TonyF

My FFH's leather heated seeats are wonderful. After about 10 minutes I find that they are too hot and I turn them to their lower heat setting. After about 5 minutes of driving, the heater is throwing out the heat. The other day, I had the heater off, only the seats on and the radio off. I stopped at a red light and thought the car had stalled on me! In my panic, I turned off the ignition and restarted --- only to realize that the ICE was off and the FFH was only doing its thing. I still have a hard time getting used to the silence.

I wish I had read and taken bbf2530's advice, or had read the FFH user manual more carefully! I erroneously concluded that my new FFH did not have an alarm system based on a single test -- lowered the window, locked the car with the remote, reached in the open window and unlocked the car. No alarm went off! The manual says that it takes 15 seconds for the alarm to arm. I did not wait long enough. I've had third party alarms installed in all my vehicles in the past 20 years. Some had remote start, all had other nice features -- glass breaking & shock sensors, alarms and status displays built into the remotes that work up to 1/4 mile away. Anyway, I proceeded to have such an alarm installed in my FFH last Wednesday.at a shop that installed alarms in 4 of my vehicles in the past 10 years. In the past it has take about 2-3 hours tor the install. After about 4 hours of waiting, I was told that the installer had run into a snag -- the headlights would not go out after the removal of the ignition key and switching the lights off. Their plan was to remove all traces of the alarm and suggested I go to my local Ford dealer and have them "reset" the computer. They told me to come back with any receipts and they would reimburse me for any charges. I have since discovered that there is a secondary timer that turns the headlights off some 15 to 20 minutes later. Anyway, I took the car to the dealer and tech found that a module and switch had been damaged. The replacement part would need to be ordered and installed Dec 1. Their estimate of the cost for the diagnosis, part and labor was around $680. The Ford tech urged me to abandon any thought of having a third party alarm installed. I called the alarm shop and we agreed cut our losses and not to throw good money after bad.

Just got a letter today from Sirius dated June 29 welcoming me to Sirius. The body of the letter congratulates me for the 6-month complementary subscription which began on the day of delivery, June 7. However, in the "subscription information" box at the top of the letter, it says that my complimentary subscription ends on June 7, 1012! It looks like they've used preprinted 6-month letter stock with customer-specific info printed prior to sending it out.

I purchased my FFH June 7. I never called Sirius to set up my account as the radio was working already; I have no way to know for sure if I really do have a 2 year subscription. I planned to call after the subscription expired and Sirius was starting to nag me about a renewal. I have a lifetime subscription to a Sportster 5 radio that I use at home, in my previous car, and in an RV. That cost $400 in Nov 08. My salesman told me that he's heard of someone getting the lifetime subscription for $320.

When I purchased my FFH about a month ago, the salesman told me about the free 6 month subscription. However, when I picked up the car, he told me that the free subscription had been extended to 2 years! Around that time I also saw some FFH TV ads touting the 2 year subscription. You could call Sirius and ask them about the policy.

Thanks for all your responses. I ordered the Weathertech mats with the single hole that bif indicated "fit like a glove"; the two-hole version is not available.

Thanks, bif, for your reply. I checked out Weathertech's mats. I like their "FloorLiner DigitalFit" style. Is that what you got? They say that the mats are fastened by the single hook but in your opinion fastening them is not needed?

I ordered the All Weather floor mats for my new FFH. However, when I tried to install them I found that the were obviously for the wrong car! The box said "Fusion" and the salesman assured me there were the right ones. The drivers' side had a single hole where a hook is to attach. My FFH's floor did not have a hook but has two knobs come out of the carpet and mate with corresponding holes in the existing mat. The holes have an O ring that snaps onto the two knobs. I was not really very pleased with the All Weather mats anyway and had a good reason to return them. My wife is very unhappy with the existing mats. Depending on how you look at them, the two fronts look like they are of a different color. And both look different then the carpet that they are on. I think its all an optical illusion -- caused by the way the light hits them. When they are side by side outside the car they look the same. They seem on the small size and I would really like to find some replacements. Have any of you found any replacement mats for your FFH?

Thank you, all, for your expert explanations of the function of the two batteries. Yes, I will read the manuals a bit more thoroughly and the related topics in this form. A 0.5% hit on the decrease of efficiency seems a small price to pay for the sight increase in safety. Again, thank you all for taking the time for answering my seemingly naive question.

Hi all, Just got my FFH last Monday. Love the car. It is my first american car since my '66 American Motors Ambassador back in 1966! Have had a Fiat, Volvo, Saab and then 5 Mercedes since 1985. Was ready to buy another when my son thought I should take off my blinders and look at some other cars. The FFH blew me away. I did not think Americans could make such a car! Ford has a real winner here. My wife wants me to drive with the headlights on all the time for safety reasons. I've been reluctant to keep them on during the day thinking that it might have a negative impact on the fuel economy. But then I got thinking about the fact that the car is supposed to function on gasoline if the high voltage battery fails. If that is the case, surely the lights must be powered by the low voltage battery. So, does the headlight power come from the low voltage battery? I have several related questions related to the charging and use of each battery. Does the FFH have an alternator that charges the low voltage battery. Are the usual 12 volt components (lights, radio, blowers, seat motors, seat heaters, a/c compressor, windshield wipers) powered by the low voltage battery? Does the usage of any of these components have any adverse effect on fuel economy. Does the high voltage battery have any function other than powering the electric hybrid motor? If this topic has been dealt with before, please point me in that direction. I would appreciate any answers to my questions. Thank you.