Salva

I ordered the brochure by mail. It hasn't arrived yet but, in the mean time, it occurred to me that some of "customer loyalty" offers may be available through the current Ford owners site - specifically MyFord. I logged into it (don't know the url, i just googled for "myford"). It still remembers me and my old '11 FFH. More importantly, under incentives, it does list a $750 private incentive on a '13 FFH. With a specific expiration date - 01/28/2013. And a specific certificate number - so I think this is "my" rebate. In addition to the public $500 retail customer cash. I don't know if the MyFord site works complementary or alternatively to ordering the brochure by mail. I will see when the brochure arrives. But for current Ford owners registered on the site, it may be worth a try. Especially if you are one of the lucky ones, about to take delivery of your new car.

On the headlamps issue - somebody in another thread said the actual recall covers vehicles built up to Oct 20th. So yeah, hopefully all being built for a while have fixed headlamps. On MFT - well if they have the version released for updates, I see no reason why they wouldn't load it in newly built units. Be happy, this is what new cars are supposed to look like, coming out of the factory. Nothing to fix :-)

You probably should talk to the dealer in any case, but you can also try. 1) Ford etis - google for "ford etis" and go to vehicle / vehicle lookup. Type your VIN and it will tell you a lot of stuff about your vehicle, including (on the left) a list of outsanding field service actions. I personally used this with VINs of cars in a nearby dealer lot and it did get some hits for this recall. 2)I believe Ford has a consumer friendly recall web page. I goggled "ford recall" and got to a page where you could type your VIN and see any pending recalls. I haven't tried it, though.

The OP on the following thread, elsewhere in these forums, included some wording in quotes that I assume is from the original notice. It gives a bit more detail. http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?/topic/51796-2013-fusion-headlamp-recall/

I don't really speak Spanish. But my native Portuguese is close, so I will try. It seems to be the biggest hits ("exitos") - 24 to be exact. From what I imagine to be a group called "Relampagos del Norte" - Northern Thunderbolts. In any case, enjoy...

:beatdeadhorse:

Interesting. You are right. I took a look briefly at a dealer nearby. Of the 8 total (1 hybrid) that seem to have made for sure to the dealer (i.e. they have pictures of the cars in the dealer parking lot and/or lobby), 4 need headlight replacement, according to ETIS. Now, this dealer in particular has a total of 51 units (34 gas, 17 hybrid) in the online inventory. I am assuming the vast majority is either not built yet or held in Hermosillo. And will be fixed by the time they are delivered. Still, quite a few seem to have made to dealers and, presumably, customers.

What's the bar for being a "true recall"? Vehicles already delivered needing rework? If so, how many? There is at least another forum member, in another area of the forum, claiming a delivered '13 Fusion that apparently needs the headlight replacement. I'd be surprised it's the only one, but there may not be that many. If Ford can talk to those folks individually, is it enough for not being a "public recall"?

Hi cyberdman, Could I get another update, please? Per last week's update, it should've been built by now (who knows, perhaps even shipped!). But I still get no sticker for that VIN,. Not sure what to make of it. Many thanks, Salva '13 Fusion Hybrid, Ruby Red Dealer Code: F74003 Order Number: M109 VIN 3FA6P0LU8DR193062

I am not sure I understand the highlighted part. What do you mean "Ford doesn't control"? As I understand, the customer (and the dealer) produce the order. Ford has all control in the world to take that order and assign it to a specific vehicle with a specific schedule. At least, that's what I understand based on my few weeks in this forum. Even dealers have limited control - only relative priority, which just affects their piece in the pie. Everything else is cooked up in some darker corner of Ford, where orders (retail or otherwise) are scheduled. So Ford - and nobody else - takes an order and assigns to a vehicle. So why couldn't Ford go back to its own dark corner and say "reschedule those retail orders". I doubt anybody would care if their order became associated with a different VIN. Maybe, as you seem to suggest, the "system" doesn't allow it. But it's their system, so if it doesn't allow for this scenario it's their fault too. In numbers - the retail orders affected are rumored to be in the 400 range. For a total of 20-30k vehicles rumored to be held back. I also saw elsewhere they are producing 6-7k Fusions/ week. Hopefully now (and for the last 2 weeks at least) going straight to dealers. So, if somebody high enough at Ford cared enough to try to override the "system", perhaps those 400 vehicles could be spread into 1-2 weeks of production. And, by now, perhaps they would be all on the way to the dealers/ customers.

My order isn't affected, so no direct interest here, but.... Why is reordering necessary in the first place? Why couldn't Ford simply reschedule the retail orders held in that lot? It seems it would solve the problem even faster (and painlessly) for the people affected.

According to the following press release, same delta as AWD from FWD, for gas only. That would be 2k MSRP, I believe http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=37178

Exactly. I was counting on the actual car and how it will look so my wife will stop giving me grief about the wheel upgrade. She did think the red was justifiable, after she saw a Fusion in red at he dealer. The wheel upgrade - including the extra trip to the dealer to change the order - she hasn't yet bought into. So I'm still the fool willing to pay 500 extra for wheels just as good as the ones in the car we test drove. The car, however, is looking like an early Jan proposition. Maybe this picture will bring me relief and my "told you so" moment sooner :-) Thanks

Fantastic. Exactly how my order should look like. Mine is close to yours. I just skipped all the driver assistance stuff

If currently built cars are being shipped directly to dealers, as your data point indicates, this is good news (or conversely, the reverse would be terrible news). If production rates are anywhere near normal (big if), they should be able to fast track the rumored 400 or so retail orders held in the massive 20k "quality control" lot w/o much of a sweat. So, it looks like this sausage has a chance to become a lot a tastier towards/ after the new year.

Like others in this thread, I've never bought ESPs with a brand new car, in 20 years buying cars in the US. I can only remember one instance (an engine repair on that 96 Chrysler Town and Country I still own), where it might have made a difference. So I feel at this moment, I am ahed of that game and can take the risk (again) on my new order. You absolutely can get it later and I don't think it is even necessarily more expensive, as the financial guy might try to make you believe. They (same dealer, usually) keep sending offers all the way (and I think sometimes after) the warranty expiration date. I bet I will get some offers next year, when the warranty on my totaled 11 FFH expires. That will be ironic.

I would take a 17 quicker, probably. The wait is killing me (my order I will probably only see next year). I think you will be happy either way. At the event yesterday, my dealer had a hybrid in black with the 17s. Looked great. This, I believe, is the video mentioned in the other reply

I have, though on different occasions. Both looked good and it's certainly a matter of taste but, imo, the 18" luxury looked better, so I will pony up the extra $500 if my order ever makes to my garage. I actually prefer them to all stock wheels, including the 19" options on Platinums.

Hi cyberdman, Could you please track the following: 13 Fusion Hybrid, Ruby Red Dealer Code: F74003 Order Number: M109 A VIN, if available, would be helpful Thanks in advance, Salva

13 FFH, replacing a 11 FFH which i had for 1yr 9mo and lost in an accident. Used as "my" primary vehicle for daily commute/ errands.

Like people said, in "traditional" hybrids cabin heat is done the same way as in conventional car, so in the winter the ICE will run more to keep the coolant warm enough for that. Curiously, the 13 FFH manual states (page 150 or so) this is not the case for the upcoming plugin Energi, which presumably will have some sort of electric cabin heat element. I imagine It will probably run the ICE long and frequently enough to keep the engine block at a reasonable operating temp.

That matches my experience with my 11 FFH. On a similar vein, I often got better mileage on routes (some of them with same start /end points) that had slightly rolling terrain, as opposed to dead flat. My *speculation* is that in both cases you end up running, overall, the ICE more efficiently - higher percentage of the energy going to something useful, movement or battery charge - for shorter intervals. And that is better than running it for longer at a lower output that barely moves the car, and ends up with a battery more or less constantly depleted. That's all while I was driving in what I callled "normal driving mode". Basically fit in the traffic flow as I would with a non-hybrid vehicle. Less than 5% of the time I had the car, I tried what I called "aggressively slowing down", and I think a lot of people call "hypemiling". That is going as slow as my patience (and minimal safety) would allow. I got better (sometimes much better) mileage that way. I didn't find it particularly enjoyable. Or safe. So, for my new 13 FFH I plan to stick to "normal driving". And hopefully get low 40s mpg lifetime, while still enjoying the drive.

Nice job! Looking at the other exceptions this year for that carrier, this is in the "big rocket parts" league. Defintelly more than a software upgrade. And hopefully solved by now, before our cars are produced. Now, out of curiosity - does any of car industry people here venture to guess what parts of the car these can be. At almost 15' long x 8' wide for the die, looks quite big for a car part. At least for a casual observer like me. But may be it isn't, I've never seen one of those in person.

Deadman, I see where this is going... Just be happy with whatever decision you make. We will be here to support you, as long as you post pictures for the less fortunate of us lol

Mine is 6-8 PM, local. At least on the dealer I ordered. I went to the "Random Acts Of Fusion" website. If I am willing to pay ~35K on the car, might was well risk getting it for free... I am still struggling with their site a bit but, if I understood correctly the rules, it should be possible to win w/o showing up in person at a dealer. If I confirm that and manage to do it (though in my case, I probably will go to the dealership, pending wife approval), I will update... Meanwhile, on a ligher note, I came across the following picture on the site (it's a link to the regular "build your fusion" page). Is Ford mocking people in this forum ? How many here feel like that ?