chubbnig

I have first hand experience of storing my 2010 Fusion hybrid. In January I left to go on a cruise and was going to be away for two months. I followed the instructions in the manual to disconnect the small battery under the hood. On returning after my trip, I re-connected the battery, ensured handbrake was on, turned on the ignition, depressed the brake pedal completely and slowly released it. Turned off all accessories and started the engine. Ran the engine until it reached its normal operating temperature. Let the engine idle for a minute then turned on the A/C and allow to run again for a minute. Then drove the car for 15 miles to ensure the car learn't the idle and trim strategy. The manual (page 279) says that radio presets must be reset but I didn't find to be necessary. However, not mentioned in the manual is the fact that all settings associated with the instrument cluster need to be reset. Before I disconnected the small battery I did ensure it was well charged and if you leave the car for several months it may be necessary to recharge it first.

As soon as the temperature dropped below 32f, I noticed a squeal when I put the car in reverse and braked. Above 32f, there is no noise. I queried this and was informed that this is an anomaly associated with regenerative braking systems and not to be concerned. The noise only occurs on my car if in reverse and goes away within a few hundred yards. My car has 7,000kms and our locale is Ottawa Canada.

I am most interested to hear about your experiences with the cold. I live in Ottawa and have just taken delivery of a FFH, so far I am very impressed and the car runs better than my last car, a Buick. Now the prairies tend to be somewhat colder than here in Ottawa but we do tend to get bursts of -30 etc. Do you have any experience of not driving the car for a couple of weeks or a month and the effect on the batteries? Ford is not too helpful in this regard and the Dealerships seem to be worse. Regards, Nigel

Thanks for the work. I have discussed this with my dealer, who has just completed a course on the FFH and he said that Box 1 is actually a code for the dealership that the car is being sent too. But your interpretation sounds quite logical. I took delivery of my car yesterday after waiting three months for it and it is indeed a nice piece of technology. Regards Nigel

Having gone through this process myself I would suggest that it all depends on your use for the car. If you intend to potter around town, going to work and shopping, then the somewhat smaller Prius would be fine. The Prius currently has the best mpg, but its performance is sluggish compared with the FFH. Originally I thought that the Prius would be a good car, until I rented one and drove from Ottawa to Toronto and back. It was an uncomfortable trip with some difficult highway moments in passing fast trucks. And I also found that vision out of the back window was a bit obscured. The FFH has been in production for several years and judging by the forums, is rated quite highly in reliability. Ford used to have a very tarnished reputation, but in recent years it has made enormous progress and their products are highly rated throughout the world. I ordered a fully loaded FFH on April 12th and it is expected to arrive in Ottawa on July 16th. Regards Nigel

Eleven days after receiving the VIN number, my Fusion Hybrid Window sticker was posted. There have been many references to this on the Forum but I haven't found much information related to the decoding of the information that is included on this paper. The order details are self-explanatory, but it is the series of numbers and other details that are interesting. On the top left hand side of the page, one has a letter number combination. HRM-00019. The HRM is obviously a reference to the plant, Hermosillo. Below this number, one can see 9-Normal, NE, 300119, AF21, 00011800. Now I understand that 9 means a normal transaction and if it is a 4 then a Rebill. NE refers to: ship to Canada, NA for USA, NM for Mexico, and NX export. I believe that the next number is the Shipping car number, the AF21 is the batch id, and I don't know what the next number is for. On the same line, one finds some segmented boxes: cert, cert, cert, TRD, RAMP, Bump, Camp, Book, AFV, FSCP. I understand that the first CERT refers to emissions, but what the rest mean is not clear. In my case there is a C above TRD and R above RAMP. Now down at the bottom of the page, we have the section SOLD TO: and next to a box ONE, in which I have RA61, the transport box indicates the method is via RAIL. Just below that box ITEM# with A1-0020, which is the order #; Below that there is a bar code and the VIN # above it and below and to the right AF21 N REC2X 055 000119 06 21 10. AF21 is the Batch id#, the next 3 items are unknown, then we have the HRM serial and this is followed by 06 21 10, which I am led to believe is the invoice date. I imagine that this must have been covered before, but I haven't manage to find the information. Can anyone help to decipher the Window sticker?

Was that from the time you got the VIN number or from when you ordered the car? Yes this order comes with the Nav package, BLIS, moonroof and leather. I must admit that I have enjoyed these forums immensely and have learnt a great deal about the car. I have found the engineering especially interesting with some excellent explanations. That Prius simulator (http://www.wind.sannet.ne.jp/m_matsu/prius/ThsSimu/index_i18n.html?Language=en) really explained the whole drive methodology very well. So I continue to read the forums, read the manuals and hopefully be ready by the time the car arrives.

No. It is a 2010. I finally got the VIN on last Friday, so now some more waiting but there is " light at the end of the tunnel". Unfortunately the car will not arrive in time for a 1500 mile drive for a family holiday but will be something to look forward to on our return. I ordered it in Silver with sandstone seating and all the "bells and whistles".

Congratulations Robert on getting your new car. Now all the anxiety over the waiting period has evaporated and you are enjoying the "fruits" of reading the manual. An excellent summary of the purchasing process, which I wish I had read before placing my order. Here in Canada, the process may be slightly elongated because US orders have or seem to have priority. In my case it has taken 8 weeks before a VIN was produced. Ford Canada told me to expect a minimum of 10 to 12 weeks for delivery, despite the dealer offering 6-8 weeks. So it looks as if mid-July is delivery time for mine. Fortunately there is a sales tax rebate in effect for hybrid cars and a fully loaded Fusion Hybrid competes very favorably with other mid-sized cars.

Thanks Sullied. I followed your advice and Ford Customer service were very helpful. However, it seems that due to current demand and the fact that the factory is shut down for a week, there is a 10 to 12 week order process. So I guess my unit will appear in July sometime.

Having read this forum for the last eight weeks, I was completely satisfied with my decision to purchase the Fusion Hybrid and I know that the correct decision has been made. Many purchasers seem to have had problems with Ford dealerships and I am but another. A visit last year to elicit information from my local Ford dealership and get a brochure was met with the response that they didn't have any. However, they could demonstrate a model for me. Now I had already test driven Toyota and Nissan hybrids, so the test drive was a revelation. But the revelation was marred by the fact that the dealer (sales rep) knew almost nothing about the hybrid, its options or availability. I decided to wait until 2010, when my faithful (12 year old) Buick Regal started to give problems and this pushed me into buying a new car. First of all, I obtained a wholesale price report from Car Cost Canada and then I went to the dealership to place the order and was quite shocked at the process. The salesman gave me a very inflated price, which was about $3000 higher than the wholesale report. When I told him this he replied that he had to go to his manager to get agreement to drop the price. Well, everyone probably knows this story well. But being from Britain where the ticket price is what you pay without the haggling, I was a little taken aback. We finally agreed upon a total sale price of about $4500 less than the retail price (per the Ford on-line build). At this point the salesman had to have the order written up by the business manager. What a waste of time as he knew even less than the sales rep. And wanted to charge me a tax for fuel consumption as well as convince me to pay for extended warranties etc. . That order was placed with the dealer on April 12 2010 and to-date they do not have a VIN. From other posts I assume that the Window sticker will give me some idea as to when I can expect it to be delivered by an entry in the Transport window!