HI All,

I am in the process of purchasing a 2006 FEH and am having trouble picking what options to have, so I am looking for opinions from owners (and hoping that someone from Ford reads this and sees that their limited choices on configuration may cost them clients). Forgive me if my first post is more of a rant. When I get my FEH, I will contribute my positive experences as well, I promise!

This is the first time I am getting a North American built car. I've owned 2 Volkwagens (old Scirocco and now a Golf GTI VR6) and loved them both. I also owned a Mazda 323 which worked for 12 years. Before each purchase I examined the North Americal offerings and could not find anything comparable at the time. Now that I want a Hybrid and a 4WD, I was happy to find that a North American company might actually have what I wanted!

The options that I want in my 4WD FEH are the following:

*Safety package (side air bags etc...)

*2 tone paint (titanium green w. silver bumbers since black is impossible to get for the hybrid).

*Moon roof

*Heated leather seats and mirrors called "Canadian winter package" for the non hybrid Escape.

I went to my local Ford dealer, test drove the FEH and tried to price it with them given the options that I wanted, which is where I ran into trouble. There is no Canadian winter package for the hybrid so the heated seats/mirrors are only available as part of a "premium package". The premium package also includes the nav computer AND reverse sensor system AND the A-gloss body cladding. None of these appeal to me and the package costs $5000 Canadian! So I would have to pay 5K for heated heats!

I asked to get the 2 tone paint as described in the "Appearance" package. They said that I cannot get the appearance package with the premium package. I said I only wanted the premium package to get the heated leather seats (as described in the Canadian winter package) and really, really did not like the A-gloss body cladding!

They said I could not choose what I wanted but to pick from what they offered (they were appologetic but did not have the ability to change the option configuration).

Giving up on the heat, I then said I wanted the moon roof. They said I HAD to get the premium package to be able to get the moon roof. I said The moon roof does not come with the premium package and is in no way related to any items in the premium package. It is available for the non-hybrid without pairing it with another premium package.

They said that the "computer" which takes the order from the customer does not allow us to pick the moon roof without the premium package.

What the heck is this? All I want is the 2 tone paint with the heated seats and the moon roof. Why is this too much to ask? These are all available options for the Escape, but for the hybrid, they group the options in stupid ways for no good reason. I don't accept making Ford's assembly planning easier for them as a reason.

Did most of you have to make simiar choices? I am prepared to pay more for a hybrid (and accept lower towing capability), but I'd like to purchase what I want and not what random bits they felt like offering. This is not the way to encourage us to go green. I remember now why I have never purchased a Ford. I'll probably "hold my nose" and get the FEH for the reason that it is the only 4WD hybrid in the size I want. If the Tribute were available or Honda or Toyota had a 4WD smaller than the Highlander, Ford would probably be out of the game again.

Thanks for any opinions on the matter.

Regards,

Roch Comeau