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My 2006 FEH actually came in trade from a rural Pennsylvannia dealer who couldn't sell it for several months. Cowles told me they scooped up several from the initial '05 and '06 allotments to all the rural dealers who never really served the Hybrid market.
Frustrated at not finding the local Stuart Florida Mercury Dealership in the hybrid business, I sent a note to Ford President Alan Mulally. He not only replied but issued some instructions that resulted in my being able to test drive a Mariner Hybrid this morning. Glad I pursued this, because the car was better than expectations and a tribute to the Ford design and engineering team. I will be a Mariner Hybrid owner as soon as delivery is possible.
John Dixson
What dealership are you ordering from ? & What is the wait time for delivery ?
I'm in Palm Beach Gardens the Ford & Mercury dealerships are telling me 8-12 weeks !
I'd pass along one technical note that I discovered yesterday, and which the dealers do not all seem to be aware of, which is that the Nav System in the 2008 vehicles is the new Ford Motor Co touchscreen system ( that is in the new Lincoln's as well ) and is certainly resolves the complaints regarding the original system. You can find the Operators Guide for it by rooting around the Ford.com website.
Thanks,
John
With such high demand why doesn't Ford increase their manufacturing schedule?
For Ford it's too much bother and makes too much sense to increase production when demand is high. They will float along like they have for the past year and sell off assets. It's easier that way. And besides, their mgt employees are tired from negotiating contracts with the Unions. They don't have time to bother with things that could make them profitable, especially no brainer ideas like producing more of a product whose current demand far exceeds its supply.
I'm sure you've heard of the farmers saying of "making hay while the sun is shinnin". Well, Fords idea is to take a snooze while the sun is shinnin. Like I said, it's easier that way.
I heard at a dealer just today,that most of the hybrids go to the East and West coasts.
While searching, I ran across this little gem: check out zip 90210 (link below) on forddirect.com (make sure you look at ALL the dealers)...
http://www56.forddirect.fordvehicles.com/IncomingPage.jsp?lang=en&sUserInterface- Branding=1&sModel=2008Escape_Hybrid&makeTransition=ToFilter&sZip=90210&sReferrin- gSite=1
I have found a terrific dealer who is doing everything possible to get me an 08. How wonderful life would be if FORD did the same. I am on the brink of ordering, but the 4 to 5 month horror stories are turning me off. Any words of encouragement? By the time the 08 may get here, I might just as well wait for the 09's. I hate being on the hook for that long. I sit and wait and what consequences does FORD en-cure for the delay?
The whole process is making my head hurt!
My salesman is a fleet sales mgr. (connected through a friend who buys 6+ commercial vans per year) & although I rec'd. an X-Plan price I never thought that I would have to wait this long.
After pressure from myself & my friend, my salesman told me that he had the dealership owner intervene with a Ford rep. to specify what few FEH's of the next order batch they wanted first. This is the only reason that I expect delivery before year end.
By the way, this dealership is high volume supplying all of the NYC taxi as well as NJ Public Service Elec/Gas fleets so it shouldn't be hard to bump up a personal vehicle in place of a corporate one.
My advice is to complain & pressure your dealer as much as possible. This is definitely a case of the squeaky wheel getting the oil.
I am very happy now, and love my new FEH!
Merry Christmas all--There is a Santa Claus!
chuck
The demand for hybrids in general in the last half of 2007 has put a lot of pressure on several battery suppliers in Japan. Improving the supply capacity is a long term process which involves a lot of capital investment. Battery manufacturers are understandably cautious about these kinds of expenditures. However, we're working to resolve the issue of hybrid batteries' availability long before the introduction of the Fusion Hybrid later this year.
In response to several large cities demanding that taxi fleets be replaced with more fuel efficient vehicles, we produced a lot of Hybrids which made it into taxi fleets around the country. Although the east and west coasts had received a slightly larger proportion of FEH production, new vehicle orders are being processed in the order placed.
With that said, we are producing 2008 Escape Hybrids as fast as possible. The situation is not ideal for Ford or the consumer but we truly appreciate our customers' patience and loyalty. If you have a vehicle on order, please contact your dealership regarding the status of your order. If you're interested in more information please visit fordvehicles.com or your local dealership.
For Fomocona,
Having owned a new 2008 MMH for a week and a half now, please pass along to all at Ford that the vehicle does everything it is supposed to and was delivered with zero discrepancies. Fuel efficiency here in South Florida meets or exceeds the published values.
Only comment that I can offer at this early stage of ownership is that the tech writer who authored the navigation system booklet ought to look at what others are doing in that area. GPS based nav systems have a lot of features and capability, and need appropriate descriptive information and graphics to enable the user.
Thanks,
John Dixson
Finally in December after getting tired of pestering my local dealership, I followed the advice of a poster in this form and emailed Mark Fields and Allan Mullaly at Ford with the hope of speeding things up.
At first things looked promising. The sales manager at the dealership had been contacted by the regional rep, who in turn had been contacted by the executive office. I was told my order was being expedited.
It's now the middle of January and I just finished speaking with my dealership. They tell me they hope to get a build date this month which would mean delivery by March.
Are you kidding? How was that expedited? If I had placed my order in December I could understand it, but I had placed it in July.
I read posts here from people waiting 4-6 months. Am I going to be the first to wait 8 months? Did anyone else have to wait that long?
The order was placed in Canada which does include some options in the base package not included in the USA.
Of course I'd love to just buy one off the lot in the US (I'd save time and money), but Ford doesn't allow that...
Stephen
2008 FEH 4WD
It seems odd that had I have been there an hour earlier I likely would have drove one off the lot.
Since then, none have ever been on the lot since.
Not exactly fair, but I guess it makes sense.
I've had my car for almost a month now, (3100 miles on it) driving in central Florida, and using the econ button. The best mileage I've gotten was when I took it to the mountains & was coasting downhill a lot. Then I got 31.9 mpg at the best. Don't get me wrong, I'm still thrilled with the gas mileage, but I'm looking for improvement.
Any advice?
Sill wondering how you are doing so good on gas mileage.
I am new to this forum, only started looking for either a FEH or MMH a week ago. Had a 02 Mazda Tribute for two years and really liked the car, wife gave it up to our daughter in Texas. She wants the hybrid - bad - and I'm probably going to go along since the last 2 car buying decisions have been mine.
I've seen on the message board a lot of frustration about ordering delays, which I may not want to go thru. Also, there are several dealer locally that seem to have inventory, but the trucks all have the full boat of accessories, and my guess is that all (or at least most) of the ones shipped to dealers are like that to maximize dealer and FMC profits, since they're not making money on these, or are just barely.
So my question is, if I want to get one of these (either type) by April, can I trust the system to work on a special order, or do you think I'll be forced to just get the best deal I can locally. There are about 8 showing up as available in the DC/MD area.
Also, what types of incentives or discount buying services, like Costco, are available that the dealers will take?
Cheers,
My daughter bought a Toyota Highlander Hybrid, and while it's very nice....it cost so much( $38K) that it will take 10 years to recover the money it cost in gas savings.
I checked into the Costco buying program too. No dice on the FEH. The web site asked me if I still wanted to be referred to a dealer, even though there would be zero price advantage. Out of curiosity more than anything else, I clicked on Yes. It referred me to the Ford dealer in Tysons Corner, VA. The guy contacted me and assured me that if I order a FEH (which is my personal preference), they would not add any such $3000 "premium" to the price tag.
The Ford dealer in Leesburg, VA also promised not to add the "premium", so I'll probably end up ordering from the folks in Leesburg but have the service done closer to home at the Sterling, VA dealer.
I don't want to take delivery until mid-April, so I'll take my chances and order a FEH in early March. If it takes a long time to build (battery shortage, taxi fleet priority or whatever), so be it. I'd rather get exactly what I want. I'm a patient person. Every car I've ever bought except one has been custom ordered. Heck, back in 1986, I ordered a Chrysler unaware that two weeks later, UAW would be on strike and ended up waiting 3 months for the car. The only thing that even slightly concerns me about ordering a FEH is the model year change-over period when assembly lines traditionally shut down for whatever retooling is necessary to build the next year's editions. I have no idea when that is for the FEH, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.