New Fusion Owner Pics and Impressions

[FusionHybrid2013]

I have 1,600 miles on my 2013 FFH and couldn't be happier. I've had not issues with the MyFord Touch and Sync. I have it set so that the little lady speaks as little as possible. I do wish the beep you get when touching the screen was a little louder. I have found Engage gives me the best information on the left display. I have Audio info instead of the Green Leaves on the right display.

 

My car is happy to have found its twin. I have about 2,300 miles on my FFH and really like it so far too. I also use engage. With it being in the 50's yesterday, I was finally able to hit a 47mpg average on my round trip to work (~76miles). Anyway, here are some pics of my dirty 2 month old FFH.

[hermans]

I see you have those good ole PA stickers too. What a racket.

[neod192]

My car is happy to have found its twin. I have about 2,300 miles on my FFH and really like it so far too. I also use engage. With it being in the 50's yesterday, I was finally able to hit a 47mpg average on my round trip to work (~76miles). Anyway, here are some pics of my dirty 2 month old FFH.

Do you have MyFord Touch or MyFord?

[FusionHybrid2013]

Do you have MyFord Touch or MyFord?

 

My Ford Touch

[Charlee]

If we end up in the same parking lot someday, we're in trouble! For me, the ergonomics of the Fusion are near perfect. The only time I was uncomfortable reaching for something was a large cup in my cup holder. Switching it to the passenger's holder solved it. I know it's personal preference, but the Dune interior with black carpet just makes me feel better when sitting inside the car. I never get that feeling with a Charcoal interior. After four weeks, I'm finally comfortable with the direction turn lever, and really like it (except for the 3 blinks).

[Camride]

Got mine home. I'll get better pictures later, but here are a few within it's first few minutes home. One thing I noticed is that I have DRLs. At least when I did a remote start it looked like DRLs (you can see in the pictures). I'll take a closer look at that tomorrow, as well as look for grill shutters. edit: Just checked, I have active grill shutters. Who knows what the criteria is for them, it seems to be pretty random at this point.

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2012 by Camride

[akirby]

Sweet!

[-Strike-]

Yeah, mine has those lights too during the remote start, I took a look inside the lens, and there's a small bulb to the upper left of the highbeam bulb. Kind of neat, I'd like if mine used that as the DRLs instead of the low beams, but oh well. The DRLs are the projectors low beams on reduced intensity when you put the car in drive.

 

The car looks amazing!

[expresspotato]

Congratulations Camride! Enjoy the new Fusion!

[jsellar]

Looks incredible! The bare feet crack me up, too.

[elle]

Beautiful! Worth the wait, I hope!

[B8BB8B]

Oh mah god I'm in love with those tail lights - 200% upgrade from previous generation!

[lmp180psu]

Congrats! Cant wait to get my Ruby Red Titanium Hybrid...the wait is almost agonizing lol

[Camride]

Looks incredible! The bare feet crack me up, too.

 

How in the world did you know I took those pictures bare foot?

[Salva]

How in the world did you know I took those pictures bare foot?

Car looks terrific! Makes me want (again) to wait for the Titanium Hybrid, even now, that my SE Hybrid has been built.

 

As for the foot - probably from the following picture.

 

http://s110.beta.photobucket.com/user/camride/media/2013%20Fusion/First%20Day%20Home/P1000138.jpg.html#/user/camride/media/2013%20Fusion/First%20Day%20Home/P1000147.jpg.html?&_suid=1354887300067023877041731696324

Edited December 7, 2012 by Salva

[Bailey151]

Got mine home....................

Congrats, that Ruby Red sure is a purdy color.

[-Strike-]

My review so far; May be fairly long.

 

Ordered the car back in August to move into something new and more fuel efficient than my V8 Explorer, that was struggling to get 13-14 mpg highway. Tank of fuel a week was costing me in the $90 range, and it started to have some issues.

 

I ordered the car without seeing one in person, without driving one. And, only going by photos. They hadn't even hit the dealer floors yet when I jumped the gun and ordered the car, so I didn't know what to expect.

 

There was some delay getting going with the order due to selection of the wrong optional wheel package, which pushed the build date into Nov. Which, luckily enough for me it put me out of the TBD Black hole, and the car was built and shipped almost right away. I got very lucky.

 

Dealership contacted me, and told me they had a 13 Titanium on hand that I could come up and see, I did and test drove it for a few minutes, and I was excited. The cabin felt so secure and quite, I was in love. Furthered my anticipation!

 

First Impressions: I was contacted by the sister dealership to the one in town, and they let me know the car had just been delivered, and I could go up and see it and go over the deal. They handed me the set of keys and I went out to find it in the lot. There she was, all wrapped up in plastic, dirty as all hell and plastered in stickers. The day had finally come. Oh, boy was I excited. I went over a few things inside the car real quick. Checked it over on the outside, but didn't spend too much time with it. Figured I would wait until it was ready to go. We had made the date for the Saturday to have it ready to go.

 

I set the time for 9am Saturday morning, the car was due to have the windows tinted, plated and ready to go. I pulled in Saturday morning, and she was inside the show room, all shined up, windows tinted, plated and ready to drive home. My goodness the car looked amazing. I don't think I could ever forget that moment! We signed up the papers, went over the car, and I drove it home!

 

Now, here's for the information you've been wanting; Details!

 

Interior comfort:

 

Absolutely love it. The seats are very comfortable, everything feels like it was designed to be where it should be. There was some early reviews complaining about the center stack being in the way of your right knee, and some complaints that the LH foot rest is in a bit of an odd position. Honestly, I have no idea what they're talking about. I have not noticed one issue with the stack, nor feel uncomfortable with the foot rest.

 

Soft touch materials everywhere! It feels great inside. Materials are all quite nice and the fit and finish of the panels is great. The piano black surfaces is a nice touch, although as people said, I could see them scratching rather easily if you're not careful. Even the "plastic metal" pieces seem to fit well in there, and polish of the look of the car. The only area I noticed that feels a little cheap, would be the bottom of the door panels in and around the cup holder in the door, just a thin plastic material. That doesn't bother me much, because it's down low and you don't really have to deal with that everywhere.

 

The heating system is very nice, it was one of my areas of concern, as it gets flipping cold up here at times, and I wanted the car to get hot! My Explorer was always weak in the heat department, but so far the car warms up quick, and gets rather comfortable.

 

Rear seating does look like it could be a little small for some people, depending on the settings of the front seat, however I had my brother sit back there - He's about 6"3, 300lbs, big guy! He told me it was quite comfortable, even for his size, and didn't notice any issues with head room.

 

The ride on the inside is very smooth, and pretty damn quiet, there is a little bit of road noise on some road surfaces, but nothing major, overall I think it's pretty sound.

 

The 2.0 engine does have a bit of a growl to it when you let'r rip, which puts a little smile on your face as your head gently throws back!

 

The trunk space is quite large, although people have claimed it's not that big. It's true. It does have a low loading area, and if you're not careful you can or could hit your head on the trunk panel that lifts up, due to the design of the sloping rear window, it cannot go all the way back.

 

Same with the low roof line, if you're not expecting it you could have a kiss with the car on the way in. My friend did on the first day I brought it home, haha.

 

The wipers, lights, signals and such; The wipers take some time to get used to, as it's just a little different than what I am used to, once you figure it out, it's like there is no other way it should be. That and them opening from the center is different, but I could see it benefiting me in the snow, by pushing it up and off, rather than back down.

 

The highbeam and turn signal stock, again takes a bit to get used to, the tap down for three flashes is nice, full down for full signal, and it never has to turn to center, it's very, very different than I was used to, but it quickly became second nature. I like it.

 

Also, the little windows at the front, by your mirrors can catch you off guard some times, as at quick glance it appears as though there is something there, but it's just your mirror.

 

That, and I have noticed a slight distortion in the driver side mirror, probably due to the window tinting, plus the auto darkening film combination, doesn't bother me much now, but something I did notice.

 

And yes, those auto darkening mirrors work very, very well! I love it.

 

Exterior Styling:

 

Amazing, beautiful, stunning.. you name it. I have had so many looks from people it's not even funny. This car is definitely in a league of it's own here in terms of it's style. The low roof line, the aggressive front end, and even the broad sides.. Everything seems to flow really well. The one thing I did notice is the car really does look a lot better in person, up close, than in any photographs you can find.

 

The dual integrated exhaust, LED tail lamps, and the chrome finishes.. Just completes the car and give it more of an upscale look for the bargain of a price. I am impressed.

 

The headlights aren't bad. I find them a "bit" yellow for me, and a little dim, however that's just the properties of an H11 long life bulb, which can be an easy fix. The cutoff is nice on the projectors, and apparently, I drove past my father the other night going down a hill, and he complained the headlights were too bright! I laughed at him. May be something I'll upgrade in the spring if I still have the same thoughts, but overall it's pretty good, city drivers probably wont have an issue. I drive a lot of rural areas at night.

 

The tail lights; yes.. I love them. The Titanium only feature apparently. Looks amazing at night, they're so bright, you'd swear your brake lights are on. And they have a bit of an evil eye appearance, which is cool. It's unfortunate, this is only available on the Titanium. Definitely gives the car the little quirk that makes it stand out even further than it already does.

 

Also gotta love those H-Spokes! Gives the car a real sporty and aggressive stance.

 

Everything else, back up camera, heated seats.. just wow. I don't think I could honestly ask for any more. I already feel too spoiled!

 

Handling:

 

Excellent! The steering is precise, accurate and feels very nice, not too weighted, and not too light. Seems to have a good balance of both. Only minor gripe, is you can hear a little whine sound from the electric motor when you're moving the wheel at almost a stop, but it's pretty quiet. Definitely has some good feedback. Nothing feels unpredictable.

 

The suspension is quite nice. It does have a slight firmness to it. Which I find great, gives the car a little more of a sporty feel, while not being overwhelming in any way. It's very smooth on the highway and handles the unexpected bumps with ease, you hardly hear anything in the cabin, nor do you feel it. Seems like a very well rounded system with comfort and quietness on the top of it's list. Everything feels very tight, with no feeling of ever pushing anything to it's limits. The car handles tight bends at reasonable speed with ease, with little to no body roll. I'm very impressed.

 

Engine Power:

 

I am very impressed by this; something I did not expect. But, but this little 2.0L I4 does really like to move. You kick it down, and it honestly throws your head back a little bit. Very smooth and refined power which I am not used to, so I have to be careful to watch my speed.

 

Normal in and around town driving it's great, has good pickup and power when you need it, and a smooth, effortless feeling when cruising around. Nothing feels harsh, or being strained.

 

The engine note is quite cute. It's a little 4, but it does have quite the growl to it, which is quite nice, and you do hear it on the inside. Something I love. I love to hear the sound of the engine, and what it's doing. When you throw it down on the highway, it really moves. I am quite impressed. I have not pushed anything to the limits yet, as the car is still new. But, I have a feeling this thing can have some pretty mean top speed.

 

Sync with MyTouch

 

So far, I have had pretty good luck with this system, everything flows out pretty nice, and there's a ton of options and settings, which can get rather confusing if you don't sit down and figure everything out. Voice commands, navigation, cell phone pairing.. everything has worked for me so far. I've only had a couple of minor issues. When I was down in an area with little satellite reception, I tired to search for genre in the menu, as it was searching I think the signal cut, and it continued to search, never finding results, or finishing the search, still sits there saying, "searching".

 

The other bug I've noticed, is when you're trying to connect to a wifi, or router or what ever. The letters are all blanked out for the password to the network.. nothing I can do fixes this, so I can't try that.

 

Sometimes, it defaults back to Stereo sound, rather than my last setting of Surround, and the odd time, it randomly changes sources to USB for what ever reason.

 

Voice commands take some time getting used to, but I have not had any issue with it not understanding me, and skipping a few steps, like saying, "Climate" "Set Temp 72 degrees" works really well, and simplify's the system pretty good.

 

The touch screen is nice, not too hard, not too light, though it's covered in prints already! All in all, coming from someone who has never used this type of system, it's very nice, and relatively easy to use. Even with a few bugs here and there, I love it.

 

Navigation System:

 

Used the system only a few times, and I am really impressed. Sure beats having the little guy suctioned to the windshield. Voice controllable, very user friendly and quite easy to set up. Very quick to update your location on the map, with no delays. I found my old Garmin, I'd pass an intersection before the map would show me even being there. Not much else I can say about this as I haven't used it too much yet, but so far so good.

 

Intelligent access

 

At first, what a pain in the ass! This took some time getting used to. But, now that I have figured it out, it works great, and is very neat. The first thing I noticed, is when I was trying to unlock/open the door, I tended to rub/press the lock area on the door handle at the same time, causing it to relock the door when I went to open it. Once you figure out that you just put your hand inside the handle and open it, it works, no tricks or anything, which I expected.

 

Simple lock of the doors is a small swipe on the hatches of the door handle, that's it.. which never really gives you the assurance that it is locked, and with my windows tinted, it's a little harder to see the LED's, which light up when it's locked.

 

Another thing I noticed, is that when I unlock my door, a passenger's door was still locked, and I would have to get in, press the unlock button to let her in. There's a setting in the LH settings menu for locks that you can change it to unlock all doors from the drivers side, which is awesome.

 

The push button start takes some time to get used to, there's been a few times I've caught myself reaching for the key in the ignition that isn't there.

 

The remote start feature is awesome, but also takes some time to get used to, it isn't a simple double press of the button on the fob. For mine, I have to press the lock button, sometimes twice to chirp the horn before it'll allow me to start the car via remote, which I couldn't figure out on the first day I tried it, figured something was wrong. And there's a ton of different settings you can change for the starting cycle, have the seats heat up, defrosts on or off, durations.. Quite nifty.

 

Fuel mileage

 

The car is still fairly fresh, not even close to a thousand miles on it, and I am already pretty impressed. It's not quite near the EPA numbers, or the advertised numbers here in Canada, but it's excellent for me. As I said earlier, coming from the big V8 Explorer that struggled to get 14 mpg highway, this is definitely a major improvement already. To be honest, what more could I ask for in a full time AWD vehicle. I knew it wasn't going to be incredible, or mind blowing in anyway. But, so far I am rather happy.

 

The one thing, the tank is smaller than my other vehicles, so it appears to me as though I am using more fuel just by looking at the gauge, but in reality, the fills are cheaper, and they're smaller amounts. I think my first fill up cost me about $51. Where as in my Explorer, (in the same driving time frame) would cost me a little over $90.

 

My best fuel economy so far has been 27-28 mpg doing a mostly highway trip in freezing temperatures and wet roads. I am very impressed. It'll be interesting to see what it'll do when it's broken in, and during the summer time.

 

When shopping around for a new car, I knew I wanted something smaller, more efficient, and AWD. My choices were rather limited cost wise. And full time AWD vehicles are never really that super fuel efficient. So far, I am really impressed. It may not be the best it can be, nor the best in class, it's still amazing for me.

 

Summary:

 

All in all, I totally love this car. One of the best decisions I have ever made. The balance of comfort, style and cost is perfect. Again, the car is in a class of it's own. Fuel economy is great, standard features are plentiful and the level of quality you get feels great. For the relatively low cost of the Fusion, the amount of stuff packed in there is incredible. Ford has definitely made a great stride forward with this car.

 

The only downside, is some of the added options packs are a bit pricey, in Canada, the added packages are $1500 each, to the exception of the Driver Assist package, which is $1000. But we do make some savings on some stuff, as the 19" wheels are $500, and the Navigation is a bit lower. Again, the amount of car you get for your money is amazing.

 

If I were to jump back in time, I believe I would have still made the same decision. I have a few minor rattles in the interior, and by minor, I mean.. pretty minor, nothing that distracts or is very annoying. Simple fix I'd imagine, the exterior quality is very nice, paint work looks great, the car cleans up and shines like no tomorrow. Everything looks fit rather well, and the doors and hood close with a nice thunk.

 

To anyone who's still waiting on their Fusions, I'd urge you to continue to wait a little longer if you possibly can. Everyone throws out the term, "It's worth the wait". And let me tell you.. it certainly is. You will be impressed, happy and set in a car you will love and enjoy for a long time. It's unfortunate that the new Fusion launch has been affected by some of these early production problems and delays, dealers in my area still don't have very much stock, so it's hard to get them out there. Just remember, the cars will make it eventually!

 

Thanks for taking the time to read. I'll add more things to this thread as I think of it.

[jarhead727]

Thanks for the review strike. That was exactly what I've been waiting for. I've seen all the " this is a great car " reviews but no details this was Very detailed. I've been waiting since June to get this car. I was getting ready to bailout. You just made me stick it out:). Thanks again

[-Strike-]

No problem! I wanted to wait about a week after I got the car before I compiled some thoughts and feelings. If there's anything you feel I left out, feel free to ask me and I'll do my best. I really hope everyone gets their cars soon, it's such a pisser to have this kind of thing happen. It will be worth it though! I can only imagine Ford is hauling ass to get this back on track.

[gfusion]

The touch screen is nice, not too hard, not too light, though it's covered in prints already! All in all, coming from someone who has never used this type of system, it's very nice, and relatively easy to use. Even with a few bugs here and there, I love it.

 

 

Strike,

 

The fingerprint thing is annoying - we also have MFT in our 2011 Explorer and someone suggested a screen protector from NuShield to cut down on the glare and fingerprints. It worked really well on both accounts. I ordered and installed one just last week in my Fusion and it made a huge difference. Just a thought.

 

Nice review! Mirrors my experience at the 3 week mark very well.

[hermans]

Strike,

 

The fingerprint thing is annoying - we also have MFT in our 2011 Explorer and someone suggested a screen protector from NuShield to cut down on the glare and fingerprints. It worked really well on both accounts. I ordered and installed one just last week in my Fusion and it made a huge difference. Just a thought.

 

Nice review! Mirrors my experience at the 3 week mark very well.

I bought the NuShield screen protector and installed it at the dealer at the time of delivery. I also put my Husky liners in the car then and had the dealer keep the floormats in the bag. They will stay that way until I get ready to get rid of the car. Edited December 11, 2012 by hermans

[expresspotato]

It has puddle lamps right?

[-Strike-]

It does indeed.

[Charlee]

Great review! It's all so true. I love mine so much my wife wants to know when I'm going to buy it a ring.

[elle]

Thanks for a great review. Makes me even more eager to get mine!