My wife and I are considering giving our Explorer to our daughter this summer and purchasing an FEH for my wife. Although some people received discounts from MSRP, when we purchased our Camry Hybrid about five months ago they were going for MSRP. What kind of deal should we expect on an FEH? Also, any idea how close Ford is to hitting their 60,000 hybrid sale and having the federal tax crdit reduced?

Lastly, my wife only drives a little over three miles to and from work right now. Since our other car is a TCH which gets almost three times as much mileage as the Explorer we don't use the Explorer that much. I'm sure the FEH will get more use, but will be seeing a lot of 3 mile trips. Does the hybrid make sense or should we consider a small non-hybrid SUV with good mileage instead like the Honda CRV or Toyota RAV4?

Thanks...Marc

 

Marc, Two things:
First: If you really only drove 3 miles each way, you might (I shudder to suggest) consider any other vehicle that gets stellar FE. Cuz, it's never going to go into electric. But, if you are considering the FEH, does that mean you need to haul stuff around sometimes? I mean, even if you have a young kid or two, you could get by with another TCH. So, if you plan to use it as a truck, your justification goes up some amount.

Second: I believe they are not very close to the 60,000 sales limit. But, I couldn't find the backup on that. Some other smart person will likely post a handy link this morning.....

As a side note: Could not be happier with my purchase. Highly recommended!

 

I used the friends and family of employees discount, called the X-plan. That is just under invoice, and it is pretty easy to make friends of any Ford employee to get it (there are matching up websites if you want to be linked up with an employee).

I also ordered mine, and got it in the usual 6-weeks. There doesn't seem to be any sort of waiting list for the hybrids from Ford.

 

Oh, forgot your other question.


I bought the '06 because I got 0% financing. If this is still the case, it makes it hard to justify the '07. I got the FWD, safety package, the 110v outlet, cargo cover, and (oooh) floor mats! Basically, I paid exactly at dealer invoice according to Edmunds.com. I had a dealer willing to sell it to me at $500 below invoice, but they couldn't do a dealer swap for 3 more days, and I wanted it now. So, I bought it from the other dealer (feel a tiny bit bad about that).

 

Thanks everyone. I agree with Seattlemander about getting another TCH, but there are times that the storage space is necessary (hence the CRV or RAV4). I also hate to admit it, but part of it is my wife's desire to drive something "up high". At least that keeps her from wanting to drive my TCH.


After reading WaltPA's post I get a big dope slap. I work for Raytheon which gets one of the discount plan pricing from Ford. Also, my wife is originally from the Detroit area and has a number of relatives who retired from Ford and can get us discount pricing.

 

I got 0% financing too. I think that is part of the incentives on the '07 hybrids right now.

Also, the sticker (MSRP) on the hybrids went down about $1,000 from '06 to '07. That might make the price out-the-door for an '07 lower.

 

You should also consider the larger drop in value of the vehicle by buying the older model year.

Orcrone, I don't know when you are planning on making your purchase, but the '08s will probably be out in February or March. There's not much info out on the FEH yet, but I would think some would be surfacing soon.

 

What Walt & vwujeb say makes sense. If the 0% financing had been offered on the 2007 when I bought (June '06), I would have gone for it. The starting price was actually lower for the '07. I just could not pass up that interest-free option. If they offer it, why not get the newest possible version?

 

i placed my feh 2007 order a few weeks ago.. now just waiting... the deal now is 0% for 36months, 1.9% for 60 months. Unfortunately i have to go with the 60 months, .. i just hope they offer 0% at time of delivery for the 60 months... my payment at 1.9% is $499 (we got all the options basically). Unfortunately i can't wait for the 2008 model, although i hear rumors it is a redesign and probably fix some of the minor gripes (i.e. nav system, etc) on the previous models... but since there isn't much info yet, and we need to trade in our other vehicle.. we couldn't wait to find out...

 

Frankly... IMHO the 2008 model is UUUUUGLY both in the grill and what I've seen of the interior. I'm kinda happy I didn't wait at this point