Ownership years

[jeffand]

How long do you plan on keeping your FFE?
So far I have had the FFE for two years now.
I typicaly keep my vehicles for about 8 to 10 years. I see no reason not to do the same with this car.
How long do you plan on keeping your FFE?

 

[Hvatum]

Until it costs more to repair than it's worth or it is destroyed in a crash.

Even if at some point the battery's range falls to 30 miles I would still use it to get around town and for errands.

 

[davideos]

Like Hvatum, I usually keep mine until they start incurring extra costs and reliability goes down. I had a Honda Civic for 14 years and I still have my '99 Explorer...runs great. My expectations for the FFE is 10 years, based on the same factors and the battery. After 100,000 miles at 10,000/year and a savings of $12,000 ($15,000gas-3,000elec), I could afford a new battery which would presumably be less expensive by then. If everything is else is still running good I might do the new battery if it were say $5,000. Time will tell.

 

[scoops]

Wait, you're saying the car only has a 2G modem in it? :x

 

[jeffand]

I wounder if Ford will offer an upgrade. It sounds like it would take hardware and software to do the up grade. Nissan's car wings does upgrade the list of charging stations. This is something that MyFordTouch does not do. The list the nav system has is about 2 years out of date. With no way of updating the list of charging stations. It would be nice if you could load a POI file into the navigation.

 

[triangles]

I will drive it until it's only value is scrap or some asshat totals it. My current car is 14 years old, I've had it for 11. Here in the rust belt the winter salt eats the cars before they would otherwise wear out. Especially now that I no longer drive 20K+ mile/year. I will drive a beater in winter to prolong the inevitable oxidation of my FFE.

 

[EVA]

Two more years until the end of the lease.

Can't imagine too many scenarios where buying it at the end makes sense. Time will tell in two years.

 

[jmueller065]

About 1/2 way through my lease. I'll most likely simply lease another one if it is available at the time. Whatever I get after the FFE it will have a plug, and probably be a Ford.

 

[Kakkerlak]

I was talking with a co-worker yesterday about this topic. I've always bought cheap used cars and driven them until they were scrap or became uneconomical to repair.

I made some notes about the past four cars I've had. They averaged $6000, and lasted between 18 and 36 months. This included the 2002 Saab, but excluded the 1989 Jeep (which is still running in my buddy's care).

The Focus Electric is going to cost me about $8500 for 36 months, and it's going to be new and safer and more awesome and not burn any gasoline.

I leased the FFE because of the depreciation risk of a first-generation new-technology car. Unless Ford does a technical about-face and starts engaging with the fleet and community, I doubt there will be upgrades or features available in late 2017 that will make me want to keep this car.

But if they have a second-generation FFE with more range, more trunk space, or better telematics I'll buy it outright. At the rate Ford is going, the Federal tax rebate might even still be around !

If they have a Focus Energi by 2017 that can rival what the Volt does now, I'll consider that carefully.

I doubt I'll be in a Tesla budget in three years.