Decisions decisions

[RR93LWB]

As with everything, if money was of no concern I could just purchase a fully loaded Fusion Hybrid Titanium and not worry with trying to work the system, so to speak. As it stands, I'm stuck trying to figure out the options. I would get an SE, but I want the Sony stereo and heated cooled seats that provide the 10way power passenger seat...

 

I like the "cross traffic alert" option because the visibility isn't good. I know I'll have a few close calls backing out of parking spaces. But, I don't like BLIS. I actually think the integrated blind spot mirrors are superior. Just look at the mirror and see the car in your blindspot. The alert doesn't let you see where they are. Maybe if they combined the warning light with the integrated mirror. As it is with BLIS, I find the B pillar and headrest make it difficult for me to look over and see that area. I'm 6'3" and the wide and thick B pillar is right in my face if I turn my head. If it wasn't so thick, the width wouldn't be an issue, I think. But does it really need to be that big to begin with? I could also do without the auto wipers and auto high beams, as well as the lane keep and driver monitor. Though, I can see the lane keep and driver monitor being a benefit on long trips.

 

I would like front sensors for parking in my garage and elsewhere to avoid hitting walls. I don't need or want the full, park itself system.

 

I don't want adaptive cruise, but I would like the "forward collision alert". It would be nice to have an audible and visual alert; especially with the traffic in the DC area.

 

I could do without the Navigation as I can use my cell phone, but it would be a nice backup.

 

I can do without the heated steering wheel. I had one in my BMW and only used it a handful of times in 10yrs.

 

I'd also prefer to have the 17" wheels for slightly better ride comfort, better mileage, better replacement tire availability and cheaper replacement tire cost; even though I think the 18"s fill the wheel wells out better. I read here that the 2015 will have 17" standard, but I don't care for the wheel they've chosen and I'm not looking to wait until those vehicles are available. Maybe I'd sell/swap for 17" after purchase.

 

I'd take the SE leather seats if they came with the 10 way power passenger that requires the heated/cooled option in the TItanium. While a little lumpy, I think the SE seats are a little more comfortable for bigger people than the Titanium sport seats.

 

I can do without the sunroof and universal garage door opener. Though I wouldn't mind having the universal opener.

 

Right now, I have an offer for a 2014 Hybrid Titanium with moonroof, heated/cooled seats, heated steering wheel and navigation for $35k total. It is out of the factory being shipped to a sister dealership with an unspecified arrival date. Dealer says it comes by boat to Baltimore. I'm specific on color and the heated/cooled seats. This was the only available one they could find in a 700 mile radius. I held off putting a deposit until tomorrow.

 

Initially, I didn't want to wait for a custom order, but after thinking on it, I'm leaning towards ordering. I'm also thinking no sunroof, as I never use it to begin with, though I do think it looks good. Here's what has been rattling around in my head. I'm aware my price will go up, but I'm trying to stay close to my original or roughly within $1000. I don't know if ordering will create more leeway on the price:

 

Base: Titanium + Sony stereo + heated cooled seats:

 

- Active Park Assist + Adaptive Cruise ($35.7 MSRP)

 

- Active Park Assist + Adaptive Cruise + Nav ($36.5 MSRP)

 

- Active Park Assist + Adaptive Cruise + Driver Assist package ($36.9 MSRP) [cutting it close]

 

- Active Park Assist + Adaptive Cruise + Driver Assist package + Nav ($37.7 MSRP) not really looking to go that high.

 

- Active Park Assist + Driver Assist ($35.9)

 

- Active Park Assist + Driver Assist + Nav ($36.7)

 

Based off the current offer, the final price including title, tax and tags will be close to MSRP.

 

If you made it this far, thank you.

 

What are opinions on or experiences with the various packages/options?

 

I will rescan the forum for ordering info, but if you want to reshare here, please do. If not, please share the link or point me to the link of the conversation if you have it.

 

Opinions and your time are greatly appreciated!

[hybridbear]

FYI - 2014 order banks are closed. If you order now you will be forced to order a 2015.

 

I'd recommend Active Park, Adaptive Cruise & Driver Assist. We didn't have any of those options on our first FFH and we have all of them now. Those are the packages we really wanted. If we could have found a 2013 HyTi with those three pacakges & a moonroof we would have bought that instead of our SE with Navigation, premium wheels & premium paint.

[jeff_h]

Of the many Fusions we've read about going to dealers and new owners, they all go by rail from Hermosillo MX up through AZ and then to the proper railhead to get into a truck. For the DC/Baltimore area it's Jessup MD and for the Richmond area it's Petersburg VA -- if your salesman says the car is coming by boat into Baltimore, I can't say that definitely is not the case but would be the first I've heard of such a thing.

 

If the salesman was inaccurate on that assessment, I would have to wonder if he/she is also inaccurate on that being the ONLY candidate VIN within 700 miles -- could be, but there are a lot of Fusions on lots and an awful lot of dealers within a 700 mile radius of DC.

[RR93LWB]

hybridbear: Thanks for the info. We didn't get deep into the ordering Monday as I was thinking I'd just get the car that's on its way. I suppose there won't be any rebates for the 2015. I think the 17" wheels, heated steering wheel and passenger 10 way power adjust seat are now standard, so kind of a plus. And user configurable DRL. Will have to find out tomorrow.

 

jeff_h: All I can say is that I was told that they come by ship to Baltimore. They seemed proud of that fact (or myth). I too read here that they come by train, but I didn't feel it was worth getting into with the person. I just sort of startled a "really?" and he reiterated that they come by ship. And no, he did not say "they ship to Baltimore", twice. The Window Sticker they sent me says RAIL, so I'll have to give him a hard time about it next time I see him.

 

I would agree that there are a lot of Fusion SE's on lots.

 

Within whatever Ford database this dealer accessed, there were 5 Fusion Hybrid Titaniums with heated/cooled seats in Ingot silver. 4 with black interior. 1 with medium soft ceramic. One of the 5 was fully loaded, so it was out. (I remember Cincinnati being one city, so maybe it was less than 700 radius: 500?) Of those cars, only the one in transport and the fully loaded were listed as available/not sold. I sat and looked at the screen with them. I'm pretty sure it's a Ford Company database of some sort. I don't know how the dealer swap stuff works for sure. I don't know whether certain dealers have relationships with certain out of state dealerships or if it's wide open so long as it's a Ford dealer in a specific radius. I've been in contact with 5 dealers total and none have an Ingot silver Titanium with heated/cooled seats on the lot, but they all "can find it or order it".

 

If I go on cars.com and do a new car search with a 500 mile radius, ~25 silver Fusion Hybrid Titaniums come up. If I search the exact phrase "cooled". 2 cars come up. One is local and is sold (was one of the 5 on the dealer's system). The other is in South Carolina. I can't say that cars.com is the most accurate resource, but I think it paints a relatively clear picture that the specific package I'm looking for is not readily available.

Edited June 5, 2014 by RR93LWB

[jeff_h]

Within whatever Ford database this dealer accessed, there were 5 Fusion Hybrid Titaniums with heated/cooled seats in Ingot silver. 4 with black interior. 1 with medium soft ceramic. One of the 5 was fully loaded, so it was out. (I remember Cincinnati being one city, so maybe it was less than 700 radius: 500?) Of those cars, only the one in transport and the fully loaded were listed as available/not sold. I sat and looked at the screen with them. I'm pretty sure it's a Ford Company database of some sort. I don't know how the dealer swap stuff works for sure. I don't know whether certain dealers have relationships with certain out of state dealerships or if it's wide open so long as it's a Ford dealer in a specific radius. I've been in contact with 5 dealers total and none have an Ingot silver Titanium with heated/cooled seats on the lot, but they all "can find it or order it".

 

Yes they can do a wide search within what radius they want, my salesman from my order in 2012 showed me that, so if it's out there they can find it and if it's in a reasonable distance they can get it.

 

My Dad has been one of those old retired guys that drives dealer swaps, has been doing it for 15 years - basically if a vehicle is not already spoken for, they do all they can to trade with one another in order to make a sale - the horse trading comes in when dealer 1 will call dealer 2 and say "you have a Fusion with VIN 12345 and I have someone that wants it" and dealer 2 then says "OK well what can you send me? I have a lot of interest in Escapes but only 2 on hand and you say you have 12 then send me one" and it's kinda like the old days with baseball cards that helps the other guy round out his inventory etc. So it definitely can be done, and maybe some dealers are willing to trade within a 100 mile radius and some within a 300 mile radius (out of the few hundred DX runs my Dad has made I think the farthest was 300 miles, most are 50-150 miles) - the downside with doing a long-distance DX is that one customer may be happy to get the car they want, but then the unclaimed swap car now has several hundred miles on it and that can be a turn-off from later prospective buyers due to the miles on it (many people get picky on that), so it's wise to not go crazy on distance.

 

If you know you definitely MUST have options A and B and definitely do NOT want to pay for options Y and Z, probably best to place a retail order (probably good to shop around between dealers that will offer the best price there too) and wait for it to come in, as you'll then have several years driving exactly what you wanted.

 

But I wouldn't order from the guy that insists that they come via ship from Baltimore.

Edited June 5, 2014 by jeff_h

[Griswald]

My dealer searched the 900 closest dealerships to try to locate my choice. Didn't exist (Sterling Grey with ceramic interior), but he said he could search more.

[jeffo65]

I just did some searching about Baltimore's Auto shipping ports and the arcticles I have been reading do state that Ford ships vehicles from Veracruz to Baltimore.

 

 

Höegh currently exports from Veracruz to Jacksonville and Baltimore as legs on a loop that go to Europe and the Middle East. Its largest customers are Nissan, Ford, and Volkswagen.

 

“We ship from Mexico to the US twice monthly, and recently increased our sailings, while we are also replacing this route with bigger vessels,” says Höegh’s Lovdal. “Within 12 to 18 months, we should experience faster growth.”

 

Rick Powers says a lack of rail capacity has increased some flows from Mexico into east coast ports, such as Baltimore. “From Veracruz, we receive vehicles for GM, Nissan, and Ford every two to three weeks, and irregularly as well,” says Powers. “We predict a steady flow this year, while next year there may be a big increase.”

 

The lack of rail capacity makes sense as to why the shipping occurs. Just the sheer volume of vehicles one could put into a auto container ship would be amazing.

 

Very interesting read that makes sense from a business end. Here is one of the articles.

 

http://www.automotivelogisticsmagazine.com/data/riding-the-waves

 

.

Edited June 5, 2014 by jeffo65

[jeff_h]

I just did some searching about Baltimore's Auto shipping ports and the arcticles I have been reading do state that Ford ships vehicles from Veracruz to Baltimore.

 

Looking at the geography, I would think this more feasible for Ford Fiestas, which are assembled in Cuautitlan MX (marked 'A' below) and not too far from Veracruz (marked 'B' below) - but Hermosillo is way up north (circled) and probably not feasible to send them way south to get on a boat... maybe the salesman was thinking about shipments of Fiestas?

[Waldo]

Some of the Fusions are shipped from Veracruz to South America, but as noted, there's really not much point of loading a Fusion on a rail car and shipping it 1000 miles to a boat when it could just stay on the rail car.

 

Just for fun, I ran some reports of a few Fusions and Fiestas sitting on lots in Baltimore. Sure enough, the Fiestas do show that they came by boat from Veracruz, but all the Fusions came by rail from Hermosillo.

[RR93LWB]

Ha Ha! Then it looks like Baltimore was at least a half truth... Well, it serves only to remind me to remain skeptical of car dealers, however well you may think you know the person you're dealing with...

 

On another note. I was using USAA's car build, which is based on or run by TrueCar, it shows a $1500 cash back rebate and a $1000 ecoboost cash back rebate until 7/7/2014. The Ford website only shows the $1500. Does anyone know if TrueCar is accurate about the rebates? I didn't know if they had special access to some secret list or something. Of course, assuming a 2014 of what I'm looking for is found. Nevermind, they apparently corrected it this morning. USAA and TrueCar only show the $1500 this morning. Shoot, thought they had some inside knowledge.

Edited June 5, 2014 by RR93LWB

[RR93LWB]

Well, played around with USAA/TrueCar and was given a great price on a car with heated/cooled seats, moonroof, cruise, park, driver assist and navigation. I took it to the USAA dealer (different from the original I mentioned) who eventually found the car in South Carolina, but it has the inflatable rear seatbelts which "changes the price". I said I'd only do it if the price changed the price of the seatbelt; thinking $190. After their group huddle (seriously had 4 or 5 people working on this), they came back "it'll be $600 more with the seatbelts and probably $500 for shipping". "They're going to keep working on it." The dealer buyer tried to go into his system and change an order he'd just put in Wednesday, but it wouldn't let him change anything.

 

I rebuilt the car on USAA adding the inflatable seatbelts and the price only went up $173. I realize it's a starting point for negotiations, but I find it a little insulting they tried to tell me the seatbelts would be $600 more. Plus, seeing as they had no problem with the original quote and were offering me other colors similarly equipped for less, they aren't hurting.

 

The USAA price on a 2015 is $1200 more than the price on the 2014. But, as the 2015s aren't out yet, I don't know whether the dealer would honor that price. Much prefer buying off the lot. If I order or have the 2014 transferred, I'll be a nervous wreck until I have have hands on the car and can inspect it. If they honor the USAA price for the South Carolina car, my out the door would be $35,839.66 plus $319 for tags and title = $36,158.66 plus shipping ~$500. I think that's pretty good.

[gf2020]

You won't get the best price on a dealer transfer car. The dealers swap the cars at invoice price and then they either have someone drive a car to go get the one you want or they have the cars shipped. Somebody has to pay for that, and it's going to be the buyer.

 

Your best bet is to find a car within a distance that you are willing to drive that has what you want and maybe a bit more and then go to that actual dealer and negotiate the best deal for that car. Here in the Boston area, most Hybrid SEs are selling for right at invoice minus $1500 in rebates. You may be able to get below invoice with no trade or work a better deal on the trade value but these cars are selling pretty well without the same discounting you see on the regular gas models.

 

With the '15s starting production soon, 2014 inventory with desirable options is getting scarce. You'll either pay more for an ordered 2015 or make do with what you can find among the 2014s.

[hybridbear]

You may be able to get below invoice with no trade or work a better deal on the trade value but these cars are selling pretty well without the same discounting you see on the regular gas models.

The gas models here are getting a lot of discounts. Our friends who recently bought a gas Fusion SE got it for $2300 below MSRP before the $3000 in Ford incentives. The difference between invoice and MSRP is about $1700 from what I found on Edmunds. They got a car with a MSRP of $24,270 for $18,970 before TTL. They got an incredible deal!

[RR93LWB]

Thanks for everyone's help/input! Sorry, but I've changed my mind. I won't be joining the FFH club.

 

After mulling it over, something just kept nagging at me. I wanted a real test drive, so I rented a gas Titanium for a few days this week. I love how the car feels and drives. I think it's the best driving mid-size car out there right now. There are a lot of things I like about it, but the A and B pillars bug the heck out of me. Then I've got one or the other D pillar in the rearview mirror. I feel confined, while at the same time I have no sense of where the corners or front and back are. I parked it in my snug garage and it felt like when I test parked an Avalon a while back. The headlights (besides being a little dim) didn't give me any sense of where the front of the car was in relation to the wall. I see top of dash (wipers top edge of hood) and the rest of the front end is out there somewhere. Now, I'm sure with time and repitition, I would find a system that worked or getting the package with the front sensors. But, that gut reaction pulling into my garage was a panicked "this car is huge!". I have no sense of the exterior dimesions. Instead of being able to look past the A pillars, they are constantly in the way.

 

The ability to drive the rental as much and for as long as I wanted aquainted me with small ergonomic quirks that bug me, but weren't deal killers. The door armrest is too low and the window sill is a tad high to rest my elbow and drive comfortably. But, the center console armrest/lid is perfect for resting my right elbow and my hand on the shifter. But, the center console is a bit wide for my (apparently) fat thighs. I habitually have my keys in my right pocket and my thigh already rests close to the console so anything in my pocket gets pushed into my thigh. That gets tiresome. Initially, ipod would not shuffle until I turned shuffle off and back on. Seemed to retain the settings after that. The rearview mirror vibrates with the road and with bass. Trunk opening could be problematic with some items, but again, not a deal killer.

 

I stopped by a friends house and he came out to talk to me. He came up to the car like one normally does and I had to duck down to look up at him. He ended up taking a few steps back so we could see each other without the ducking. I'm sure a drive-thru would be fun. I know of a few with high windows that would be a pain to interact with. I should try before I return the car. Just in normal driving, I find the windows too short which adds to the sense of being confined.

 

Really the only reason I'm not going to purchase is the visibility. I find that with the seat adjusted for me at 6'3" the A pillars create an uncomfortable blind spot. I let my friend who's 6'2" drive it and he had the same reaction I did without my telling him my thoughts first. I felt relieved it wasn't just me. Every turn, I find myself having to bob my head looking ahead and behind the A pillar to make sure I haven't missed someone or something. While driving straight, they both fall into my peripheral vision in such a way as to feel kind of like blinders. Then if I turn my head to look in the side/rear blindspot I get a face full of B pillar which is less troublesome without a rear window sticker, but still slightly more than I'd like. I could probably live with that if the A pillar wasn't such a distraction. But, the combination of these things has led me to look elsewhere.

 

Thanks again! Maybe I'll see you in a few years after some updates and revisions to the Fusion!

[corncobs]

Good luck with whatever you are going to buy.

 

To rent a car for a few days and test it for your likings all the way thru was smart.

 

Because it's your car choice it doesn't matter if I agree with the pet peeves you apparently found for your driving habits but as being 6'2" myself first time I sat in a Fusion I felt right at home.