Faults:

Wheel bearings—front.

General Comments:

Bought this about a year and a half ago. It was 5 years old at the time.

It’s smooth, quiet, good handling and has a comfortable solid feel. It feels planted on the road.

In the city and highway it has great acceleration. A bit of a lag off the line, but only momentarily. Has a similar feel in power to V6 Camrys I drove for years.

Reliability is supreme. Did a couple of front wheel bearings, that’s just wear and tear. I have had 50 cars and this is just a great vehicle.

The only thing I don’t like is the cloth seat material.

That said, the cabin is well put together. No squeaks or rattles.

1000-1100 km per tank in the city. Averages about 47 MPG. Now in the winter in Winnipeg cold it will drop to as low as 27 MPG average. But still, this is about one of the cheapest to maintain and operate.

New York has these for cabs and cop cars, and I read they are getting upwards of 300,000 miles on them. I highly recommend!

Faults:

Nothing broken, only maintenance items.

General Comments:

It has been a good car overall. We purchased it when our second vehicle, a 2003 Dodge Sprinter, was having transmission issues, so it was not a planned purchase.

We have added almost 20K miles in one year, and the car has done well. Most of the miles are road trips within Alaska, and the ride is a definite improvement over our other vehicles.

The brakes are sub par as they need replacing and the rotors are already warped. Due partially to a spirited driving style, but the brake are undersized compared to other full size sedans I have had in the past.

The transmission is a little "funny", in that its shifts are a little "bouncy" at times, almost like there is a loose mount. This is normal for this car, according to the dealership and other owners.

During the winter the fuel mileage on the car goes to pot. During one of our road trips in the winter the car averaged 19, normally in the 27-29 range, with my wife driving at 65-70 mph. Not sure what happened on that trip, but it has yet to fall that low again. Was not particularly icy either.

Overall a good car, but if given the chance, we would buy another Subaru instead.

Faults:

Nothing; car is brand new. Upset with the dealer as this is the third vehicle we purchased from them, and they filled our last vehicles, but not this one on delivery.

General Comments:

Love it! My wife insisted on getting a Bordeaux Reserve Red colour. I like it and she loves it; it's basically a deep purple. Black heated leather looks great and is very comfortable.

Great looking car, and with the incentives right now, we got a $36,000 Fusion for $24,070 plus sales taxes and licensing. Not bad I'd say. Ideally we wanted a few extra toys, but we got a better deal buying in stock, which we understand.

Faults:

Nothing. This is a rental car that I put 4,500 miles on.

General Comments:

I rented this car and put 4,500 miles on it.

The car is a 2012 Ford Fusion SEL Flex Fuel 3.0 V6 8th digit VIN code "G".

Metallic black with dark grey heated leather.

The car has sync, auto on/off headlamps, keyless keypad entry on driver's door, dual zone climate controls, and on and on.

I drove the car from Arkansas, to and through California, and back to Arkansas. 4,500 miles.

I drove 6 mph above the speed limit, and mostly about 82 mph or so, and my overall MPG was 30.6.

I couldn't believe it myself, and kept a paper log and used the car's computer to keep track of the fuel economy. The car's computer was very accurate. I was expecting to get 24 or 25 MPG at this speed.

I ask for a 4 cylinder 8th digit VIN code "A", but they couldn't get one in time. I wanted an SEL to make sure I had the keypad entry option. Most SEL's are V6.

The V6 3.0 engine is silky smooth at idle, and provides excellent low end take off, along with plenty of passing power, even in the 70-80 mph range while going up the mountainous interstate roads of California.

The automatic transmission is a 6-speed unit, that was always silky smooth and very responsive for downshifts when needed, and up shifts quickly to get you up to speed, while contributing to excellent fuel economy.

Power train noise levels are very acceptable.

Getting in and out of the car is fairly easy, with doors that open wide and leather that is easy to slide on. I love the keypad entry on the Fusion's driver's door. SEL trim only are hard wired - the aftermarket units that are "Stick-on and program" - will not have a sticker under the dash". If you don't have your code for this, just bend down and put your head under the steering wheel, knees out on the ground, pop out the cap that covers the port for the OBD II plug in - this is about where your right knee would hit the dash. Shine a flash light up and under the dash- above the brake pedal, and peep through the hole beside the OBD II port. Above where your left foot would be, you will see a little box with wires plugged into it. You will see a white sticker with 5-numbers and maybe two letters after it. This is your code. Type in the code - the 5-numbers -- this will unlock the driver's door - hit 4 and this will unlock all 4-doors - hit 5 and this will unlock the trunk.

Having this lifesaving feature was so nice while traveling. You can keep the keys hid in the car while swimming, hiking, eating, etc and never worry about losing them. People traveling with you can walk out to the car at 2 am and get something out of the trunk at the motel without waking you. If you lock you keys in the car - you won't have to wait 3-hours while a lock smith travels all the way to Yosemite to find you. Remember, cell phones don't work in most national parks or rural areas - so you couldn't call a locksmith anyway, and OnStar might not work as well. The physical keypad is the only way to go for lock out emergencies.

The seats are very comfortable and supportive. I have an older Lincoln Town Car that I drive all the time, so I did find the Fusion's seats to be a bit too firm for my taste, but again I am spoiled by the ultra soft seats in an older Town Car, that you sink way down into.

All the dash controls are in easy reach of the driver. I love the lighting of the car's interior at night. I like to change the colors of all the accent lighting. This is a neat toy to play with.

I tried to use the Sync to just use it, but I was not able to get it to do much, but I also didn't read the owner's manual, so I was probably not saying the right commands. I was trying to get it to tell me "Vehicle Health report", but she "Sync" could never understand what I was saying, but I do have a thick southern accent.

To fill the gas, you don't even have to remove a fuel cap - as the car doesn't have one. I saw this on TV commercials a year ago, and thought it was silly, but I actually like it now. It is very handy, and you will keep your hands cleaner. No more gas smell on your hands - or forgetting to put the gas cap back on embarrassments.

The floor pan foot area is great, the glove box is huge, but didn't have a light in it -- cost cutting, but most newer cars don't have under hood lights, glove box lights, or lighted reflectors on the 4-doors anymore. I am 5ft 11 inches and put the driver's seat where I wanted it and the back seat had plenty of room still. The trunk is huge, and the car's interior has storage galore. Cubbie holes everywhere.

The doors shut up very easily and open very easily. The trunk is kind of hard to pull down. The trunk doesn't pop all the way up when you hit the trunk release button. I am spoiled by the older cars - 90's era --- where when you popped the trunk, the lid was spring loaded and raised all the way up on its own. Most newer cars no longer do this. You will have to put some of your grocery sacks down and pull the lid up -- where in the older cars you just dropped all your bags in, and slammed the lid down and it was done.

Viability was excellent. I am spoiled by the older cars that didn't have such tall trunks. Backing up in today's modern cars with tall trunks, makes it hard to see the ground behind you. In my old Town Car - the trunk is kind of low - I can see right behind the car when I back up. Just like in an old, say 96-99 Taurus or Sable.

Wind noise at 80mph is very, very low. Road noise from the tires is a bit louder than my old Town Car, but the Town Car has super thick carpet, where newer cars have to cut weight, and must have thinner carpets and sound padding.

Head room is great in the back seats, front seat head room gets kind of tight, especially when the sun visor is pulled over to the door. My old Lincoln has 2 sun visors - one that you can slide over to the door, and one that stays for the windshield. Almost all newer cars now have only one. Cost cutting. I had the electric seat lowered all the way down, but I am almost 6-foot tall. Today's windshields are at a super low angle for fuel efficiency, but this cuts into head room.

Night driving is excellent. The headlamps are more than bright enough. I did miss the cornering lamps, as my old Lincoln Town Car lights up the driveways from a side view when you put the blinker on. You don't realize how spoiled this makes you, until you drive a car that doesn't have cornering lamps.

While stopped at a red light, the door seals, window, and body panels seal out almost all the cross traffic noise. The car is very quiet while idling. I like the way that the car finishes starting itself. You just put the key in the ignition and turn it to start, and then just let off. The car's computer will continue to crank the engine for another half second, or more, till it starts - you don't have to listen for the engine to start and then let off the starter like the older cars. I bet if you tried to start the car with it already running - the car's computer wouldn't let you, and this will save you from chipping a tooth out of your flywheel - a $1,000 repair on a FWD car. My guess is that most newer cars can now be started with an optional remote start button, and it is cheaper to use a computer to start a car, vs using 2-different modules, so all cars get the same module and wiring, even the cars that don't have the start button on the remote.

Styling is great.

Checking the oil is fairly easy. The car didn't use any, but I noticed that the hood prop is kind of hard to put back in place. You almost have to use both hands to force the hood prop back in place, and let the hood rest on top of your head. Maybe I was doing this wrong, but I am pretty smart about stuff like this, and it seemed hard to do.

The steering wheel is very easy to turn in parking lots. The brake pedal is very easy to depress, and the car feels like it can stop on a dime. The car handles like a sports car on the windy roads.

The A/C's blower motor isn't too loud. Even on max A/C with the fan blowing at max speed, you don't have to talk loud, or turn your cell phone volume up too much.

The auto dim rear view mirror works great. The door mirrors have those super neat built in little blind spot mirrors incorporated into them from the factory. These little blind spot mirrors should be required on all cars.

The front seat cup holders have no trouble holding a 44-ounce drink. The car has 2-power point outlets. At least that is all that I could find. One in front of the gear shift, and one under the front center arm rest down into the storage cubbie. My old Lincoln is 17 years old and it has 4-power point outlets. One in each back door, one in the front dash ashtray, and one near where the front seat passenger's left foot would be, but I know 3-of these in the Town Car come from an era when most people smoked, and these are for lighters. Today less people smoke.

The car has lots of clever features about it, like auto on and off delayed headlamps. When you use the windshield wash/wiper function, the wipers will come back on one last time in about 20-seconds to remove any water that runs back down onto the windshield viewing area.

I used the "auto stick" gear selector feature only one time. It is kind of neat. You put the gear selector down in "M" and use the + or - button. Very simple, and the car really does have 6-forward speeds, although while in regular drive, the transmission shifts so smooth and quietly that you can't tell what gear it is in. I think it must skip some gears as well sometimes, because it is so silky smooth and quiet, that shifting 5-times every time the car takes off seems like it doesn't, due to the quietness.

To sum it all up, this car is a great car, that really surprised me at how well it did on fuel economy and ride. The ride is fairly smooth and well controlled. The trunk is big, and the interior cabin room is good.