Phil3

Hello, The small plastic trim cap that covers the windshield side of the sun visor mount has fallen out (and so has the passenger side), but putting this back in is no big deal. A far bigger issue is that for the driver's side, returning the visor from a deployed position to back against the headliner simply disengages the visor mount from whatever it connects to inside the roof area. This leaves the visor suspended by the right side hinge point only. For the life of me, I do not see what or how the left side visor mount connects to anything inside the roof. I stuck my finger up on the cavity and feel nothing, except the wiring to the visor. Strangely, the right visor, also minus the cap, does NOT come loose upon operation of the visor. From what I can see and determine, the decorative cap that is always falling off does not hold the visor in place. Maybe I am wrong, but the cap has nothing on it that appears to snap into the floating metal clip in the roof. It is maddening, and unbelievable that Ford cannot make a sun visor clip stay affixed to the car! Thanks. Phil

See the attached pics. The one with the 2 x 4" board illustrates the problem. The road really is not that crowned at all. But, there is apparently enough crown and driveway steepness to make the drive all but impossible to navigate with the Fusion, and difficult with my Porsche. See other pics. Note, the pic with the car coming in from the left shows the inside right rear wheel lifting. This is no illusion. The Porsche body and suspension are so stiff, that wheel IS off the ground. It spins freely, stranding the car there, forcing me to get out and push the car off its three wheel position. Ask me how I know. Coming in the other way leaves the right front wheel 2" clear of the driveway. The Fusion is sprung softly enough where this does not happen. It just drags. Let me see...our neighborhood community center, the local Popeye's chicken, a gas station near wife's work, all cannot be navigated period, without dragging. More, such as exiting my work cannot be navigated without dragging unless substantial angling of the car is done. Yes, I agree, it is amazing the car can withstand constant crashing of the nose and still hang together. I am ready for a hole to be ground through the bodywork. Phil

I am the original poster, and don't mind so much having to angle the car a bit (within reason) to navigate a steeper driveway. I am willing to try and go slow, if possible. But it is unacceptable that the car absolutely cannot clear some common driveways, inclines, etc. without dragging no matter what you do. Does my driveway in the pic look extreme? I tried measuring the approach angle on the Fusion and it is very close to my Porsche Cayman, which has a much stiffer suspension. That stiffer suspension minimizes suspension bounce, thereby reducing the chances of pavement to bodywork contact. The Fusion is much more softly sprung, meaning it is even worse in regards to nose scraping than the Porsche. Ridiculous! Phil

The stupid and ridiculously low nose!!! See my post http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/10608-great-carbut-will-never-buy-another-until-one-thing-fixed/

My 2015 FFH is really everything I hoped it would be for the 110 mile round trip commute we do 5 days a week in horrible traffic to Silicon Valley. The car even returns astonishing gas mileage, never ever getting worse than 46+ over 11,000 measured miles and ocassionally returning a tank of just over 50. 585 miles on a tank impresses, especially when I can't get 12 gallons in it after that many miles. BUT, despite all that, the car has one very serious problem that would absolutely prevent me from buying another. The low front nose!!! See my driveway in the pic below. Doesn't look too bad does it? My wife backed the Fusion straight out of the driveway and the horrible graunch it made was so loud, I heard it in the backyard of the house. I instantly knew what it was, and sure enough, the little bulbous parts of the bodywork on the right and left, were now both scarred up. Navigating the driveway must be done at the shallowest angle possible, otherwise the air deflector and the body work hits. The deflector is fine, but not the bodywork. If people park on the street, on either side of the driveway, I am screwed, as I cannot use the shallow angle, hence cannot get the car out, unless I just let it drag. In rush hour traffic, one cannot drive slowly or carefully, while trying to squirt into an opening in traffic, such as out of a parking lot into crowded traffic. No time to ease over a driveway then, you just have to go, and again, the horrible graunch, and more shredding of the bodywork continuing each time. I went into one driveway, on a flat street!, at the shallowest angle possible, driving the wrong way into oncoming lanes (no one there), and still, the sickening graunch, even moving at a snail's pace. I am serious when I say this car, is if anything, just as bad if not WORSE than the low nose Porsche Cayman I drive. Ford, if you are listening, fix this!!! You have lost a customer for sure if you can't make the blasted nose shorter and/or higher. I feel like I am driving over eggshells any time I have to navigate a driveway. It even drags on dips in the street if not careful. There are places I simply cannot navigate without shredding the nose no matter what I do. And I am not in some place like San Francisco. Far from it. Now, somehow or other, the lower side and side of the low nose on the right side has a scrape mark right in front of the front wheel. This looks the nose dragged as it overhung a curb while making a turn close to the curb. Good grief, get the nose up and back! It is a commuter car, and I want to take good care of it, but Ford has built in a design that makes slow destruction of the front low bodywork all but guaranteed. Too bad. I liked the car, but I would never another one with such a disastrous front end design, never mind if the design is more aerodynamic and eeks out a tiny bit more mpg. Phil

Seems like a lot of people are cursed with the misaligned trunk, evidenced by varying gaps around the lid, especially around the tail light area and rear quarter panel. Despite the widespread complaints and about 90% of Fusions on the road suffering from this, I can find no explanation, and can only assume it is very shoddy parts and/or lousy assembly quality control. It is astounding Ford lets this stuff out of the factory. I really needed a car, and bought mine with the trunk gap problem, but after examination, I am stumped as to why the varying gaps exist. It is really starting to buy me now, so just wondering if anyone else has learned more about it. My trunk also shuts and opens like something is "sprung", but still can't see exactly what is happening. Phil

I see you are in the San Francisco bay area. So am I, and I have the solution for you. Contact Luis at http://lmcartouchup.com/. This man is a magician. Check the photos. I know a Ferrari owner and Luis handles work on his car and other Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, etc. He comes to you. Believe me, his work is impeccable. Tell Luis that Phil with the Porsche Cayman referred you. I just contacted Luis about a tiny rock ding in the hood (even I can't always find it and may ignore), so I expect he will remember me. I hope this helps. Phil

The FFH has a long and low nose, give me concern over dragging the nose on anything. Especially after I had a clear bra installed on it, which wraps under the nose. I tried measuring the approach angle using a digital angle gauge. I did my best to find the line just across the front edge of the front tires and placed a rod from the center of that line out to the front nose of the car. About 12.5 degrees, but I could be off a degree or two, perhaps more. 12.5 degrees is not much. I have a sports car and it is supposedly 11.9, and I am terrified of hitting that nose. Anyone found a spec on approach angle. I looked and came up empty. Just wondering what the value really is. Phil

I recently purchased a 2015 FFH SE. Is there not a way to illuminate the ignition switch? At night, it is all but impossible to find. Phil

I decided to pick up the car. The salesman and am confident they will look at it if I ask. I did call the Service department and they claimed no-one has ever made mention of the trunk alignment. I don't know how adjusting the trunk lid, if even possible, can do anything. The lid is perfectly aligned with the fenders. It is well aligned on the left side with the plastic bumper cover. On the right side, the bumper cover sits too far to the right, away from the trunk lid, causing a larger gap. Adjusting the trunk lid in the horizontal plane to make the bumper side gaps correct will wreck the gaps with the fenders. In my opinion, the problem is that the right side of the bumper cover sticks out too far. I'd really like to know just what the dealers did to improve this. Phil

I had read there is no adjustment. Would it be reasonable to insist on correcting this for a new car delivery? See the actual car below. Lighting may be causing some of the gap seen on the right, but not sure. - Phil

I am scheduled to purchase a new Fusion Hybrid tomorrow. The car has been delivered from another dealer, and only recently did I see photos of the car for the first time. I have not seen it in person. Those photos shows a noticeable trunk misalignment when looking at the car from the rear. There is a larger gap on the right between trunk and right side bodywork vs the left. Googling this, it seems to be not an uncommon problem. Fixable? This has been going on for years apparently. If I could figure out how to post a link to the photos, I would, so I could get your opinion on how severe my car is. I would hate for this to kill the sale. How do I post a link. I tried and I got a weird dialogue box and could not escape it. Phil

I am close to closing a deal on a new Fusion hybrid. The car has to be brought in from another location (dealer I presume). I have concerns over miles on the car and how it was driven. Will some kid hot-rod the thing, redlining it, on a cold engine, or...? The salesman says the drivers are professional and have delivered cars safely for years. How do I know? I asked about road damage (paint chips) from the drive and he said if there is any paint damage, they will take care of it. Like what, an ugly paint blob on the paint? The Fusion has a 1000 mile engine break-in and have concerns over that being violated. The salesman said most new cars have less than 70 miles on them. Is that normal and are you guys generally OK with a new car driven to your dealer? Phil

I am looking to buy a Ford Fusion Hybrid SE, but am unsure on what is a good discount to shoot for. I can negotiate effectively, but am less sure about what is achievable in terms of a discount. My credit union's car buying service did not get me the kind of price I had hoped, but maybe asking too much. The details... 2015 Ford Fusion SE Hybrid - $26890 Tech Package Option - $995 Destination - $825 TOTAL - $28710 Credit Union Discount - $1346 Ford Rebate Discount - $1500 TOTAL DISCOUNT - $2846 TOTAL CAR PRICE - $25864 % Off MSRP - 9.9 % (4.68% from credit union) Opinions? Phil

I very much like the Ford Fusion Hybrid (FFH), but am unsure how well it might do in the kind of commute traffic and conditions I see. I know it can be impossible to accurately predict, but after reading various posts here, I am unsure now if a hybrid or diesel may work best. My commute is about 100 miles a day. It may take 75 - 90 minutes each way, sometimes noticeably longer. Of that 90 minutes, about half the time, traffic is moving quite slowly on the freeway, moving from 0 to maybe 30, sometimes staying relatively steady as we creep along, sometimes back and forth in speed. Often times, the speed is steady, but slow. The other half of the commute time is moving at pretty much normal freeway speeds. That would favor a diesel. The car will also be used for regular non-commute duty and that will be about 2/3 freeway, 1/3 in town. I am not sure then if a diesel or hybrid is best. I am leaning to the FFH since it seems with practice, it can do very well, regular gas is cheaper than diesel, and the FFH will deliver superior mileage in those heavy traffic situations. I intend to accurately measure the attributes of my commute, in time, average speed, etc, but the info here is a good start. Thank you. Phil