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AFAIK, the oil change alert is miles-only. Every 10K miles, regardless of EV%... at least I didn't see a difference in interval, comparing a period of highway driving (low EV%) and back roads driving (high EV%). Paul may be doing the oil life experiment... I don't like my oil results after 10K total miles enough to extend change intervals yet, so I'm very interested in what's different after 25K. Frank

Well, in 40K miles, I have 0 instances of dealer service for "BATTERY SERVICED/REPLACED." I have 4 instances of dealer service with "BATTERY OK," and no instances of 12v battery issues, in a 2013 SEL. I would suspect that service pattern in an SE. HAve fun, Frank

Welcome! For spares, the standard Ford 15" mini-spare fits, and there are a lot of jack options. Check junk yards... Floor mats also have options, even within a brand; I have Weather Tech mats, the kind that keeps you out of the melted snow, but doesn't protect the carpet as well. You may not care about snow.... And then there's the mileage stuff... many of us - have tire pressure close to sidewall rating of 51 psi - have blocked off one or all of the front grills - have tried one of many aero mods that promise improvement, but don't deliver. The first two deliver real improvements in fuel economy, if that's your thing. Look around; lots of good stuff here! Have fun, Frank

Yes, Ray has a unique situation, being an employee of the dealership, but I think most of us appreciate that there is a second conduit to the dealers when there are issues. And to our OP, Garth, your location in "rural NY" could be close to Rochester, or not. If so, I can recommend Van Bortel Ford. Nothing but professional, so far, and that includes the most recent PCM update on Halloween. On my rural commute (30 mph avg. speed), I'm running close to 50 MPG at 45F on 87E10 fuel, which is pretty good, historically! Have fun, Frank

I'll wager there are a bunch of us who could write this post. In my case, it's 40K miles in NY. The only warnings I'll give are: - watch out for 2013 SE's... 12V battery issue that should have been fixed by now, but... And SEL's are generally fine. - Try out Sync/MFT as this is the one thing that might push you to a new car. There's more than enough on the 12V issues on the forum. And lots of complaints, early on, about the voice-activated Microsoft entertainment system known as Sync and My Ford Touch. So much so that Ford changed providers, and starting with the 2015s, offers a different entertainment system across the fleet. I'm fine with my simple needs so I have no complains. If you found MFT burdensome, that would be a reason to consider a current model year car. Otherwise, it's normal used car buying, a case-by-case basis. HAve fun, Frank

This "card" strategy makes perfect sense. - use a medium (pre-paid card) that has a high inherent staleness rate. Uncashed cards cost you nothing! - offer a larger amount if you can insure you'll get all the money back. That last bit would really rankle owners, if not for the high maintenance costs of a VW diesel. It might be the safest option... Considering the majority of dinosaurs are believe to have been cold-blooded, this is one way they would not have been disadvantaged against smaller, warm-blooded animals. Plants also thrived, resulting in very lush vegetation that, when buried long enough, will become fossil fuel. Thankfully, the vast majority of the Earth's CO2 is bound in rocks, where we silly humans can't let it out. Using chalk on a slate is fine for the environment, burning it, not so much. HAve fun, Frank

The size they sell will depend on the brand they want you buy. Take a look at Tire Rack's "build your own" packages. They only offer 3 brands in a 15" size, indicating the 215/65-15 is not a very common size. The 16" packages have 19 tire options, and the 17's, 25 options. With tires, unless you want a specific tire that's only a good match in a 15, you're better off having a bunch of choices. I went with 215/60-16s on Ford steel wheels... and paid far more than you would! Tire prices are down!! I also went with X-Ice 3, and can make a good argument that Michelin got the rolling resistance right with these snows. HAve fun, Frank

To start, you should know better than plug a 330W device into a 150W outlet! You're fine with a standard 12V DC-AC inverter - Ford knows people use the 12V power - but there are alternatives. You never know if the 12V in the hybrid is "different," which it is based on the prohibitions (CRTs, motors, precision voltage applications). I don't see a switching power supply on that list. The first option is to start with a fully-charged battery. Like a C-Max, the power supply both runs the computer and charges the battery. Perhaps the car can support the computer load if the charging load is gone? 1A is to reduce computer power consumption if it's still pulling too much. Gamers usually overclock, etc. The other option is a lower current power supply. I'm using one that warns my PC would charge slowly... fine for desk use. Finally, a lower power computer... I'm on a 60W supply. I bet this one's power consumption is more like my son's gaming laptop. HAve fun, Frank

Until it's not. We know the longevity of a log book. See me in 10 years about "data everywhere." Frank

+1 Look at LRR tire specs, and many have less tread depth than similar tires from the same maker. Our OEM's are 9.5/32, not 10/32 or more. Save a little here, a little there.... HAve fun, Frankl

Not picking on Paul, but... There's a lot more going on with this second round of revelations; it's about public policy for managing environmental carbon load, the Kyoto Protocol But first, top speed is more important than FE in Germany, and so Europe in general. German engineering is partly prized due to the historical lack of speed limits on the Autobahn. That spreads to other countries in a form of international "keeping up with the Jones'." Everyone wants the diesel that can do 127 MPH (or 200+ KPH) more than one that can't. Top speed is all about power at high RPM. One might not notice in the US, but Germany? Next is that the latest round of revelations are hitting EU the way NOx hit the US. US public environmental policy is pollution-centric, while the EU's is carbon-centric. Car makers are taxed based on the carbon emissions estimates for their cars. VW gained significant economic advantage by rigging their CO2 emissions, across the board; this is not a "diesel" issue. The $2B this will cost VW is partly back taxes, a particularly heinous offense for a company owned by the local government. So, you can add TAX CHEAT to the list of VW's offenses, and this is one that's not likely to be blamed on a small group of engineers. They became the largest car company in the world dishonestly, but can't be punished for fear of ruining the Lower Saxony economy, much less the impact on Lower Saxony's tax revenue. Ah, the "law" of infinite dilution. No one will notice just a little more poison... Hasn't worked since the days of the Model T. I remember the smog dome over Philadelphia as a child. It wasn't a California issue, just worse in the LA basin. And remember, US emission laws came hot on the heels of the elimination of tetraethyl lead from gasoline. Lead is poison, and when concentrated in urban areas, the health effects were significant... once the news got out. Oil companies made lots of money on lead, car companies liked what lead anti-knock additives did for compression, so the research was buried... Kostby's armchair anarchist may want to consider that point. The EPA was founded in a climate of corporate opposition to any action, but the lead cover-up had come out, and public opinion was firmly in the environmental camp, so things passed. 1970 saw creation of the EPA, the Clean Air Act and Lead-based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act. No law was needed for unleaded gasoline, per se, as the only option for passing the CAA - catalytic conversion - was poisoned by lead as well as humans. I'm dubious of Steve's claim too... but I'm not racing for pink slips! That said, it would be perfectly consistent for VW to set an expectation with customers that there will be a change but they won't notice. Top speed is the perfect decoy, as it's going to be really obvious to drivers on roads with open speed limits (or not), but only if they actually drive that fast. Acceleration will be reduced, but ironically, city FE should improve with elimination of the overly-rich run mode. It will be interesting to see, because you know someone in the enthusiast press will instrument a couple cars, one with, one without the fix, and see what really happens. When the fix comes out... HAve fun, Frank

Yep; the car has a log book with the important stuff, while the trip data goes in a pile on my desk. Hard to beat marks on paper... Frank

Here's how mine starts, too. We're just two old guys with pencils, at heart... Being somewhat dyslexic, I use spreadsheets as a survival tactic. I got tired of checking my answers and getting a different result every time. Spreadsheet allow me to enter once, calculate twice if the answer looks off. HAve fun, Frank

There's always "quote" and "reply" but... "Hover" over anyone's name and a pop-up will appear that allows you to send them a personal message. This is the most common way the Ford reps interact, as they need some personal information you may not want made public, and it keeps discussion of specific dealerships off the public internet. It's a smart move on Ford's part, as issues get fixed quicker with less collateral damage all around. Not a universal solution, but better than ignoring social media. Have fun, Frank PS PM sent. Check the top line of this browser window.

Not bad averaging nearly 60MPH!

You did a spreadsheet, right? Interesting that you're going by ICE miles, not vehicle miles. My changes become: 10,434 unknown EV (prior owner) but high fraction ICE 9,663 3,767EV so 5,896 ICE miles 10,386, 6,192EV so 4,194 ICE miles My key wear-out indicator is TBN, and my oil is close enough to 1.0 that I'm happy with a 10K change interval. What I'm curious about are fuel in the oil, and wear products like Al, Fe and Mb, which all follow a similar high-low-high pattern. Hybrids have a unique run/stop pattern; does it show up in the oil? Fuel could just be from sampling a cold engine (I'll sample warm oil next time), but it's also a characteristic of cold starts. My first oil change was a January change, but the next two are August. There's no environmental effect between the last two, but a big flashpoint and %fuel effect. Need more data. Wear items should all show a declining trend as the engine breaks in. Three ticked up (Al, Fe, Mb), while others continued their decline (Cu, Si). No concerns, just potential trends waiting on an error estimate to become either signal or noise. So, quit talking and post some oil results!! HAve fun, Frank

+1 Velcro... forgot to mention the snows' dome hubcaps. Pizza pans cut to the right diameter - almost - and held on by Velcro to the center ring. The "almost" only applied to the front; lost one of the front covers first time out. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, but didn't realize I wanted to track it in time. The front wheels flex when you turn, the back don't. The backs stayed on the whole season. Have fun, Frank, who needs to do another round this winter!

I finally got a look at mine this weekend, after 40K. I don't plan on buying a replacement, and it will be at least another 40K before I look again. Here's why. This is what most folks react to, surface crud. Big stuff that will never pass the filter. I ignore this, you can clean it off if you'd like. I didn't Because this is the image that tells you something about the filter's state. As Arizona saw, these filters are barely used. New filters won't let much more light through than these are, indicating they still have the majority of their filtration capacity remaining unused. For reference, this is the filter from our vacuum cleaner. I banged off the surface dirt, to reveal that even this worst-case usage doesn't kill a filter. Red Devil suggests replacing the filter annually, but cleaning it after every use. At some point, I may do the same test with the engine air filter, but I doubt I'll change it, either. There is value to inspection, as a moist filter, or one with mildew would indicate a real service issue. In the absence of an issue, I can't see disposing of a good filter, especially since its filtration efficiency is better than a new one! HAve fun, Frank

Droid user here, but I have noticed the USB port in the console will only charge the phone very slowly. It's as if the port barely puts out enough current to run the phone, much less charge it! Only good for long trip maintenance. What you're seeing could simply be a variation in minimum current required to charge. I doubt Apple provides specs, but they may... HAve fun, Frank

Well, our just hit 37 months and 40K miles. Still only paid the dealership for NYS inspection, and oil changes. Lots of recalls... 10 to date. Have fun, Frank

Barring a purchase of subscription to the Ford service doc (which some kind soul here may look up), I'd go to the dealership and talk to the parts guys. This looks like dealer parts, regardless. Frank

I just hit 40K miles, and thought it might be interesting for those of us who can't leave the car alone to share some of the "less-successful" modifications. I'm not talking about adding a doo-dad that promised better mileage, I'm taking about things like this. As installed (air dam in front of the engine cover, so no interference with oil changes): What's left: The story: I made the air dam so the ends matched the height of the front wheel spoilers. I thought ground clearance was good. It was. Ramps were a different story. The dealership put it on a drive-on rack to do the oil change, and the air dam caught the ramp in front of the tire, coming off the ramp, which bent the metal forward on both sides. That didn't destroy it. A pothole did. At work, the internal roads have speed bumps. One of them, at a parking lot entrance, has a pothole on the far side, that you only hit if you turn into the parking lot. Being winter, the pothole was filled with snow. I come down off the speed bump, braking for the parking lot, the right front wheel finds the pothole, squeezes all the snow out so it can bottom really deep with the suspension compressed by the bump and the braking. End of the air dam catches the pothole and gets bent inward, under the car (I was turning), and starts scraping. By the time the weather breaks and I can get under the car, there's the stub you see at the end toward the car. Other end is fine, save removal damage. No harm underneath, either! But also no benefit, so no replacement. Anyone else have mistakes we could learn from? Have fun, Frank

+1 In an enclosed volume, water vapor will always start condensing on the coldest thing it can find. Clean the carpets, then park it in partial shade facing South and this is the kind of place that would get cold enough first. The one good thing is the rust looks new, but that may mean the car's been on their lot a long time (sitting sealed after carpet wash). This may not be reason to walk away... but be sure there's some sort of short term warranty, in case it doesn't go away with normal use. HAve fun, Frank

And now we return you to our regularly scheduled programming... I've been running 91E0 since June, so I compared with last year, June-October, when I was using BJ's 87E10. I see <0.5 MGP improvement when looking at the bulk data. (same route, temperatures limited to 45F+). This is in stark contrast to the 4 MPG improvement seen when I first switched over... that also went away as quickly as it had come. Curious vehicles, these! I submit this as I'm about to go in for 15B04, and more significantly, 15E03, POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE REPROGRAMMING. That could change things, but snow tire season is upon us shortly, and with the cold, far less chance to see the effect of octane or ethanol anyway. I'll be back testing something in the Spring... no, Summer. June is more like Summer. HAve fun, Frank

+1 Much more of a flood-the-market strategy than anything involving rational economics. I'm wondering if the Saudis have a plan, see an opportunity to continue to play on the global stage, like they have for the last 40 year. I hadn't thought about Russia, but my son was employed in the petrochemical industry two years ago, when gas was $4/gal. He's been unemployed for 10 months. Cheap gas is a financial burden on some. But reserves stay reserves, unless you're an Arab state, who retain their reserves, even as they pump them out. Brendan, Your GREET link has a problematic suffix, not shown on the screen. Let's see if mine is similarly troubled. https://greet.es.anl.gov/ This is a really neat site; the model's public domain. A buddy works in the energy industry and did a presentation on this and the Hubbert theory and Peak Oil, and his talk is what I was thinking about when I wrote that post. The idea is we would need new fuels to bridge the gap between fossil and (presumably) fusion reactions, given fission seems to have fizzled. What Hubbert missed in 1956 was new extraction technology, such as fracking, that are now predicted to yield more of a production plateau than a peak. My other take-away was that it's less carbon impact to drive newer, more efficient cars. I was under the impression that the carbon penalty at the point of new car delivery was so high, the planet was better off if I drove an older, less efficient car, like the many Volvos I ran past 200K miles. I was wrong by a factor of 10. GREET is what tells you that. HAve fun, Frank