking for now AND last the life of the vehicle. It's an open field but....no wait....the oil companies are buying up all the battery tech. We would trade the lowered life.....8 years for the increased economy....that is if things stay relative.

Sounds like they figured it out.......we filed back in the beginning of February.

We had this happen to us through Turbo Tax. The copy sent by turbo tax to the IRS had an issue with item lines lining up properly. Our refund was reduced by the exact amount of the credit. We had to contact Turbo Tax (we use it though USAA) and they informed us we needed to send them copies of everything and some report from the IRS. We argued a bit since things were definitely screwed up from their side and decided to just file an amened return. Ironically, about a week later we received the tax credit in the form of another check. Not sure what happened or how and all is good now but we haven't heard anything to the contrary on things so I believe we are finished. Gee......I wonder if we qualify for another tax credit with the replacement vehicle.....nahh.....couldn't be that lucky. Hehehe

After 3 days of poking and prodding we were able to get a tentative time-frame. Should be with-in the last week of April or the first two of May. I did get a VIN# also. Is there some place I can enter it to fond out status? I vaguely remember seeing some reference to this question and maybe an answer somewhere else but can't remember. We did find the Window Sticker on-line. Production date of 4/16/2010. Couldn't find the transportation status but we saw the window sticker. Put our minds at ease for now.

Add in Auto down/up for all windows at the drivers door, and a way to open all the windows with the remote and open and close all windows with the key. Hot summer days or when using the 4/40 A/C (that's 4 windows down and 40mph for folks have never owned a cars with out A/C) it was a nice feature on our Honda's.

Well? I guess all I can really say is....... what is now happening is exactly why we originally didn't want to go with a retail order for a replacement FFH. So much for being reasonable and making an effort to compromise for a solution to the Dealership's initial "temper tantrum" about doing a DX.

I'm taking this one right from the hip since I am only guessing but I think you're on the right track about the ECVT. I believe it has to do with the low end torque or lack there of. Too much of what I can only describe as slippage when the car begins to move. This car has get up and go but not from a start. Only rolling at a fair speed. It ain't no tire smoker if you get my drift.

Finally got a reply to my email from the Dealership. The Sales Manager is going to check the "Order Bank" on Tuesday. He'll notify me of any changes if there are any. In all honesty....I really believed that things would be more organized regarding info from a Company that has been selling cars for over 100 years. It's like a game of "spin the big wheel" concerning retail orders and when you get your car. I can't tell you how many 4 production run, Ice Blue Metalic/Charcoal Black leather, 502A package cars we have seen out there. I just figured the factory would send the next one that wasn't a specific customer order to the dealership and we'd be done. But then again...... bbf mentioned simple has nothing to do with things here. It's all good.....at least I know I'm not being ignored. That's a good thing in my book. As far as scheduled maintenance is concerned......We just hit 9500 miles so what we have coming up is tire rotation/balance, oil change and and the 10,000 mile service. (I think that's basically all in the 10k service anyhow). As far as the 10k service I know I can probably fore-go the bulk of that one.......the rotation might not need to be performed but the Oil does for sure. Basically, I am unsure if we can get hit with something when we turn the car back in when the new one arrives. Plus I'd like to get the stupid change oil message reset so it doesn't keep popping up when I start the car.

I put these in another post out there and thought they could go better here. 1. Light to show cruise has power but is not engaged. Right now.....on the car we currently have......only when you engage the cruis will a light come on. 2. Better foam in seats. As I mentioned before....this could be a leather only change.......nothing eco friendly about leather so why the soy based foam. The seats in the SEL I used were like sitting on a cloud when compared to the Hybrid. 3. Definitel a plug-in charger for the HVB 4. Better HVB or better storage of charge when using in town. Most of my driving is 25-40mph and stop and go. 5. I like the mentioning of the turnsignal on the outside.....kinda like the Mazda 6 but the BLIS is useful....especially kwhen you have neck/spinal issues. I'm a tad bit restricted in frequently turning my head from side to side and the light does let me know what I missed. 6. LED Headlights, tail lights and turnsignals. 7. Available factory installed DVD entertainmet system. One that allows for the rear to be operated independently of the front. The Daughter like movies on long trips and we don't have the Odyssey anylonger. 8. Cup holders that can accomodate larger bottles. Like those larger water bottles for trips and it's even too tight for the Unsweetened tea in a large cup. 9. rear and rear passenger window sunshades. Maybe not so much the rear window but the rear doors would be nice and the kind that are self storing. 10. Red paint option 11. Lighter hood? and the hood struts would be a definite plus too. 12. That fold down rear seat would be nice too. The wife will not drive the FFH in it's current state and there are some things it would be noce to get without having to use her Prius. I do prefer driving the FFH over that. 13. Electric heat? 14. move the washer bottle away from the HV cables. I know they're sealed and all but you can't help but spill solvent on the module and cables that surround the filler neck. I do like the Prius on this one....they're all tucked neatly near the CVT and Traction motor and away from everything else that is owner serviceable 15. More stylish dash/IC and steering controls to accent the LCD IC. The steering controls placed where they can be accessed as soft touch buttons and maybe more heads up display too. Face it....for those that have it...... The Nav screen and other things are a distraction to look down at. and finally....it's been mentioed a dozen or more times.....floormats. How about just making the all-weather ones standard.

bbf, Thanks for all of the info. Simple has had no place in this up to this point so why start now. I kinda got that impression too but didn't want to go there.....but............. since you mention it........... I hated to use the term "expedited" and then explain it because I didn't wish to appear boastful about the order being "expedited". We are not special although we did have special circumstances surrounding our current FFH and the Dealership once the RAV letter was sent out. The truth of it is the Zone Manager had arranged for someone at the Factory to be waiting for a phone call from the dealership to "expedite" our order that day........March 29th. This offer was made to us regarding a replacement vehicle for our reacquired FFH in lieu of making the dealer do a DX for a vehicle that no one would trade them for.....mainly the Hybrid. There were plenty available in the area but no one would DX a Hybrid to our dealership. Now we understand why but at that point we didn't. It was explained to us that production would be expedited to expedited to 4-5 weeks.....we felt this was "deal-able" and was cause for us to be reasonable with the dealership and allow for the retail order. What we didn't want to do was retain the current vehicle for another 8-12 weeks which is why we initially insisted on a DX vehicle. If pressed to say it.........What makes us hesitant and even apprehensive to go in to see them is something the Dealership told us....probably to keep us off their back. Basically we were told that they would not know when the vehicle would arrive at all. The only thing they would get was a release date the week before the vehicle would ship. I guess I just want to give them some space and myself too given all of the time I have spent at the dealership in the last 5 months. Sort of the "benefit of doubt" thing I didn't want to go here with this since I have been in a decent place having resolved the initial issues with our FFH. Although it does take a bit of effort to ignore things that continue to happen but it's futile to say or do anything since the vehicle we have is going away. But........Based off of what transpired with the dealership after we received our Reacquired vehicle letter arrived and we acted on it..........well let's just say our confidence in the dealership's ability to be honest and forthcoming about things has been almost eliminated. And....based what I have read here.....the dealership should be able to tell us something long before the "week before the vehicle is released." I've seen the "VIN Friday" topic but we don't even have a VIN yet. Email is also the best way to track things while keeping a log of our communications. Too many lost or ignored emails and that could cause issues too. Meaning Ford Customer Service may not take too kindly to that happening. For the record I am grateful for what the Zone Manager has done to resolve our issues. But I am under the belief that it is perfectly reasonable to ask for a tentative date of delivery. Regardless of what is being waived for us.......not having the situation completely resolved is still emotionally taxing and sooner or later we will become impatient.....especially and not saying this is happening.......... if we are being ignored or put on the back burner. Trying to give the "benefit of doubt" to the situation but if we hear nothing after the next week ot two.............. And...............Yes!.......It would be a tremendous help if one of our helpful Dealership employee members reads this thread and offers to help out. With what little we know now...............I wouldn't even begin to know how to thank them.