One Year Ownership Reports - 2013 FFH

[acdii]

Aggressive turns. I dont slow to a crawl when turning, wastes gas, gets my wife to curse, and puts a smile on my face when she does. However, these tires are wearing out a lot faster than the other ones I had on my 2010, even the rears are worn more than they should be, and they are evenly worn inside to out, so alignment isnt an issue. If it were the wear patterns would be quite evident, more on the inside, or outside, cupping, or feathering would all indicate an alignment issue. I just think I got a crappy set of tires. Like i had said before, the same brand and model tire was on the BD and they had excellent snow traction, and the ones on my HyTi had crappy traction.

[Estates BP]

My Fusion is 54 weeks old and I am here are my thoughts:

Pros

1. Love the way it handles, drives down the road, and the style
2. Very Quiet - even at expressway speeds
3. Sync has worked well - very few problems
4. Information gauges are very customizable - easy to display exactly what I want.
5. MPG after 22,250 is overall 39.5, although the gauges indicate 41.3
6. Mileage includes two trips through Texas in the summer at 80 MPH and the air on full blast
7. Mileage since October has been 42.6

Cons / Problems

1. Right year window stopped working - was repaired at the dealer in about 30 minutes
2. Some plastic trim broke off the visor, took about 2 weeks to get it, but replaced easily under warranty
3. Stock Goodyear Eagle LS-2 18 inch tires ride well, but don't look like they will make it past 35,000 miles
4. NO spare was an issue, but thanks to this forum, I was able to "make" one
5. The gauge that shows MPG is about 2 MPG too high - It would be nice to be able to calibrate it.
6. Hard to get more than 11 gallons of fuel in, even after it shows 0 miles to Empty
7. Wish updates to the navigation system were more frequent.

Overall, I am very happy with my Fusion. Fuel saving over my old Mercury Marquis will not pay for this $32,000 car, but it will be close, assuming the batteries will go about 8 or 9 years. I would and have reccomended this car to my friends. Buying this was one of my better choices in life!

[lolder]

The batteries are unlikely to go bad in 8 or 9 years. Saving $1000 year for the average 14 year lifetime of a car is a big deal. Check your odometer accuracy with a GPS. Most are 2 % low which with the 4 % high mpg calculation yields 2 % high or only 1 mpg.

[mwr]

Saving $1000 year for the average 14 year lifetime of a car is a big deal

I would save $2,000 per year with an FFH compared to my current great and fun gas-hog car over the 20K miles per year that I drive.

Edited June 18, 2014 by mwr

[Eddie Sessum]

Saving $3100 a year here...

[acdii]

OK one year and nearly a month later, I finally got it in for its 3rd oil change. Had the tires rotated, they are wearing evenly, no symptoms of needing an alignment. They are just wearing fast, and it appears this is normal for these tires. The thumping appears(according to the mech) to be the rear rotors, so they machined them under warranty.

 

Had a TSB done for the Climate control, I can turn the AC compressor off now instead of the open door close door open door get out, run around the car three times and get back in routine. Also had them look at the keypad, it most times would not let me lock the car with the 7/8 9/0 buttons, sometimes it will, other times it will after all the lights are off, but most times not at all. There is a TSB on that too and they replaced a part.

 

My car is even better now than it was this morning. I haven't driven it, my wife did and she thinks the thump is gone, I will know when I drive it next.

[usererror]

Folks, this was a great thread to read. I ordered my 2015 FFH Titanium about two weeks ago. It'll have every option except the Inflatable Seat belts and Parallel Parker system. I almost ordered it without ever driving the FFH but I found one to test drive about 3 hours south of me. I admit I was still nervous about ordering a hybrid but like the original poster stated, I'd never be caught dead in a Prius.

 

I'm not sure about the wheels though. I was told the FFH could only have "one style" of wheel because they were lighter than all other wheel options. I guess we'll see when it actually gets here. I'm not terribly concerned about them though.

 

I've driving a lot of cars before, including a few Caddy Devilles and I'm thrilled that I can get every luxury option, and MORE, in the FFH that was in the Caddys. Minus the cost of $1000 per strut/shock when they wear out.

 

I'm hoping mine will be here in 2 months, but I'm telling myself three months. A lot of folks here seem to have gotten their 2013s and 2014s in about 2 months, but Texas to Northern Michigan is a loooong way.

[B25Nut]

"I'm not sure about the wheels though."

 

The wheels that come on the 2015 Titanium (17" 10-spoke), in my opinion, are far superior in looks to the only ones that were available on the 2014. I really dislike the Hybrid-Unique Wheels that I feel degrade and cheapen the great looks of the Fusion. It is very strange (dumb) that for 2115 Ford only offers the 10-spoke wheels on the SE when you get fabric seats. Your only option is the Hybrid-Unique Wheels when you get the luxury package for the SE. For me, this makes the Titanium the only model I would consider now.

[usererror]

I just checked out the wheels on the Ford website for the FFH SE vs Titanium. I think I like the SE wheels better! Though they may be significantly harder to keep clean!!

 

Below is what the website shows as the wheels...

 

Hybrid SE 2015:

 

Hybrid Titanium 2015:

[corncobs]

Neither one will be hard to clean since they hardly get dirty. The stuff that gets wheels really dirty is brake dust since there is virtually no brake dust the wheels stay really clean.

[usererror]

That will be something I'll be looking forward to! After having years of Chrome coated rims, and even white rims (worse idea ever) I've stopped getting Chrome.

 

Neither one will be hard to clean since they hardly get dirty. The stuff that gets wheels really dirty is brake dust since there is virtually no brake dust the wheels stay really clean.

[dkegel]

This is confusing to me. The 2013/14 Titanium's came with 18" wheels. Is that a typo below that says the '15 Ty has 17" wheels?

 

Dave

 

I just checked out the wheels on the Ford website for the FFH SE vs Titanium. I think I like the SE wheels better! Though they may be significantly harder to keep clean!!

 

Below is what the website shows as the wheels...

 

Hybrid SE 2015:

 

Hybrid Titanium 2015:

[corncobs]

This is confusing to me. The 2013/14 Titanium's came with 18" wheels. Is that a typo below that says the '15 Ty has 17" wheels?

 

Dave

 

No confusion Ford dropped the 18" for MY '15 on FFH. Only 17" in different options available.

[dkegel]

Interesting. That must be in an effort to boost fuel economy. Personally, I feel the car needs 18" to look right. The 19" wheels on the non-Hybrids look fantastic. The 17 inchers are too puny IMO.

 

Dave

[usererror]

We'll I'll post 'live' pictures of whatever my car looks like when gets here. I was under the impression that the larger the wheel more function is lost in snow. If that's true then I'll stick with the smaller wheel.

 

 

Interesting. That must be in an effort to boost fuel economy. Personally, I feel the car needs 18" to look right. The 19" wheels on the non-Hybrids look fantastic. The 17 inchers are too puny IMO.

 

Dave

[acdii]

I still think the Black Chrome wheels look the best on the Fusion, no matter what color the car is.

[dkegel]

That applies to tire width, but not diameter, as far as I know.

 

Looking forward to the pics.

 

Dave

 

We'll I'll post 'live' pictures of whatever my car looks like when gets here. I was under the impression that the larger the wheel more function is lost in snow. If that's true then I'll stick with the smaller wheel.

 

 

[hybridbear]

I still think the Black Chrome wheels look the best on the Fusion, no matter what color the car is.

I think so too. We see a lot of Fusion SE 1.6EB with the black 18-inch wheels. They look very nice. Much better than our car with the silver 18-inch wheels.

[usererror]

Dave,

 

Finally have some free time to take 5 minutes and research this, and you are correct, so thank's for pointing me in the right direction. It is the width of the tire that diminishes snow performance, not the Diameter. Interesting read here: http://ask.cars.com/2007/09/large-tire-and-.html

 

From the article: " the amount of tread touching the ground widens and, if it’s the same tire model, improves traction on dry and possibly wet surfaces. It would diminish snow performance, though, as wider tires do (counterintuitive but true)."

That applies to tire width, but not diameter, as far as I know.

 

Looking forward to the pics.

 

Dave

 

 

[Cooling Tower Guy]

How do you have the day time running lights enabled? Where did you get your donut tire?

[corncobs]

How do you have the day time running lights enabled? Where did you get your donut tire?

A lot to read here one the DRLs

 

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/5650-daytime-running-lights/

 

And here on the donut spare

 

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/6163-spare-tire-for-fusion-hybrid/

[Cooling Tower Guy]

Thanks corncobs. I cannot believe the level of detail that the moderators and others have put into those two subjects. Thank you again!

[md13ffhguy]

Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the purchase of my 2013 FFH, so I thought I'd update this thread with my first year experience.

 

The good:

 

After 26,876.6 miles on the odometer, the dash displays Avg MPG of 51.7. Yes, we all know this is a stretch, but my actual average after 50 fill-ups recorded in Fuelly is 48.4 MPG. I'm thrilled!

From mid-June through Labor Day, I recorded nearly 54 MPG over ten fill-ups.

 

Then there was this one week of commuting in August and a 59 MPG 245 mile round trip.

 

$1,848.77 total fuel costs for the year works out to just 7 cents per mile.

 

Comfortable interior and ride, heated seats, leather, audio, and navigation.

 

Added premium window tint and a shark fin antenna.

 

Oh, and the $775 check from Ford! :happy feet:

 

The not-so-good:

 

Dealer had car for a week to repair problems with climate control, keyless entry keypad, global windows up/down, and remote start.

 

A couple pet peeves with MFT - Don't show me a button to "Install Apps" when there are none. And, display song/artist info in right dash screen when streaming Bluetooth stereo - it can't be that difficult.

 

Some occasional, hard-to-locate interior buzzes, usually emanating from the center console area or one of the B pillar areas. They come and go. I'll locate and fix them one day when they get on my nerves too much.

 

Bottom line - the good far outweighs the not-so-good. I've owned a lot of cars, and this FFH is easily my favorite. So much so, that we bought a second one for my wife!

Edited October 23, 2014 by md13ffhguy

[usererror]

Great feedback MD13!

 

I got the call that my FFH was delivered at my Dealership on Tuesday this week. Sadly I am stuck in Oklahoma for work until Friday and won't even be able to get to the dealer until Saturday to finish things up and hopefully drive her home. My Father went in to get his oil changed in one of their Ford's so he sent me some pictures.

 

I COMPLETELY did not even think about the rear bumper cover not looking the same as the FF Titanium Non-Hybrid. I loved the look of the dual exhaust. Should have known that the FFH would only have one tail pipe (if any at all, haha). The Rims are not the snazzy ones as discussed on the page before this, which included the screenshots. But I think I'll get over these minor details. ;)

Attached are pics from my Dad's phone. I will have to ask my dealer to install the front bumper licence plate bracket. Yes I know it will destroy the look but I like to put my own flag up on the bow. ;)

 

 

 

[acdii]

Think of it this way, Cant see the bumper or wheels from the drivers seat! :) Looks like the HyTi has different wheels now too, they dont look anything like what I have on mine.