meyersnole

I was in SoCal for most of Aug, do not think it rained once. Meanwhile my phone is going off everyday about flash flood warnings at home from all the rain we were getting. Hope you get some rain soon!

I have read your post before, but just really read it this time. Wow! That is impressive. My first tank I got just over 2,500 miles in 126 days before filling up. (Probably because I was challenging myself to see how far I could take it). So no trips to FL etc. I have been traveling a lot more lately, so I am usually in the 900-1,200 mile range per tank... basically I get gas when I go on a trip. Back to topic: I thought the battery never really fully charged (Murphy's post about computer protecting the batter) so there is no need to jump through hoops to time your charge. On the cost of batteries, as long as these vehicles continue to get more popular and the resources do not become constrained I would think that the prices would continue to decline. We are protected from significant loss by the 8 year (or longer in some states) warranty. These same concerns were around back with the original Prius. Battery technology has come a long way since then. If resources are constrained than I would think alternate solutions would be researched given current growth trends. If I keep this car long enough to get a battery replacement ( I doubt it, only planning 7-8 years ) then I expect I will have either a smaller battery or significantly more range as an option. Further, I do not expect it to cost $9K. Ford really has no incentive to reduce the prices yet as the insurance companies are paying them before they come out of warranty. (IMHO)

Fairly sure I have seen the wipers go on and the lights not come on. Or at least the green light indicator does not come on.

Looking at this article Congress Fails To Renew Important Electric Vehicle Tax Credits it appears that the Tesla credit is just fine. If raised to $10,000 as proposed then I would assume that the additional benefit would not apply to cars over $45,000. Really hard to comment on legislation that to my knowledge is not even being discussed. Congress is on vacation (again!)

The current tax system is full is these types of "discriminations". Especially for those that have to deal with alternative minimum tax. An example of this was the loss of the tax incentive for the L2 charger last year.

If it is light out (raining while sunny) they may not turn on in practice. In hard rain I do not recall them ever not coming on.

And this is my major gripe... if the windshield wipers are running, the lights should be on. If the car has an auto setting for the lights it should handle this scenario.

I get it for the motorcycle and am totally bought into that. They are so small and can blend in. Cars usually are very visible during the daylight hours. For the DLRs I find my attention is pulled from the road, distracted maybe, by the lights. For a car I do not think this is great. Usually do not need that type of attention for cars.

In my previous car I kept getting a discounted rate for 7 years... It was almost impossible to drop them. Every year I would call and say that if they continued the $77 deal I would keep the subscription and every year they did (unless they offered me something better). Honestly with the infotainment system in this car I had no use for it. My phone will stream what ever I want and a 16G thumb drive will hold a ton of music. If you like the traffic / weather updates I can understand that... but I do not live in a real populated area so that has very little value to me.

I would doubt that any current vehicle with a sync system would be forced to migrate, or even be offered to migrate to the new operating system. I think I remember that Ford wants to move away from all the screen controls and back to buttons and knobs. It is odd that we have not heard much about this since February though, maybe Ford and Microsoft have come to an alternate agreement since the break up. Still wondering what kind of affect Apple play is going to have whenever that gets released broadly.

I actually think that DRLs are distracting during the middle of the day when the sun is out. I just want them on when viability is impaired.

This is a frustration of mine as well. I would love for there to be a setting somewhere where you could make the sensitivity a bit more aggressive than it currently is. I reach down to turn on my lights at dusk manually, usually about 15-30 mins before the car feels it necessary to turn them on. Honestly, on those gloomy days where it is very overcast and darkish I wish they would turn on. And it seems hit or miss on the lights turning on when the windshield wipers go on. It is the state law in many places that if you are running your wipers they should be on... I am constantly looking down for the green headlight indicator.

Congrats 47Minutes! Looks good.

Details? What options did you tick off?

I like the navigation built into the car so I don't have to set up and remove a portable device, but I find it so annoying (and this is for all brands of cars with navigation) on how pricey the updates are and how far they are out of date even when you get the update. Will be nice when we can get an Apple Play or similar type solution in the car so that we can just use google maps. Or at least let me add a road into the current system.

Can not comment on the color, I went with the black interior and white car. Rims - The 18s are on the options list, note that it will cost you a little on the MPG(e)s. I do like the look of the 18s more than the 17s though... probably worth it. I have a fully loaded 13... I have never used the parking assist, but it does give you the front sensors when pulling into the garage... so that is nice. Lane keeping is not as nice as I thought it would be but I LOVE BLIS and ACC. The moonroof is nice and I like the homelink.

As apm wrote, it is up to the dealer. If the dealer participates, then they must follow the rules of the plan but I do not know of any thing that binds them to participate. Also, unless you are buying the new model year you can probably do better than xplan (if you are looking at a 2014 off the lot) then ordering a 2015 model.

Not sure when, but there will be a Ford Focus Energi if the Fusion is too large for you. You can fin the forum for that up coming model here: http://fordfocusenergiforum.com

It would be nice if they had tiered rates based on the car's electrical draw. Maybe send them a note to explain why they are losing you as a customer? Fortunately in my area I need an account to use some of the chargers but they are not charging to use it. I would not charge at those rates either.

Even though it hurts to see only 40s for MPGs, it is still very good for a car this size.

I think you can also add in a large dose of misunderstanding about the technology to explain the reactions. Think back to before you took the time to understand these technologies. There has been and continues to be resistance to changing our current system. There is a lot of money that would like things to stay status quo for as long as possible. Fortunately things seem to be changing, $4/gal gas didn't hurt...

Thank you. We keep the known TSBs in the Maintenance section http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/forum/23-maintenance/

I know for a fact you can lock them in the trunk (along with your cell phone). Now I have memorized the entry code for the car.

Eventually the people will stop letting the games continue. Right now the politics are just a mess, and your right it seems like nothing can get through this mess... Unfortunately I fear it's not limited to the current president, I think it's just broken.

Welcome David... Quite brave to admit up front your qualifications. We promise to be nice :-)