My local dealership called today and said they have a '09 Escape brochure with my name on it. Let my Son (just got his driving permit) drive me down in my '09 FEH to pick it up. I noticed as I turned into Mullinax Ford they had a FWD FEHL, Black Pearl Slate W/Nav and side steps (fully loaded) sitting on display. Billy Stamboulides a sales associate, came out to meet me and ask me where I got my '09 FEH. We talked a bit and I was curious what they where looking to get for the '09 FEHL. He said I could drive it away for window sticker with no dealer fees. He said they also have a Lt Blue FEH coming in.

This dealership is 11 miles south of Jupiter in a small town called Lake Park. If anyone is interested in avoiding the $1,000 price increase Aug 1 and getting the $3,000 tax credit this year, call Billy and say you got my message (Gary Gattis). I would use my credit or debit card on the phone for a down payment before it is sold. Make sure Billy agrees to the terms above. This one was just in and displayed today. I think the sticker was $34,070

Good Luck

BTW, my Son averaged 49.2mpg on his first drive in my '09 FEHL on a ~25mile round trip that started with a cold engine.

GaryG

 

I was at the dealership today and the Hybrid Tech took me for a ride in a light blue FEHL to compare the A/C ECON mode to my FEHL. We had to set the temperature to 78 degrees for the FEHL to go EV.

The Black Pearl Slate FEHL is still on display I saw two weeks ago and they now have two other FEH's for sale. Man, I would have thought someone would have bought them before now!

GaryG

 

The Black pearl slate one is not still on display. There is a Ford Flex in it's place on the showroom floor.

 

On another note, I was told on the 09FEH that only when there is a big discrepency between the set temp and the cabin temp will the ice stay on in econ. If the interior temp is close to the requested temp, the feh will go ev. It may have been 78 for you today because the interior temp was fairly high.
This was a result of complaints that the interior temp got too high in hot climates when stopped for long times. The complaint was that the driver would have to keep switching the econ off to cool down the vehicle. Now the re-program will let you go ev, unless its gets ALOT hotter than the desired temp, in which case the ice will start up and cool the cabin down...

thoughts, comments, concerns?

 

Sean, I didn't get up close to the Black Pearl Slate Escape today, but it was on display outside in the same location as before. It may have been a gas Escape with the Limited wheels, but I don't think so. If you drove over to see it, and it was sold, maybe the deal fell through or they got another one in like it. When I saw the Limited wheels, I just assumed it was the same FEH I looked at on the 10th of this month.

Never mine the above, I just called the dealership and spoke to Ray Mowen cell phone # 561-281-7699 and he confirmed the other FEHL was sold and that is another Black Pearl Slate FEHL they just got in. Ray said he would give the same deal Billy stated. Forgot to ask if it was FWD or AWD.

GaryG

 

I know they sold it, it's in my garage.

 

Congratulations Sean! That's why you canceled your order with ViperPilot. Give me the name of your salesman for a $100 bird dog fee. It will not effect what you paid, but it is a custom for sales persons to offer this. Everything I post is true and you confirmed what I said was true. The FEHL you purchased was the one I posted about on 8/10/08.

 

In my opinion, it is a step backwards. In my 2008, I have the choice of allowing pure EV or manually turning off ECON. In the 2009, you don't have any choice; the FEH turns on the A/C automatically.

I often run with my temp set at 60 degrees, using manual fan and direct vents. In my 2008 I can go EV with this setup; in a 2009 the A/C would run all the time.

What, they think people are too stupid to reach down and turn off ECON if they need A/C while stopped? That's what I do when the family is in the car.

 

I look at it a bit differently. By setting the temp at 76, I can come to a stop and the ice will shut down. If, however, traffic is real bad and I sit there as the temperature rises SEVERELY, the ice will kick on instead of;

A: Me cooking ( I can remember sweating on a couple of occasions in the 08)
B: Reaching down and shutting the econ off manually.

Before if it got too hot inside, I would always be switching the econ off and on, off and on
...
Sometimes sitting there till I could take it no more, then clicking the switch off..Once I got moving I would click it back on...

This gives me the best of both worlds while letting the truck switch the econ "off" for me.
I still can ADJUST my heat temperment by setting the temperature higher, which will hold the ice off longer before taking over.

Having owned an 08 and an 09, there are many changes in just one year of production. It's stunning.

I'm sure more posts are to come on many of them.

Sean

 

Gary,

My Salesman was Shawn Marks. Good luck on the bird-dog.
If you get it, I'll meet you in Tampa (1/2 way) and you can buy me breakfast with some of that money!


Sean