Hi,

I have the opportunity to buy a used FEH in excellent condition (leather, navigation) for $13500.

Seems like great price but there are 106000 miles on it. It's from a dealer...no salvage title...just a lot of miles.

is this too many miles to make sense to buy this vehicle? Thanks in advance for your input!

Rick Lupert

 

You need the Carfax report on this and check the VIN against the Ford issued recall(s). The dealer should be able to provide this to you upon asking. If not, go elsewhere. What is the NADA.com and KBB.com values for a vehicle like this?

 

Thanks for the response. I definitely will do that...I guess my question is, assuming the car is in excellent condition and the reports check out, etc...is 106000 too many miles for someone to comfortably buy this car?

 

If your vehicle was bought and still is in a green state the battery and eCVT is still covered for 10 years/150,000 miles. If your not, the warranty is over. That sounds like a good price if the vehicle was maintained properly. Also, the hybrid system is still of value for a conversion to a plug-in model when prices are reduced later on. I value my loaded '05 FWD with 52,000 miles at $18,500 today and there are many on ebay for even more with that mileage.

Good Luck!
GaryG

 

The price sounds about right, but I'm concerned about the miles.

The problem is, in NON Green states, the High-Voltage warranty (basically transmission and hi-volt battery) is 8 years/100k. As of right now, these are the most expensive parts of the Hybrid. I'm mostly concerned about the battery.

Before making your decision, have the dealer price you out what I will cost to replace the high-voltage battery pack. I'm not saying you'll need it... just the opposite.. these batteries have a very good track record, and last a long, long time due to Ford's systems being very conservative about maintaining its state of charge... BUT being this is out of warranty (again if you're not in a green state) if it were to fail, you'll need to pay out several thousand dollars for its replacement.

Another option may be to purchase an extended warranty (make sure this will be covered).. just in case..

Also see if there are records on its maintenance. These are very low-maintenance vehicles (with 10K oil changes), but 100k maintenance includes replacing the spark plugs, transmission fluid, engine and electronics coolant, and if Four wheel drive, the transfer case and rear differential fluids as well. Also the fuel filter, air filter, and battery air filter should be new. None of these are especially expensive, but it would be a nice bonus if you knew it had already been done.

Now I'm not trying to scare you into not buying this... the price actually sounds quite decent and this is a vehicle you're absolutely going to love, but I also don't want you to spend all of your money on this and have a several thousand dollar part fail in the near future and then you'd have a very expensive paper weight. I'm not saying this is going to happen, but you need to be prepared in case it does.

To maybe help put things in perspective, we paid $16k for a 2005 Escape Hybrid Four Wheel Drive in March with 42,000 miles, but it was well worth over $20k but we got lucky as the dealer we bought it from (Saturn Dealer) didn't even know it was a Hybrid until after the quoted us the price (it had just been traded in the night before). I think this was a rare exception.

 

Thanks everyone...this information is really helpful.

I'm in California...is this one of the green states mentioned which effects the warranty?

 

California is a green State and if it was purchased there you are in luck. So my opinion is you should be good for at least 50,000 more miles and the oil changes are only needed every 10,000 miles unless you have poor conditions such as heat, off road or very cold conditions.

GaryG

 

California is one of the green states, but I believe the vehicle also had to be originally registered in a green state for the extended warranty to apply. So if it's being resold in California, but was originally sold in a non-green state, the green state warranty would not apply.

I'm not positive on this, but you might want to check.

 

If it's been well maintained I would say this is a good deal. There are always risks with used cars but taxi experience indicates that the battery isn't degraded by mileage to a great extent. The hybrid taxi fleet has had essentially no failures in 250,000 to 300,000 miles.

I'd look at this as a car for 1/3 of the new car price with over half of the life left.

 

Wow that is impressive.