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Comments: 1-15, 16-20
The car is brand new. I just picked it up on Friday. Having put nearly 100,000 totally trouble-free miles on a previous Taurus, I don't anticipate any problems with the better built, highly acclaimed Fusion.
This car is AWESOME. After writing a review about my very troublesome 2006 Camry, I found someone stupid enough to take over the payments on it. Though it meant losing nearly $8000 I jumped at the chance to unload it. The Fusion is everything the Camry WASN'T. It is fast, comfortable, reliable and handles like a $40,000 European sports sedan. I LOVE IT!! After having to take the Camry in EVERY month (at least) for something, it will be great to drive a real car again. Even with leather and all luxury options my 2007 Fusion SEL cost less than my Camry. I am firmly back in the Ford camp and plan to stay there. I'll post future updates as I have time to put more miles on this car. I'm looking forward to keping this one a very long time.
Having put over 300,000 miles on a previous Ford I'd say you made a VERY WISE decision in dumping the bland, unreliable Camry for a real car. Japanese companies spend millions "buying" favorable reviews (i.e. "ads") in automotive magazines to delude the public in to thinking that they are far better than they are. The Fusion is an awesome car that is so far above Camry and Accord it is an insult to Ford to compare them. Hopefully more people will wise up and break out of the robotic, hypnotized delusion that only Japanese companies can build reliable cars. In 35 years I've never owned a BAD domestic or a GOOD import.
<<Having put over 300,000 miles on a previous Ford I'd say you made a VERY WISE decision in dumping the bland, unreliable Camry for a real car. Japanese companies spend millions "buying" favorable reviews (i.e. "ads") in automotive magazines to delude the public in to thinking that they are far better than they are. The Fusion is an awesome car that is so far above Camry and Accord it is an insult to Ford to compare them. Hopefully more people will wise up and break out of the robotic, hypnotized delusion that only Japanese companies can build reliable cars. In 35 years I've never owned a BAD domestic or a GOOD import.>.
Um, the Ford Fusion you are raving about is built in MEXICO so is therefore an import by definition. The Camry is designed, built, and sold by AMERICANS so therefore is a domestic.
Oh, in 25 years I've NEVER owned a good "domestic" and had ONLY great imports.
I don't like it when people make comments and do not know anything about cars. The Fusion was never and will never be rated above the Honda Accord... Maybe Camry, but not the Accord. My '94 Honda has 253,000 miles and I have put on 50k of those myself and I am only 20. I take my car off the road just for fun and it has not fallen apart--it also can flat out do 90-110 for a quarter mile and not blow up. My dads newer Accord is just as great. It is an insult to me to compare the Fusion which looks like my '94 Accord to the New ACCORD. Maybe 600 biased testers said the Fusion SEL was better than the Accord DX, but surely they would have made different claims had it actually been a loaded Accord. Chevy did this same thing with the '97 Malibu with the Accord and Camry and look where it got them? With an all new Accord coming next year the Fusion will continue on into fleets of Avis and Hertz. Japanese buying the public? Hey wasnt the Fusion designed and engineered in Japan at Mazda? Maybe they bought the press? Well see in a year or two when the real reliability shows through. I think I remember back in 95 about how world class the Contour was...only time will tell.
Original reviewer here. Well, my new Fusion has already surpassed my 2006 Camry in reliability. It has gone a whole week with no problems. I had to take the Camry in 3 days after I bought it, and many times after that too. What really makes me angry is that a friend of mine who helped talk me into buying the Camry just showed up at the office driving a new Fusion! He sheepishly admitted that he had had a "few minor problems" with his 2003 Camry and then admitted to several not so minor problems too. He said that he was very impressed with my Fusion and decided to trade for one himself based on the rave reviews and the great build quality. I could punch him in the nose.
Here's J. D Power's ACTUAL list of most reliable cars from '06:
1. Subcompact car - Toyota Echo
2. Compact car - Honda Civic
3. Sporty compact car - Honda S2000
4. Entry level premium car - Lexus
5. Midsize premium car - Lexus
6. Large premium car - Lexus
7. Compact SUV - Toyota Rav 4
8. Midsize SUV - Toyota Highlander
9. Large pickup truck - Toyota Tundra
10. Premium SUV - Lexus.
I understand that you guys are upset about coming to the realization that Ford and Chevy can't and never could compete with the imports, but do you really need to just completely make things up in order to make yourself feel better about driving your Big 3 crap?
Yes indeed, I'm not sure if the Fusion was actually designed in Japan, but that's a good bet. The Fusion is the same car as the Mazda 6. The whole "domestic vs. import" thing isn't so black and white. "Domestic rules all!!! whoo hoo!!!" meanwhile you drive off in your Mazda 6-- err, sorry. Fusion ;)
We opted to not even LOOK at Hondas when test driving SUV's because of all the news about bad transmissions, as well as people we knew who got stuck with them and ended up with lots of trips to the dealership.
Where there's that much publicity the problem MUST BE big, and not just a "very few" as the import crowd argues.
We bought domestic. 60,000 miles and nary a problem. It's also faster (WAYYYY faster), smoother, more reliable, more comfortable, more luxurious AND gets better mpg than the Honda Pilot OR the Toyota Highlander (which we did drive. It was a dog).
There is not a statistic that says any domestic suv is more reliable than the Honda Pilot or Toyota Highlander. My Accord has 150,000 miles on its transmssion and has no trouble. I think you should know that the new Hondas have no problems anymore with the transmissions save a few screwballs who change fluids every 200,000 miles and I wish you luck with your Ford: problem is you will have as much fun with that Fusion as a Ford Taurus and you are going to want to get rid of it after 60,000 miles anyway... but good luck getting anything for it.
OK it's a review on many import vehicles one year old... that were reliable. What happens at 3 years 36,000 miles? The warranty I had no longer applied on my 38,000 mile import. Its nice to have a reliable vehicle. Its also nice having a better compliment of features, performance, fun to drive, innovative designs, room, handling, longer standard warranties, better towing, people capacity. I also consulted Edmunds true cost to own over 5 years not 1 year and did not buy a Tundra. I also read Motor Trend, Car and Driver more on reviews on handling and performance. I guess not all of us drive an appliance we would like to actually vehicles that are truly fun to drive and own. My import mechanical issues of late changed my buying habits completely. I found saving at the pump was replaced by spending more at the dealership.
I just don't get it why fords are always claimed to be unreliable, while the imports are always rated to be reliable. I used to think that was true until I got my hands on a 1995 ford conour 2.0. I have well over 253k on it with the original tranny and engine, and it has some of the best handling out there. My friend with a 2004 accord still could not belive the handling on my car when he drove it. Up to this day he still thinks I have put an aftermaket suspension on my contour, and really the only money I have put on that car was an alternator like 3 years ago. I'm in college and the first thing I am going to buy when I get out is going to be a ford fusion with awd or a sport trac. Gooo ford.
A contour going over 200,000 miles? You are 1 out of a million contour owners who got lucky. I used to own a Contour and It barely made it to 120,000 miles (granted I had to replace everything including the water pump once every six months). I took it to the Ford dealership and they were AMAZED that the vehicle even reached that mileage. Needless to say I have not had a Ford vehicle since and it feels good not taking a car in every month for abnormal services. There is a reason why Ford lost about 12 Billion dollars last year and it will keep losing money for years to come.
Yes I am sure about the mechanicals on my car even though I have heard bad reviews about it these cars. And for some reason I always get these rice burners wanna be's trying to smoke me when I am on a red light. With my little 2.0 I have actually beat a couple of old accords and an impala (probably 4 cyl.) And you would be surprised that I have managed to get this car up to 120, but I have refused to go past that b/c of my tires, though I think I can go past that. I once used to think imports were superior, but after that contour I am never buying an import. I would love to get my hands on an svt contour.
This is really funny to read all this. Just so everyone knows.. Toyotas/Hondas are not as "foreign" as they use to be and Fords/Chevrolets are not as "domestic" as they use to be either. If someone were to actually calculate which parts are foreign/domestic, Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, and Honda would prolly be about equal.
Also, how reliable a car is (any car!!) depends on how its driven and maintained! Now my sister drives a Mitsubishi, I recently had a Dodge, mom has a Toyota, and dad has a F-150. My sister's car is a Lancer and has had its share of issues simply because she doesn't maintain it like she should, it has around 70,000 miles. My Dodge was a V6 Spirit and has 202,000 miles. The only things I've done to it that was major are: timing belt and water pump at 151,000 (preventative!!), and struts at 122,500 miles and it looks and rides like new. Dads F-150 has 331,278 miles on it and he rebuilt the motor once because there was a rod knocking around 280,000 miles. Now mom's little Rav4 has around 120,000 miles and has had 2 timing belts, new motor due to sludge build up even though oil was changed on time, shocks, struts, and cd player replaced.
All that goes to show that, yes, a SMALL percentage of cars come off the line with O.E.M. defects, but most cars fail due to improper break-in period and driving habits/maintenance! Our neighbor has a 2006 Acura TL with "LEMON" written on all the windows.. hes had 4 transmissions since he bought the car (made by Honda!).
I just bought a brand new Fusion SEL, charcoal gray with black leather and love the car! For a 21 year old to buy a car brand new like this.. I feel very very confident this car will last a very LONG time!
I'm the original reviewer. I've been really surprised by the comments that have been posted on this review. I can't believe so many people are so misled by ad hype. I can't believe anyone who has actually owned a 2006 Camry could possibly say some of the things I read, so I assume most of the comments are from younger people who probably have never driven a Camry or a Fusion. I'm not at all surprised to read that twice as many Camry owners are unhappy with their cars as Taurus owners are with theirs. While I had my lemon Camry I regretted not keeping my old Taurus. Even at 97,000 miles it was a better car than the Camry was the day I bought it.
As for my Fusion, it is much faster than my Camry. My old Taurus was faster than my V-6 Camry. The Fusion does 0-60 in just under 8 seconds and my old Camry took nearly 10 seconds. My friend's 4-cylinder 2001 Oldsmobile Alero would outrun it from stoplights easily. I hear the new Camry is faster, but I don't care. After all the problems my 2006 had and all the money I lost on it I'll never look at another Toyota again. I love my Fusion and it is twice the car the Camry was. It is better built, faster and certainly much better looking. In the past 2 months 4 of our friends have bought 2007 Fusions, and 2 of them are previous Camry owners. I'm putting the word out to everyone that if they want a really good driving and reliable car to check out the 2007 Focus. Like my title says, it's what a real car should be.
Some definite strong opinions here. So let's look at some facts.
April 2007 Consumer Reports issue gave the V6 Ford Fusion their highest recommended buy rating. They also gave it their highest predicted reliability rating and highest safety rating. I think it's fair to say CR is very hard on domestic cars, so what does that say about the Fusion that they would give it such high ratings?
Car & Driver (or maybe it was Road & Track), conducted two tests inviting drivers to play with Camrys, Accords, and Fusions. In both tests, the highest percentage of drivers picked the Fusion as their favorite.
In an analysis of Things Gone Wrong (TGW), the Fusion beat the Camry by a very small amount. The Accord was tops.
Both the Camry and Accords have more powerful engines and get better gas mileage than the Fusion. The Camry is virtually identical in weight.
What I'm simply saying is that Ford has built a very good car in the Fusion, and it competes well with the Camry and Accord. I bought a Fusion over the other 2 because I liked it's styling better, it's driving better, and it was more roomy. If Ford could improve it's turning radius and gas mileage I'd be completely happy with the car.