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"Good car with a few quirks."
on by mmcirvinPros Beautiful car asthetically with a comfy ride and ultra quiet interior. Great gas milage for a car this size with adequate power and good handling. Precise steering. Nice set of features only found in more expensive sedans.
Cons Motor is a bit loud on heavy acceleration. Brake seems to be a two-stage process - smooth to begin with then grabs abruptly. Electronics are intuitive and easy to use but the voice command functions on the Sync are abysmal.
Summary The 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid came along at just the right time. I didn't want a Prius and everything else had really poor gas milage for the extra hybrid money manufacturers were asking for. I also wanted something from a US car maker.
The looks of the new Fusion are outstanding. A beautiful looking car that includes a pronounced grill and smooth lines. The raised ribs on the hood add a nice touch. The car is definately a head-turner.
The interior is very comfortable with plenty of options for setting the driver's seat to a variety of positions. The passenger seat can be pushed back very far giving tall people plenty of leg space. Seating is firm and comfortable but I wish there was a bit more lumbar adjustment.
The dash has many different information menus that provide driving details at the push of a button. I find the dash a bit too busy for my liking and the efficiency leaves are really unnecessary.
The standard sound system is adequate but doesn't really envelope the driver when playing music. The Sync system has not been buggy at all for me. I have heard that others have had trouble with it but I can say I've not been affected by any buggy issues. With that said, the voice-command part of the Sync system is terrible. I have to yell for it to hear me and when speaking, it takes 2 or 3 tries for it to understand what I said. I find it much easier and quicker to just use the touch screen or regular, tactile buttons to get what I want. Bluetooth to my iPhone is seemless and automatically hooks up as soon as I get in the car. Navigation works well in my experience with it.
Driving characteristics are smooth and precise - quite boring actually. I love to drive...the mechanics and physical work of driving a car. This car is so automatic in nearly everything it does - it requires virtually no effort. The brake pedal is a little strange. It's smooth as you start to press on it and then engages abruptly causing a less than smooth braking experience until getting past that point. Once noticable braking occurs, it's very smooth during the braking process.
The power is adequate but nothing that will get anyone too excited. I drove the turbo version of the new Fusion and it was much more exhilerating than the hybrid but doesn't touch the hybrid when it comes to gas milage. The engine can be a bit noisy under heavy acceleration with a slight pull from the front-wheel drive. Transition between the electric motor and the gas engine is virtually unnoticable. The CVT transmission is very smooth.
Gas milage is overstated by Ford. I'm averaging about 39 miles to the gallon combined. At times I have gotten 55 mpg going to work and then 28 mpg coming home. I could complain but after driving a truck with 13 mpg, I'm feeling pretty good about it. It would just be nice to know where Ford came up with those numbers because I have yet to find anyone anywhere able to duplicate it.
Over-all, I would give the car a good, solid "B" grade. There are many positives, a few annoyances, but I would definately recommend the car for a nice, above average vehicle to drive. -
"Good car overall, but Ford Sync feature is VERY buggy."
on by dbundesenPros Great styling, good fuel economy. The technology that works is good like the Adaptive Cruise Control and the Lane keeping feature.
Cons The Ford Sync feature is one of the slowest most bug ridden pieces of tech I have ever had the misfortune of using. The GPS feature is absolutely the WORST I have experienced in the 7 odd years I have been using them.
Summary I have had my 2013 Ford Fusion for about 6 weeks and 3,500 miles now and I have had a chance to get to know the quirks of the car. There is a lot to like about the car and a lot to NOT LIKE about it as well.
Consumer Reports in their latest issue was correct in stating that they could not recommend the car due to the buggy Ford Sync Program. While the promise of this feature is wonderful, like most tech, it is only good when it actually works.
I have been a Garmin GPS user for years now. They are extremely reliable and I have come to expect them to just WORK. That is what I assumed I would find when I got the GPS Feature in my new Fusion. Boy was I wrong. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and even simple short hop trips can take up to 5 MINUTES to both calculate and display on the screen. And that is when they display at all. I many times must reenter the information and have it do the calculation a second time for it to work. When you are in Downtown SF and going to your next appointment, you don't have 5 minutes for the GPS to tell you which way to go and on which street. You are driving and just need the information. On my Garmin, it just WORKED. on the Fusion it does NOT.
I have also had the Ford Sync spontaneously CRASH and reboot while in the middle of my drive. No reason. No explanation. Just everything goes dead, including the radio and the car takes a good 3-4 minutes to reboot. This is completely unacceptable.
The Voice Recognition also has many problems. There are times when it just wont understand the simple commands you MUST start with like "Navigation". I have repeatedly stated this top line command and it repeats back to me that I need to say something like "phone, navigation or entertainment. Again, this feature works only SOME of the time. Not all the time, as I would expect when I pay this much for a car.
The CNET review is correct. I am averaging about 40 MPG in my daily commute. I can get 47 MPG when I really work at it, but it takes a very light foot and real concerted effort.
The adaptive Cruise control is my favorite feature. If you set it at 65 MPH and the car in front does 62, you will pace the car in front and you can set the distance you want to stay behind that car, either one, two or three car lengths. I use that all the time and love it.
The fit and finish are only so so. I got the leather interior and the finish on the leather seats is really subpar. The leather on the brand new car is just wrinkled where it should be smooth. I guess I got spoiled with my other car, the Lexus ES.
The car itself is a real head turner and strangers frequently engage me in conversation about the car. that is new for me.
All in all, I give the car a C+. The body design is beautiful. It gets great gas mileage and I love the mid sized sedan. But the Ford Sync feature is really a problem. The 2013 Car issue of Consumer Reports states its a deal killer and I have to agree.
If Ford is able to fix the Ford Sync feature, I will be happy to come and report it hear, but I should not even be having these problems in the first place.
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