Gary,
I've decided to sell my 2008 FEH and go with the Energi. We'll see how it goes. We have a large sedan for the family vacations anyway. Thanks for your help.

 

Wise move Steve, get top dollar for the FEH while you still can. Find out what the NADA is on the FEH, and start there for pricing. I had both of mine detailed before I sold them, and that makes a big difference.

The '15 Energi's are just now hitting the lots, so shop wisely. You get the $4007 Federal Tax Credit, and I think you still get a check from California to boot. Join the C-Max Energi Owners Forum and get help on how and where to buy. Take one for a test drive, but make sure the battery is fully charged first. When I test drove my first Energi, the battery was drained and it had an average of 18mpg on it. The sales people didn't know **** about the car before I bought, and they assumed it just got bad MPG. After the sale, I told my salesman to charge the battery in one, and try driving that one. He did what I told him and he had a big smile on his face telling me about it. He still calls me asking questions about the car that buyers are asking.

Good Luck!

Gary

 

NADA? I looked up KBB, which showed between 13500 at "fair" to 15500 for "excellent". I plan on asking for 15500 if they want to transfer the warranty, or 2K less if they don't want the warranty. I still have 5 years and 48K with a 50 deductible PremiumCare. If I were buying used, it would be worth the money, but it doesn't make a difference to me.

Mine is the AWD, which is pretty rare here in SoCal.

 

I use NADA (National Automotive Dealer Assoc.) because that's what my Credit Union uses to value a car loan. When I sold my '09 FEH, I used NADA and told the buyer my CU would loan that amount. They got their loan from them which made everything easy.

The extended warranty on my '11 Explorer is through Costco, which covers more than the Ford extended warranty and cost less. It's a $100 deductible no matter how many repairs are made on the same visit. The Costco warranty can be transferred to a new buyer for a flat $40 anytime. I plan to sell the Explorer at 90,000 miles with 6,000 left on the warranty. I normally don't keep cars that long, but I love the '11 Explorer Limited.

Gary

 

I'm working on the deal now, I don't know if it will work out for my finances. Even with the rebates, that is one expensive car. Meanwhile, I don't have the funds to install 220v for a charger (my house is pretty old and would need an upgrade to the fuze box, I believe). Any idea how well it might work on 110v? I've read some comments that it doesn't pre-heat and pre-cool that well with the lower voltage.

 

I started preconditioning with the A/C with my 110V charger, so I know it works just fine with that. It is my understanding that the heater will not allow charging at the same time.

I was in the same boat as you to purchase the level 2 charger and have it installed. Home Depot had 24 month 0% interest free financing over $1999, so I got two gift cards to pay their contractor and order a charger from Home Depot. Their contractor came out and gave me a free estimate as to what you need and the cost, and you can order the charger online based on their estimate. I had more room than I thought, so I install a 50amp circuit and #8 wiring for $500, so I got the biggest charger that Home Depot had which was a 40amp Leviton for $1098. It has a 25' cord, so I can charge in my garage or my driveway. Home Depot stands behind the work, and the contractor took the gift card as payment. I can unplug the charger which cannot be seen behind it. The reason I when so big for a charger was because I can now charge any EV as fast as possible for the future. I also got a 30% Fed. tax credit up to $1000 for the installation, but I heard that ended for 2014. I cut a 4" hole in my wall next to the garage door and installed a dryer vent for $10. I can pass the EV plug through the vent door so I can charge cars in my driveway with the garage door closed.

Steve, anything is possible for your old house. Just call Home Depot for an estimate and advice. My panel is packed, but the electrician told me there was still all kinds of ways to add yet other things these days. Home Depot's contractors don't want to screw up there business with Home Depot, so they go by a fair price schedule and stick to it. My contractor had never installed a EV station, but he was so proud of the installation, he took photos for his album.

Gary

 

Gary,
Thanks for the great advice. If my deal goes through (I should know today), then I'll check out the costs.

 

A friend of mine at the airport installed a level 2 charger in his hangar for a Toyota Rav4 EV. He shopped around and bought his charger off eBay, saying that was the best deal available anywhere. Might be worth a look.

 

I shopped around also, and that's what led me to Home Depot in the first place. Everyone including Amazon wanted 4 - 5 hundred more for that same charger. When I found out a way to get great financing with Home Depot, that made the deal even better. Leviton has "a required" mounting kit for that charger that is another $100, but it was on back order from Home Depot. I called Leviton to see if I could order one, and they said it was on back order also. The guy at Leviton wanted to sell me the same charger for $1500, so I told him Home Depot sold me the same unit for $1098. He said they can't sell that charger near that low, and he can't see how Home Depot could. I said to him, Home Depot sells millions of dollars of Leviton electrical equipment a month, maybe that's the reason. At any rate, the electrician said the plug was a standard welding 220 plug and I didn't need the required $100 kit that was on back order. He mounted everything great that was included in his bid.

Gary

 

To hopefully add something helpful, we just sold our 08 FEH via private party for $9500 after 1wk on CL, which was far more than the $6000 the stealership offered. I couldn't get them to budge above that at all, even with all the maintenance history and receipts I had on it. Their loss.

Our 14 C-Max Hybrid has about 800 miles on it now, and we're loving it. So quiet, responsive, and fun to drive I would get a 2nd one in a heartbeat -- an Energi if I could afford it, but my trips and annual mileage don't warrant it. My average is in the high 40s now, but the wife drags it down with her 'digital' style. Miss the FEH storage a bit, but the trade-offs are well worth it.