Great Car...But Will Never Buy Another Until One Thing Fixed

[Phil3]

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

[GrySql]

Yep, you are not the only one, I bought touch-up paint for mine. I wish it came with a front camera too.

[Waldo]

If you want good MPG you have to have a low nose, no way around it. Every car from every manufacturer will be the same in a few years.

[hybridbear]

This is why Tesla offers an air suspension that will remember GPS coordinates of when you raise it & it will raise automatically to prevent this.

[Hybrider]

My FFH sedan and my previous '04 Buick Century sedan have trained me to not drive the intuitive straight path through driveway entrances/exits, but to drive through them at an angle to prevent scraping the underneath of the front-end.

[Texasota]

My 2012 Ford Focus was the exact same way. It was with that car that I learned the hard way not to allow the front air dam to go over parking curbs. If you let your front tires nudge up to the parking curb you are in trouble.

Edited October 23, 2015 by Texasota

[GrySql]

Funny how these topics sort of repeat after a time.

Then we repeat our answers... :headspin: :)

Hy:

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/9581-whats-irritating-to-you/?p=92904

 

Tex:

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/9581-whats-irritating-to-you/?p=92907

 

Me, showing my parking curb invention:

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/9581-whats-irritating-to-you/?p=92987

 

 

[Phil3]

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

[GrySql]

Sure, you are the original poster, no offence meant, really. :0) I was referring to the 'What's irritating to you' link. There was a few mentions of the low front end in that Topic.

Most of us have had a scrape or two and as careful as I tried, mine still took several good hits. Frankly, it is amazing how many scrapes the Fusion nose can take without really falling apart.

Might it be more from the overhang, from the front wheel to the bottom of the bumper, than the height from the ground? I have another car that is the same height under the bumper, but has less overhang, and it doesn't scrape hardly at all. Either way, the Fusion does.

[jeff_h]

Does my driveway in the pic look extreme?

 

No, it looks like it's really the combination of the slight angle of your driveway and the significant crown in the street, making for the scrape.

 

But I think we all agree, the long and low nose that was designed for better aero definitely has its drawbacks and I bet the next generation (I think 2017??) will address this and make it better, may not be completely but I bet (my guess only) there will be a definite improvement.

[Timewellspent]

Does my driveway in the pic look extreme?

 

 

 

No, it looks like it's really the combination of the slight angle of your driveway and the significant crown in the street, making for the scrape.

 

But I think we all agree, the long and low nose that was designed for better aero definitely has its drawbacks and I bet the next generation (I think 2017??) will address this and make it better, may not be completely but I bet (my guess only) there will be a definite improvement.

 

I was going to say the same thing here. With the road that slopes down and the length of the car, the back start to go up causeing the front to come down and scrap. The road seems to be more of the problem then the driveway.

[machoman1337]

This (apart from convenience) is a good reason to back into a parking space where possible :)

 

I don't like the low-hanging front bumper either but fortunately I have yet to scrape it against the curb.

[Phil3]

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

[storksb]

And this is the reason for taking cars on extended test drive, to locations you go regularly i.e. home.

 

Many modern cars are low to the ground to aid in efficiency and given that many road engineers are designing roads only suitable for trucks and SUV's this is going to become more of an issue.

[gkinla]

I look at the clearance problem this way. We all love the look of the front end of the 2013-2016 Fusion, unless, of course you don't. It was designed with the low to the ground design for air flow efficiency. The lower Valance on both sides on my car are torn up pretty badly. See pictures. I think the these Lower Valances were designed to be expendable, as they are lower to the ground than the rest of the bumper cover, they will hit first and take up most of the damage. If the damage gets bad enough, they can be bought separately and painted to match, not cheap, $47.95 ea with a deep discount but not as expensive as replacing and painting the complete bumper cover, especially if you have sensors. And where they are, visually out of the way, you can paint them yourself and it wouldn't be that noticeable. BTW, I really try to not scrape as much as possible. What happened to the LH Valance is I went over a parking lot bumper and when pulling back, the Valance got caught. It pulled away and I snapped it back in place, I'm not even worried about the torn out bolt hole. It's been this way for 8 months and not affecting anything.

 

Maybe out there, someone could design and sell aftermarket titanium scuff plates. LOL

 

For a comparison, I've included a picture of my Fusion along side an Aston-Martin. Talk about low to the ground! I didn't measure the difference between the wheel CL and the bumper front on the Aston-Martin. It just might be shorter and not an issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LH side

 

 

RH side

 

 

 

[Hybrider]

What blows me away is that to me gkinla's FFH looks so much more sportier than the Aston-Martin does in this shot.

[gkinla]

What blows me away is that to me gkinla's FFH looks so much more sportier than the Aston-Martin does in this shot.

 

I know! Ha Ha Ha :happy feet:

[nativson]

 

No, it looks like it's really the combination of the slight angle of your driveway and the significant crown in the street, making for the scrape.

 

But I think we all agree, the long and low nose that was designed for better aero definitely has its drawbacks and I bet the next generation (I think 2017??) will address this and make it better, may not be completely but I bet (my guess only) there will be a definite improvement.

I have a 2017 and don't have the problem. though it has a long nose, it angles upward toward the front. My 2001 and 2002 Town Cards were worse; they had something behind the bumper that inevitably caught the parking bumpers. Not so with my 2017 Fusion Hybrid.

[Cobra348]

I have a 2017 and don't have the problem. though it has a long nose, it angles upward toward the front. My 2001 and 2002 Town Cards were worse; they had something behind the bumper that inevitably caught the parking bumpers. Not so with my 2017 Fusion Hybrid.

I had a '15 before the current '17. The '15 would periodically scrape leaving my dive - which is about the angle of the OP. However the '17 doesn't - due to the up-anfle you noted. Few people notice faschia changes year to year because they are so small ... but this one change has made a good difference.