65fairlane

Some additional information on my reasons for purchase. I wanted the best mileage possible with AWD and decent ground clearance. I really use the AWD in snow and ice, and also drive a lot on gravel and dirt roads and found the ground clearance to be a real benefit. I have not heard if the C-Max will offer those features.

As a very happy 2008 Mariner Hybrid owner, I found it surprising that Ford would discontinue the Escape Hybrid. I can see that the switch to EcoBoost would mean a hybrid powertrain redesign or the need to continue the old hybrid powertrain and that could present problems. But even if the new engine gets equivalent highway fuel economy, there's no way it could match the hybrid in city driving. In addition, looking at gas prices near $4 today, I think it might be time to give reconsidering the decision some serious thought. If we have any kind of major geopolitical problem in the Middle East, gas could easily rise to $5 or $6. Hybrids would be worth their weight in gold. I've got 70,000 miles on my vehicle now, and no desire to change to anything else. But this vehicle convinced me to move from a Japanese import to Ford, and if I need a new one I'd buy a new model Escape Hybrid to replace it. It seems strange that Ford would want to pull the rug out from customers like me by not offering that option.

Try filing a Better Business Bureau complaint with the dealer. Go to www.thebbb.org.

I have the 2008 Mariner Hybrid with the leather package. I drive it a lot on rough dirt/gravel roads for camping, often with the rear seats folded down to store more gear. I have noticed that the metal floor brackets (with the small yellow tab) that the seat bottoms latch into have some sharp edges, and when the seat back is folded on top of these brackets with some weight on them and some friction from bumps on the road that the brackets are beginning to cut into the leather. The solution is to put some old socks over the brackets when the seats are folded down. As a product suggestion, installing a small carpeting flap next to the brackets that could be folded over them would be a nice touch to keep the seats in good shape.

Don't forget about tire inflation. When temperatures drop in the winter months, it's easy to lose around 1 mpg just from the pressure change in tires. The EV battery performance also drops in colder weather. Keeping the vehicle garaged will improve the situation so the battery doesn't have to take as much time warming to optimum temperature.

I was at my dealer for service today, and they had a list posted on the wall of Ford vehicles and chain recommendations. I was surprised to see that the Fusion Hybrid cannot take tire chains. For people who live in snowy climates such as myself, that's a showstopper. I was also surprised to see chains are not permitted on the Focus. When fuel economy is a major customer concern, people do expect the basics (tire chains) are taken care of. Could explain why I don't see very many Focuses in my area.

I have the '08 Mariner Hybrid and with summer finally here I'm using the A/C. According to the manual, the "auto" setting is supposed to turn the A/C on or off as needed to maintain the desired cabin temperature. As far as I can tell it's not functioning that way at all. With "auto" engaged the A/C will turn on if the inside temperature's too hot, but then it won't turn off unless I press the A/C button myself. Once it starts the A/C I've even turned the temperature setting up so it's clearly higher than the interior temperature. The fan speed slows, but there is still some cold air coming from the vents and the light on the A/C switch is still on. The Econ setting is also on when I see this behavior. Could the software for the hybrid have a peculiarity that didn't get fully tested? Econ mode does work as there is no A/C while in electric-only operation. Am I missing something? Does anyone else see this behavior in the climate control? Thanks.

In winter, the ICE runs when you cold-start the engine for several minutes to warm up the catalytic converter. So you get similar warm-up for the cabin heat as if it were a non-hybrid. I found that I had some heat after just two minutes of driving from the garage. If it's bitter cold (below zero) there is an "econ" disable switch that will force the ICE to run constantly. You would lose some mileage benefit, but the heat would stay on continuously. In winter, electric drive times are substantially reduced because the battery performance isn't as good when it's cold outside. So for the most part the heater should not be much of an issue. Most complaints I hear about are for air conditioning in the summer, when in stop/go traffic the electric motor is running a lot, and there's less ICE time for the a/c. Once in a while, I am punching the econ switch in 100-degree weather. But for the 33mpg, it's worth the inconvenience.

Check out http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24669757/wid=1...h_hybrid_080515 for their take on payback times for hybrids (at $3.40/gallon for gas)

Same here. I've got the stone/leather interior on the '08 MMH and while I do like the leather, the dash is so light that it created distracting reflections on the windshield. It was the color I hated the least. I bought a custom dash cover in a dark grey that has thankfully eliminated the reflections.

I had a problem with not receiving a cash incentive on a purchase last year. What I found is that the BBB is your very good friend. I recommend you go back to the dealer and ask for either a guarantee of a delivery date or a reduction in the deposit amount if they cannot do that. If the answer is no, simply state that you'll file a complaint with the BBB. I had to file one with my dealer when they withheld the cash incentive. On the day the complaint was due to be closed as unresolved and go against the dealer's BBB rating, like magic a check arrived. I would not file a complaint yet, just talk to the dealer and gently state that $3000 is out of line, mentioning the BBB only if you get s**t. On my MMH I put down a $1000 refundable deposit. The link to BBB is http://welcome.bbb.org/. Enter your zip code to start. Once you get to your local chapter's site, click on the File a Complaint link to file one. First, check out your dealer's rating on the BBB site, there's a link for that too. Never buy a car or any substantial purchase without checking the BBB complaint record for that business. It's more than once saved me from a big headache.

I thought the design in the Mariner Hybrid was a little strange too. While it's not too hard to put the needle "a little past halfway between 20 and 40" if one wants to go 35 in the speed traps in my town, all Ford really needs to do is place a small dot at the 25, 35, 45, etc. mph points in front of the tip of the needle, and a larger dot at 10, 30, 50 mph points. As far as I'm concerned, if they did that the twenty lines between the numbers could disappear altogether and the design would be much cleaner. The slightly longer tic mark at 10 mph between numbered intervals lies underneath the needle and isn't visible when it's on it. That's a poor design too. Anyone coming from the old days of analog gauges in engineering (as I do) knows you don't hide gradations under a needle. In a nuclear power plant, that could spell disaster. Of course this is an SUV and not a nuclear plant, but there's something to be said to design things so that they are usable. Especially when paying $30,000-plus dollars for them.

I wasn't advocating the public be told about X-plan in a nationwide radio show, simply that a savvy customer should know about ways to eliminate dealer markups. It didn't take too much research to find out how to do it when I bought mine.

NPR ran this story talking about dealer markups for hybrid SUVs. Ford was cast in a bad light, but GM took some licks too. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...toryId=89248524 The potential Escape Hybrid customer interviewed apparently did not know about X-plan. The Ford spokesperson quoted gave the impression that Ford is doing something about production because of the Kansas City plant's double shifts, but the story line makes it look that not enough is being done to get more vehicles to market and reduce the dealer markups that are scaring customers away. NPR listeners are some of the staunchest fans of hybrid vehicles, so this story indicates frustration of a very important group of customers.

I want to personally thank the people in the KC plant for building my Mariner Hybrid! There is no inventory anywhere to be found now, so things are at the point that you must place an order to get one. With gas approaching $4, I get questions all the time about mine. I am sure glad I got one before the demand went through the roof. You've got to believe that Toyota and Honda are watching.