I just bought my FEH 06 last Tuesday and never got the VSC to work. I keep pressing the battery icon on the center console and nothing happens. In addition, the gas station button next to it works but the screen doesn't show my MPG. I took it in for server tonight to be seen tomorrow.

What bothered me was that the service advisor said that they will have a radio guy coming in tomorrow to look at it. He said he's not seen the FEH with NAV befor and he's not sure what the problem is.

Anyone have this problem?

Thanks.

 

I've had no problems with mine so I can't help you there. However I do ask you to try to have some patience with the service people. Truth is, it probably didn't matter if it was the hybrid or not, the NAV or not... its a radio and high end electronics. Its not really a mechanics field.

More than likely even the "radio" guy won't be able to fix it if its not a wiring harness problem. In which case it will have to be sent back and a replacement provided I.

My father is a parts manager at a Ford Dealership. As I recall they usually send radios back and don't try to fix them themselves.

On the other hand, if you want to get peeved and scream at Ford itself....you might have a point. You'd think that would have gotten caught in the inspection.

Hopefully its just a wiring harness that shook loose or something when they shipped it.

I hope the rest of your experience with your SUV goes better. I love mine and have had no problems with it whatsoever (knock on wood).

 

Thanks for the encouraging words.

What really bothers me is that the dealer that sold me the car may have known about the problem now that I thought about i. When I was test driving the car, he did not show me what the buttons do and I know that there's just no way that they can cover everything in a short period of time.

However, when I finally bought the car and was leaving the dealership, the guy didn't show me how things work. This was different than my previous experiences with other automobile purchases. He pointed me to the quick guide and where the NAV section is in the manual.

Frankly, I consider it my fault for not asking but it was late in the evening when I purchased my FEH. I just hope that they are able to fix it soon since I already miss it. Like you, I like my FEH even though I lost money on my trade. But I like the fact that I am doing my part in helping reduce the bad emissions in our environment.

Also, I don't feel as bad when I hear that gas prices keep rising every day now. And don't feel as offended as others when the government is considering a $100 tax rebate to solve the rising gas prices

Thanks again.

 

The salesman probably didn't know himself.

I can tell you that I work in a car dealer & I am the only salesman here who knows anything about either hybrid vehicles or GPS features.....

~John

 

Unfortunately, your experience is not the exception to the rule, neither in my own (limited) experience nor the (vast) experience of fellow hybrid owners. I suspect only Toyota Prius buyers are treated to a likelihood that the salesperson might actually know something about the hybrid vehicle they're selling. Instead, if you get any information at all from the salesperson regarding the hybrid aspects of the vehicle (Escape, Civic, Accord, etc. hybrids) they will get it wrong. I had to correct our sales guy three times before he finally swallowed his pride and admitted, "You know a lot more about hybrids, and this vehicle, than I do." So he shut up for the entire rest of our test drive as I clicked through the Nav/energy display screens and talked about them with my husband (I let my husband drive; I knew I wanted the hybrid Escape, but wanted to be certain my husband wouldn't hate the driving experience -- he loves it.)

Anyway, hybrids are still such a low volume of the U.S. automaker's sales I'm afraid they are doing a pretty poor job at educating their salesmen... or, more aptly, the salesmen are doing a poor job of reading /studying all the materials Ford makes available. (For example: I know my salesman had a Ford Escape Hybrid DVD with video and tons of text files about it, yet he knew nothing beyond EPA miles per gallon. I know he had the DVD because {drumroll} he gave me his copy (with his name written on it in permanent marker). So much for educating himself... he gave away his only source of information.

I'm not knocking Ford specifically, here, by the way. I think it's endemic of all the U.S. automakers and probably even all non-Prius/non-Insight sales. If a vehicle is a "crossover" (eg. from gas-only to hybrid) it isn't getting the kind of attention and training that the typical sales guy/gal needs to properly discuss/sell the vehicle. And why? Most hybrids probably sell themselves... we're not at a point yet where the AVERAGE potential new car buyer will walk on a lot and possibly be steered towards a hybrid version of the vehicle they thought they wanted to buy... though gas prices are definitely making that more and more likely, and the salesmen who have foresight have/will start reading forums like these so they're conversant on hybrids and cognizant of hybrid driver's/owner's needs and desires.

 

Let us know when and how this gets resolved for you. I have had my 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid (FWD) since March 6, 2006. No problems to report (other than the driver's side seatbelt locking too easily. Having that looked at soon.) Like you, we took ownership of our Escape late at night, and a few things were missed in the process -- I had to return for the vehicle's floormats, and also to have some scratches (sustained while the vehicle was in the showroom) buffed out of the bumpers. Don't blame yourself about not catching it, and (see my long-winded post) certainly not for pressing the salesman on how things worked -- if he's honest, he would have had to admit at some point, "I honestly don't know. You should check greenhybrid.com/Yahoo's ford escape hybrid group/hybridcars.com/etc."

I suspect it's a loose wire and nothing more causing your problem, but that's just me talking out of my ear... I'm no mechanic or radio expert. I just know that some people have reported losing that data (MPG, battery charge state, etc.) when disconnecting certain wire(s) during some self-radio upgrades. There's at least one wire that is responsible for transmitting that data to the Navigation radio, and if it's bad or disconnected, no data... So someone just needs to pull the unit, check that all the plugs are connected (and where they should be), and if that doesn't work then go from there.

 

I just got a call from the service advisor and she informed me that they are going to replace the whole unit since the unit the I have is faulty. I feel better about the whole unit being replaced instead of a bandaid fix and may only break again later.

I have to say that I was quite pleased with the service advisor and her technician this morning (compared to the service advisor last night and the dealer). They were very courteous and they really listened well. This beats my experience with my Nissan dealer and service guys.

I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks for the feedback.

 

Don't feel bad. I might blame the salesman. When I purchased my FEH, the Salesman had a checklist he had to go over and I had to sign. If he didn't go over a part of it well enough for my to understand it, I made him go over it again. Plus, as mentioned by several people, I knew more about the FEH than the salesman knew. While test driving, he (the salesman) kept changing the AC setting to make the engine run constantly. It got the the point where I had to ask the saleman who was buying the vehicle. Since I was buying it, I wanted to checkout as many areas on the hybrid side to feel comfortable with the purchase. My FEH also has the NAV systems.

I also purchased my FEH late at night. Although it took me about 4 hours from start to finish between test driving (2 models) and completing the purchase. Plus about 2 weeks after my purchase, the dealership called me to inquire about my experience. Ford also sent me a survey to fill out as well.

When I took my FEH to the dealership to have my brake problem fixed, the service advisor admitted to me that they were going to learn about the FEH while working on my vehicle. So as was stated by GeekGal, you'll have to be patient as well.

On a side note, I've had several people at work want to check it out and feel more comfortable looking at mine than going to a dealer.

I am also glad to hear that your dealership is replacing the radio unit. Hopefully that will fix the problem for you.

 

That's pretty bad that they didn't take you through the car when you boughts. When I purchased my Escape (and my Civic), my salesman made sure I knew how everything worked because both mentioned that it would be on the post-sales survey (and they wanted to make sure they got high marks). Make sure you fill out the survey.

By the way, even though they wen through it, I knew much more than them but it was still nice.

 

People at work wanted to look at mine when I drive it in and ask me a ton of question from how it works, price, problems, drive, feel, safety, and all. The only thing that I don't do is have them test drive it since I don't want them screwing up the MTE and my MPG

I have been reading GaryG's post and I must say, I don't ever think that I can get my MTE to 715 and I am currently at 478 which is up from 445 when I first drove off the lot. In a way, I have to balance my driving habit and be sensible but not a pain to others.

I think it's already a rub in the nose to some people that we're driving a hybrid. It would be more of an insult if we are not courteous when driving but I also undestand it goes both ways. I set a goal though to try to get it to 500MTE and I will be happy with that.

Thanks.