raadsel

So if you weren't still under warranty you'd have to pay for the update? Or perhaps those out of warranty wouldn't be able to upgrade.

Glad to hear the car and deer are ok, and that you and the wife are mostly ok.

The other big thing hurting trade value right now is gas prices, which depresses the hybrid market. It is a great time to buy a hybrid, not so good for trying to sell one.

Congrats!

Personally, I think the best way is to negotiate before you ever get to the dealership. Make a deal by email, contacting the various dealers in the area and, only after you have agreed on a deal, go in the dealership to sign the papers and pick up the car.

I'm going to disagree about keyless start on the C-Max being a malfunction point. I understand the argument on a typical car but, the difference with the C-Max (and hybrids in general) is that you aren't starting the car in a traditional sense. Basically, "turning the car on" has more in common with pushing the start button on your computer. Turning the key/hitting the start button merely starts up the computers and connects the hybrid battery -- that is pretty much it. Once the computers start, the car then evaluates the charge state of the hybrid battery and/or if you are wanting cabin heat, and decides if it needs to start the ICE. As to whether the SEL is worth it depends on what you are wanting. The leather seats are nice, and having the heated seats is nice in winter, as well as having power seats. Depending on where you live, the fog lights could be important to you. I really like the rain-sensing wipers, they work well for me, though others don't care for them. Also, the backup sensors are worth having. What package you have will also make a difference. You can get MyFord Touch in SE models with some packages. On the SEL, you get a backup camera and the power lift gate, including the handsfree option. I'm surprised how much I've appreciated being able to kick my foot to open the lift gate (though this option is also avaliable in the top package of the SE). You also get the Sony stereo starting with the 302A package on the SEL. Hopefully this helps, that it gives you some idea of if the SEL is worth buying for you.

When you sell a car, do you lure people in with low prices but then refuse to sell at that price, saying you added $2000 in improvements that actually only cost you $100?

Absolutely nothing like that in their fine print but that does sound like the type of thing they'd do.

Texas has to be one of the most consumer unfriendly states. I liked Cargurus.com but, in Texas, they aren't allowed to show price changes on their site, due to Texas laws. It still helps, since it shows how long the car has been listed online and they do show if there has been a price has changed (just not how much it changed). So much in Texas seems to be rigged against the car purchaser -- from being forced to work with a dealership (Tesla isn't allowed to be sold since they don't have a dealer network), basically allowing dealerships to lie in advertising by not disclosing "mandatory dealer add-ons" and even some false claims. As one example, I had a dealer I had bought a car from claim they'd give 20% over Blue book value for my used car; when I talked to them about it, they wouldn't even give me the Bluebook value (and less than a dealer was offering to buy it outright, not as part of a trade), not even close to the 20%. I found out that isn't the first time they've sent out that ad, but that they've been doing it for years.

It's not that the Fusion has an update you can download, it is that one of the Fusion Hybrid owners who showed the update downloaded the file onto an Internet hosting site, then made the file available on the Fusion Hybrid forum for those that weren't showing the update available. I'll agree with Rebecca that there is risk in using someone's copy of a file and that it is better not to do it. In my case, since I was still on 3.5 and not showing an update to even 3.6, I decided to take the risk; I saw others on the forum had success doing it and decided it was worth the risk for me (which many will still see as stupid). The upgrade took a long time -- particularly one update that seems to not move for 20 minutes or so -- but successfully completed and has been working perfectly. When the upgrade is finished, it creates a file that you load back onto the Ford Owner site to show you performed the update; after uploading the file the Ford Owner site showed that I had upgraded to v3.8.

To start with, my recollection is that one of the people there had used the update successfully on his C-Max. Beyond that, these types of updates do quite a few checks before installing, basically to keep mistakes from happening, that ensure that the update is for that unit and that the installation files are not corrupted (or have been tampered with). As for how I know now, not only does my MFT work well, including the hybrid specific screens, but also the Ford Owner site shows that I'm running the correct version (though, it could be easily argued the Ford Owner site isn't dependable, or people would be showing they have updates available).

For those that are interested, this post is where I got the information for the download to update my car to v3.8. I risked it because I figured it would be a long wait before Ford fixed it, and the fact that several people claimed to have used it already to successfully update. Rebecca (our Ford rep) recommends against it but, otoh, I've had the update working in my car for a couple of weeks now....

Actually, demand for oil is not down. The reason oil is cheap is because the OPEC nations are keeping the price down, they are trying to drive the oil shale producers, both here and and in Russia, out of business (and succeeding).

I think it is an issue with programming on the Ford Owner site. I saw an update on the Ford Owner site at one time and didn't download it and later it had disappeared -- so my MFT was stuck on version 3.5. It almost sounds like, at least what may be happening, is if you go to the Ford Owner site and don't download an available MFT update (likely even if you didn't see it), that the update goes away. It may even give you a week or two but, at some point, the update "times out". I can't say this for certain, but it would explain why a couple of us saw different updates at one point, only later to have the update disappear.

The article is mostly about the psychology of driving in heavy traffic but hits on a couple of ideas about how people overestimate the time saved by driving faster. For example, talking about going 60 mph instead of 70 on a 10 mile trip: "Going at 70mph, the drivers thought they’d arrive over seven minutes earlier. The actual time saving is just 86 seconds." Additionally, they cite a researcher that found, "a speed increase of 1km/h takes 26 seconds off your life expectancy." There is little that is really groundbreaking in the article, and likely little that most of us haven't already learned, but interesting to see in print.

If you can't get this worked out and Ford buys your car back, and are willing to go with a sedan, I might suggest trying out the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. Since it has a traditional automatic transmission, it doesn't have some of the odd sounds that you get from the CVT. The 2016 version of the hybrid (technically the 2nd gen) appears to be quite good; Alex on Autos considers it and the Honda Accord Hybrid as the two best hybrids currently.

Tesla Model S, the Mercedes S Class, and the new Hyundai Sonata Hybrid are also .24. The GM EV1 was .195 and the Volkswagen XL1 is .189 -- I think the looks of both show why it would be difficult to get a production car much lower than they are now -- particularly if they are not fully electric.

Let me add one picture, a satellite view from Google Maps. This is one of "those lots" which thousands of cars are parked in Houston. Even better, this is specifically a VW owned lot. Yes, if you drive by it in months like July or August the lot is overflowing (you can get a good view from I-610), as they have imported the early stock of the next model years cars but haven't yet shipped them to dealers (in the above view, you can see the trains there where they are loading the cars). And there are times, during the year, when they might build up some inventory as they've shipped in cars faster than dealers are selling them. There are other times that the lot is largely empty. Actually, I should drive by there sometime; I wonder if they don't have a large number of 2016 diesel cars sitting on the lot that are in "limbo", since they can't sell them until the emissions modules are fixed.

I ended up having a strange night last night and, as part of it, used the update linked from the Fusion Hybrid forum. My car is now updated, I really like the updates (since apparently I was coming from 3.5.1), and owner.ford.com now shows me on v3.8.

This update is allegedly for all vehicles with Gen 2 MFT, at least per a post by the Ford Rep on the Fusion Hybrid forum, including 2013s that did not get the 3.7 update. Of course, the availability of the update, on owner.ford.com seems to be hit and miss, some seeing it and others showing their MFT is up to date. Looking at the C-Max Energi forum, it appears at least one person there with a 2013 had the update available and installed it without issue. The update largely appears to be for Apple users, is allows Siri Eyes Free to work through the MFT system, as well as quicker connections to phones. The other update is better navigation in China; I'm guessing that won't be much of a concern for most here. ;) Personally, I didn't show any update available and, when I checked, my MFT reports that my MFT version is only 3.5.1 -- it doesn't even show an update to 3.6.2. Anyone have any ideas what might be going on with that? Someone posted the update to their dropbox, with the link available on that Fusion Hybrid thread -- at least one person claims to have verified it based on the file he downloaded (at least in terms of the file names and sizes), and at least three there claim to have successfully updated their 2013 vehicles (I think a couple of Fusion Hybrids, but also an Mkz). I have to say, it is tempting to try that update on my car.

The reason the US "leads", as I understand it, is because we drive far more miles than most other countries in the world. From what I can find (though this will vary by country), the average European only drives 4,500 per year, which is about a third of what Americans drive.

As I understand what he was requesting, that would be part of the "Energi-only" area of the forum. In some ways it makes sense, since the two cars are so similar; and with neither car being "popular", compared to say the gas-powered Fusion or Focus, it might improve responses on issues that are common to the Hybrid and Energi.

After 3 years, it could just be the age of the battery. It is likely worth having the battery tested, it could be close to being time to replace it.

I think there are some key differences, in this case. First, this is the only case I am aware of where the manufacturer intentionally programmed the car to fake passing emissions tests. Additionally, the car will "pass" emissions tests in the areas that require it, and many that do emissions testings don't actually test diesels. Next, most cars with safety issues are something the owner should want fixed; typically recalls being done help, or at least are neutral, in respect to the cars resell value, as well as to the performance of the car. This is the only case I can think of where the fix is likely to make the car "worse", hurting both fuel economy and performance -- and as such will hurt resell value. I also wonder if there won't be some amount of "protectionism." I'm sure GM, which sells the Chevy Cruze which directly competes against the Jetta/Golf, will lobby for VW to be hit hard. GM will likely complain about how much expense they have had in creating a clean diesel. Although there are some VWs built in the US, I am thinking a US company, one recently bailed out, may have some pull to make it harder for these VWs to stay on the roads -- with the hope that some former VW owners are willing to try the Cruze diesel. The difference with VW is the very high emissions, compared to the standard, and the fact that is is against owner's best interests to get the recall done; I can't recall another recall that is close to this. Typically the recall issue only effects the owner, in a positive way, directly. This case is different since the owner is actually damaged; it is others (and the environment), because of the NOx, that are harmed. I think because of the special circumstances the government will have to do something different, at a minimum for the cars that have no urea system and are the worst polluters.

I disagree, I don't think it is that easy, particularly if you have private companies doing the testing rather than the government. First, you have to trust the people doing the emissions checks, that they are actually asking for the paperwork. Since many of the emissions testing places I've been use low paid employees, I'm not sure how many will even stop and think they need to ask for proof the recall work has done. Alternately, the dealership has to provide the documentation to the state, with the state ensuring they update the various cars records and track cars that don't have the recall completed. You also have to have changes in the registration/testing software so there is a field that tracks if the recall has been done. There is also the issue if the owner changes states. At the very minimum it requires changes in regulations and updating their software. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. My personal thought, the absolute "best" fix is for the government to require VW to buy back all the vehicles -- and that may be cheaper overall for VW, as well. This way there is no issue trying to track what vehicles have been "fixed." The only issue then is ensuring current VW owners don't lose money on their vehicle, that they are able to replace their VW diesel with a comparable vehicle.