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Ford Fusion Hybrid Gets Fuel Economy Rating Of 43.8 MPG In Jalopnik Road Test
Detroit, 5:32 AM
Thu Dec 3
32 posts in the last 24 hours
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Ford Fusion Hybrid Gets Fuel Economy Rating Of 43.8 MPG In Jalopnik Road Test |
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Just drive a Prius around a track as quick as you can, while the Fusion's job is just to keep up.
Seeing as how most American drivers drive as quick as they can, I consider this a good test of real-world efficiency.
I'd be curious to see whether the Fusion could best the Prius in this test...which shouldn't be hard considering an E90 M3 bested it...
12/11/08
I really had to be somewhere.
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[www.ecodrivingusa.com]
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The only thing separating me from a Fusion on my shortlist is lack of wagon. No, I will not buy an Edge or Flex. Thanks.
(it can be hybrid or even 4-cyl with stick)
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When I was sixteen years old, I totally needed this:
12/11/08
It's not an ugly car. It gets great (by any standard) mileage. It's made in the USA. It's a Ford.
Hell, I think I may just sell the damned Subaru.
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Well, we can at least rest assured that the profits will be in the U S of A (and with lower cost labor= more profits to look at the upside of NAFT-land)
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My mom has had not one, but TWO Ford cars have the transmissions fail on her. The first was in a Mustang of years past and the second was in her 1999 Windstar.
The Windstar has been a pox ever since we drove it out of the show room. Things are constantly breaking on it. The power steering leaked, and resulted in a costly replacement of the entire mechanism. (Admittedly, my parents DID ignore the horrendous grinding sound during turns, even over my screams of "HAVE IT LOOKED AT!"...) The final straw came when the transmission decided to literally fall to pieces on the road. Luckily it was a local road without heavy traffic.
My mom just barely drives the speed limit, is one of the slowest accelerators on the planet, and besides the power steering issue, always has routine maintenance performed at the dealership (although, it should have been a clue when the assholes at the dealer didn't notice the grinding sound). There was NO reason why a ~5 year-old transmission should break down under those circumstances. The 30,000 mile warranty had just barely expired. We got no where with the dealership in terms of compensation.
My parents eventually wrote to the President of Ford looking for assistance. I read their letter, and it was decent. When Ford's "executive" problem solvers contacted my parents, they offered a paltry $500 towards the cost of a new transmission. They possibly lost two customers for life in my parents, and I thought they had in me.
Fast forward to today, and I see Ford churning out supposedly high quality and useful vehicles. Not to mention they're the only Not-So Big 3 to not even request any bailout money. Those are high marks in my book. On the other hand, the way they treated my parents was inexcusable.
If you were in my position, would you buy from Ford?
12/11/08
And buy the extended warranty. It gives you a nice, big hammer to smack 'em with if something goes toes-up at an unreasonably young age.
12/11/08
I have a Ford with 50,000 miles on it and it still drives like new. We also have a Toyota that has had to have the driver's door replaced because something failed in it and it was 'cracking' whenever you opened it. Go figure.
I will say, a bad experience will sour you on ever buying a brand again. I stay away from Chrysler products after having an engine blow in my old Neon. That may have been partially my fault- I drove that thing like it was a rental.
12/11/08
Well, if we can forgive the Germans for some atrocities far beyond a faulty transmission, and the Japanese for a little surprise fireworks, I'd think you should be able to look past a crap transmission. It's always funny to me what is forgivable, and what isn't amongst some "American" car buyers.
As a note, I'm not opposed to Japanese cars or German ones because of those instances, but I also won't hold a grudge forever if I happen to get a lemon someday.
12/11/08
That is true; one bad experience can sometimes be enough to turn off a consumer from ever owning another one. I know several other people with little Saturns like mine, and not a damned one of them has cost them for than $1500 in repairs over ten years.
I, on the other hand, got the lemon....
And while I will certainly not be driving another Saturn again, I think that that has less to do with a distaste for Saturns as it does my desire for a 70-73 Firebird.
12/11/08
How much of the original paint did it have left when you scrapped it?
12/11/08
Or maybe having a few Puebla VWs in the family has me a little biased.
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Man, I agree with you far too much.....my first "toy" (not counting my current lifted 2500 as a toy yet as it's a daily driver for now) car purchase will be a Camaro or Firebird of that vintage. Tastefully done they are awesome.
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I was thinking either:
A) 1974 Camaro (I know, I am an oddball, but I like the looks) painted candy apple red with a natural leather interior, a crate LS3/six-speed, an IRS conversion, new front and rear subframes, an integrated roll bar, torq-thrusts, chrome headlight bezels, and strip away the rubber trim on the bumpers.
or
B) 1979 Firebird (dirt cheap, easy to find) with a 70-73 front and rear end conversion, painted 1958 Corvette Silver-Blue metallic with a silver stripe, parchment interior, new front and rear subframes, IRS conversion, LS3/six speed swap, and I am still undecided on the wheels.
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Well, they are Chryslers after all....JK
However, that was a VERY long time ago in the terms of auto's. Back then the odds of a signifigant problem from ANY make was far greater than now.
Actually, when was the last time you heard of someone having major problems with a new car???
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Not that it makes a big difference to me, just curious.
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Did you temporarily forget where the caps key was for a minute?
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Good name.
Good car.
Come on America, we know you can do it...
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To buy a 10-year old, 150K-mile Ford Tempo! These are early 80s cars, admittedly a dark spot in American automotive history. And without trying especially hard, they both went past a quarter-million miles.
Now fast-forward to current events. Your argument lacks foundation in the current state of American car manufacturing. Take all the makers, toss 'em into a box, pull something out. The build quality won't be that significantly better or worse than anybody else's.
12/11/08
How is it you guys all seem to have a grasp on reality (circa 2008 not 1988), but our "esteemed" senate can't. Especially you, oh king of the hyporcrites, Shithead...I mean Senator Shelby?
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I bought a '00 Focus for my kid when he graduated from high school. Spent the next year and another two grand fixing all the crap that seemed to be designed to fail between 60,000 and 80,000 miles. The ignition lock cylinder was the kicker - has anyone ever had one of those fail? Ever? Ours did, and it seems to be a common defect on early Focuses. Let's see, what else was there?
Gaskets - oil leak
Gaskets - coolant leak
Brakes - leaking fluid into the drums
Passenger-side door latch - stuck and failed
Alignment - way out of whack
AC - seals failed, now useless
Of course, now that all that has been fixed, we haven't had a bit of problem from that car for over a year, knock on wood.
12/11/08
Sure, we cheated and replaced the timing belt before it had a chance to snap in two at about 110,000 miles, but that was a one-time expense - one might call it an investment.
Try that with an American car. I see too many of them that barely run, and then only because the owner can't afford to get rid of the thing. When was the last time you saw a 1999 Ford or Chevy anything that wasn't held together with duct tape and Hail Marys?
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Sir, are you implying duct tape isn't good enough for you!?!
Now just wait a goshdarn cotton-picking minute...
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*BLAM*
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I think senators use those words to describe their jobs, but in a slightly different order.
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Funny, huh?