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Hybrid Vehicles Ford Escape Hybrid New Ford Escape Hybrid Owners - Give Us Your Report
125 messages, Last post on Nov 01, 2008 at 10:17 PM
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My story with a 2008 FEH is not so good. It seems I got one of the ones that was very noisy, and I was subjected to a huge array of whines, whistles, and other strange noises. The noises were so bad they were painful and Ford would not do anything about it. They said, "This is normal hybrid noise, the vehicle is operating as intended, there is nothing we need to do, and nothing you can do." BS-lots of people have FEH's they love and get way better gas mileage than I was getting. My car was obviously a lemon. I have read similar stories on the web. The dealer bought mine back at a loss, but I will never buy a Ford hybrid again and I will tell my story to anyone who tells me they intend to buy one. Seems they need to change their definition of what acceptable noise is. When they work, they are great. But when they don't, Ford says you are stuck with it.
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Replying to: anne_d_h (Jan 21, 2008 8:13 am) I don't know your driving conditions but if it was a lot of slow driving in wet conditions I may have had an answer for you. I have had my FEH since '05 and it has been great. The only time I had a whine was early maybe not even a month old when I was going through a Safari Park in rainy weather. When I would press on the brakes at or around 5 miles per our I got a 'hum' or "whine". At first a little disconcerting, but when the engine was running the "hum" wasn't there. I chalked it up to some re-generative braking issue and it being new. Looks like I was right since it has never done the "hum" or "whine" again and I have over 45000 miles on it (just got back from a trip to the mountains and 12 degree weather and it ran great). BTW not to mince words and I'm sure it wasn't what you wanted but the dealer did buy it back so you didn't end up stuck with it. |
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Starting in October, my Ford Escape Hybrid mpg began dropping. Up unitl then, I was very pleased with the 34+ mpg that I was getting. I took it to the dealer in November and after keeping it all day, they said "the computer doesn't show any problems. The colder weather takes more energy to warm the car up. That's why you are getting lower mileage." Today, I am at 26 mpg!!!!! I also have problems with the transmission not shifting - I am often at 3000 rpms going 30 - 35 mph. Also, when its cold, for the first 5 minutes, the brakes do not recharge the battery! No explanation from the dealer on that issue. I often downshift to get the battery to charge in the first 5 minutes of driving since the brakes don't recharge the battery. Has anyone else had similar problems or have any suggestions? I would appreciate any input. |
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Replying to: lbones (Jan 26, 2008 11:41 am) I'm noticing that the engine doesn't turn off until it's warm (~1100 rpm), but the assist and charge seem the same. I am also getting a lower gas mileage in the Virginia cold. . . date miles gallons mpg 11/8/2007 3647.9 12.15 27.4 11/18/2007 3948.0 10.90 27.5 11/30/2007 4233.1 10.04 28.4 12/11/2007 4479.7 9.72 25.4 12/21/2007 4765.3 11.64 24.5 1/2/2008 5072.8 11.15 27.6 11/3/2008 5365.2 11.11 26.3 1/3/2008 5586.5 9.07 24.4 1/8/2008 5917.1 11.71 28.2 1/18/2008 6251.5 12.74 26.3 ave mpg 30.0 |
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Replying to: lbones (Jan 26, 2008 11:41 am) |
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Glad to hear I'm not the only one. Sadly to say but trust me it will only probably get worse. In the summers we usually get about 26-28. The dealerships generally speaking do not have techs who are experienced enough in these vehicles and hence the responses we get ie, "give it a few more miles it'll get better" (nope) "you have snow tires" (well duh!) "it's parked in a garage at night" (yep) "it isn't parked in a garage at night" (nope) "you drive it too far" (nope), "you drive it too fast" (nope, wife's car and has a fit if you go over the speed limit) and my personal favorite-"well you have to remember it's a one person car"-Huh? Say what? "Oh and by the way that'll be $90.00 because we couldn't find anything wrong with it. Which is amazing because it went from 11mpg when we took it in to 20 afterwards on the next tank. (Thanks Cal W. for nothing.) Have them reset the computer that seems to help especially when the weather changes, I have no idea why. These FEH really do not do well in cold weather, But I will say this-my wife absolutely loves the car. For her it has AWD and she loves the way it handles. For me-last night on the way to a movie some moron in a rice Honda pulled out without looking-(during the summer I Autocross/solo) what this thing did on glare ice was astounding.(swerve, brake, swerve) I though for sure we had him. I had to look to see if we had paint swapped, hang in there they are great vehicles despite the faults Randy-Alaska |
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Replying to: lbones (Jan 26, 2008 11:41 am) The RPMs is also normal. The transmission does not shift like a normal car. It is doing what it is suppose to do though. Many times, I am up around 4000RPMs. It may sound like it is revving, but this is where the computer is telling it it should be to get optimal performance. Trust the CVT transmission. signed, still happy with my 24mpg 2008 FEH |
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Replying to: lbones (Jan 26, 2008 11:41 am)
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Replying to: dguild (Feb 05, 2008 11:35 am) 
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