General Comments:
The first thing I noticed when I test drove the Fusion was the great ride. I still think it's one of it's best features. A perfect combination of suspension tuning for a great ride and great handling... hard to achieve, but they did it with the Fusion.
When I started shopping for a new car, I made a list of things I wanted: 1) Highest safety rating from the Feds and the Insurance Institute. 2) Highest rating from Consumer's Union (and must be a CU recommended buy). 3) V6 Engine. 4) Over 25 mpg combined. 5) Every bell and whistle. The list got real short at this point. The Fusion was on the list, you can guess the other two. Then I added: 6) Pay under $26,000. The list then shrunk to the Fusion. Didn't get to it, but No. 7 would have been that I didn't want to see myself in duplicate every 10 seconds as I did with my Nissan Altima.
Built my Fusion at the Ford Website, and got three hits here in the city. Looked at all three, liked the white one, made a great deal, and took it home. Love affair ever since. End of story.
The car really shines on long trips, so quiet, a fantastic radio (satellite radio or MP3 CD or iPod stays with you all the way), GREAT RIDE, comfortable seats, no squeaks, no rattles, and over 30 MPG hwy. But it's a great city car too, a really nice place to spend an afternoon stuck in traffic.
Right after I bought my Fusion, I read a story in the local paper about two boys in a Fusion who were hit head on by a drunk driver in a full sized Chevy pickup. (We all know the drunk usually is the one who lives.) The drunk in the Chevy truck died at the scene, the two boys in the Fusion were injured, but were very much alive. The biggest problem that the paramedics had was cutting the boys out of the car. The jaws of life were not up to the job of cutting through the roof pillars of the Fusion, and they had to bring in special cutters to saw through the steel. This is no lie.
So if you want a really great car that will always get you where you want to go, get you there in style (but not flash), keep you well entertained on the way, and if necessary, give its all to save your life, then you can't beat a Ford Fusion.
A special bonus... since the recession, it's now becoming fashionable to drive American... There's nothing more American than the big blue oval riding atop the great looking chrome grill on the Fusion.
One reviewer I read put it this way..."A great American car wearing a proud American badge".