Nice.
Of course, they didn't have the hybrid version that we want, but it gave us a feel for how it's going to drive... and it drives pretty nice. The salesman was trying to get us "on the list" by putting money down right now.
On a car that they don't have.
So we can be 5th in line to take whatever they get.
Um... I'll wait till you have one, thank you very much.
So.... being that we were already on Auto Row (an area of East Sprague Avenue that is populated nearly completely by car dealers), we stopped at the Ford dealer to look at the Escape.
Well... they had one, but it was in the shop getting ready for customers (apparently it just came off the truck). So we talked to the dealer about it.
He basically said (and I quote): "You don't want one, they're not worth it".
Apparently, the Ford runs on batteries up to 25 mph, then the engine kicks in. If you have the heater or AC turned on, the engine is always running. So... for your extra $5,000.... you get the same exact mileage as a normal Escape.
Unless you never turn on the AC or heat, and keep it under 25mph.
Hmmmmm.....
That's something that never crossed my mind. I'll be calling the Toyota dealer again tomorrow and asking him about that to see if they do it differently.
Funny thing about the Ford salesman though... he didn't offer to show us anything else. He did talk about his new '05 mustang though. I guess he's pretty proud of it, because that's all he talked about.
*sigh*
So... unless we find out that Toyota has a different way to heat/cool their vehicle (or that it does it more efficiently), we're off the hybird shuffle and will pry get something that gets better mileage without all the fancy bits.
