- #41 of 110
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Re: Recommendation [stevedebi]
by transpower
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Mar 01, 2007 (4:08 pm)
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Replying to: stevedebi (Mar 01, 2007 12:57 pm)
Well, I expected you to do the search. But you didn't, so I spent a couple of minutes with Google and found a mechanic who teaches other mechanics about hybrids. His name is Craig Van Batenburg, former owner of Van Batenburg's Garage in Worcester, Mass. Look him up--perhaps he can help you.
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- #42 of 110
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Re: Recommendation [transpower]
by smrekar
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Mar 01, 2007 (4:36 pm)
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Replying to: transpower (Mar 01, 2007 4:08 pm)
I checked google as well. Mr. Batenburg is no doubt a fine mechanic. However, his sites offer much for sale and no free advice to a non-mechanic as far as I could tell.
As a regular car buyer from Minnesota, I should not have to try to track down a mechanic in Mass. to solve my problem of awful gas mileage with the 2007 Mercury Mariner Hybrid. Ford/Mercury or the dealer should stand behind their product instead of taking no responsibility and simply using the company line of "Well, gas mileage varies with conditions, drivers blah, blah, blah". When you are getting about 18 and should be getting at least 30, something is obviously wrong.
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- #43 of 110
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Re: Recommendation [smrekar]
by transpower
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Mar 02, 2007 (8:22 am)
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Replying to: smrekar (Mar 01, 2007 4:36 pm)
Mr. Batenburg travels aroung the country training hybrid mechanics. Perhaps he knows of a good one in your area...
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- #44 of 110
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Re: Recommendation [transpower]
by stevedebi
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Mar 02, 2007 (11:46 am)
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Replying to: transpower (Mar 01, 2007 4:08 pm)
"Well, I expected you to do the search. But you didn't, so I spent a couple of minutes with Google and found a mechanic who teaches other mechanics about hybrids."
It took you two minutes to find a single mechanic on Google? That means there aren't a lot of them.
Most of the hits were people talking about how they could train mechanics, or the lack of mechanics, etc.
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- #45 of 110
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Re: Recommendation [smrekar]
by wvujeb
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Mar 11, 2007 (3:25 pm)
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Replying to: smrekar (Mar 01, 2007 4:36 pm)
Before complaining to Ford, why don't you try to figure out why you aren't getting the advertised mileage. Winter fuel mixes contain more ethanol and your mileage will be lower than usual. This applies to all cars. For the hybrid, the engine runs until it gets to 140F and will start back up once it drops below 120F. I would assume its hard to maintain that temperature in Minnesota winters. That is severely going to limit your mileage, especially if you are running the heater. If you don't use good fuel mileage techniques, that's also going to drop your mileage. Its very possible that there is nothing wrong with the car. The combination of all of these things may be the problem.
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- #46 of 110
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Re: For those who haven't seen it... [pf_flyer]
by dkaplan435
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Mar 15, 2007 (5:01 pm)
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Replying to: pf_flyer (Jan 30, 2007 1:15 pm)
Here are some non profesional photos. It looks pretty nice from the outside, but having read all the posts... I guess looks can be deceiving.
Lincoln Mariner Photos
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- #47 of 110
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You're Really Confused
by transpower
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Mar 16, 2007 (8:07 am)
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First, it's Mercury--not Lincoln. Second, that's a 2007 model. The 2008 model began production on January 26. And I've got one! And it's a heck of a lot better than the 2007 model!!!!!!!!!!
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- #48 of 110
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Re: Recommendation [wvujeb]
by smrekar
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Mar 16, 2007 (10:19 am)
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Replying to: wvujeb (Mar 11, 2007 3:25 pm)
You are correct. I was not aware of the engine running until it gets to 140F and then starting back up at 125F. This might explain the large decrease in mpg in MN winters. I purposely took the Mariner on a trip to Florida this past week to test it outside of MN. The increase in mileage as I headed south was dramatic. It peaked at 32.4 mpg (on the Mariner's 15 minute mpg screen) on our last day in FL (the air conditioning on seemed to have no affect on the mpg). I am still surprised that the temperature would have that much of an impact - a range from less than 18 mpg in MN to over 32 mpg in FL. I think it's a FL car - I left it there.
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- #49 of 110
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Re: Recommendation [smrekar]
by stevedebi
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Mar 16, 2007 (11:17 am)
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Replying to: smrekar (Mar 16, 2007 10:19 am)
"I think it's a FL car - I left it there."
Is someone available in FL to drive it periodically? Hybrids will go flat battery in about 2 weeks... 
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- #50 of 110
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Re: Recommendation [stevedebi]
by smrekar
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Mar 16, 2007 (1:09 pm)
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Replying to: stevedebi (Mar 16, 2007 11:17 am)
There is someone available to drive it next week. Thanks for the heads up. What does one do with a flat battery hybrid? Regular battery charger or what?
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