12th Aug 2007, 07:27

To 21:18.

The Ford all wheel drive system is a Haladex (sp?) system. This is the same that is used in a number of Volvo products and some other manufacturers. I would think that it would be about as reliable as most others. As for having a Mercury in Canada, I wouldn't hold my breath. :)

4th Jan 2008, 19:59

While the absolutely fantastic Milan won't challenge the Prius for mpg, the Prius is dorky, lame, and (most of all) drives like a soggy minivan. The Milan looks fantastic and has anti-Prius crisp, sharp handling. I LOVE the whole Fusion/Milan/MKZ corporate trio!- Enjoy your Milan!

22nd Jan 2008, 12:49

LOVE the filibuster comment. You've obviously done your research on this car and have evaluated fairly and honestly, thank you for that. Our experiences with our Fusion have been similar, though we wish we had gone for the Milan: due to all the options we added to it, it ended up costing more than a similarly equipped Milan.

18th Feb 2008, 16:42

Well, to be honest, I don't think that any measure of "domestic vs. import" debate can be applied accurately to the Milan in particular (and the Fusion and MKZ, for that matter.) Your research probably told you that the Milan (and others) shares a lot with the Mazda 6 (of which I have two), including the basic design of the platform, the suspension and the drivetrain (I'm talking about the 4-cylinder here, which is the only powertrain option available here in Saudi Arabia.)

That said, I am mulling the idea of "upgrading" from my automatic 6 (the other one is manual - my fun car) and the Milan is near the top of my list. I tried it out for a couple of days and wrote a review for the paper I used to work for (The Saudi Gazette - google it) and loved the car. I performed, handled and braked very much like my 6 - no surprises there, but had some practical issues. The first two issues have to do with the transmission: the lack of a manual shift option and the problematic programing of the shift patterns. It tends to shift down two gears when you gently try to accelerate, while it seems completely disinterested in shifting down even one gear when you floor it, say, in an overtaking maneuver - behavior which I described as "schizophrenic," and that's almost exactly the opposite of the behavior of the transmission on my 6, even though they are one and the same.

One other issue had to do with the driver's side view mirror. The mirror itself isn't convex enough to cover a wider area to my left. I almost broadsided other cars twice because of this.

Other than that and the lack of an ashtray, the car was really fun, and had some of the best seats in the industry.

1st Mar 2008, 14:52

All that kept me from purchasing the Ford Fusion (or Mercury Milan, which is actually less expensive) was the lack of a sporty 2-door model. I bought a Mustang instead. I drove 3 Fusions (1 with a 4, one with a V-6 and one V-6 5-speed). These cars are definitely world class, and so far ahead of the imports (ALL imports) that there is simply no comparison.

As for reliability, they have the highest rating of any car Consumer Reports has ever reported on.

Incidentally, Audi and Mercedes models are on some "cars to avoid list" due too poor reliability ratings. I think Ford's 4-wheel drive system will prove to be far more reliable.

3rd Mar 2008, 14:41

Original poster here... Nice to see that some people have commented on the review.

To follow up: I now have almost 4,000 miles on the car, and no negatives, no issues.

The same gripes apply about the keys banging into my leg and the manually adjustable seatback, when every other adjustment is power.

Strangely, I don't seem to notice the glare on the brushed aluminum anymore. Maybe because the sun hasn't shone here in Boston in about 6 friggin' months.

I am now averaging just over 17 mpg in mixed driving. Still not great to my original 16, but with AWD in mostly city conditions, I guess that's what you get.

In the time that's passed, I managed to discover the joys of MP3 CDs, so I can now drive around with about 15 hours of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Pretty sweet. So by the time I drive to Star Market and back, I can get almost halfway through Space Truckin'.

The AWD has fared well in winter driving, and I'm becoming more impressed with the acceleration and handling.

I really have nothing bad to say - I love the interior, love the exterior styling, and I don't see myself coming and going.

11th Apr 2008, 14:40

I too just purchased a 2008 milan V6 AWD. I currently have about 550 miles on it. If it's computer is accurate, I'm getting around 16 to 17 mpg in city driving and 25 to 29 mpg on the open highway. The computer is telling me that my average is about 20.2 mpg. Not bad for a new ride, but I'm hoping for some improvement as the engine breaks in. Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with this car - it's solid and feels well-planted on the road. My only complaint is, for my tastes, a little too much road noise penetrates the front of the cabin. This is a minor but easily remedied issue - a little extra noise control padding under the carpet should help.

13th Apr 2008, 15:11

I just recently purchased on 07 Milan Premier Series, and will be picking it up on Tuesday. I really like the look of the car and the interior is amazing, it's a two tone leather, looks really sharp. My only concern is the mileage, when I purchased it, it was said to get 23 city MPG and 31 highway MPG. Is nobody getting that kind of mileage? But other than that I'm happy with what I bought.

8th Oct 2008, 13:04

Original poster again. Just thought I'd check in. Not too many new comments. I just passed 6,000 miles. No issues, no rattles, no squeaks, no warning lights. Now averaging 19 MPG in mixed city and highway driving. I'm not super-cautious with accelerating, and most of my trips are just a couple miles, so I'm sure some people could easily get 20 MPG with the V6 AWD.

As happy as I am with the car, I'd have to think about leaping right into another FoMoCo vehicle, basically because of the transmission. I got a lot of use out of 2nd and 3rd gear in my old Riviera, especially on steep hills and winding country roads. Having only 'L' in the Milan is a major disappointment. When am I going to use that - when I'm fjording a river?

I'd still give the Milan an A though, but the competition is getting stiffer.