Hi all, I'm potentially purchasing a 2010 AWD FEH with 60K miles in the next week or so. It was a trade-in at a non-Ford dealership so I may arrange to take it to the nearest Ford dealer to have it checked out.

The factory warranty is expired (no ESP on it that I know of). I could buy an ESP (they have ones priced specifically for F/M/L which are out of the 3/30,000 warranty) but they are really expensive, even at the discount internet dealers like Troy Ford, Flood Ford, etc... Like approaching $2K for 2-3 years 36,000 miles. I'm almost wondering if I might be better off just putting that money in a savings account to pay for any repairs myself.

I've read lots of threads here and elsewhere (escape-city, cleanmpg) and most of the problems I see being discussed relate to the 1st generation (and also the pre-2010 2nd gen)... things like MECS pump, blend door, power steering, leaky rear hatch, etc. I'm sure I am forgetting some. But it seems to me that those issues no longer pertain to the 2010+.

So I'm left wondering what are the remaining known issues for the 2010-2012 FEH? I know that battery cooling may be an issue due to using cabin air for cooling (I will get a SG2 so I can keep an eye on the NiMH battery temp). Anything else you would recommend I try to check out before buying? I read a recommendation to attempt to drive at least 1 mile in EV mode (I assume that would be easiest to do in a large parking lot or a side street). I'd also like to test the AWD somehow but I'm not sure how to best do that.

Obviously the CarFax is totally clean (otherwise I wouldn't even consider the vehicle) but it contains no service records, which is not that unusual. It's a 1-owner personal vehicle so maybe whomever owned it just didn't have maintenance done at a dealership--can't say I'd blame them.

I've read a bit about rust issues in wheel wells and on the edges of the liftgate. I'll be sure to check for that.

Any other tips would be most welcome. Assuming I purchase an SG2 this week, is there any way I can program it for the proper PIDs while powering it in my current 2002 Explorer, so that it will be all ready to plug into the FEH for the test drive? Or can the FEH-specific PIDs only be added when it's actually plugged into the FEH?

Many thanks! Looking forward to joining the ranks soon.

 

Looks like you've researched this very carefully, and I agree with what you've found. The electric power steering failure is much more rare, but not entirely absent, from the post-'2009's. A friend has a 2010 FEH with about 40K miles on it, and I don't think he's had any unusual trouble. Others will have to comment on their reliability otherwise and the SG2 matters.

 

Thanks for the post xspirit. Yeah I try to research everything to the nth but just didn't really find any previous thread that summarized the remaining issues that still pertain to the 2010-2012.

I did just remember the dot.gov site where it shows official recalls, TSBs and complaints. It reminded me that the vehicle I'm looking at may be affected by this issue with the Throttle Body Sensor:

I think this one I'm looking at was manufactured like the week prior to that, ha ha. I'm not sure if it's rare enough I shouldn't be concerned about it or if it's something I ought to have inspected or even proactively replaced. Anyone end up having this problem in their FEH? What's it cost?

That site also reminded me of a couple other issues I vaguely remember reading about--shattering rear hatch glass (is there something I can do proactively to prevent this, short of never opening the hatch?

Also a TSB (TSB-22353) regarding a leak in a check valve of the braking system--anyone happen to have the full text of that? I can only find a summary on the net.