I went to the Ford dealership closest to me (guerinkeywest, I asked for the guy you recommended. He was there and without batting an eyelash, remembered you and what car you bought) and test drove an '08 non-hybrid Escape. I knew within 5 seconds of driving it that I'd be fine. So that question is answered. Whew!

I told him that I wanted an '09 FEH. He made a little bit of a face, saying that production wouldn't begin until the 3rd quarter of '08 (yes, I know. October) and the "green states" get more of them so I probably wouldn't see mine for another 6 months after production (yes, I'm prepared for that) and the price of the '09's are about $2K more than the '08's (yep, I know). I told him that my husband works for a company that offers X-Plan and that if they could get that price for me, they could have a sale the day after tomorrow (when my husband is off from work). He said it's dealer choice (I said I know) and that he'd have to talk to his manager and he'd let me know in a few days.

OK fine. I'll wait until Thursday morning and if I haven't heard back from him, I'll call him back.

We'll see what happens...