Grey

I guess you don't really have a dog in this hunt - just wanted to get something off your chest? Over 40 years ago when I began requesting X-Plans, you needed a V.P. or GSM approval. The qualifications eased up over the years, BUT it is still controlled and the rules are expected to be followed. Ford clearly says not to offer PINS over the internet to "strangers". That is why Blue Oval has taken down their forum. Sure it happens but they also get caught doing it. Usually when a customer tells their salesperson that they are going fishing for one or got it over a forum. If the customer has not played fair then they might want to turn them in. The rules require you to alert the dealership that you are buying x-plan before you begin negotiating. Not sure that happened here.

I think the dealer smelled something. The PIN was not given by a friend or neighbor, but obtained in a fashion not approved by Ford. You are correct, they don't need the info, but perhaps they would like to verify their suspicions. They might have backed out of the deal at x-plan so as not to be involved. A ligitimate x-plan customer should have their approval (pin) before they begin negotiating on a vehicle. Neither Ford or the dealership (especially the salesperson) appreciate an X-plan buyer back dooring the deal. I've seen instances where dealers will tell a customer that they will give them the X-Plan price, show them the invoice with the x-plan price clearly stated on it and never file for the adjustment from Ford. That way they are free to charge document fees, etc. and keep any allowances for themselves.

Dang, dem's redder'n a baboon's bottom.

There is an inherent problem with X-Plan Pins over the internet. Ford tell us not to offer them unless you really know the vehicle buyer and then only if that will really influence them to buy the vehicle. We can loose our A/Z/D plan privileges if we are caught passing them out to strangers. (That would be bad!) If you follow what has happened on BlueOval, they have cut back on requests and passing out of PINs. Some employees and retirees have lost their plan privileges over this. There are a lot of companies that have X-Plan privileges for their employees due to a business relationship with Ford. Ask yours. So don't count on getting one - might happen - but who knows. Best to find someone that works for Ford and befriend them if your company is not one with X-Plan. Ask around - "Who works for Ford, or Ford Credit, or is retired from Ford?"

If your dealer subscribes to the service, then you will get it. Ask them. Ford does not send them out - just offers a program to dealers if they want to do it for their customers.

But what if you only got the French version of the owner's manual????????

YES (you don't want gears and rotating parts to take an unbalanced wear pattern) Don't go WOT (wide open throttle). Don't brake hard - anticipate stops, roll the heat out of the rotor and pads if you must stop abruptly. Enjoy

2007 or 2008? Do you work for a Company that might have X-Plan privileges? Any neighbors work for Ford? Credit union is a good idea for getting a deal. Internet managers usually get to the bottom price pretty fast. I'd keep in touch with them on line. Did you have an Explorer before? Prior Explorer owners get some extra incentive on an '08. No other incentives that I have seen. There can be as much as $2,500 on an '07 depending on where the vehicle will be registered and what you might qualify for. You have up to a year to get an extended service or maintenance plan without any penalty. Wait to see if you think you might want to keep it long term - over 50,000 miles. Any dealership can sell an ESP and there are deals on-line. Once you have a vehicle you like, ask them to run a Vincent (vin + incentive) report on it to see if there are incentives you might be eligible for (they will need the first 2 and last 8 of the vin). If you spot a vehicle you like, another dealer can run Vincent on it also. They may or may not want to share the information with you, but you will appear very savy and they will know you are serious about getting the best deal possible. When you go to the dealership, tell them you are working a deal over the internet and are just looking at alternatives. Try to deal with their internet manager rather than a floor salesperson if you can. Document fees and paint protecyion, etc. are all negotiable. Good luck.

The first '08 MKX's roll down the line 9/17/07 at Oakville. Orders are now being placed for production beginning the week of 10/15. That tells me that the demand is pretty strong and there are lots of orders in the banks already. My dealer buddy tells me no commodities on hold or at risk this week. The Edge's still have availability issues with the 20's, BAMR, SYNC, and NAV.

This thread caused me to recall the factors that drove our decision to lease the MKX. There was less than $4,000 difference in MSRP based on what we wanted, or could get versus the Edge. The Lincoln dealership offered us $1,000 more on our '05 Montego than the Ford dealer would give. So for about $60 per month more on a two year lease, Mama is in the MKX. We did not get bamr, dvd or nav but most other options. If it holds it's value, then our daughter (son's wife) will buy it after the lease is up. It won't have many miles - perhaps 15,000 in two years, so she will still have a lot of warranty left if she decides to take it. After driving it for a while, I would not want to give up the heated/cooled seats, the classic front end look or the headlamps that turn with the front wheels. :happy feet:

See reply #7 to this thread. It's all about the oil rings, the compression rings would have seated around 1,000 miles. The oil rings take longer. The OE filter is designed to trap debris. If it makes anyone feel better, change just the filter at 1,000 miles. After break-in, change the oil and filters as frequently as you like - make sure they meet the Ford specs. The extended oil change intervals (up to 7,500 miles) are for high highway mile users. The engine achieves operating temperature, flashes off any moisture, and as long as you are not heavly loaded or towing, can easily go that distance. City drivers ahould us the shorter change intervals. And yes the oils have evolved to the point that they can perform longer. That has permitted Ford to reduce the "Cost of Ownership", by extending the change intervals. But as you suggest, the engine engineers would prefer all of us not driving several thousand miles per month to use the 3,000 - 5,000 mile change intervals. I wish Ford could share the internal test results they have from testing various brands of oil. The Motorcraft oil you should buy for your vehicle will pass the Ford specifications, every batch, every time. Some of the other oil suppilers may develop a formulation that will pass the specification, 1 batch out of 10, but to them a pass is a pass, so they certify their formulation even tho it only got an occasional pass. If challenged, they will pull out the results of the test that got a "Pass". If you are using less than Motorcraft oil, then you may want to change it more frequently. I don't speak for Ford, but there is so much misinformation floating out there from so called oil experts, I don't want owners to be misled. This thread, before it got hijacked, was about break-in and I happen to know a lot about it.

"Oh,oh......are you Mr. Ford????? "Our engines".....I'm a stock holder....are they MY engines, too????? " Collectively, "Our engines" ---the engines in our Edge and MKX vehicles. I will ignore your sarcastic remarks in the future - and you may ignore mine.

Look - what you are saying is not true. I don't care who told you. There are no 5W30 oils that meet the Ford spec. for our engines (M2C931-A) 5W20 is very different than 5W30 oils - check the specifications. Our engines are designed to operate at 100 degrees C. with an oil with a cSt value of 9 or less. 5W30 will generally be higher than 11 cSt. As far as "you are not buying it" - do what you want, but do not mislead other owners. If Ford wanted owners to change their oil at 1,000 miles, they would put it in the maintenance guide. It is not generally a good idea.

Far be it for me, with my limited experience as the Motorcraft Oil Product Manager, to differ with your car salesman. I bow to your and his superior knowledge on the subject. For the rest of you, follow the owner's manual for change intervals and proper specifications for your oil and filter products. There is no requirement nor recommendation to change the oil at 1,000 miles. PS. Engines designed for full synthetic oil are machined differently when new. If you want the advanced course in engine lubrication, just ask.

It is all relative. Dealer orders can start (highest priority) at 10 (I don't recall how high they can go - maybe 99?) If your dealer does not place a later order with a higher priority (10-14) then it is great. If the dealership has allocation for 5 and gives the next 4 orders 10,11,12, &13, then 15 is not so good. If your dealer gives them all 15's, then the order submission date should set the priority (unless there are commodity issues). The Ford scheduling system updates on Thur. evenings. Check your dealer for status on Fridays.

90 mile round trip to the airport is the longest we have driven. No problems - very comfortable. Our MKX is black on black, and after 90+ degree temps since we got it, the cooled seats feel great. We did not drive the Edge with premium seats or full option content. They may be as comfortable as the MKX??? I look forward to a longer trip in it.

We drove an Edge and found the seating too low for my wife. It did not have power seats which would have cured the condition. After pricing one out and comparing the MKX, we decided to step up and lease the Lincoln. Our new daughter-in-law wants it at the end of the lease. We are absolutely thrilled with the MKX and would have been happy with the Edge if we could have found what we wanted option wise. The power liftgate and heated/cooled seats in the MKX are worthy options, and reinforce the decision every time we drive it.

I thought about waiting for the Flex, but when I did the "build - it" and saw the pricing, I decided not to wait and bought the MKX (actually a two year lease). If it turns out to be well worth the money I will reconsider the Flex at the end of the lease.

There are too many variables to guess where you are in the sequencing. If your order was put in as retial, with a high priority and the dealership has allocation you might get scheduled. Follow with your dealership on Fridays to see if Ford has done anything with your order. All the updating for production happens Thru. evening. High risk doesn't mean it won't be built, just that 60-70% of the orders will likely be pushed back until commodities are received. If they absolutely could not build vehicles with a specific option, they would generally place a hold on all orders with that option and advise dealers to cancel, change or wait and re-input that vehicle later when the hold was lifted. I have not heard that Ford has said this on any of your options. Retail orders should be scheduled before stock orders and a 10 priority should be scheduled before a 30, all other things being equal and dealership allocation is available. The first weeks production should be lined up now. Perhaps an insider will let us know if any of the Limited's, SYNC's, BAMR's and 20's are going out the door by the end of Sept.

Since you are looking at April of '08, talk to your dealer and hold off for a month or two, if they agree. They will know better what their allocation is and the priority they will need to put on your order to have it for you in April. I'm sure Ford is working with suppliers to crank up the supply on the wheels, SYNC, BAMR, etc. By Dec. those commocity issues may be a thing of the past (or heads will roll.) The product managers generally have a pretty good feel for the take rate on new options and suppliers gear up for a certain annual volume. When a vehicle option is new, dealers and customers (early adopters) tend to upfront load the volumn of orders, at the same time suppliers are just getting up to speed on production. At the end of the model year, the take rate guesstamate was right on, just the calendatization was off due to the front loading. It's much better that it used to be but still not perfect.

There are occasions where a steering stop is needed when installing oversized wheels and tires. Make sure that you check the full travel of the tire in the wheel well at normal ride height and "bottomed" out. There are many instances when we must turn hard while braking (to avoid road hazzards, etc.) A tire rubbing or grabbing a steering component might be a dangerous occurance. That is why I like to leave suspension engineering to real engineers. If something like that happened, even the friendliest service manager would not step up and fix it on Ford's dime. Too much liability and risk of a chargeback.

Here are some of the things we know today: Oakville has no downtime planned thru September. The last '07 Edge units will be produced 9/14. Production of '08's is currently being scheduled for the week of 9/17. Roof, 20" wheels, SYNC and Limited are high risk. I have not heard of any projected release dates for the high risk call on these commodities. I would put in my order with the options I wanted very soon. Once it gets scheduled you will have several weeks to plan your turn in. If the commodities do not free up, you can begin a search for a stock unit that matches your specs in your greater market area. I would ask for a high priority - 10 to 15 and hope they don't put in a later order with a higher priority.

Unfortunately you are asking us to predict what might happen. It is not a finite science. If someone installs lowering springs and oversized wheels, and these components or installation causes a concern then clearly that is not a warrantable condition. Alignments, tire wear, strut operation, handling concerns, vibration, harshness in ride, steering component failure, etc. would be areas that Ford could find out of their realm of responsibility. Changes in tire diameter would be cause for warranty denial in selected situations, damage to undercarriage components, such as exhause, brake likes, etc, might be questionable. Much of the answer lies with the service manager at the dealership. They may choose to overlook the modifications and submit a claim or they may decide not to take the risk of a chargeback and not submit a warranty claim. I would ask for a copy of the warranty and installation guarantee where you get the lowering work done. They may be your covering recourse if a brake line gets damaged, alignment or balance can't be maintained, power steering lines get rubbed, etc. :shades:

Things your salesperson might not tell you: The 20" wheels are high risk (this means that the order may be delayed as the demand is greater than the supply - and Ford will only schedule what they can build.) Edge and MKX Vista Roof on Edge (BAMR) is high risk. Edge Limited is high risk. When shopping, see if they can locate a vehicle a vehicle close to what you want if they don't have it on their lot. See what they have scheduled for production already for stock -that might be close to your specs. See what is submitted but not serialized yet, that may be converted to your option content or colors. Some orders with high risk commodities will be built but many will wait untill the supply of components can catch up to demand. If you can find one already built or scheduled, you may save many weeks of waiting. One of the benefits of participating in this forum is that you know better the questions to ask.

Call or take it to your dealership and explein what is happening. They should ask where the vehicle is parked during the day and night. The plenum takes in outside air from the cowl area. They will be looking for road dust, construction dust, pollen, salt, etc. that can get into the pelnum and then be stirred up when you turn on the fan. It could come from several sources, but not the compressor. One answer leads to another question. That is why it is very difficult to diagnose vehicle conditions over a forum.