New FFH owner!

[Eugr]

Hi there,

 

Just bought 2011 Ford Fusion Hybrid, fully loaded!

Wasn't going to buy until early January, but the dealer gave me a price just $500 over the invoice (almost $2000 discount), so I couldn't resist, and now I'm a happy owner of a brand-new Fusion Hybrid!

 

Platinum white with light leather interior, with all the bells and whistles :)

 

Interesting thing - I really never considered a Ford as an option - I've always had Japanese cars (Mazda). Ford Fusion and the upcoming 2012 Focus are the only ones that got me really interested, and after I drove Fusion Hybrid, I immediately moved it to the top of my list. Well done, Ford!

 

Will post more detailed review later :)

 

Eugene.

[mirak]

Welcome to the club! Mine's also a 502A White-Platinum, but a 2010. Really glad I went with the white tri-coat paint. Just got a car wash over the lunch hour, and this car is a gem!

[lolder]

Welcome and congratulations. Please read the Owners Guide and Hybrid Guide several times cover to cover. It will answer many questions and this forum will answer the rest.

[Eugr]

Welcome and congratulations. Please read the Owners Guide and Hybrid Guide several times cover to cover. It will answer many questions and this forum will answer the rest.

 

Thanks guys! Actually, I've read the manual (including the Sync one) before even buying the car to make sure everything works like I think it should :)

I really like the color - I was thinking about getting a silver one, but while looks very nice, and is very practical in Southern California.

[Zzyzx]

Welcome and congratulations! I purchased a Sterling Gray Metallic 502A last month and I am loving it more and more every day.

[Kelly Trusz Urban]

congrats :) welcome to the club. i love this car

[CometFlash]

Congrats! I'll probably be joining all of you in May. Though I may go for the MKZH rather than the FFH; but who knows.

 

Look forward to your more comprehensive review once you've had it a bit. :read:

[AptosDriver]

Hi there,

 

Just bought 2011 Ford Fusion Hybrid, fully loaded!

Wasn't going to buy until early January, but the dealer gave me a price just $500 over the invoice (almost $2000 discount), so I couldn't resist, and now I'm a happy owner of a brand-new Fusion Hybrid!

 

Platinum white with light leather interior, with all the bells and whistles :)

 

Interesting thing - I really never considered a Ford as an option - I've always had Japanese cars (Mazda). Ford Fusion and the upcoming 2012 Focus are the only ones that got me really interested, and after I drove Fusion Hybrid, I immediately moved it to the top of my list. Well done, Ford!

 

Will post more detailed review later :)

 

Eugene.

Hey, Eugene. That's exactly what I'm looking at buying -- a fully loaded FFH. I've reconnoitered the dealers here in Santa Cruz County (Monterey Bay area) and neither of them seem to have any fully loaded FFH's. I haven't turned up any in my Internet inventory searches of the two Monterey County dealerships immediately to the south of us. They all seem to have only base models, and no more than four on a lot at that. (Contrast that with our local Toyota dealership, where the lot is fairly bursting with Priuses.) It seems I'll have to go "over the hill" to San Jose/Silicon Valley and maybe further up the SF peninsula to find a dealership that has a decent supply of loaded FFH's. How big was the Ford dealership you went to, and how many of these beefed-up FFH models did they have? I think I'll be in a stronger bargaining position if I go to a dealership with a bunch of 'em on their lot, especially at the end of the month when they're under more pressure to move them, they way you did (and going at the end of the year as well probably gave you even more leverage). I'm encouraged that you were able to get this 2011 model (!) for just $500 over invoice. Did you have to bargain hard for that? And, if you don't mind disclosing this, how much did you actually pay for your FFH, before tax, license and destination charges?

 

I too have never owned a Ford before. In fact, having driven some rental-fleet Fords, I've never even "met" one I liked before. In fact, again, in nearly 40 years of serial car ownership, I've only owned one domestic car -- a '96 Chevy Cavalier that I bought from Avis Car Rental in Los Angeles because my second (and then-new) wife's Plymouth had died and she needed another car STAT. The Cavalier had 26,000 miles on it at the time and it served us well, and without any problems, until we unloaded it in 2001. By then my wife had put another 140,000 miles on the odometer (don't ask how). Other than the one GM car, I've only owned foreign cars -- VWs, Volvos and Toyotas. These days, I'm driving a six-cylinder '07 RAV4 Limited, which I love. The fully loaded FFH will be for my lovely wife, replacing the '00 Volvo S70 she's currently driving (with 113,000 miles on it). She's a technophobe and won't appreciate most of the bells and whistles on it (she says she doesn't want them, but I can play with them while she drives), but she will like the leather seats and the sun roof. And, heck, maybe she might even learn to use and love the Bluetooth.

 

I decided to give the FFH a serious look after (1) deciding that our next car should be a hybrid and (2) seeing how highly Consumer Reports rated the FFH. The only other hybrid I'm considering is the Toyota Camry. I've driven both of them. I liked the Camry well enough, but I think the FFH has a lot more going for it. I've spent a lot of time on/in this forum trying to find out (1) how much real-world owners like this car and (2) what, if any problems they've encountered with them. The answers seem to be: (1) a lot, and (2) not many. More recently, I've seen testimonials from a couple of folks who've already put 50,000-60,000 miles on their cars, with no problems at all. And yesterday, I accosted an FFH owner in a pet store (stalked her from the parking lot) and asked her how long she'd had her car, how many miles, etc. She said they'd put 20 K miles on their '10 FFH with absolutely no problems. So I've gone from "serious looker" to serious prospective buyer. I will not be able to move on this until later in 2011, and most likely not until fall. (It depends a lot on the direction of the stock market.) And when I do move, I'll be sure to go in at the end of the month, if not the end of the year! And if I can find a dealer with more than a more than few fully loaded '11 FFH's when the '12 models come out, I bet I can get a really good deal.

 

Enjoy your car.

 

Steve

[Eugr]

Hi Steve,

 

What a coincidence! I bought this car for my wife too, and she was also driving Volvo before :) I own 2008 Mazda CX-7 and it's a great car! And now we have another great, technologically advanced car in the family.

 

I wasn't specifically looking for a hybrid, actually, I didn't even consider it until I read some reviews and gave it a try. Other options were Hyundai Sonata and Elantra, Volkswagen Golf TDI and Mazdaspeed3 (because it's too much fun to drive). And a regular V6 Fusion SEL, of course.

 

I bought my FFH from Encinitas Ford in Encinitas, CA (San Diego County). It's rather small dealership, and they had only one FFH in stock, priced at $33,585 MSRP.

I talked to several larger dealerships before, with multiple hybrids in stock, but they didn't want to negotiate the price at all! They all said that they can give me a good deal on any other model, but not this one, because they have absolutely no problems selling it. All dealerships didn't have basic FFH, only fully loaded ones (I wasn't interested in basic ones anyway).

 

And I walked into this small and very friendly dealership just before the closure, test drove this car, and then was going to head back home, because I really wanted my wife to drive it first. The problem is she is out of the country right now, and will come back on January 1st. So, I told them I'll be back on 2nd, and we'll think about this one, but it's kind of on the expensive side...

 

Then they asked me would I buy today it if they give me an unbeatable price. Well, after a short negotiation and a call to my (still sleeping) wife, I bought it for $31,790 before tax and fees.

 

I too thought that it would be easier to negotiate with larger dealerships with a lot of cars in stock, but I was wrong. Large dealerships don't care if they close this one deal, but small ones count every penny... And it depends on salesperson, too. Mine wasn't too pushy, but once he saw that I'm ready to buy, he kept bargaining until I drove away in the new car (they washed my Mazda and I picked it up today) :)

Edited December 31, 2010 by Eugr

[Herdmaster73]

Welcome to Ford Fusion family.

 

I believe you will love the ride from thius vechile and the MPG's is not too bad either. Takes a bit of time to learn how to get the best mileage but it's worth the effort.

 

My wife who was not a pleased lady when I first purchased the FFH last February now wants me to do all the driving so she can enjoy the comfort and ride of the FFH.

 

Agian, welcome to the FFH family and hope you have many safe driving miles.:shift:

[AptosDriver]

My wife who was not a pleased lady when I first purchased the FFH last February now wants me to do all the driving so she can enjoy the comfort and ride of the FFH.

 

If and when I buy an FFH (sometime this year), it will be my wife's car, replacing her 11-year-old Volvo S70 GLT (113 K miles and counting). She insists that she doesn't want to give up the Volvo, but I'm working on that. As I've mentioned elsewhere on this forum, the wife is an almost total technophobe -- I've never been able to teach her how to use the cable TV remote; but she has learned how to do a lot of things on computers, as needed, for her job. So most of the FFH's advanced technology promises to be beyond her. As a result, if we get an FFH (fully loaded), I'll be happy to exchange the driver's seat in my Toyota RAV4 Limited for the FFH passenger seat during local co-ed trips. She can drive and I can play with the car's electronics. :beerchug:

[Buster1]

Great Job, welcome to the club. Nice color choice BTW!