You'll get the feel of it after you've had it a while. I'm pretty good at accelerating without the engine kicking on and I don't really think about it anymore. You'll also find that after it's broken in it'll do much better. I easily noticed that I'm getting better economy in my 2nd and 3rd year of ownership than I did in the first year.

As for #2, just print out a picture of a graph with really bad fuel economy average and tape it over the screen. I'm sure she'll notice pretty quickly but at least you'll get a laugh.

Congrats on your new car!

 

I had a brand new Dodge Ram once that was damaged in transit. The dealer was honest enough to call me and ask if I still wanted this truck. So they gave me an opportunity to look at it. The damage was very minor, and I said I had to see the repair afterwards. The dealer was the body shop that fixed it. I never had any issues with what was done. I was just happy that the dealer told me about it.

 

My Toyota dealer offered such a warranty on my Prius, but the warranty is offered by a 3rd party company (it's not really an offer from Toyota themselves).

Oh... and "the catch" (the dealer informed me) is that assuming you make no claims against the extended warranty they don't proactively return your money. You have to remember to send them a letter to request the refund -- they assume just like product rebates, most people will forget.

 

about the extended service plans...
shop around. those prices sound high. I paid $950 for a 5yr/100k/$100deductible extension that covers everything when I purchased our new '07 FEH. My Ford dealership offered this third party esp. I believe some posters here have found cheaper prices at the Ford ESP website than what the dealerships quote- for the exact same plan!

 

It appears the plan I bought for $1000 is $800 online. But hopefully I don't need it, ever, and I get all mine back in 5 years. Just gotta remember to file for it!!!

Oh, and this note on the website, i think it's on my paper as well, makes it sound like any repair is against the ESP

* The New Ford ESP coverage period is measured from the Ford New Vehicle Limited Warranty Start Date and at 0 miles. Click here for a more in-depth explanation.

 

Be careful about buying extended warranties from some of the 3rd party providers. The car companies aren't likely to go out of business, but those 3rd party warranty providers very easily could. And if the provider goes belly up, so does your warranty - along with the money you paid for it!

 

I second the warning about 3rd party warranties, especially those "good anywhere".

My son got a used car with such a warranty. We quickly found out that "good anywhere" really meant "good nowhere". No service station wanted the hassle of dealing with a warranty company.

So, if you buy a warranty, make sure it comes with a place that you are sure will perform any warranty service.

 

You also need to remember that third party ESPs are like health insurance for your car, and as such the company must be registered as a insurance provider in the state in which you reside. I got caught by one of these dirtbag companies (I even had two lawyers look over the contract before I signed; they can be slick!) and the warranty wasn't worth the paper it was written on. I went to the BBB, and they did what they could, but the provider had so many BBB complaints that they didn't care. When I took the matter to the enforcement division of the state Dept of Commerce, they suddenly became very understanding and tried to smooth things over. It didn't work, they were levied a massive fine, and the AGs office took them to court (unfortunately, I couldn't join the lawsuit).
So, basically, don't trust anybody. KIDDING! Although it might be more expensive, you know that Ford (or GM or Toyota, etc) will always be around, actually knows what the heck they're doing specific to your car (no offense to local mechanics; I love you guys!) and actually face repurcussions if something in the repair goes wrong.

 

I have an 08 and my seats heat the butt part and the back area. I tried it the other night and both areas got hot really quick.

 

My 06 is the same way.

~John