Test drove a new 09 and WOW what a difference, it was like a real car not the noisy rattle trap we own. But......
Holy cow the price is silly, $34,500 will buy a lot of cars. Heck I could get a 4cyl Escape and never recover the $15,000 in fuel savings. I LOVE the 09 but I guess the clunker stays in the driveway =[
Clif

 

A poster at Hybridcars.com said he just got an '09 FEH for invoice:
http://www.hybridcars.com/forums/tak...good-deal.html

The '09 FEH has been listed as the best deal all around by many agencies such as Kellybluebook.com. I'm about to log my 4th tank in a row over 50mpg and exceeding 700 miles each on E10. The FEHL has high end options and ride that are found on $40,000 plus vehicles and some are writing the Lexus 600H at $117,000 does not even compare to it in value.

GaryG

 

Interesting how would one find invoice pricing?

Oh yeah it was great, I mean we got into ours after the test drive and said what a POS. In comparison ours seems like a Geo Metro =] , I just cannot justify a $500 + a month payment for a car.
Clif

 

If you want to quiet things down, your local car stereo shop can insulate the doors and even the floor and roof panels to reduce the noise level. Different tires will help a lot too if you're still driving on the stock Continentals.
The '10 model which should be out in a few months will have a new dash design with an integrated Nav/hybrid display to make others obsolete. Then in '11 or '12 we'll have plug-in FEHs which will almost double the mileage and we'll really be driving a relic!
It's great that Ford is continually updating this technology, even if it trashes our resale values.

 

I don't get why people think the '05-07 are noisy. My '07 is amazingly quiet, even with the stock Conti tires, and 95% of my driving is highway. I test drove an '09, and saw no difference in sound, both city and highway.

 

You might also consider undercoating the bottom of your vehicle for sound deadening.

 

I was able to just buy one for the Xplan which is below invoice (slightly). I spent a considerable amount of time searching the Ford and Mercury websites to find vehicles in stock and then started calling dealers till I found ones that were willing to deal.

To find out the invoice price just go to Edmunds.com and look it up. On an Escape/Mariner it's about $1500 - $2000 below sticker.

For the type of driving I do, I figured that compare to a 6 cyl Escape, it will take about 3 years to make up the price difference in gas savings if gas is $3 per gallon.

The other advantages of the newer vehicle are things like Side Curtain Airbags, Electronic Stability control and the Sync System. Hopefully, I'll never use the air bags or stability control, but they make it a bit easier to justify that big car payment.