KenZ

Oh, but his drivel is so much fun. I honestly look forward to his rants. He is like discussing issues with a tea-party zealot or ultra-liberal. He has his mind made up and nothing you say, however rational, will sway him. Some folks just like to complain. To me, life is too short. I just go with the flow. Now, I do worry about the big stuff, like getting my discount on my coffee at Dunkin' Donuts. And whether or not my free sample of the Fiber One Cookie was in my Sunday paper this morning like the overwrap said it would. It wasn't and I complained. Like I said, big stuff.

Went back and re-read that post. There were statements, but not really see a question in there, so I did not answer. I will answer here since the question is here... Nope, did not buy tire insurance. It was not even offered, if I remember correctly. I remember being offered Lo-jack, I remember being offered some sort of glass chipping windshield coverage. Did not get that on the Lincoln, but wished I had it on the Wrangler after a rock (or something) got thrown up at me. That mostly vertical windshield on Wranglers are a magnet for rocks. I did buy a couple of the insurances. I did buy the Key Replacement coverage. It offers a couple other good benefits along with the key replacement. It was $234. On my last car, an Acura, I lost the key while hiking on vacation out west - and the nearest Acura dealer was 200+ miles away. They wanted $795 and 2-3 days to get me a replacement. It cost me well over that $234 in lost time, having my neighbor FedEx me my other set of keys from home, an additional overnight stay in a place I was not planning on staying, etc, etc. I did not bother replacing the lost key since I had another, but ended up paying for it when I went to trade in the car. Every place I went was going to deduct the charge for a replacement key on the trade-in. Even one of those places that just buys cars was going to dock me for only having one key. Like any insurance, it's there, I hope I never need it. I bought the Paintless Dent coverage. It was $230. Used it twice already on the MKZ on large car door dings/dents from parking lots. Cost of both repairs would have totaled $400+ if I paid the invoice. Had it on the Acura but never needed it. I bought the Car Sealant Coverage. It was $495. I am not big on washing or waxing. If it is going to rain, I just put the car outside and let mother nature do the work. It also covers interior stains. On leather interiors they don't treat anything, they just offer coverage. Had it on the Acura and used it. They had to recover/replace the front drivers seat after my predisposition to wearing red shirts (go Georgia Dawgs) left the taupe leather seat a light pink that would not come off. It was a couple years ago, but if I remember correctly, the parts and labor on that were well over $1000 if I had paid the invoice. Not sure why they did not charge me for the tire or cartridge. I wondered if maybe it was because they did not have the tire in stock and it took almost two days to get the car back to me. They were very busy and I told them it was no rush. I did not ever call or harass or whine or complain, they had given me a cool car to drive in the meantime so I was happy. When I went in to pick it up, I literally walked up to the podium he was at, pulled out my wallet and said "What do I owe you", and he said "don't worry about it, I covered it" and he handed me the key. I put my wallet away and asked if there was anything to sign and he said "nope". That was about it. Its a small dealership in a small town, maybe that's it. I wonder if my salesman might have had something to do with it. When they brought the car into the dealer on the flatbed, I guess he saw it and then saw me get out of the truck - as he came rushing out to find out what was going on. I have an MKC on order (due in August) so I am sure he was concerned! When I was looking at the MKC, I remember that I asked him if it had a real spare tire and he did not even know so we went out and looked at one they had on the lot. It does! I remember joking with him that I did not even consider asking that question on the MKZ, because I never realized cars would come without one! If I can figure out how to do it, I am attaching a pic of what they found in the tire. This had gone completely thru the sidewall and was inside. I originally thought it was a sidewall blow-out since there was nothing sticking out of the tire. Pretty much all I know.

Hmmmm.... you mean exaggerated claims like "I love it as you always miss the point that WE ALWAYS obtained more EPA MPG on our cars"? To me, that seems very exaggerated since I have never gotten above the EPA gas mileage numbers. Even with the MKZ, I was not getting the 45MPG EPA numbers, although I am now well over the 38MPG adjusted EPA numbers. FWIW, yesterday I did a 100+ mile trip and drove like an idiot. Constantly changing lanes, running at or above the speed limit, speeding up and slowing down, jackrabbit starts and slamming the brakes last minute at any stoplights I encountered. Blew my driving coach numbers all to hell. According to the dash, I got roughly 36 MPG like many people report. Personally, I will go back to driving like a normal person and averaging around the 42-44 MPG mark.

Boy, I sure can get excited over $1050. I just went back and checked my window sticker. In the mileage on my window sticker it said that actual results will vary for many reasons... Seems like they described it pretty well.

The easy fix would be - don't tuck your shirt in? :) I would agree with SteveB_TX, you need to be a little more maintenance oriented with the lighter colored soft leather seats. In my last car (Acura), it had Taupe colored leather seats. Being from Georgia, we have a propensity to wearing red shirts. After a couple months, I noticed they were turning my seats a light pink. Ultimately, I needed to clean the seats every few weeks with a leather cleaner and conditioner. I never liked black interiors, but I figured with the AC seats, it would offset the heat so I got black in my MKZ! No pink seat problem!

An update on the flat tire and my Lincoln experience. There was no charge for the new tire and no charge for the new cartridge to put in the tire pump. The pic attached is what they found in the tire. It went thru the sidewall and I have no idea how it happened. You would think I would notice something like that and how would it have gone thru the sidewall? The 2014 MKZ - 3.7L loaner was fun to drive. I found some of my old aggressive driving habits coming back though. :) It really sucked down the gas when compared to my Hybrid. According to the dash, I was getting just under 18 MPG rather then the 42-44 I typically get with the MKZ-H. All in all, I can't complain. Having a flat was bad, but Lincoln made it easy for me.

For those of you with a 2013 MKZ-Hybrid or newer – without the spare tire. I just had a flat and had to use Lincoln Roadside Assistance. It was pretty painless… Ifollowed the instrucitons in the handbook and I used the tire inflator kit - but it would not seal and inflate. As it turns out, it was a sidewall blowout which will not seal. As the handbook said, it would only seal punctures. So I called Lincoln RoadSide assistance. The automatic answering menu was easy, just two questions got me to the right person. She took down my VIN (last 8 digits), my problem and my location. She was extremely friendly and concerned about my safety. She put me on hold for a few seconds and came back with the name of the towing company and an ETA. It was going to be about 90 minutes for someone to get to me. She asked how I would like to be updated and I chose texting. Luckily there was a Starbucks nearby, so I went and had some iced coffee and used my iPad! About 30 minutes before the scheduled ETA, I got a robo-call letting me know the tow company had been delayed about 15 minutes. A few minutes after that, I got a text with a web-link to my incident on roadsideconnect.com (glad I have a smart phone with web access). That allowed me to see who the driver was, plus gave me a live map of his location, my location and the nearest Lincoln dealer (which was where I bought the car). It also had a live ETA and more information on the progress of my incident than I really needed! 10 minutes before the driver arrived, I got another text asking me to be sure I was with the car. At the scheduled time the driver arrived, I got another robo-call asking me if the driver was there and options of what to do if he was not there yet. Since he was there, the robo-call also asked me to be sure to complete a web-survey on the incident which I did after I got home. The driver arrived and apologized for running a bit late. I appreciated that. He drove the car on the flatbed, got me to the Lincoln dealer and drove it off. He had me sign a form that he had completed his job, shook my hand and went off to his next tow. Piece of cake. The good news is that the dealer did not have the tire in stock. So they gave me an identical MKZ except it is the 3.7L version – to use for a day. Quite a difference in acceleration. Was also funny to press the “On” button and actually have an engine come on. I am so used to that silent running. It has made me glad that I did not buy the 3.7L version, I could feel my old aggressive driving tendencies coming back while driving home. Will go out for a longer ride later today, I have 150 free miles to play with! Could not be happier with the roadside service. I have not had a flat tire or changed a flat tire since 1977, so I would not have even attempted to do it if I could. Was glad to have a number to call and have someone bail me out, plus it did not cost me anything to get me to the Lincoln dealer.

Mine is a 2013 MKZ-H, had it for roughly 14 months. Total miles is 13,076 with EV miles representing 6,994 of that. There is also 325 Regen miles in that 13,076. I looked at that video and I can honestly say my car has never been that loud. It may have been the mic placement. I assume the radio was off (for the filming), so I wonder if the active noise dampening even kicks in with the radio off, I think it uses white noise thru the speakers. I have done some driving thru the Appalachian Mountains and there is some over revving and it seemed to struggle a bit up the steep hills at high speed (70 MPH+). Other cars I have had did not struggle much on the same route, but those cars have engines that got 19-20 mpg! I can accept a little struggle in the mountains for 40+ MPG! In testing the car, the guy may have been slowing down/speeding up (aggressive driving) all the time which keeps the car out of EV mode. I basically just put it in eco-cruise and let the car handle the speed in traffic (with adaptive cruise control). I've gone hundreds of miles at a time on the highway never pressing on the gas or brake myself. I just let the car handle it. The adaptive cruise control will even bring you to a complete stop - although it is a bit abrupt. My llfetime MPG so far is just a hair over 42 mpg. I suspect changes in elevation affect the mileage. I drive 50+ miles to Atlanta and consistently get 2-3 MPG better mileage going to Atlanta than coming back. It is about a 1000 foot elevation drop in those 50 miles to Atlanta. The mileage has gotten better as the car has gotten older. I had some very low MPG (around 36-38) when we had some unusually cold weather for a week or so in February. It was down to 5-10 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the coldest I can ever remember. No regrets here. I am so impressed with the Lincoln finishes and luxury that I am have ordered a 2015 Lincoln MKC as my 2nd vehicle. It's not a hybrid, but the regular eco-boost engine does pretty well also.

Done and done!

I ordered an MKC today. Trading in my 2011 Wrangler on it. Keeping my 2013 MKZ-H though. Same interior and exterior color as my MKZ-H (Black), pretty much all the same options. If it was good for one car, it's good for another!.

Don't care what it's called - all I know is I like it. :) Easy to keep clean and doesn't show swirls like so many black cars do.

I don't think I have ever used the windshield washers either in my MKZ. I see many cars shoot the washers over the top of their car while standing still, my last car (2010 Acura) did that. The Acura tech told me they were positioned to hit the windshield properly at speeds over 45 MPH and up to about 75. He could readjust them to hit while standing still but then they would just hit the bottom of the windshield while travelling down the highway. Once I was sitting at a stoplight and the car in front of me turned on it's windshield washers. They shot over the top of their car and hit my windshield. I was quite annoyed since I had just washed my car!

I never knew your should get Sirius reception inside! :) They tell you when you initialize it that your car must be outside for 45 minutes or something like that. I've always used the point when Sirius goes off to know when I am completely in the garage and the door would shut! Pretty much the same on a 2005 Chrysler 300, 2007 Jeep Wrangler, 2010 Acura, 2011 Jeep Wrangler and a 2013 Lincoln MKZ. The Chrysler and Acura had the shark fin as an antenna, the Jeeps have an antenna above the rollbar under the roof.

With my 2013 MKZ Hybrid, it seems like the flowers come one about once every 1,000 miles. Right now, I have a little over 6,000 miles and 6 flowers.

I tend to keep the vine/flower display up as a reminder to drive "like and old man". Wait a minute, I am an old man! I have 6 flowers so far. It seems like one has been appearing about every 1000 miles. I have a little over 6,000 miles right now.

I would offer that the aftermarket GPS units are typically better than any factory installed GPS. My 2013 MKZ GPS blows away the GPS in my prior 2011 Acura (considerably more expensive than my MKZ) and my current 2011 Jeep. The Magellan GPS I have in my iPhone (for when I rent a car) has many better features than any factory installed GPS I have ever had. However, I like the big screen of the factory installed GPS.

Welcome.... And it only gets better. Better MPG definitely kicks in as the vehicle gets broken in. Get ready for questions and compliments everywhere you drive. Mine is Tuxedo Black/Black Panoramic Roof also. Had never considered or wanted a black car in the GA sun/heat, but the AC seats won me over to the black side....

Definitely a subject close to my heart. I had noticed the same mileage issues on short trips and the hot/humid Georgia days. I had not taken it quite as far into the math as you did, I wish I had paid more attention in school. I am sitting at roughly 4,000 miles after 4 months with a 43MPG lifetime average. It has definitely been creeping up after the software update. I had noticed mostly that I would get much better mileage going from home to work - than work to home. Or from home to most anywhere - than most anywhere to home. Difference was that the car always sits in a garage at home so it did not have that initial cool off period. It was always in the sun at work or elsewhere. Not sure of the effect on overall mileage but I did get into the habit of being sure the inside sunscreen was closed on the sunroof when parked outdoors. The other thing I did which seemed to have helped with the mileage was to use remote start, so the car was cooled off by the time I got there, In the summer, remote start turns the AC on high and turns on the AC seats automatically. Typically it would run on battery only on remote start. It seemed that if the battery was too depleted, it would turn on the gas engine. Another interesting difference in mileage seems to be in elevation changes. I noticed that I would almost always get 45+ MPG going from my house to the airport in Atlanta. I would then get 35-40MPG on the return trip home. Same roads, same speed (cruise control set to 62 before the upgrade, 75 after the upgrade), etc. Ultimately, I figured out that there is an elevation difference of roughly 1000 feet from my home in North Georgia to the airport in Atlanta. More downhill going to the airport and more uphill coming home. That was the only thing I could come up with. This is my first hybrid and my first Lincoln. So far, it has been a very good experience.

My Lincoln dealer was able to get them going on my 2013 MKZ - although the service tech said something about they were called DDS (Daytime Driving Safety - or something like that) Lights in the computer. In reading the forums, it looks like some dealers charge to activate them, some don't. Mine did not.

It is interesting to see what pushes peoples buttons... so to speak. I did buy a 2013 MKZ and I was a little wary about the push buttons (I was a shift knob rester also), While the buttons are definitely not intuitive, you do get used to them. It is sort of like when they moved the gear shift from the steering column to the console oh so many years ago. It took me a year or more to keep from reaching to the steering column for the gear shift. It has been three months and the buttons are moving their way into intuitive. I have come to enjoy the extra storage space in the console area. I have found a new space for my right arm. Instead of resting on the shifter, I sort of lean on the console with my hand wrapped around the right edge. It is a great leaning console! I am a big fan of the sliding roof. My other vehicle is a Jeep wrangler with the removable roof panels. I rarely take them off because it is a pain in the butt. I wish they made a sliding roof for the Wrangler. I have my roof open whenever I am not running the AC. I don't quite get the visibility issue that folks bring up. Even with it fully open, you can see when a car is behind you. If it is a SUV or tall vehicle behind you, you are pretty much looking at the grill or hood. You can't see who is in it - but I don't really want to! You have more visibility than a multi-row SUV I drove with people in the back. When I bought the car, I did not realize that the antenna was only on the panoramic roof models. I noticed the antenna on the models at the car show and it didn't seem out of the ordinary. I just thought it was part of the "retro" styling. I was not particularly fond of the shark fin on the roof of my last car (Acura), although I got used to it, My decision to buy was based primarily on the availability of a hybrid engine without a premium cost. My neighbor had gotten a 2012 MKZ hybrid a year earlier and had such good things to say, I decided to give it a try. The engine is peppier than I thought it would be, although not as peppy as a Chrysler 300C Hemi I had a few years back. I will give up some pep to get 43.4 MPG (my lifetime MPG on the MKZ so far) rather than the 17.8 MPG I got with the Chrysler!

Don't change my own oil anymore. Too much mess. Routine maintenance for the first few years is included with the 2013 MKZ so no worries!

Downloaded it, updated it. Used my shiny new Lincoln USB drive. Had to re-pair my phone afterwards. It was sort of vague on what was in the update. One thing I checked that seems to be fixed was the weather map. Whenever you tried to zoom in on the weather map, it would not zoom to your actual location. In my area it would zoom into Atlanta, even though I was 20 miles north. It zooms in to my actual location now. Love the weather map for dodging hail storms! Anything else specific on what was fixed?

Can't really comment on the issues you have been having. My local dealer is a Ford/Lincoln dealer and I have had a great experience with them. I hate the sound of 4 cylinder engines also, but I like the mileage. A prior car had a 5.7 liter Hemi, sounded great but got 17 mpg. I like my current 43 mpg and lawnmower engine. You would think that with all the tech they put in cars today, they could just come up with a fake engine noise to make it sound good. Your comment on Consumer Reports caught my attention. I don't put a lot of stock in what Consumer Reports says. I always have to laugh when I see their review of the Jeep Wrangler. They talk about it being seriously outdated and uncomfortable - it's a friggin' Wrangler. It's supposed to be ugly and uncomfortable. The recent comments Consumer Reports had on the 2013 MKZ Hybrid and the mileage also caught my attention. They were critical in that they said they got something like 36 MPG. Not sure how they got mileage that low! I am at 2700 miles on mine with right at 43 MPG average. Not quite the 45 MPG advertised, but none of my cars have ever got the advertised mileage. At least on the Hybrid side of things, I feel I got a really good value for the price. Most car makers mark up the Hybrid version 10-20% or more over their regular version, this was the same price as the EcoBoost 4 Cylinder and considerably less than the 6 Cylinder. So far, I am a happy guy with my 2013 MKZ.

Actually, I love the Nav system in my 2013 MKZ. If you want to see a bad Nav system, my 2010 Acura had AcuraLink, that Nav system was a nightmare. I guess it all depends on what you had prior! To answer your question. Yes, if your phone is connected with the USB cable or with the BlueTooth. If the sound from an app will come out over the phone speakers, then the sound will come out over the car speakers (if connected by USB or BT). You can listen to music on your phone (or radio if you have Recivea or iHeartRadio or similar) which automatically mutes when the phone is giving verbal directions in the map program. They both mute if you get a call, which happened in my test. I just tried it with my iPhone5 and it worked for me.

Third tank of gas on the 2013 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid is in the books. Bought it at 1292 miles, I ran it down to the point where it said 40 miles distance to empty. Fill up was 11.047 gallons, the spec's say 13.5 gallons is the capacity - looks like the DTE is padded a bit so you don't run out of gas. MPG on this tank was 42.2. Got a bud for my second flower. One observation of sorts. I ran down to Ikea in downtown Atlanta, about 35 miles each way, 95% highway, adaptive eco-cruise most of the way (set for 70, but adapted mostly to around 55+ once in heavier city traffic) . Was 48 (and change) MPG going to Ikea and 41 (and change) MPG coming home. Thought it was odd there was such a difference since road, traffic and settings were pretty much the same. Happened to check the elevation map for both points and my home is 1252 feet and Ikea was 885 feet. Guess I got better mpg going downhill into Atlanta! Also just thinking about driving a hybrid (this Lincoln is my first experience). To me, it is definitely changing my driving habits. When I have a choice of lanes at a red stoplight, I don't head to the empty one any more or avoid the lanes with the trucks in them. I just pull up behind the "pack" and pull out at a much slower speed with someone ahead of me (fewer jackrabbit starts). On those divided high-speed highways that might have stop lights every few miles or more, I look a lot farther ahead to see if the light is red - so I don't have fast stops. When the acceleration or cruising bar charts turn yellow in the driving coach, I watch what I am doing more to be aware of what is causing that. I also realized that I have not been driving my Jeep Wrangler much any more. I used to use it a lot to run around doing errands and such, now I think about do I want to get 15 MPG running to the store in the Wrangler or 50-60 MPG in the Lincoln. Those short hops of 5 miles or less around town almost always pop up with 50-60, sometimes 65 MPG. Like TiVo changed my TV viewing habits, this Lincoln really seems to be changing my driving habits. I found a really good benefit of the panoramic roof. When it is fully open, you can see the car behind you but you can't really see above the hood of the car (i.e. the driver) in your rear view mirror. So, when you have one of your slow starts at a light to see if you can keep it on electric, you can't really see the guy behind you cursing you out or flipping you the bird. :) Quite a benefit, I think! Lastly, I wish there was a "not my fault" button. When you have that unexpected panic stop and your braking coach turns yellow, your braking stats drop and a few leaves drop off the vine - I wish there was a "not my fault' button to get my leaves back! Loving the Z-brid.