2013 FFH poor build quality

[acdii]

So, I'm the leader of the pack. You think I am the only one who has this problem? Guess again, I am just the one being the most vocal on it, and do you really blame me? A $36,000 car that is sold as a 47 MPG car that cant achieve it unless you REALLY hypermile it? It is not what I bought into! There are a few others on this board who are also having poor results like mine, it just so happens mine has been the only one to have fouled the spark plugs, probably because I have more miles on mine than they do.

 

However, I also have video proof of what it takes to obtain 40 MPG in this car, and was TOLD by Ford this is how you get 47 MPG in this car. A few people have been lucky that their cars have not had problems like this.

 

My rants and information I give here is in hopes others who DO have issues like mine will have whatever information I can give them from my troubles to hopefully lessen their grief!

 

But if that is not appreciated, fine, I will just move on. But if someone asks if I would recommend the Fusion, in my heart I would have to say no, not because of the car, but because of Ford. The Fusion is a fine car, but I feel I have been bent over and shafted with a baseball bat and no lube.

[GrySql]

Let us know what caused it for you...the dealer told me that this warning indicates that something is preventing one of the valves in that system from closing. I wonder what would do that in Cali

I went out in the garage this morning and hugged the car before we got in for another hard drive into THE CITY.

My emoting love to the car apparently fixed the fuel valve issue, it no longer had the Warning upon start-up.

Then it gave me a wholesome 43.9 mpg thru the gnarly 8am traffic that we encountered driving into the heart of La Cuidad de Los Angeles.

Nice.

 

Edit: My new solution to any FFH miscues is to hug it daily, works for me. ;)

Edited February 14, 2013 by GrySql

[hybridbear]

I went out in the garage this morning and hugged the car before we got in for another hard drive into THE CITY.

My emoting love to the car apparently fixed the fuel valve issue, it no longer had the Warning upon start-up.

Then it gave me a wholesome 43.9 mpg thru the gnarly 8am traffic that we encountered driving into the heart of La Cuidad de Los Angeles.

Nice.

 

Edit: My new solution to any FFH miscues is to hug it daily, works for me. ;)

 

Hugging the car sounds like an excellent plan ;)

[hybridbear]

More bad news...CEL is back on today. The Vehicle Health Report says that the PCM has detected a fault with the evaporative emission control system. I made an appt to bring car to Ford this afternoon and they'll provide a rental loaner again.

 

Got the car back tonight. The CEL was due to a bad Purge Solenoid. Apparently there have been enough issues that Ford has issued a TSB about them failing. The dealer replaced it and we got the car back today.

[hybridbear]

• when backing up and turning there is a clunk in the the steering that can be felt in the steering wheel

 

The clunk they say is normal. They say it's the brake pads coming into contact with the rotors and the system releasing air pressure. We've only noticed it when backing up and turning, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen elsewhere. It's a faint clunk and can be felt in the steering wheel. I think we mostly hear it when parking at home because at home the car is always in EV mode and we are in our underground parking at our apartment where it is very quiet. So for now we accept that answer and are just a little paranoid I guess

[acdii]

Hugging the car sounds like an excellent plan ;)

 

I tried,

 

my cheek froze to the window

 

 

wasnt pretty.

[HenryVIII]

That's kind of off base acdii. You are having trouble achieving 40 MPG, not the rest of us. And it's a one-car issue, not a mass issue. You need to keep pressuring Ford and the dealer to get it resolved. Have you tried calling Ford Customer Service?

 

Your comments about steering ppl away before they get robbed are completely untrue.

 

 

So, I'm the leader of the pack. You think I am the only one who has this problem? Guess again, I am just the one being the most vocal on it, and do you really blame me? A $36,000 car that is sold as a 47 MPG car that cant achieve it unless you REALLY hypermile it? It is not what I bought into! There are a few others on this board who are also having poor results like mine, it just so happens mine has been the only one to have fouled the spark plugs, probably because I have more miles on mine than they do.

 

However, I also have video proof of what it takes to obtain 40 MPG in this car, and was TOLD by Ford this is how you get 47 MPG in this car. A few people have been lucky that their cars have not had problems like this.

 

My rants and information I give here is in hopes others who DO have issues like mine will have whatever information I can give them from my troubles to hopefully lessen their grief!

 

But if that is not appreciated, fine, I will just move on. But if someone asks if I would recommend the Fusion, in my heart I would have to say no, not because of the car, but because of Ford. The Fusion is a fine car, but I feel I have been bent over and shafted with a baseball bat and no lube.

 

I'll agree with hybridbear here regarding the number of postings. Let me try to not appear negative or condescending to you Acdii since I appreciate your contributions to the forums and I know you're a good guy that's just having a run of bad luck. Please try to keep your issue in one thread. Take it easy man, relax! I think having posts appear all over the place (sometimes in other people's threads) regarding the whole mileage issue kinda puts a bad vibe here on the forums. *It's also way easier to follow what's going on with you too!

 

As I said before, I really do think there's been an early bad batch of under-performers ("Runts" of the litter so to speak - and it may have run off into the Cmax as well) and you unfortunately got stuck with one. It happens, especially very early in the model year. That's the risk you take getting in a brand new first year new generation model car. Remember this is a brand new model with a new power plant and shares very little (if anything really) with its predecessor (your other Fusion). My advice to you to avoid the situation in the future, go for the in between model year refresh (like the 2010-2012 Fusion) rather than getting a first year all new (generation) model.

 

I'll keep reminding you that you are STILL getting better mileage than I am in my Corolla and look better driving it too! Yeah it sucks getting 12mpg less than what the EPA states and I'd be upset too if I was in your position. However, it hasn't even been a year yet. Do you really think Ford is going to admit having a problem with their new car? They are probably still trying to collect data on what's going on with these under-performers. I bet that's what they were doing with your car when the Ford Engineer looked at it. *They also have a Class Action Lawsuit to deal with. They are not going to do a massive press release saying that their cars are getting under-rated mileage and here's why yet. They will find out what's going on and get a TSB or recall on it. That's what happens. These things take time unfortunately. Which is why I'm holding off on purchasing a first year new gen model car. I've been there and done that with the Cougar.

 

If your dealer is willing to work with you on getting you into a new Fusion that is not an under-performer, I'd look into that option. I think I've stated this before.

 

Thank you hybridbear for speaking out on your car getting as advertised mileage! I appreciate it! Please keep posting!

 

* - Edit

Edited February 15, 2013 by HenryVIII

[hybridbear]

I'll agree with hybridbear here regarding the number of postings. Let me try to not appear negative or condescending to you Acdii since I appreciate your contributions to the forums and I know you're a good guy that's just having a run of bad luck. Please try to keep your issue in one thread. Take it easy man, relax! I think having posts appear all over the place (sometimes in other people's threads) regarding the whole mileage issue kinda puts a bad vibe here on the forums. As I said before, I really do think there's been an early bad batch of under-performers ("Runts" of the litter so to speak - and it may have run off into the Cmax as well) and you unfortunately got stuck with one. It happens, especially very early in the model year. That's the risk you take getting in a brand new first year new generation model car. Remember this is a brand new model with a new power plant and shares very little (if anything really) with its predecessor (your other Fusion). My advice to you to avoid the situation in the future, go for the in between model year refresh (like the 2010-2012 Fusion) rather than getting a first year all new (generation) model.

 

I'll keep reminding you that you are STILL getting better mileage than I am in my Corolla and look better driving it too! Yeah it sucks getting 12mpg less than what the EPA states and I'd be upset too if I was in your position. However, it hasn't even been a year yet. Do you really think Ford is going to admit having a problem with their new car? They are probably still trying to collect data on what's going on with these under-performers. I bet that's what they were doing with your car when the Ford Engineer looked at it. They are not going to do a massive press release saying that their cars are getting under-rated mileage and here's why yet. They will find out what's going on and get a TSB or recall on it. That's what happens. These things take time unfortunately. Which is why I'm holding off on purchasing a first year new gen model car. I've been there and done that with the Cougar.

 

If your dealer is willing to work with you on getting you into a new Fusion that is not an under-performer, I'd look into that option. I think I've stated this before.

 

Thank you hybridbear for speaking out on your car getting as advertised mileage! I appreciate it! Please keep posting!

 

I agree. Hopefully soon Ford will come out with info about what's going on with this small batch of cars that are having MPG issues. Just like when I went in this week because my check engine light came on and it wasn't long before the dealer had diagnosed the issue as a bad purge solenoid and they said that Ford had already published a TSB about those going bad on the new Fusions and needing to be replaced. Hopefully soon there will be something similar to fix the bad Fusions/C-Maxes too

[Fastronaut]

From the Sales Manager at my Ford Dealership concerning production of Fusion Hybrid Titaniums:

 

"I was told by my ford rep that they were going to start building them last week".

[MXGOLF]

Well I am one of the guys with a lemon. 33 mpg is not 47. Sorry but you shouldn't have to basicly turn everything off and drive like a grandma to get over 40 mpg. acdii and myself have similar problems with fuel mileage. The dealer says we have crappy gas here in Oregon which could be part of the problem. I hope they figure it out. I am willing to wait until summer to see if the weather and gas is the problem. The truck net is not standard and they want $50.00 here for one. Don't need it that bad.

[FlbrkMike]

Sympathies 100% here from me. On mine, the sunglass holder was buzzing, but noticed that it no longer does, must have worn down what ever was buzzing. I have not gone over the car yet because its just too damn cold to be out there. The car listed a cargo net, but none was found in the car and had to be ordered, along with the clips for it. The right rear door made this weird flapping noise when I first got it, but has not done it since I got it back from the first visit.

 

I'm sure I will find flaws if I were to claybar and polish it, provided I still have it. I do notice that it clunks or clicks, sort of a clickclunk, from the drive train when I start to roll out from a stop on EV, as though something is releasing under motion.

I had something similar to this after about 1,000 miles on the car (I have almost 2,000 now). A faint double clunk or click on startup from a stop, and sometimes a clunk when slowing down. That's what it sounded like with the windows closed. Pretty faint but this car is so quiet that we tend to drive around with the windows up and no radio just to admire the silence. Also it was very hard to tell if it was coming from the front or the rear, right or left. I stuck my head out the window to see if I could tell where it was coming from and the sound was different. Still pretty faint but a slight jangle, like somebody hitting a tambourine. I took it to the dealer and they torqued the drive shaft, which seems to have solved the problem. They have submitted some kind of inquiry to the factory about this because they had never encountered it before and were not completely sure that they had permanently solved it. Nice that the service department is pro-active.

 

My only other issue is a stuck fuel door. Very hard to open you have to push it very hard or punch it several times to get it open. The dealer has a new one on order.

Edited April 4, 2013 by FlbrkMike

[mmmburrr]

I had something similar to this after about 1,000 miles on the car (I have almost 2,000 now). A faint double clunk or click on startup from a stop, and sometimes a clunk when slowing down. That's what it sounded like with the windows closed. Pretty faint but this car is so quiet that we tend to drive around with the windows up and no radio just to admire the silence. Also it was very hard to tell if it was coming from the front or the rear, right or left. I stuck my head out the window to see if I could tell where it was coming from and the sound was different. Still pretty faint but a slight jangle, like somebody hitting a tambourine. I took it to the dealer and they torqued the drive shaft, which seems to have solved the problem. They have submitted some kind of inquiry to the factory about this because they had never encountered it before and were not completely sure that they had permanently solved it. Nice that the service department is pro-active.

 

My only other issue is a stuck fuel door. Very hard to open you have to push it very hard or punch it several times to get it open. The dealer has a new one on order.

 

 

Hello, I'm having the exact same issue with the weird pinging noise. You said that they torqued the drive shaft? Could I inquire as to what dealership you had the repair done it? Perhaps I can have my dealership contact them, because they won't fix anything until they hear back from the Ford Engineers (been waiting atleast a month now). They said that this the second fusion they had make this noise (one being another fusion purchased by the local police department). Thanks.

[g82martin]

I went to Metro Ford in Raynham MA today with this same problem. It seems that Ford has acknowledged this problem and they have a fix for it. The service rep mentioned some type of spacer part that they have to order.

[jeff_h]

I went to Metro Ford in Raynham MA today with this same problem. It seems that Ford has acknowledged this problem and they have a fix for it. The service rep mentioned some type of spacer part that they have to order.

 

There are several threads here about that, go to top level of forums and search on 'thrust washer' - I got mine fixed the week before last and now no more clicking/popping