Ford Fusion??

[tdkkart]

What all do we know about Ford Fusions?? Looking for a car for our 21yo daughter, the Fusions seem reasonably priced, especially if you find one with a manual trans which she happens to like.

Any info would be appreciated.......

 

[Art From De Leon]

My wife has a 2007 Mercury Milan, same as the Fusion, with @55K miles, and has has absolutely NO problems with it. It will get 29-30 mpg with the I-4 and automatic on the highway.

Even the Ford haters at Consumer Reports admit to it being a well built car.

 

[Matt M PA]

When my Dad passed, I wound up with his '06 Lincoln Zephyr. Which, is based on the Fusion/Milan platform.

He hated the name, and we de-badged the car completely. While Dad was in the hospital, I started driving the car a bit as Mom was concerned the battery would go dead. I could not get comfortable, and was not liking it much. Well, once I found out the steering wheel would telescope...all fell into place.

Now, I drive the car every day and absolutely enjoy it. I never thought I'd have a 4 door, or a front-wheel-drive...but here I am. All my video gear (not to mention the guitar, amp, etc) fits in the trunk. The seats fold down and more fits.

On the road I have seen 28MPG. This is a great car.

One final note...being the sicko that I am, I added a SVT badge on the back and since the car has no other nameplates....I get lots of questions about that. We just added a little spoiler on the back and now the car looks right.

Back on topic...great car...and kudos to the girl that wants a manual trans!

 

[GearBeer]

I had no idea that Ford made Fusions with manual transmissions.

Hmmmm..... about my age and wants to drive a car with a manual transmission. I think I'm in love.

 

[tdkkart]

I had no idea that Ford made Fusions with manual transmissions.

Hmmmm..... about my age and wants to drive a car with a manual transmission. I think I'm in love.

I didn't believe it at first either, and there ain't many of them. I just checked Ebay, out of 144 listed only 8 are manuals.

The manual trans thing is a "non-negotiable" requirement of her's, she hates automatics.
It stems from the fact that back when she was about to get her learner's permit she proclaimed, "I don't wanna drive a stick".
Well guess what honey, if you're gonna drive you've got no choice. At the time we had a Dodge Neon, a Hyundai Excel, and an F150, all with 5 speeds.

She took to it without toasting a clutch, and has driven nothing but manuals since. Has put 70,000 miles on her Neon with no issues, and HATES her BF's Cavalier with an auto.

My wife also prefer's manuals, 'cuz I train my women right.

 

[dezigninmotion]

We had a fusion SEL with a manual ******. We had a 3-yr lease on it and loved it! Very comfortable, quite and great on gas! On our long trips we averaged 35mpg with the I-4 engine.

The only gripe I had about the car was the turning radius. Hopefully they improved that on newer models. We just turned it in on the lease. We didn't want a payment anymore and switched over to my 9 yr old jeep cherokee.

I would drive another fusion in a heartbeat! Can't go wrong!

 

[1320stang]

All I've heard is don't get a Ford with a CVT. (SMG will tell you not to get ANY Ford)

 

[GearBeer]

As much as I disagree with SMG's stance, I think it'd be a fair assessment to say, "Don't buy any American car with a CVT."

 

[metal1313]

im looking at fusions myself, preferably the sport. i like them and they appear to be pretty good cars. also the new i-4 is supposed to be a much better motor than the previous.

 

[Rando]

I just got a 09 fusion, has almost 10,000 miles now but i think its a good car, great on gas. I like the ipod hookup in center console with steering wheel controls and blue tooth i have no complaints yet

 

[Gary S]

Hopefully your luck with Ford will be better than mine. I have a Ranger in my garage and basically nothing electric or electronic on it can be relied on to work every day. The electrical is so unreliable that I can't drive it in the winter when it gets cold.

 

[GearBeer]

Gary,

What year Ranger. I haven't heard much at all about the newer Rangers, but I know of two or three older (80s and early 90s) Rangers that have been remarkably durable.

 

[Gary S]

Gary,

What year Ranger. I haven't heard much at all about the newer Rangers, but I know of two or three older (80s and early 90s) Rangers that have been remarkably durable.

It is a 2001 Ranger with 21,000 miles on it. Things worked right only the first year or two, and after that, it worked like a Ford would be expected to. Apparently they fall apart sitting in the garage.

 

[traction]

I have had my 2007 Fusion SE I4 since january of 07. It has 45k on it now. Great car. No complaints whatsoever. In fact it even survived a rearending by a newer Cadillac SRX. The cadillac was completely totaled.

 

[chaingang]

It is a 2001 Ranger with 21,000 miles on it. Things worked right only the first year or two, and after that, it worked like a Ford would be expected to. Apparently they fall apart sitting in the garage.

Every one has their own opinion about their favorite brand.
I personally would buy nothing but Fords. Maybe due to my great success over the years with them. I have a 98 Explorer with 191K miles and only routine maintenance. Original starter, alternator, waterpump, fuel pump etc... Heck, its never been in the alignment shop and I have had only 3 sets of tires on it. I get 82K plus out of a set of Michillens. The first set was the Firestone fiasco's. Plan to get another 150K.
Back on subject, A guy at work bought an 08 Fusion with the stick because that was what his wife wanted also. They love the car and it knocks down 32mpg easy. It even seems to have good power considering. I wouldn't want the I4 with an auto but the 5 spd works well.

 

[tdkkart]

Thanks for the info guys, your comments basically echo all the reviews I've seen, apparently they are fairly reliable cars with few problems.

The daughter has her eye on the Mazda 6 as well.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but the Fusion and the Mazda appear to be nearly the same Christmas presents with a different wrapping?? Open the hoods and they both have identical 4 cyclinder engines and underhood layout.
Ford and Mazda have been in bed together for years, so the platforms being the same wouldn't surprise me.
The Mazda has a higher price tag, but has fancier appointments as well.

 

[punkabilly136]

my fiance' has a '07 fusion with 19k miles on it and it has the I-4 with an automatic trans and our friend has a '07 fusion with the I-4 and manual trans...they both love there cars. I have always been a GM guy but i instantly fell in love with the way the fusion handled and was sooooo easy to manuever and control. I refer to her car as the "sports car". I would highly recommend one.
on a side note: since she bought a ford i had to help GM out so i bought a silverado LOL

 

[ImpalaJon]

I've not driven one but my neighbor has a Fusion. His previous two vehicles were a Lexus LS400 and Audi A6. He says the Fusion is a better car than either one.

 

[SVTchris]

Ford and Mazda have been in bed together for years, so the platforms being the same wouldn't surprise me.

The Fusion is stretched 6" over the M6. Otherwise it is essentially the same car mechanically.

I have an 08 AWD V6 as a company car and absolutely love it.

 

[Ezzie]

Had an '06 SEL V6 AWD for two years as a Company car. This spring replaced it with an '09 Camry SE. I have been a big fan of Japanese cars throughout my entire driving life - but I have to admit that I much preferred the Fusion. In my opinion, it is a much better designed and well built car. Little things like the placement of storage and cup holders, the fold down split rear seat, the sure footedness of the AWD system and I could go on and on. I wish I had the Fusion still. I'll probably look for another one once done with the Camry in a year or so.

Probably the only negative is the resale values when used. For some reason the Fords don't hold up as well for resale after they are two to three years old - even though it shares platforms with the Mazda 6. The Toyotas, Mazdas, Hondas, Nissans, Subarus all seem to do better for slower depreciation.

 

[tdkkart]

Probably the only negative is the resale values when used. For some reason the Fords don't hold up as well for resale after they are two to three years old - even though it shares platforms with the Mazda 6. The Toyotas, Mazdas, Hondas, Nissans, Subarus all seem to do better for slower depreciation.

Depreciation is amazingly scary. Sad that you can buy a 2-3 year old car with only 25000 miles on it for 60% what you'd pay for a new one.
Personally I just can't justify new price just to have that new car smell.
I now somebody's gotta buy them, just ain;t gonna be me unless my lottery ticket comes in a winner.

We're gonna go bash heads with a couple dealers this morning, one Fusion, one Mazda6. The Fusion has higher miles, and the Mazda is fancier with corresponding prices. It'll come down to who gives the best deal and what the daughter decides she wants to spend.

Wish us luck......

 

[Kev442]

Good luck! Gal I know just bought a Mazda 6, totally loves it. I ended up with her Ford Focus, hard to turn down a car with 16k on it for 5k. The trunk dent will be an easy fix!

 

[tdkkart]

We ended up with the Mazda, it came down to her deciding that it was worth the $20/month more for the sportier look of the Mazda.

I thought I did pretty decent on the price, and then after we got home I realized it had another $6-700 worth of options that I hadn't included in my calcs.

The classic of the day was when I shot my low-ball offer on the Fusion, which brought the sales manager out of his office proclaiming "but that's what WE paid for the car".
I just looked at him and explained "it's not my fault you paid too much for it, I'm not going to make the same mistake."
Daughter about pee'd herself.

They could have done much better on the Fusion dealing if they had done an Esoteric-style detail job on the car. There was alot of easily fixable light scratches and scuffs and bug guts on it that if cleaned up would have made it a much better looking car. The detailing was really piss-poor.

Used cars are pretty scarce around here right now, dealing is pretty tough to do. It helps when you have a loaded check book in hand before you start shooting offers.

So tonight I'm somewhat more financially embarassed(I split the price down the middle with her) but for now I'm the bestest dad in town.

 

[punkabilly136]

awwww...im kinda saddened. I was really hopin' you would have gone with the fusion.

 

[dkcase]

.... it worked like a Ford would be expected to. Apparently they fall apart sitting in the garage.

Whew... Close one. Good thing then that we keep our Jeep in the garage.
My '89 Crown Victoria sits outside and has nothing wrong with it... well, OK, the clear coat paint is going to hell...

 

[tdkkart]

Whew... Close one. Good thing then that we keep our Jeep in the garage. My '89 Crown Victoria sits outside and has nothing wrong with it... well, OK, the clear coat paint is going to hell...

Ok, but we keep our Jeep in the garage and the paint is peeling off it, yet my F150 has spent alot of it's life outside and it's paint looks great, AND it's electricals are fine as is the rest of the truck with 148,000 miles on it.

BUT, my VW Jetta sits outside and it's clear coat is peeling??

 

[krooser]

My son's '07 Fusion V-6 has 80K on it and has been trouble free...

 

[punkabilly136]

you cant brand a whole car company as being junk just because one car was bad ESPECIALLY THE ELECTRONICS. Electronics are the first thing to start going, its a fact. Has nothing to do with ford, gm, lexus, or mercedes. Ive always had gm's first car was a cavalier (loved it, nothing went wrong until transmission died) second car was a grand prix (******* hated that car everything went wrong and was positioned in the most inconvenient place ever to fix it) third car was an aurora (loved the car but it had the common short in the turn signal switch $500 just for the part) fourth was an intrigue (nothing at all for that car) and now im on a 06 silverado (just replaced the battery) so it really is the part not the manufactuer. Not saying that none of the car companies havent put out complete and utter junk one time or another LOL