CometFlash

Thanks for the quick replies. I went back and checked the Ford website, and it is rather misleading. If you select the Fusion, click on Models, and scroll to the far right to see the Energi Platinum and click on See All Features at the bottom it shows Sync Connect as an Optional feature. But like akirby mentioned, when you Build & Price one, that option is nowhere to be found. Only 4 options were available when ordering my Energi Platinum: 1) exterior color 2) 18' Wheels 3) Inflatable Rear Seatbelts 4) All-Weather Floor Mats (which are more like Weathertechs with the lips all around, compared to the typical small Ford ones I've been getting for years in my vehicles, including my 2015 F-150 - so nice improvement there)! And of course when you get to the dealer, they offer all the options plus everything the dealer can do as well before placing the special order for the vehicle. So I knew I had ordered everything possible that I was interested in that was available to order. (This is my 7th new vehicle special order so very familiar with the process.) So I'm saddened to see that this is not an option that came with, or was even optional for, this loaded vehicle. At least I won't be wondering why FordPass keeps directing me to MyFord Mobile anymore. Strange that it doesn't say something like, "This vehicle doesn't have SyncConnect functionality" or something to that effect when trying to sign in so at least you know right away what's wrong. Thanks again guys, appreciate the quick responses!

So, what's up with the way FordPass interacts with an Energi? When you input your VIN, FordPass says, "That's a Ford Electric Vehicle! Access features specifically designed for your vehicle by downloading the MyFord mobile app." and at the bottom of the screen has a big blue box to click on that says, "Open MyFord Mobile App." The MyFord Mobile app works fine with my 2017 Energi Platinum, just like it does with my wife's 2013 Energi SE. But my 2017 is supposed to work with FordPass as well - yet it directs me to MyFord Mobile and will never allow me to go into FordPass. In FordPass, you have the ability to set remote start times. In MyFord Mobile, you can set GoTimes for when your Energi is plugged in only. I want to be able to set remote start times with FordPass when my Energi is not plugged in. Ford touts this as a feature on this vehicle, but it ALWAYS directs you to MyFord Mobile with the message I quoted above. Does anyone with an Energi know how to make FordPass (not MyFord Mobile) work with your car?

No. But you're right about the front of the car being pretty darn low. I didn't have it a few weeks before I scraped a lot of the paint off the very bottom edge along the entire right under-side/front of the car from pulling up a bit too far into a parking space when the snow banks were all hard frozen ice. One time a friend told me I had some dirt down there and I was like, noooo that's missing paint thank you very much. Probably not very noticeable except to me, but still sucks. Then again, I came from driving pickup trucks from 1996 until 2011, so maybe it's not low for a car, but was just low for me compared to what 97% of my life driving experience was used to. Still, I bought it (FFH) outright Day 1 to save $$$, and it sure is doing that! EDIT: I just noticed you have a 2013. Mine's a 2011. No wonder I was confused as to what bars underneath were cracking. My bad.

If I recall correctly, it tells me approx. 750 miles to empty every time I fill up. That's @ 44.8MPG in the spring/summer/fall. 2011 FFH.

If you haven't been in one or driven one yet, it's certainly much nicer inside than the current one. That was my biggest gripe going from the top-of-line '09 F150 to top-of-line '11 FFH. The '10-'12, FFH even at top trim, is just very plain jane. Nothing compared to my Platinum, which was also 2 years older. Just never made sense to me. The interior in the new '13 is really nice. The exterior is fine, but the pics make it seem to have a lot more, I dunno, "pop" as it were. When you see it in person, and on the road going by you, it really doesn't "stand out" compared to anything else on the road. Not really a negative, just an observation - as some people near me must have bought some already since I drive past at least one if not two almost every morning going the other direction when I'm heading to work. Go drive one, it's a really nice car. And the hybrid versions are fantastic at saving fuel dollars if you're in it for the long haul to do just that. Just don't get caught in the hype of having the "newest" and buy a hybrid if you don't need a new car right now, it takes some time to see those savings add up compared to the outright cost of a new car (and financing if you don't pay-in-full at time of purchase which makes it much longer than that). Remember, in just a couple short years the "newest" is old again, and the next "new" is right around the corner. I see too many people close to me get into crazy debt just trying to "keep up with the Jone's" as they say. Do the math first, and if it's the right time for you, you certainly can't go wrong with the new Fusion - hit up that test drive! And be careful, that "new car smell" can be infectious!

As mentioned, you can always wait. Just keep in mind that every single year there will be 'something better'. So unless you plan to buy a new vehicle every year I wouldn't think too much on it. No way I myself would ever make back the loss of trading my '11 for a '13, and that's with me owning my '11 outright from the day I bought it. I went with a hybrid to save money and trading for the new one would be the hight of financial lunacy. On a side note: What confuses me is when I see posts online from owners of the current '10-'12 FFH saying they are going to trade-up to the new model, and those same people have also been vocal posters of how to get the best fuel economy possible from their car the past 2 or 3 years. That to me makes absolutely zero financial sense. For someone who owns one already and just likes to be green and wants the new one, that's fine since they didn't buy the vehicle to save themselves money, but to make a statement of sorts. Or someone who doesn't own one yet and wants a much more fuel-efficient vehicle to save some dough. But a current owner who always talks of saving on fuel trading-in? I just can't see any possible way to financially gain from that sort of transaction at all. Even myself with it fully paid off already, it'd take me years upon years to recoup the depreciation trade value plus the thousands extra to purchase a newer one. Reminds me of the posts I see from time to time about "Should I buy a hybrid or other small efficient car - what would make the most financial sense?" It's good to see some people truly digging in to what will save them the most, IF that is the reason for looking at a hybrid, of course. If not, more power to them. But if so, where is the financial sense from trading a current one for the new model one? I just can't see it unless they've already put a few hundred thousand miles on it, or it's constantly breaking down or having issues. Or again, if it's just a statement of 'green' or 'wealth status' to their neighbors or whoever they think actually cares what they drive (And does anyone really? No. People on the road either want to get TO work or FROM work [for the most part] with their own lives to worry about. They don't care what other vehicles are on the road. Think about it. Does anyone reading this post ever think to themselves "Oh my, that random dude has a better car than me, I better go buy a new one to keep up?" No. You're probably thinking about your tasks ahead of you at work or what you're going to have for supper. No one cares what anyone else is driving.). Sorry for the rant. I'm not sure why I even care enough to write all that, it's not my money. Guess it's just one of those odd things that was on my mind that I just couldn't make any financial sense of. PPS That is cool news that Ford decided to hit up the Titanium trim for the hybrid! I won't be in the market for a replacement for my FFH until at least mid-2018 when I hope to have my mortgage paid off & be 100% debt free (about 8+ years of ownership), but it's nice to know Ford didn't relegate new FFH owners to just the SE trim level.

I can't help with the iphone issue. But as far as having incoming texts read to me as I drive, this has always worked for me with my cell phone. And my cell phone must be considered ancient - it's the very first Motorola RazR cell phone they ever made. It still has "Cingular" printed across the back of it, because that was the service provider I had when I first bought it many moons ago. I'm not sure what the issue with the iphone is, but if my super-ancient razor can have incoming texts read aloud to me while I drive, I'm sure there must be a way for current cell phones to accomplish the same thing. Unfortunately, I've also heard that Apple has a real tight control over their i-devices, similiar to Nintendo with their devices. In some ways this is good because of quality control & security, but it can also be bad ease of use with other non-Apple/non-Nintendo devices and doesn't allow any room for expansion or upgradeability other than by, again, the original manufacturer. Some people like a system architechture like this and some don't. Perhaps Apple doesn't want their i-devices compatible with a Microsoft system such as Sync? I'm sure they aren't happy about the MS Surface tablets coming out very soon and don't want their i-devices working with a competitor's products or services. Then again, seems ludicrous to not let your i-devices interact with a major car companies vehicles like FoMoCo. PS Even though I can have incoming texts read aloud to me at any time with my 2004 Razr, I cannot dictate texts to be sent. As far as I am aware, this isn't possible with Sync currently, no matter what cell phone you have. If it worked properly it'd be pretty cool though. (I have a 2011 FFH.)

Don't forget, they need to have a few bells 'n whistles on the Lincoln version that the Ford version does not have. Otherwise who would want the Lincoln version (unless you think it looks better visually, which I'm not so sure about myself)? A few extra doo-dads may be just what a potential purchaser needs to switch from the Ford to the Lincoln. Then again, Lincoln won't be getting the plug-in version. Which makes me think the plug-in version may get jipped some of the cool features it could have had, re: the now-non-existent Titanium FFH version. Trust me, I know it sucks. I mean, how corny is it that the buttons for A/C seats are on so many Ford models, but only a few of them actually offer it as an option. I could get it in my F-150 but not my FFH? Why (I bet MKZH had it - see my point above)? I could get Upfitter Switches in a SuperDuty but not my F-150? That's the strangest one I've seen yet. I mean, c'mon. Things like that are bizarre FoMoCo choices, but what can you do.

For those here who may not have an FFH already, you can now go to Ford's web site and officially build & price the new '13 FFH (no Energi yet though). It's no longer in the beta pricing coming soon section.

I had The Works done today. One of the things on the sheet says a battery test was done and that's it OK. I didn't ask them to do it, guess it's part of that package. At any rate, I'd expect it to be fine seeing as it's a 2011 with only 20k on it so far. They had a 2012 FFH in the showroom while I waited, it's literally identical to what I have now. And there was some info on the '13 as well, but I just cannot under any circumstance justify spending way more to upgrade for no appreciable reason other than to have a newer-looking car with a few new gadgets & bit better battery/bit better MPG for 3 years, before they hit the first refresh in 2016. PS The '13 Limited F-150 looks sooooooo nice for anyone needing a new pickup. Just remember, it's all-new in 2015 so keep that in mind. PPS Ford recently renamed one of their development/research centers and hired 60 more people to work exclusively on vehicle electrification/hybrids/batteries. Sounds good for future hybrid/electric owners.

Should be interesting to hear that report. And of course even better are the reports from those here who have hit 100k+ miles. A friend of mine keeps telling me my battery will stop taking charge within the next few years and then I'll have to either replace it or have a big pile of useless metal on my hands. Perhaps he just doesn't like the incredible MPG I've been getting. :P Did Ford ever do extreme testing to the hybrid powertrains like they did to the F-150 EcoBoost engines? They proved those EB's could go a ton of miles through all kinds of weather for many, many years without a problem under loads and everything. Since I bought the FFH to use to save $ until I pay off my mortgage on my house I recently bought, and not because I loved the looks like I always have the F-150, I never did an hardcore research on it so I don't know what kind of long-term testing (if any) they did on the hybrid powertrains. I want this car to last at least another 6 years to hit my goal, and I can't imagine it would have any issues in that time frame if Ford did their homework before building them.

Mine has one that I think is coming from the passenger door speaker panel. I haven't bothered to mess with it though. I figured if my 2009 $50k+ Platinum F-150 had rattles, this $30k FFH was bound to for sure. Funny how my '97 and '98 F-150's were rattle free their whole lives, but my '04 and '09 F-150's had rattles, and my '11 FFH as well. Seems it's just par for the course nowadays, no matter how many videos Ford posts on their social site with all the "advancements" in sound, quality, and NVH testing that are supposedly better than the human ears and eyes can detect... As great as Ford gets with some things, NVH issues seem to be elusive to them, kind of like how they still can't figure out how to offer Upfitter Switches in the F-150 after all these years of offering them in the SuperDuty. Weird little things like those Ford just can't seem to get a handle on. Very frustrating, but what can you do (other than pay your mortgage down with the fuel savings from your FFH).

44.7 long-term MPG here, just about to hit 20k (2nd oil change & rotation coming due). New England driving here, so winter isn't great but fall/spring help balance it out. Summer isn't as bad as winter, and I have my EATC on Auto set for 70degrees at all times of the year. Good luck if you go through with it. I may not have any issues with mine, but it's always cool to see someone not afraid to take on a big company. Too many times I see the little guy afraid to fight the big entity. It's only when these rare cases happen that the big guys perhaps make some changes for the better, rather than just for the better for their wallets. If I recall, I think that lady who sued about the hybrid she bought only won like 10k or some piddly amount like that. Not worth it in my book, but that's just me. (and I don't make crap for money, 10k is a lot but not near enough for the time, effort and all just for that - maybe if I thought I could get like 173k and pay off my house with it...

You'll have to watch for those little things, because they will affect your long-term mpg reading. For example, when waiting for my wife at CVS or someplace, I'll always shut the car off while waiting. Even a few minutes sitting idle will reduce that number. Same thing when you are in stop-n-go traffic. Even though you are not using any gas inching along in EV mode, because you are hardly moving/not moving, you'll still see your long-term number go down even though you aren't using any gas. But if you drive carefully all the time, that number will get pretty high. Last year I reached a high of 44.4mpg long term. Could never get it to inch over that for the rest of the summer/fall, and then of course it dropped a lot in winter. So far this year I have it back to 40.0mpg, trying hard to get her back to 44.4 but it seems harder this year, perhaps because she has so many more miles on her now compared to when I first got her last year (I never reset the long-term, I have fun challenging myself to keep it as high as possible). I had my best ride ever at the cape last year on my honeymoon, 2.5 miles @ 99.9mpg. That was pretty sweet.