Poll: What have you been driving?

[ypsiarbor]

What have we all been driving? Why did you order a FFH?

 

I have a Chevy Silverado Z71, last summer the $4+ gas killed me The FFH gets 3X better MPG. I used many of the hypermilage skills to get an over all 19.5mpg, not too bad for a V8 4x4 rated for 14MPG. Lets call my switch to HHF as petro-Demand Distruction!

 

I drive 25,ooo miles per year for work, over a six year period the FFH will save me $13,000 in gas! Thats at $2.50/gallon if gas goes up (and I think it will) I'll save even more. Hope my FFH comes soon!

[NewNole2001]

I'm driving a 1995 Honda Accord LX with 311,000 miles on it.

 

I bought it after my freshman year of college with 177,000 miles on it. She's been a great car. I was unemployed last summer and took her on two trips last summer, one up and down the Eastern Seaboard and one to San Francisco. Aside from burning oil at highway speeds, she never had a single problem on either trip.

 

After a weekend trip in my girlfriend's car, a 2008 Hyundai Sonata, and realizing how much quieter her car was, and I decided it was time for a new car. Obviously, I started looking at Accords, given how many miles the current one gave me. I've come a long way financially since graduating and decided I wanted to buy a fully loaded car, but I was flabbergasted at the prices Honda charges for a fully loaded Accord.

 

Somewhere along the line I read about the FFH, and the nerd in me (I'm a software developer) fell in love with all of the tech in the car.

 

I actually priced out a similarly equipped Honda Accord, and it was only about $1k less than the FFH, although your mileage may vary. This is mind blowing that an Accord is so expensive.

 

Can't wait to get the FFH, although I will be sad to let go of my Accord.

 

I wonder if it is possible to take her to the crusher and push the button myself. Kinda like pressing the button on the crematorium.

[peteostro]

Well I haven't owned a car for around 6 years now. I have had a Honda civic and my last car I bought new was a very nice Honda prelude. Man i loved that car. It was my first "real" car and she flew. Well a few years after I got it a tree fell on the car and totaled it. I had to fight the landlords home owners insurance for over a year and I finally got paid for the car. At that point I been taking the T (Boston subway) and got used to not having a car. My wife's car was a Honda accord, we traded it in towards the FFH. She had it for over 10 years but it was on its last leg. We had been looking at cars for the last 6 months. My wife really liked the Honda CRV, but I was dead set against it, gets like 22 mpg. I'm sick of all these low MPG cars and I refused to buy any thing less than 40mpg. (If consumers dont demand better with our money we will not get it) So we tried the Prius, Insight, Civic hybrids and wasn't that keen on any of them. Didn't feel like we where upgrading from the accord. I did allot of research on the FFH and it was getting some good press so we went down and took a test drive of the regular fusion (09) and really liked it.

 

At that point it was a matter of finding a dealer that had the car coming in, and when it would get here. We went back and forth with a bunch of dealerships, most didn't know much about the car and didn't get much info from them until mid march. We finally got an email from a dealer with a FFH on order with the features we wanted. This was the last weekend of the full tax credit so we went up to meet with the dealer and got all the prices and put a deposit. 2 weeks later the car came in and we picked it up. The dealer didn't know much about hybrids, that was ok since we do, but I hope ford really trains them better. The dealer was saying to us, if you don't go over 47mp you never use any gas!! That of course is false and I wonder how he thinks the electric motor was powered (by a battery that never needs to be recharged??) I do have to say that I was not impress with any of the ford dealerships that we talked to(It was night and day compared to Honda and Toyota dealerships) and if ford didn't make such a great car with the FFH I would have went to another company.

 

So this car is a Win for ford, but they need to work on changing the ford dealership culture

[frankieboy]

My lease is up on a V6 Honda Accord Sedan, which gets about 18 mpg in the city. It is a very good car, but I expect my new FFH, with 502A in White Platinum, will be a great car.

[ypsiarbor]

... most didn't know much about the car and didn't get much info from them until mid march. We finally got an email from a dealer with a FFH on order with the features we wanted. This was the last weekend of the full tax credit so we went up to meet with the dealer and got all the prices and put a deposit. 2 weeks later the car came in and we picked it up. The dealer didn't know much about hybrids, that was ok since we do, but I hope ford really trains them better. The dealer was saying to us, if you don't go over 47mp you never use any gas!! That of course is false and I wonder how he thinks the electric motor was powered (by a battery that never needs to be recharged??) I do have to say that I was not impress with any of the ford dealerships that we talked to(It was night and day compared to Honda and Toyota dealerships) and if ford didn't make such a great car with the FFH I would have went to another company.

 

So this car is a Win for ford, but they need to work on changing the ford dealership culture

 

 

YES, I talked to two Ford Dealers... They didn't know a dam thing about the FF Hybrid. What the &*^%#$, I've read every thing I could online. The salesperson didn't know the difference between 500A, 501A and 502A! Very different from the local Chevy dealer who knew every thing about my truck and the Malibu.

[jamgolf]

My trade in was a 2005 Lexus ES330 with 56K miles on it.

[robm15]

My trade-in is a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid. It is a great car, but has 61,000 miles on it, and I am ready for a new one.

[WPWoodJr]

My old car is a 1998 Audi A6 2.8 with 101,000 miles on it.

[FL4FFH]

Traded 2000 Focus SE Wagon. Wanted a little more car, but unwilling to compromise economy. I was looking at Audi A4, or Lexus IS250. Soooo glad I waited.

[cngrevolution]

I have a 2006 Prius. Going to give it to the girlfriend. She is giving me her 04 Mercury Mountaineer and I will trade or sell it when my FFH comes in. (White Platinum w/ black leather 502a)

[aggoodin]

I am unloading a 07 Ranger. Its just a BLAH vehicle. Never really used it for truck-like duties.

 

I also have a 91 CRX, I think I might have to be buried in that thing, its the greatest vehicle ever (I haven't got my FFH yet).

 

Wife drives an 08 Fusion SEL SAP. Sick car. Like it a lot and so does everyone else.

 

From a pure driving perspective the old Honda is the best.

 

Can't wait for the Hybrid though.

[hybridfam]

I have a 2006 Prius. Going to give it to the girlfriend. She is giving me her 04 Mercury Mountaineer and I will trade or sell it when my FFH comes in. (White Platinum w/ black leather 502a)

 

 

We are also trading an 05 Mountaineer in for a White Platinum , Black leather 502A Fusion. I can't wait. I drive a Camry Hybrid and my husband drives the Mountaineeer and gets about 13mpg, so he will take the Camry Hybrid over and save a ton of money while I get the Fusion! I can't wait!!

 

:happy feet:

[jfouche]

I am trading in a '97 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

[paulbuck]

What have we all been driving? Why did you order a FFH?

 

I have a Chevy Silverado Z71, last summer the $4+ gas killed me The FFH gets 3X better MPG. I used many of the hypermilage skills to get an over all 19.5mpg, not too bad for a V8 4x4 rated for 14MPG. Lets call my switch to HHF as petro-Demand Distruction!

 

I drive 25,ooo miles per year for work, over a six year period the FFH will save me $13,000 in gas! Thats at $2.50/gallon if gas goes up (and I think it will) I'll save even more. Hope my FFH comes soon!

 

 

I traded my '91 Accord EX, with 88k. I loved the Accord, but nine years old was time for something new. Didn't care for the new Accords, too big and kinda 'stodgy' looking, IMO. Drove nice, but didn't care for the looks. Test drove Accord, Camry, Fusion SEL, Fusion Hybrid, Subaru Legacy. Most impressed with Hybrid ride, tech stuff. Bought one off the showroom floor.

[sullied]

I traded my '91 Accord EX, with 88k. I loved the Accord, but nine years old was time for something new. Didn't care for the new Accords, too big and kinda 'stodgy' looking, IMO. Drove nice, but didn't care for the looks. Test drove Accord, Camry, Fusion SEL, Fusion Hybrid, Subaru Legacy. Most impressed with Hybrid ride, tech stuff. Bought one off the showroom floor.

I'm selling my 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid with 70K miles on it when we get our Fusion next month. Going to miss the car a lot...but we're having another baby and stuffing our luggage into the truck for traveling was already nearly impossible. So, we needed something bigger. FFH fit the bill perfectly!

[Fuze-ion]

I didn't trade any vehicle, when we received our ordered FFH. I had been driving an F-150, for the past (6) years. I will still use the truck, but it was wasteful, burning all that gas, using the truck, for daily transportation. The F-150 pick-up averages 15. I'm averaging 35.5 with the FFH.

[joeyc1960]

Had a 2007 F150..Didn,t need a pickup anymore. Drive 20,000 miles a year. Saving alot of money on GAS.

[commishbob]

I didn't trade anything. I have parked my old ride, my 1993 Mazda MX-3. 86,000 miles and fairly trouble free until recently. Fun car but kind of rough around the edges, especially compared to my Fusion.

[jerrieric]

'02 Chevy Avalanche - still have one but traded the '02

[bluetwo]

2009 GMC Canyon SLE, the crew cab with 3.7 liter in-line 5 cylinder. I like it but I'd really much rather have a more economical sedan.

 

I can get 23 MPG with hypermiling but it's almost painful. I have developed some much better driving habits just by casually trying to save fuel and I usually get around 19 to 20 MPG but it's all city driving as my commute doesn't involve highway driving at all.

[Scott A320]

What have we all been driving? Why did you order a FFH?

 

I disposed of my '07 BMW328i Coupe by selling it back to the original dealer. (Ford Dealer offered much less, of course)

 

The FFH appealed as a statement against excessive use of fossil fuels. So far long-term average is 41.6 MPG; it has

exceeded my expectations in this and all other parameters. From a long-time BMW owner to this..... well it speaks

volumes as to the veracity of Ford's products. In fact, I just drove nearly 350 miles in two days and have zero lower-back

discomfort owing to seat design with plenty of lower lumbar support.

[William Horton]

My trade-in is a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid. It is a great car, but has 61,000 miles on it, and I am ready for a new one.

Rob.. I too traded in my 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid.. I really loved that car, mine had 58,000 miles on it.. We must have had similar experiences.. I REALLY love the FFH. In comparison to the TCH, I love the added technology and my overall fuel economy is upward of 38MPG and improving all the time since I am over 3,000 miles now. The transition between EV and IC is even more seamless and smoother.. The engine noise is a little more, at times, comfort wise, pretty much the same. You gotta had it to FORD for doing the FFH. It is no wonder it is a very good seller.. Toyota hasn't developed or marketed the TCH as much as I think they should have and seems like they were much more focused on the "pius". I made the switch for a few reasons.. 1.) mileage was getting up there and I had no extended warranty other than hybrid components. 2.) I had an accident where the car was in the Toyota shop for 3 months to finally replace the entire wiring harness and I felt uneasy about future problems. 3.) There HAPPENED to be a FFH in the local Ford showroom on the day I decided to take a look at one. 4.) It was the right color (Titanium white pearl with black leather) 5.) There was still a fragment of a rebate left $850.

On the downside, I gave up keyless entry and start, no homelink, no fold down seat, but I gained Synch, a better NAV, and travel-link + Sirius for about the same money as the TCH in 2006. Maybe a tad more for the FFH since I did purchase an extended warranty with this car..

All that technology breaking scares me in terms of future cost.

[pippin65]

we had a 2005 Honda Pilot with 51k. I must say I miss the storage and utility of the vehicle, however I am absolutely loving my grey FFH with navi. driving to get 45 plus is fun, fun fun. Just hope the reliability approaches my honda...

[cchaos]

I've had my FFH for over a year now, but before that I was driving an Acura RSX. Different classes of cars, but it's amazing just what a step up the Fusion is. The Acura was severely punishing on all but the smoothest of roads, and unbearable on long-distance drives. With the FFH, I can actually drive long distances without feeling wrecked afterwards. The Sony stereo system, climate system, SYNC, and smooth quiet ride are incredible. And the mileage is more than 10 mpg better, even though it's a bigger vehicle with useable back seats.The only thing I occasionally miss is the large cargo area of the hatch. I would also like it if Ford offered some sportier styling options, particularly for the wheels on the FFH, but otherwise I've been much happier with it than I ever was with the Acura.

[fun4u]

What have we all been driving? Why did you order a FFH?

 

I bought my FFH in July 2009 under a couple of attractive incentives: Ford X Plan and Cash-for-Clunkers Program.

 

I was able to use the X Plan through a friend who is a Ford retiree, which saved me about $3,000. I traded a really sick 1998 Chevy Astro van with 166,000 miles, a bad front axle and a very weak oil pump, earning a combined state and federal tax credits of $2.200.

 

This truely was a Clunker that needed to be taken off the road. Since the program required that the trade-in vehicle needed to be driven onto the dealer's lot (which was a 30 mile dirve), my wife suggested that we have it towed to within the last block!

 

July 2009 was a tough time to find a FFH, so I searched the Ford web site to find one that had been ordered by the dealer equiped the way I wanted it, but not yet shipped. The salesperson didn't even know that the car was on order til I told him!

 

My FFH came in white tri-coat and all the options except remote start. It has performed well for the first 9800 miles, and I enjoy driving it almost as much as my Cadillac deVille.

 

Mileage has been averaging 38-40, with an occasional 45 mpg. Suprisingly, the highway mileage seems better than the city mileage, but I guess that's because of the start-and-stop.