I went through two Ford dealerships and their sales reps until I found a sales rep I felt comfortable with at the third.

The first two gave me the usual party line about 1) the hybrid components will add $3K to $5K over the cost of the nonhybrid counterpart and 2) city mileage 36, highway mileage 31. Beyond that, they didn't know didley-squat but tried to act as if they did.

The third looked me in the eye and said, "I suppose you already know about the additional cost and performance?"

I nodded.

He said, "I don't know much about hybrids beyond that, but I'll look up any questions you have about them."

Guess who made a sale?

Actually, I do have some sympathy for the sales reps. As a teacher, I get asked many questions by my students. I don't know all of the answers. My response to these is to tell the student I'll check it out and get back.

If only it were as easy for sales reps to do the same thing/

'06 FEH 2WD "Sainte Marie"