Ford Fusion: Life Till 55K and beyond. EDIT: Sold! Four years back I was a guy, who had not even driven a bike. I belonged to that section of population which believes every thing can be covered by two legs. Every thing to me was 10 minutes by walk; half an hour by walk .. etc. (By the way I still prefer to walk)
Once I shifted to a location from where it was not possible to go to work without a vehicle, I realized, I had no other options but to plunge into the world of automobiles. Till then I used to think why people spend 100 odd rupees to buy auto magazines? This feeling slowly started to change, as I began to devour these magazines myself for the reviews of cars which I was looking for. That much for the background.
I was planning to restrict my need to city driving and thought at best a Zen (the old Zen) would be best for me. Then people (the so called automobile experts) started giving me sermons on buying bigger cars which are premium on space/leg-room. Then I swung the other way and started looking for an SUV (Imagine a driver with a brand new DL driving a Scorpio). Somehow none of those SUVs available then (Scorpio/Tavera/Qualis) appealed me. Strictly it was only the Scorpio which could be considered. Pitched against that was the NHC (in the sedan category), which was released just some time back then. I instantly did not like the looks of NHC. The Scorpio was not giving me the right vibes to go and buy, but the high seating position was very
appealing. If at all I had bought NHC it was only because I did not like others. Not because, I liked the NHC.
It was at this juncture, Ford released the Fusion with the new Duratec Engine,1.6L and 100 BHP. It kind of combined the best of both worlds to me. It looked fresh, differentiating with good power and high seating. Although I was not sure of the mileage, and the huge price tag. When I went for the TD I did not even have a DL (I was in the process of getting one). My friend did the TD for me and I was very happy with the performance, though interiors looked dull with gray. I
did not mind this and went ahead and bought the highest end (Fusion+) but without ABS. My city driving is about 35Km daily and hence I chose early hours to beat the traffic and also to help me learn driving. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I started enjoying the empty roads and a mileage of about 14 !! This is a practice which I still follow and I consistently see mileage of about 12-14, with pseudo-highway like city driving conditions ! I saw in lot of posts people complaining of very low mileage of Fusion, but somehow I always got >12. That also may be due to my driving hours and driving style (I am not sure).
I did occasional highway driving once about 2-3 months. Distances I did were typically was not more than 300-400 km with driving not more than 7-8 hours in and around Bangalore. I never drove fast. Max was always 100, but most cases I only did 80-90. For this tactic I consistently have seem a mileage of about 15-16 with AC and 18 without AC ! Again something, that folks will be surprised about.
I never had any major issues with car but for huge spare prices. The window roll switch console was replaced for 2K, body colored bumper once repainted for 10K (Got something back from insurance), tyres (12K) and the usual service cost after 4 years (20K). I get the car serviced every 6 months (3-4K) and it has carried on well. The high driving position and clearance of the car pretty much has been my savior in Bangalore traffic, its pot-holes and uneven speed breakers. Highway driving has also been comfortable. I have done about 55K overall. I have gone to places like Ooty, Coorg, Chikmagalur, Yercaud etc etc. To sum it up, I am very satisfied with the car and hope to carry on for another 2-3 years, before I change.
Last edited by Dippy : 18th September 2009 at 13:03.
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