rprobst

1. 10, easily 2. Audi A4 3. Yes, but if Audi had their plug-in hybrid on market when I was making the decision, I would give it a test drive first

I will NEVER buy another car without ACC. It is absolutely addictive. And I do have to remind myself that my wife's Prius doesn't have it... But her next car sure will.

My last flat tire was 2 cars back and 20 years ago (I keep my cars a long time). I get a kick out of the pictures of cars from the 20's with 2 spares mounted on the front fenders. They must have been changing tires all the time.

Ditto. My driver's window is regularly losing its mind. Have to keep re-programing it. i asked the dealer about this and quoted a couple of TSBs that had been mentioned on another thread. That was a mistake, since neither TSB applied to my car.

Yay, hooray! At last!

I am using a hearing-aid case that just barely holds my Fusion fob, the fob for my wife's Prius and the ChargePoint card. It zips open, but I almost never open it -- both cars can see the fob through the case, and for ChargePoint I just hold the case up to the reader. Every once in a while I zip open the case to open the windows and moonroof to cool off the car before getting in. I never have a problem with accidental button pushes.

I'm in. But I'm surprised California looks so light. C'mon folks, put in your pin!

I love my Energi. My previous car was a 1998 Audi A4, and my wife has a 2005 Prius, which I drive whenever we both go somewhere. My shopping criteria were simple: better mileage than the Prius, as much fun to drive as the A4, and around $50k rather than $100k. The Energi meets and exceeds my expectations. Mileage (computed as miles driven vs. gas purchased; I don't use MPGe) is 25%+ better than the Prius, and about 3x the Audi. Driving the Energi is a blast. I really enjoy the feeling of cruising electric. I brake carefully, but my foot is heavier on electric than I used to drive in the A4, just because it's guilt-free acceleration. Maybe it won't blow off a BMW, but that's not what I want to do. And the Fusion is very attractive, very comfortable, and loaded with satisfying gadgets. All told, I'm super satisfied.

The best source of facts I have found is the Union of Concerned Scientists. Their study shows that 45% of Americans live on grids that deliver power produced cleanly enough that a gas car would have to get over 50 MPG to have a smaller carbon footprint than an electric car (or PHEV in EV mode). http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/images/cv/electric-cars-global-warming-emissions-fact-2.jpg So would a bicycle be cleaner still? Sure. I guess I am still contributing somewhat to the deferred cost you mention. But I want to drive a comfortable car that looks good and goes well. I love my Fusion Energi, and I'm really happy that, given my average driving distances, it's producing less greenhouse gas than anything but the most extreme tiny diesel gasser could. Even if it is more than a bicycle.

It will not charge higher? I understood that EV Later mode won't let the state of charge go lower than it is when you enter that mode, to reserve as much battery as possible for use later, but I didn't think it prevented the battery from going higher. Suppose you were coming down a 10,000 foot hill in L, in EV Later mode. Wouldn't all that regen energy go into the battery? Seems to me that if the car has the input to be able to charge the battery, it would do so.

This is actually one of the questions on the customer-satisfaction survey: was the car charged up for delivery?

I wonder what ginger ale and Bordeaux would taste like?

Could have put the pizza on the shelf and put a brick on the pizza to keep it from sliding. Or maybe glue Velcro to the bottom of the pizza box.

Well, that's a good point. I paid $105 over dealer invoice under X-Plan, but Ford's document fee was only $80. But, I had to join Mustang Club to get X-Plan, and that was $50. So I paid $235 over invoice, including ALL fees except those to DMV, which was just over $400. X-Plan can't help you save money on DMV fees, but it seems like a net win if Costco pricing can include $700 in fees. It's pretty easy to get X-Plan. There are detailed instructions on another thread on this forum.

Thank you for a great analysis. Yes, I would like to play with your spreadsheet, if you can figure out how to attach it. I realize that we are paying a premium for the experience of zipping around on electrons. It's worth it to me. In my town, people don't challenge the decision to buy a car because you value it. I see at least one Tesla every day, and I often see Porsches, Maseratis, Ferraris, and other fancy icons. So nobody blinks about seeing an FFE. But if anyone ever did ask me to justify the economics of my purchase, I would ask "what is the payback period for a Ferrari?" Still, your spreadsheet gives me a better answer. Nice work.

DelS, are you saying that your price out the door was dealer invoice, flat? That's the best deal I have heard so far. I paid dealer invoice plus $105 and thought I had gotten the best deal possible. Wow!

Ahh, I remember the Wisconsin hills fondly. I was born in Evanston and grew up in Northbrook.

Thanks, scooter, a really helpful post. Just one thing: You live in Chicago, right? There are grades in Chicago?? :)

So the down-grade button and 'L' both do the same thing but 'L' does more of it? How much more? Has anybody built up enough experience to comment? It would be great if we knew that pushing the down-grade button was (say) 1/3 or 1/2 as effective as driving in 'L'.

Did you put them on yourself? How hard was it to get them straight?

I'm confused. When should you use the down-grade button on the shifter and when should you put it in 'L'? Are these the same, just 2 different ways of putting the car in the same state? Or are there 2 different situations and one is good for one and the other for the other?

Then don't buy from your dealer. ESP is available from dealers over the Internet. My dealer offered me ESP at twice what it would cost from Flood Ford or Champion Ford. Stupidly, I said yes. Luckily, I had this forum to give me a sanity check. Happily, the dealer refunded my money, and even cut me a check for the $75 cancellation fee. Now I am thinking about buying ESP, either over the Internet or from my dealer if he will price-match. Yes, it would be odd to buy from the dealer after canceling, but I wanted to get that first transaction cleanly cancelled.

Agree 3 times! I would have bought an MKZ Energi if available, but I am now very happy with my loaded Fusion Energi Titanium. And I didn't like the wheels at first, but I have grown to appreciate them. Was planning to get after-market wheels, but now thinking I probably won't.

It's on the shifter. It's a little metal button on the left of it. No label on the button, and as far as I can tell, no indicator in the dash of when you have pressed it, but you can feel the difference when the button is in or out. And you can feel the difference in the car's motion while coasting.

Hey, jsamp, we're neighbors. I live and work in Palo Alto -- and I see Teslas every single day. Haven't seen one on a flatbed yet, though.