dogo88

George, Nope, no heat or any problems with my FFH. Dan

Hey George. Here in Central NJ you know we've been hammered with snow this season. I've had my FFH since May 2009 with 18k miles and two winters under our belt. No snow issues at all. Stock tires and the traction control run well on snow. Dan

I'm getting similar mileage her in Central NJ. With this cold weather it's dropped. But as noted by others, it's still way better than the 17-19 I was getting on my old Buick. Dan

Since the Lincoln MKZ hybrid is pretty much the same as the FFH why couldn't you order the fin off it instead of an aftermarket unit? Dan

You're being very generous on the Prius' look. I found it almost amusing that when Pontiac came out with their Azetek the media all said it looked horrible. Yet the early editions of the Prius look similarly ugly. But it is a Toyota and they get a bye. Dan

Totally agree. I did find a way around this for our last three vehicles. I financed them through the credit union. They offer a buying service to search for the best out the door price with out charge or obligation and regardless of whether you huy their car or another take 1/4% off the loan rate. The loan has a no penalty early payoff clause. So if you decide to pay it all off in one month, that's ok. When I bought the FFH in May 2009 they had a price that was $500 less than sticker. During that time they were going for sticker or more. When the car came in and I went to pick it up I was there and out in less than 20 minutes. So with the test drive and the pickup I spent less that 60 minutes in the dealership. Dan

I disagree a bit. There are folks that buy on price only. With today's marketing it's difficult for a consumer to get a fair and correct product evaluation. For example, we're looking to get a new washer. For every unit that someone claims is great, I can find an equal number of ratings that state otherwise. I ended up using CR to be the deciding edge. But that is fraught with error since trying to find a model they test with is almost impossible. I buy American made products unless I believe it's inferior. Finding American products is sometimes difficult. And while the "back in the 70's" argument is used a lot, lets not forget that the 70's were over 40 years ago. Things have radically changed. I remember in the 70's Honda's were rust buckets. They turned it around and today are a decent car. Unfortunately the domestic manufacturers don't seem to get the same consideration. But it is changing. Dan

I've had mine since May 09. No problems. I've got 18k miles. Dan

It could also be a defective head gasket. Not common, but does happen. Dan

Yup, totally agree. Dan

I've had mine since May 2009 with 17,751 miles, and absolutely no issues. Even the brake update was never and issue for me. The dealer did the update but I never noticed any difference. Also the OP needs to remember people are more prone to complain than praise. As an update to my post, I would like to point out that in the current issue of CR where they list cars owners most likely would buy again, the FFH come in at 89%. Granted this is a new car and the feel and excitement still is there, but I would like to point out that this car has been out for two years now. Given the number of issues, it's done very well. Dan

Not really. Rebates are for vehicles that may not be selling well, FFH are. Dan

I've had my FFH since May 2009. It currently has about 17,000 miles. I casually check my mpg at fill up time with miles driven since the last fill up. I consistently get between 36.5 and 38.5 regardless of weather, or season. My commute is about 30 miles round trip, with some stop and go, and some highway speeds. I'm not a hypermiler. I don't have the patience with all the morons whizzing by. So I drive a normal flow with the traffic. The short trip mileage mpg reading you get after every trip is very optimistic. I've gotten 50+ readings. But the real value is when you fill up vs miles driven since last fill up. Just my 2 cents. Dan

The FFH is not an SUV, so if the snow is deep, stay put. The roads should be plowed and the car will handle just fine. Dan

Interesting. My filter was black from dirt. The replacement, and the original (around the edges) is white. Dan

Thanks. I'll look to try removing the clip next time. I'll check mine more frequently now that I have a better idea on what to do. I wish I could have just blown mine out but it was black with crud. I guess i ran through some dirty areas. Still all in all, $20 every year or so is a far cry from the, I guess, $60-80 dealer part and installation cost. Dan

This topic has been discussed before but for those that are easily intimidated, opening up the glove compartment and trying to figure out how to install the filter, can lead you to use the dealer. It's not a big deal (now that I did mine). The instruction PDF states something like bend rubber stops on compartment door to drop it down. open up filter cover and replace. That is what you do but here is more detail: 1. Open up the glove box. Carefully bend in the rubber stops. 2. The return cord attaches to the right side and can be removed from the plastic clip. Caution is needed so you don't break the clip. Slowly release the cord and it will retract back. 3. The door to the filter is labeled. Use a medium size blade screwdriver to insert in to each side and carefully bend inward. The door comes off pretty easily. 4. Sliding out the filter is made difficult by the glove compartment retainer and requires you to bend down the right side a bit to remove. 5. Inserting the new filter required me to fold down the rightmost side filter support so it would clear the retainer. Once cleared and installed it's easy enough to push it back up. 6. install filter cover. 7. rebend back the compartment rubber stops and hook back up the retainer cord. I use RockAuto to get the filter. They have the Ford part FP-67 and other oem filters. I use Ford, because sometimes oem is close but no cigar. So I just felt it would be safer to use the recommended item. So basically I paid $20 for the filter (shipping included) and about 10 minutes of work. My FFH has 16,5000 miles and I will say that the filter was pretty dirty that a compressor couldn't clean out. Dan

Totally agree. I've had mine since May 09 and no repairs of any kind. Set up similar to yours. I get a consistent 38mpg regularly. I guess I could try harder, but I'm very pleased with what I get now. Dan

No big deal. Many post multiple times. Dan

Last winter in NJ was pretty bad compared to past years. While we don't venture out in the middle of storms, I had no driveability issues. Traction control worked fine. Tires didn't slip. All in all a typical FWD car with Traction control. Dan

Yup, happened to me a while ago.I went in and reset it, but it didn't still work correctly. So I cycled through a OFF setting. Then the next time I started the car I set it to ON. This happened once or twice about 6 months ago. Hasn't happened since. Once in a while my long term mileage gets set to 0. Not a big deal since it quickly evolves to what it was within a tank full. Dan

Depends on the application. My work is approx 15 miles each way. So the 30+ mile range between recharging is a good fit. But if I wanted to go to visit my son in Mass, a 5 hour drive, the Volt would do the trip fine. The Leaf would not. Dan

I'd be surprised if the dealer was much more than aftermarket, plus you get what you pay for. Ford has been very competitive on the usual wear out items like tires and batteries. Just got new tires for our 05 Escape and the local Ford dealer was the cheapest around. Dan

Jim, I believe you are correct in all areas. I think I read air filter for the engine is for the life of the vehicle.Battery shouldn't be much of an issue either since it's warrantied for 8 or 10 years (Cal is 10). By that time batteries should be way much less than today. The only things that stand our are the usual tires and exhaust. Though my 95 ford explorer was over 10 years old and still had the original exhaust system. My Chrysler cars seemed to go through exhausts much faster. Dan

Fix-a-flat will ruin the TPMS in your tires. Dan