Ford Fusion fit and finish.

[JulesMaximus]

I was following a brand new Fusion SE this morning for a few miles and noticed that the trunk lid didn't quite fit right. The tail lights in the trunk didn't line up with the tail lights in the rear quarter panels. It was like this on both sides, it was about 1/16th of an inch above where it should have been. Weird thing is the top of the trunk lined up perfectly. There was also a large gap at the bottom of the trunk lid between the bumper and the bottom edge of the trunk lid. No way to adjust that out either. The owner will just have to live with it or have Ford replace the entire trunk lid... and even that might not fix the problem. It was almost as though the trunk lid was 99% the size it was supposed to be.

This car still had the paper plates on it so it was less than 2 weeks old so collision damage is a very unlikely explanation.

I suppose any car can be screwed together wrong but how they let that pass QC is beyond me. That would drive me nuts if it were my car.

 

[foghorn67]

I rented a Camry with 38 miles on the clock and thought the same thing.

 

[seepy83]

I've seen a bunch of people reporting mis-aligned trunks on Ford/Fusion forums. Some have said that their dealer was able to fix it. I've also seen some people complain about the alignment of some trim on the dashboard and the drivers and passengers doors being a little off (between 1/16th and 1/8th inch, at most). I think these types of very minor defects can be expected...especially in the first production run.

The trunk on mine seems good, but I do see a little alignment problem with the dash/door trim. But I don't want my dealer messing with it, because it doesn't bother me (I wouldn't have even noticed if I didn't read someone else's complaint) and everything on my dash and door feel solid like they were installed correctly.

 

[Jumpem]

What do you expect with UAW labor?

 

[Aikouka]

:hmm: Now I want to check my car to make sure it's properly aligned. Honestly, I just wish the goddamn rattling would stop. It's pretty safe to say that I've been less than impressed with Ford's build quality. My Altima was an '07, which was the first year of production for that revamped model, and it was fine. Why couldn't Nissan just have a better infotainment system. 🙁

 

[JulesMaximus]

:hmm: Now I want to check my car to make sure it's properly aligned. Honestly, I just wish the goddamn rattling would stop. It's pretty safe to say that I've been less than impressed with Ford's build quality. My Altima was an '07, which was the first year of production for that revamped model, and it was fine. Why couldn't Nissan just have a better infotainment system. 🙁

I was seriously considering the Fusion Hybrid but the glitchy infotainment system, the dodgy quality, and the real world reported mileage kind of scared me off. It sucks too because I wanted to like this car. It looks great on paper and in pictures but seems to fall short in the real world.

Honestly though, I never even drove it. Ford isn't dealing on the Fusion Hybrids much if at all and I was able to get over $4k off msrp on my Camry Hybrid XLE.

The Camry had me at hello. My only complaints are the stereo, which is mediocre at best, and the numb steering. Mileage has been excellent. I've filled up 3 times, have driven over 1100 miles, and am averaging around 38mpg. I've gotten as high as 41.5mpg but lately I've just been driving it like a normal car and not babying it. Plus a couple freeway trips up to Irvine and Seal Beach likely hurt my mileage a bit.

 

[RagingBITCH]

I was seriously considering the Fusion Hybrid but the glitchy infotainment system, the dodgy quality, and the real world reported mileage kind of scared me off. It sucks too because I wanted to like this car. It looks great on paper and in pictures but seems to fall short in the real world.

Honestly though, I never even drove it. Ford isn't dealing on the Fusion Hybrids much if at all and I was able to get over $4k off msrp on my Camry Hybrid XLE.

The Camry had me at hello. My only complaints are the stereo, which is mediocre at best, and the numb steering. Mileage has been excellent. I've filled up 3 times, have driven over 1100 miles, and am averaging around 38mpg. I've gotten as high as 41.5mpg but lately I've just been driving it like a normal car and not babying it. Plus a couple freeway trips up to Irvine and Seal Beach likely hurt my mileage a bit.

The well reported Sync issues were resolved back in March 2012...it's been a year since. My fiancee's EDGE has it and there are no problems to speak of.

 

[foghorn67]

I was seriously considering the Fusion Hybrid but the glitchy infotainment system, the dodgy quality, and the real world reported mileage kind of scared me off. It sucks too because I wanted to like this car. It looks great on paper and in pictures but seems to fall short in the real world.

Honestly though, I never even drove it. Ford isn't dealing on the Fusion Hybrids much if at all and I was able to get over $4k off msrp on my Camry Hybrid XLE.

The Camry had me at hello. My only complaints are the stereo, which is mediocre at best, and the numb steering. Mileage has been excellent. I've filled up 3 times, have driven over 1100 miles, and am averaging around 38mpg. I've gotten as high as 41.5mpg but lately I've just been driving it like a normal car and not babying it. Plus a couple freeway trips up to Irvine and Seal Beach likely hurt my mileage a bit.

People are reporting the same mileage in a Fusion. It is way under EPA ratings though.

 

[JulesMaximus]

People are reporting the same mileage in a Fusion. It is way under EPA ratings though.

I know, which is one of the reasons I didn't bother to drive it. It gets basically the same mileage as the Camry Hybrid but costs thousands of dollars more.

The Camry is rated at 38 freeway and 41 city. I'm getting bang on that mileage. I'd be pissed if I was expecting 47mpg and was only getting 38.

Incidentally, I loaded a bunch of tunes onto a 64GB usb drive. So far I only have 65 songs on it but it is recognized by the system in my car and shows up as a source on the screen. Everything on the drive is in one big folder though. It doesn't seem to recognize folders, just the songs... which is sorts alphabetically. Wonder if I can change that.

I also enjoy the bluetooth. It automatically connects to my phone and the voice recognition works well for using voice commands for the phone. I'm pretty happy with that.

 

[Topweasel]

From everything I have read the Fusion has a very very long break in period and are seeing nearly a MPG increase per 400-500 miles they put on it. I don't think people will ever be close to that.

As for the quality picked up a 2013 Black Ti yesterday but so far the fit an finish seem great. The truck lid is a bit weird for me but I haven't seen an alignment issue with that or any other panels. I think quality will probably get better as production picks up in Flat Rock, all of the current shipping ones are out of Mexico.

 

[Aikouka]

I was seriously considering the Fusion Hybrid but the glitchy infotainment system, the dodgy quality, and the real world reported mileage kind of scared me off. It sucks too because I wanted to like this car. It looks great on paper and in pictures but seems to fall short in the real world.

Honestly though, I never even drove it. Ford isn't dealing on the Fusion Hybrids much if at all and I was able to get over $4k off msrp on my Camry Hybrid XLE.

The Camry had me at hello. My only complaints are the stereo, which is mediocre at best, and the numb steering. Mileage has been excellent. I've filled up 3 times, have driven over 1100 miles, and am averaging around 38mpg. I've gotten as high as 41.5mpg but lately I've just been driving it like a normal car and not babying it. Plus a couple freeway trips up to Irvine and Seal Beach likely hurt my mileage a bit.

I know what you mean. The Fusion has great styling; hell, it looks like a sedan variant of a DB9. On paper, MyFord Touch sounds fantastic as the feature set is pretty much better than most competitors. Although, with my experience as an owner, I have to say that MFT is definitely poorly written and I've been a bit disappointed with the build quality. As for the Fusion Hybrid, at least from what the dealer told me, I probably wouldn't have been able to get anything off the MSRP of the Hybird because they've been selling well enough.

Honestly, I wonder if I should have waited a year for the probable Maxima refresh or just went with an Altima. Nissan's infotainment system may not be as good, but it probably works 99.9% of the time. My '07 Altima's system was stable and responsive, but it just doesn't have a good feature set.

Gas mileage might be the most disappointing thing for me. I get the feeling that Ford's (the EPA's?) numbers are based off of an extremely conservative way of driving. There's no way in hell that I'm ever going to get 26MPG combined on my car unless I take 10+ seconds to accelerate from 0-60 every time. Hell, I'm not even sure how accurate my mileage calculations are anyway since I can't even fill the damn gas tank up all the way. 😛

From everything I have read the Fusion has a very very long break in period and are seeing nearly a MPG increase per 400-500 miles they put on it. I don't think people will ever be close to that.

As for the quality picked up a 2013 Black Ti yesterday but so far the fit an finish seem great. The truck lid is a bit weird for me but I haven't seen an alignment issue with that or any other panels. I think quality will probably get better as production picks up in Flat Rock, all of the current shipping ones are out of Mexico.

It sounds like we have the same car (Titanium in Tuxedo Black), so it would be interesting to see if our experiences with it differ at all.

 

[Topweasel]

Same car. I only have 200 miles on it so far so I can't speak for any major points. I am going to be interested in seeing what its like the first fill up. That alone is making me wish that I sprung for the AWD and its bigger (and more importantly different) tank. But I can't complain until I know whether or not I have something to complain about.

With 120/80 (Highway/City) its averaged 23 MPG.

 

[nerp]

How can this car get this kind of mileage? Seems insane. Low, that is.

 

[Aikouka]

Same car. I only have 200 miles on it so far so I can't speak for any major points. I am going to be interested in seeing what its like the first fill up. That alone is making me wish that I sprung for the AWD and its bigger (and more importantly different) tank. But I can't complain until I know whether or not I have something to complain about.

With 120/80 (Highway/City) its averaged 23 MPG.

Does the AWD model not have the same issues with being unable to fill up the gas tank all the way? I think I remember seeing that the gas tank is one gallon larger.

How can this car get this kind of mileage? Seems insane. Low, that is.

Just to make sure that we're on the same page, Topweasel and I are driving the turbocharged I4-based model. It's rated at a combined 26 MPG, but I usually only get 22-24MPG. I have about 1700 miles on the car, but I'm not sure what they say the break-in period is. I drive the car fairly conservatively, and definitely a lot slower than I did with my old V6 Altima.

 

[ElFenix]

People are reporting the same mileage in a Fusion. It is way under EPA ratings though.

i've read through the c-max forum for how people test mileage and it's terrible. things like 'i drove 43 miles on clear highway and got XX.' 43 miles isn't a sample. further, understanding how the car works, the real test (and how lots of people burn their gas) is urban freeway commuting. run through a couple months worth of tanks and then we can see what's going on.

 

[BoberFett]

Incidentally, I loaded a bunch of tunes onto a 64GB usb drive. So far I only have 65 songs on it but it is recognized by the system in my car and shows up as a source on the screen. Everything on the drive is in one big folder though. It doesn't seem to recognize folders, just the songs... which is sorts alphabetically. Wonder if I can change that.

I was reading about the USB system on the Camry after I bought it, trying to get some info about what it would accept in terms of flash drives, file types, etc. I lost some hope after reading about it online. Sounds like it's pretty primitive, and using Bluetooth and your phone's player might be a better option. 🙁

 

[Topweasel]

Does the AWD model not have the same issues with being unable to fill up the gas tank all the way? I think I remember seeing that the gas tank is one gallon larger.



Just to make sure that we're on the same page, Topweasel and I are driving the turbocharged I4-based model. It's rated at a combined 26 MPG, but I usually only get 22-24MPG. I have about 1700 miles on the car, but I'm not sure what they say the break-in period is. I drive the car fairly conservatively, and definitely a lot slower than I did with my old V6 Altima.

As far as I know the problem only exists in the 16.5 gallon tank. The awd has a 17.4 or something. Idly enough I was reading my quick guide and it refers to a 13.5 gallon tank which is roughly the limit other people are seeing so I wonder if they are trying to cover their ass or the manual is assuming the hybrid which is the only one with as small a tank.

As for mpg I have seen people posting increases in efficiency 3k miles in. But I have also seen one person complain that his ice was running dirty (carbon already collecting on plugs) on his hybrid. Making me wonder if it could be a timing issue. Probably will need an ecu flash be fore everything is said and done.

 

[fstime]

That's Made in America for you. I noticed the same thing on Hondas and Toyotas after they started manufacturing them here.

Talk all the smack you want about Asian labor, it is usually not the laborers fault they have to use sub-par material to meet low cost demands of their customers. Their work itself it excellent and extremely consistent, every time I buy a pair of Nike's, the stitching and fit and finish is excellent for example.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I was reading about the USB system on the Camry after I bought it, trying to get some info about what it would accept in terms of flash drives, file types, etc. I lost some hope after reading about it online. Sounds like it's pretty primitive, and using Bluetooth and your phone's player might be a better option. 🙁

It is better with the ipod. I have one and you can search through your playlists or by artist, type, etc. I may just use that.

As far as I know the problem only exists in the 16.5 gallon tank. The awd has a 17.4 or something. Idly enough I was reading my quick guide and it refers to a 13.5 gallon tank which is roughly the limit other people are seeing so I wonder if they are trying to cover their ass or the manual is assuming the hybrid which is the only one with as small a tank.

As for mpg I have seen people posting increases in efficiency 3k miles in. But I have also seen one person complain that his ice was running dirty (carbon already collecting on plugs) on his hybrid. Making me wonder if it could be a timing issue. Probably will need an ecu flash be fore everything is said and done.

I'm curious, do you need to run premium in the turbocharged engines or can you run regular?

The Camry Hybrid has a 17 gallon tank which should be good for 600 miles at least. I filled up Sunday and it only took 12.3 gallons and I had driven 470 miles since my last fillup. I still had about 1/3 of a tank.

 

[Aikouka]

That's Made in America for you. I noticed the same thing on Hondas and Toyotas after they started manufacturing them here.

Well, the Fusion's actually made in Mexico. 😛 I believe my Altima was manufactured in Tennessee, and it was fine.

I'm curious, do you need to run premium in the turbocharged engines or can you run regular?

The car says to use regular gasoline. The compression ratio is only 9.3:1 (src), so you probably wouldn't expect to have to use higher grade gas.

 

[phucheneh]

My Versa's hatch was pretty terrible. It wasn't even a panel alignment thing; I don't think the unibody was perfectly square. No way to fix it by adjusting hinges or something.

I don't really expect much when it comes to these fine details. Cars have gotten better, but the improvements in manufacturing capabilities just get countered by companies being cheap.

 

[Vic Vega]

Some people look for a reason to hate a product. Given the OP's posting history on this forum I'm inclined to consider this a troll post and move on.

 

[KentState]

The one we drove with under 10 miles was put together very poorly. My wife noticed the trunk and interior door coverings where already bubbling up. I was shocked at how bad things where on such a hyped car. I would say this is the main reason we are getting an Accord instead.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Some people look for a reason to hate a product. Given the OP's posting history on this forum I'm inclined to consider this a troll post and move on.

Why would you say that? I've test driven the Focus Titanium and liked it. I've also owned 2 Mustangs in the past. :whiste:

 

[seepy83]

Since people brought MPG into the discussion, I'll share my experience with the 2.0 AWD. I have almost 1,500 miles on mine. I get about 18 MPG and I'm seriously pissed about it. Granted, that's probably 65+% city driving, and we're still on the winter fuel mix here (which i know nothing about, but supposedly you won't get the same MPG with it). As a whole, I love the Fusion. But I got better gas mileage on my 12+ year old V6 Accord.