They have an agenda against the MyFord Touch system, and will downgrade the whole car because they find it frustrating. I love it, so obviously I'm not in their demographic, so obviously I'm not going to take their advise.

Making everyone confirm to their view - communism.

 

Also, with the fuel economy real world issue with Ford's new hybrids... they call out Ford instead of the EPA testing procedures.

 

First, you like Ford Touch ... nothing wrong with that. Enjoy it and Ford will be happy to know it. But, why, because you like it, you think everyone else should? CU has many testers (not just one or two) and they think about all types of people that will use it and they have feedback from their reader base from their survey. They can't just write the report for you, for pities sake. Just take it as a "I disagree" and move on. I'd be willing to bet a pile of money that you could find information from Consumer Reports that would be valuable to you. Select the good stuff, and ignore the rest, eh?

Two, The reason they call out Ford is because CU did substantial real world driving and discovered that Ford's numbers were out of whack. And then they retested to be sure. EPA also found Ford's numbers out of whack. It's all subjective anyway. We have guys on this forum that get 50 / 60 and more MPG in their FEH. I can't figure out how they do it, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to know! Just having the "best" mileage won't get you much when St. Peter calls. But that aside, "your mileage WILL vary". So use the numbers from CU and EPA for comparison purposes ONLY. And for my money, a Ford Edge gets a lot worse mileage than a FEH. Over our lifetimes of driving I'll bet it's worth a free new car.
Good luck.

PS. I wouldn't go by the mileage on the dash. The only real test is filling the tank to the same level each time (best you can) and do the arithmetic. THAT's the actual mileage (provided your odometer is accurate and you can test it with a GPS to be sure).

 

While you might dislike and/or discount CR's subjective ratings, to ignore their objective repair/reliability data is just foolish.

 

So far as I know the EPA has not made any determination on Ford's mileage testing procedures.

 

Technically you're right. HOWEVER, they did come up with lesser numbers (and that, technically, is not a "determination"). My bad. Meanwhile, I hear that FOMOCO is the only one able to get the MPG as high as they did (including many car owners). Ford bad.

 

Please provide a link to the EPA's lesser numbers you keep saying exist.
Ford did nothing wrong, but if you believe CR, then Ford's to blame.

 

No big, I was just wondering if you had seen some data that I had not observed.

 

Google it (or whatever your favorite search engine is). It was front page news in many media outlets for days. But, really, now .... what's the deal? We have guys on FEH blog that get way, way beyond what Ford, CU and the EPA claim. Some people, as you well know, drive like fools and push their MPG thru the floor. It's all about driving habits and comparatives. People who drive FEHs (esp with all-wheel-drive, like me) are not going to purchase a C-Max whether it gets 47 or 38 or whatever. I want the good interior space and ability to tow a light utility trailer.

For my money CU has always had the best MPG numbers -- real world driving for the average driver. I can feel safe when I compare one tested vehicle to another in the Reports that the comparatives are apples to apples.

So that someone doesn't get goofy and say I avoided the issue, there's this.
(cut and pasted from CU.org);
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How the Consumer Reports and EPA highway tests differ

In the Consumer Reports highway test, we record the average fuel usage in two directions at a steady 65 mph on a specific section of highway. In contrast, the majority of the EPA highway cycle simulates a vehicle traveling mostly at speeds below 55 mph. Although the EPA tests reach 80 mph at times, the highway tests include a fair amount of gentle acceleration and coasting. Speeds average only about 48 mph. Under these conditions, Ford's hybrid drive allows the gasoline engine to completely shut off at times, with the resultant increase in fuel economy.

When we compare Consumer Reports' test results to the government agency figures, we usually find that our numbers fall short of the EPA for city driving, but they exceed the EPA results on the highway. The Ford hybrids, however, stood out in our testing by falling far below their EPA highway estimates.

In contrast, the similar Toyota Camry and Toyota Prius V hybrids follow the conventional pattern in our tests: Both easily exceed their EPA highway rating in our steady-pace 65 mph test.
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Enough said. --RiverRat.

 

I don't have any problem with CR, but that statement you quoted is just ignorant and uninformed. One cannot compare the Camry or Prius to an SUV; their cD is vastly lower than an FEH, which accounts for the highway mileage difference. Unless they mentioned this in their statements, it shows a lack of understanding, or a bias.