First time hybrid owner
 

My name is Mary and I live just south of St. Paul, MN. I purchased a 2005 Escape XLT V6 at the end of 2005 and I absolutely loved it. At the beginning of the year, I changed jobs and now make several short trips a day in addition to my normal commute. So, when my mileage dropped to 19.5 and started filling up every week or so, I started looking at downsizing. I looked at sedans, but couldn't find any that was a good size (the Escape is actually the smallest vehicle I've owned) and had good gas mileage. So, I kind of gave up. But I started researching the FEH here and at Ford's site, and I started to get really interested. With a lot of imput from you guys, I decided to go for it. I found it quite difficult to find a 2WD version, and decided to cut out the middle man who was supposedly helping me. Long story shorter, I fnally found one 55 miles away and grabbed it. I have had it 5 days now and I love. Today I hit 30 MPG! That probably sounds crummy to some of you, but it's a huge improvement for me, and I can do most of my in-town driving in EV. I'm quite excited about my truck and I love the fact that Ford is bringing back chrome.

Re: First time hybrid owner
 

Congrats and welcome to GH Mary!

Don't worry about your milage, it will improve with time, and everyone has some pretty crappy tanks to start out with.

Enjoy your new vehicle, make use of our forums, and have fun!

Re: First time hybrid owner
 

Congratulations, Mary! Don't worry about 30mpg. That's what I started out with, and I have had my Mercury Mariner hybrid 2x4 for less than 2 weeks (still on my first tank, actually!)
I am now at 32+ mpg! You learn very quickly how to drive more efficiently -- plus watching the 15-min running mpg display helps a lot. I am just scared of rear-ending someone when I am watching how efficiently I am driving!

Re: First time hybrid owner
 

Welcome to the CLUB!

You're in for a treat because there is a certain amount of 'learning curve' with hybrids. Typically it takes about 2-3 months before your driving style will slightly change and you'll reach a good plateau. Then you'll start noticing things like, lack of noise and vibration, the comfort factors that make driving more fun than it ever was before.

BTW, you may want to start recording your mileage in the database to gain clues about what works and what doesn't. This has been a terrific aid to improved hybrid performance.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

Re: First time hybrid owner
 

I plan on uploading my data to the database as soon as it's updated to allow 2008s. This has been a problem for a while now based on complaints on another thread.
In the meantime, I'm using the old pen and paper method, and I think my car computer is off a bit--it looks like I got closer to 33MPG on my first tank, rather than the 30.5 or so the computer said.