By January 2021, I had come to the conclusion that selling my 2013 Ford Focus was a mistake, despite the fact that Carvana gave me a decent price for it. Unfortunately, the first two vehicles turned out to be duds, and the overall purchasing experience left a lot to be desired.
That said, things ended up working out decently and I purchased a car that still gels with me over one year after taking ownership of it, but my experiences leading up to my Fusion acquisition were a bit frustrating.
A Carvana shopper paid $12k for the Focus about two weeks after it first appeared online.
When I sold the Focus in October 2020, I figured a steady stream of press fleet loaner vehicles would largely make up for the loss of having a daily driver. But I got hired to write for Ford Authority about two days after the car was whisked away on a flat bed, which meant reviewing cars was no longer feasible. Pandemic living meant that the change wasn’t really much of an issue, since all residents of Chateau Snitkoff were pretty much staying home all the time anyway. But fast forward two months, and it became clear that the microchip shortage was on the horizon, a situation that I figured would lead to a spike in used car prices. With that in mind, I started seriously looking at a Focus replacement in January 2021.
Despite being CC’s resident Ford Motor Company mid-size sedan enthusiast, the 2017 Ford C-Max was the top choice to replace the Focus. I wanted a hybrid for daily driver duties, as they are fine vehicles for stop-and-go driving. Plus, fully loaded examples of the C-Max were a relative bargain up until a year ago, and they’re still going for somewhat acceptable prices today, although the recent spike in gas prices may change that. Anyway, there were several low mileage Titanium-trimmed models in my area, which surprised me a bit, but I quickly settled on one in particular: a certified pre-owned 2017 Ford C-Max Titanium in Kona Blue with the Medium Light Stone (light beige) interior.
That combination, in tandem with the other equipment it had on it (Titanium Driver Assist Package, Interior Protection Package, and navigation, but without the panoramic roof) meant that it was the exact C-Max I would have ordered new in 2017, had I been in the market for one then. With just 27,000 miles on the odometer and a $15,600 asking price that I assumed could be haggled down a bit, I was smitten.
With the full intent of purchasing the C-Max if it checked out, I called the Ford dealer – which is named after the city in Connecticut in which it is located – to get confirmation that the pictures accurately represented its current condition. Aside from the hour and a half drive it would take to get there, I didn’t feel like catching COVID, especially if the trip turned out to be a bust, which it was.
Naturally, the C-Max ended up having quite a bit of scratches on it, some of which clearly could have been buffed out, but other imperfections that most definitely could not, like the literal gouges that were carved out of both passenger side doors. It may not look bad from what is shown in this picture, but trust me, it was far worse in person. In hindsight, it was a blessing that the manager was apparently unavailable to negotiate that Thursday morning (he was attending an online auction that he couldn’t miss, apparently) as I may have ended up settling for a reduced price then regretting the purchase when it came time to have those cosmetic issues fixed. In any event, since I couldn’t haggle at all, I walked, frustrated that nothing came of the trip.
The C-Max, which had been on the dealer’s lot since September 2020, had its asking price reduced twice to $14,600 before disappearing altogether. I suspect it would have cost a bit more than $1,000 to fix all of its cosmetic issues.
Since the C-Max wasn’t very popular, there weren’t a ton of used examples to choose from, and none of the other ones could compare to the C-Max I had checked out, so I decided to broaden my search to include the Ford Fusion hybrid. Apparently, few buyers ordered their Fusion SE hybrids with heated seats, which frustrated me, but I found a 2019 with about 25,000 miles on it for $15k and decided to take Ms. Cougar on a trip to see it, which I outlined about a week after I completed the trip. Once again, I found a vehicle with issues, as the Fusion’s front bumper was cracked. This is another vehicle I would have purchased had it checked out, because while the sedan lacked butt and back warmers, it had automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and navigation, all features I found compelling at the time.
That said, I couldn’t help but feel that heated seats were a necessity for my next daily driver, so I ended up expanding my search to include the entire Fusion lineup. Titanium hybrids commanded a hefty premium over the SE, so those were out, and I decided that any Fusion produced before the 2017 were deal breakers too, as they lacked Sync 3. Although I still believe the 2013-2016 Fusion looks better than the refreshed 2017, it obviously wasn’t a deal breaker. Although there were some things about the mid-size that pushed me towards an SE.
For starters, it appears the 1.5L and 2.0L EcoBoost engines have issues with coolant intrusion and cracked heads. It is hard to ascertain how widespread these issues are, as it seems supply chain shortages have resulted in owners not being able to get their vehicles repaired, and they’re justifiably pissed and airing their grievances wherever they can. So that left one engine in the lineup for me to consider: the 2.5L that Ford borrowed from Mazda circa 2009 and a powerplant that the company still uses in several vehicles to this day.
I found a 24,700 mile Fusion SE at a dealer in Middletown, New York in February and set out in dad’s 2016 Passat to take a look at it. I opted to go solo because I cynically assumed it would also be riddled with cosmetic issues, but that was not the case. In fact, there was one pleasant surprise: a center channel speaker. The “Premium Audio System” that is bundled into the SE Technology Package did not include one until 2017, it seems. I’ll get into how it was ordered in a bit.
After a quick test drive, I determined that the Fusion could work for me, and went back to the showroom to negotiate. This was a one-owner vehicle that had been serviced at the Ford dealer down the street from where I was looking at it, so that was another notch in its favor. Its price was another factor, as it was the lowest priced SE under 30,000 miles within 75 miles of my house. That’s probably why the salesman scoffed when I countered their $14,900 asking price with an even $14,000. Either way, I didn’t like the attitude of this particular individual, who seemed to think a four year old Fusion with that mileage was about as rare as a Ferrari Testarossa.
Upon talking with his manager, they agreed to take $200 off the price, which I felt was a bit low. But at this point I had been a bit worn down by coming up short with my two prior dealer visits, plus I disliked the idea of physically going into another showroom, (this was two months before the vaccines became widely available to my age cohort in New York) so I bit the bullet and bought the car for $14,700. The actual process of filling out the paperwork and taking delivery went quickly, although they never sent me an owner’s manual and the salesman never followed up in a general sense to see how I liked the car. Aren’t dealers great?
While I think they could have come down a bit more, it ultimately was a fair price, especially from the perspective of March 2022, where similar examples are currently on dealer lots for about $20,000, or within several thousand of what they likely sold at after incentives five years ago. In any event, this Fusion has exactly what I need and nothing more. Fun fact: not outlined on this window sticker is the auto-dimming driver side mirror, which is included as part of the SE Technology Package.
Another benefit of that package is the body-color mirror arms, as SE models without the package simply have those parts unpainted, which makes them look decidedly low rent when compared to higher-spec Fusions.
On the merits, I am still very much liking the car over a year after taking it home. The 2.5L is perfectly suitable for my needs and I continue to be impressed with its driving dynamics. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what Consumer Reports has to say about the Fusion:
“In a class generally known for bland styling and a lack of driving excitement, the Fusion is a breath of fresh air with a stylish, fun to drive demeanor. That doesn’t mean it’s free of certain quirks that can erode one’s enthusiasm. The Fusion looks upscale and stylish, and it handles like a really good European sports sedan. No matter which version you choose, it impresses with a composed, civilized ride that’s as good as luxury cars costing twice as much. The cabin is also blessedly quiet.”
So have any quirks eroded my enthusiasm for the Fusion? Yes! For starters, the six-speed automatic shifts roughly between second and third, but that’s apparently not indicative of any mechanical issue and a somewhat minor quibble. Additionally, Sync 3 doesn’t seem to like the iPod Touch I purchased last year, as it typically freezes up when it’s hooked up and playing. That may actually be the fault of the iPod itself, so I cannot completely condemn the infotainment for the freezing issues. But I can fault Ford for dropping Spotify compatibly with Sync, which means I cannot use the app on the car’s screen (iPods don’t have CarPlay). If I had done more research before buying the iPod I would have known that happened several years ago, but since I don’t use the car to commute, it’s not a huge deal.
And just so we’re clear, I fully recognize that I’m one of the few weirdos that still values having a dedicated media player for music playback in their car. What can I say? Old habits, and 6,000 song libraries, die hard.
Another quirk relates to how this car came from the factory. It has push button start, but lacks the sensor (Intelligent Access) on the door that automatically unlocks the door when placing a hand on the handle, a piece of tech limited to SE models with the Luxury Package and the more expensive trims. That means the fob needs to be taken out before being immediately placed back into the pocket. A minor quirk, but a quirk nonetheless.
I initially thought the rotary dial shifter would take longer to get used to, but I acclimated to it within a week of ownership. Plus, I like how it essentially frees up access to the storage area below the center stack.
Although the Fusion turns five in July, at just under 26,000 miles, it is still a young car. I will most likely have the battery replaced this year and get new tires within the next two years, but aside from those items and the usual maintenance stuff, I expect this car will be very reliable.
While the Fusion’s resale value could tempt me to trade it in for something newer, its cabin still boasts materials on par with the Ford Bronco Sport Badlands and the current generation Ford Escape Titanium hybrid, two vehicles that retail in the low to mid $30k range. Plus, I like the fact that I currently own the first and last mid-size front-wheel drive Ford sedans, which I suspect is a feeling that I will have for at least five more years.
Ultimately, my Fusion feels less like a replacement for the 2013 Ford Focus and more like a proper successor to my dearly departed 1997 Mercury Sable GS, which stayed with me for nine years. To paraphrase Austin Powers, it seems like mid-size sedans are just sort of my bag baby, yeah!
But enough about me, what has been your car buying experience during the pandemic? I suspect that the chip shortage has all but ensured that my car buying experience was relatively mild, at least in retrospect.
About the same time you bought your Fusion I bought a Fusion, the S model for many of the same reasons you bought yours. Mine is a 2013, and one reason why I bought it was because of the relatively low spec. The other was the very low mileage for the year: 18K. In the year I have owned it I have put over 12K on it, even though it shares duties with a 06 Mustang. It has been fairly reliable but does have it’s share of first year glitches. The tires are 6 years old and will be replaced soon, no idea about the battery. Gas mileage was around 34-35 at first, but several short trips lately have pushed it down to 28-29. Dealership experience? I bought it at CarMax, and would rate the experience about a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to 10.
My experience with cars through covid was quite good. I did not buy or sell anything but since I had Covid in 2020 ( fortunately with almost no symptoms) I could quarantine and work on some car issues. I was able to do the 1st test run of a Willys engine that was assembled on the frame of a Willys Jeep that my wife owns. It sat since 1996 in the back yard of her house in Illinois and in 2016 we brought it to Germany where we live most of the time. So the days where you could not meet people helped me to fix things that I did not get to for a long time. Now I fixed some ignition issues on my XJ 5.3 Jag and there are also some rust issues that I could fix on my Mercedes 200Diesel. My advice is, don’t sell and don’t buy, just fix what you have.
I thought I overpaid for a 19-year-old stripped Silverado in February ’21.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/coal-capsule/coal-update-goodbye-prius-hello-absolutely-not-a-prius/
In retrospect, I probably did not overpay. Even the resale value of old, low miles, work trucks are going up, and if I choose to, I can probably get most of my money back.
Sure, the gas mileage is abysmal – around 15mpg – but I only drive around 4000 miles a year, so I only need to fill up the 34 gallon tank every 6-8 weeks. The mandatory insurance is the cheapest I’ve ever paid for a 4-wheeled vehicle.
If car buying ever gets back to the way it was in the before times, I’ll replace it. But for now, I’m okay.
I bought just before the pandemic – 2020 Honda Fit LX 6MT in February 2020. Had to go out of my way and settle for silver to get the stick but it’s been worth it for what’ll probably be my last ICE car before going electric.
As an aside since they changed the license plate to “Excelsior” I’ve thought New York should offer “Gotham” as an alternative slogan so you can identify as a Marvel or a DC Comics fan…
I purchased a new bmw m vehicle in January, and while it took three months to get here (I ordered it to spec), it was generally hassle free. I paid msrp, which is less than ideal, but, in this market, seems pretty good.
Our xTerra Pro-4X w/ 63k miles in Froggy Green and in near mint condition is worth more than we paid for it used 4 years ago, but no way will it get traded or sold in this market. We’ll wait to get an electric car in a couple of years at this point when hopefully the market has returned to reality, at the moment car prices have entered the range of the absurd.
My 4Runner’s private party value is within a grand of what I paid for it new five-and-a-half years ago.
The trade-in temptation evaporated once I saw what new 4Runners were listed for. As in real estate, your home’s increase in value is beneficial only if you’re moving to a less expensive location.
My 2017 escape with the 2.0 did have the coolant intrusion problems this past September.
It was caused by little coolant slits between the cylinders, which only allowed a tiny area for the gasket to cover. Though the failure rate is widespread, I’m surprised it isn’t even more so.
The updated design provides drilled holes next to the cylinders rather than the slits, so the problem does not exist anymore. And the only solution is to replace the entire engine with this design, though some dealers have tried to get away with replacing the gasket only.
I know there was a class action lawsuit, but I’m not sure what became of it.
My last purchase occurred just before Covid really hit the U.S., and I bought it from my cousin. I did sell one car, to an individual, and aside from wearing a mask and avoiding a handshake, it went the same as it has 100 times before.
I drove a 1997 Mercury Sable GS (mom’s) in high school. It was a fantastic car, and until her current 2012 Taurus SEL, she said it was the best car she’d ever owned. (The intervening 2008 Grand Marquis LS Fleet? The less said about that, thing, the better.)
I’ve had a dozen or so Taurus and Sables myself, currently still own this 1995 3.0L AX4N 5 passenger sedan since 180k miles, 255k+ on it now. Has been a great car and I hope to never part with it. They lost something after the 2nd generation, IMO, and I’ve loved these since I was a preteen, then teenager, when they were new.
Re: Fusion. Convinced my brother to look at one when he gave up on his Nissan Altima, which he never cared for anyway. He bought a 2016 Fusion S, absolutely loves it. He has said more than once how he feels a little silly for liking a plain old Ford so much. I simply point to my Taurus and my mom’s Taurus and remind him he’s not the only one.
Edit: not sure why my picture posted sideways but I can’t seem to do anything about it. My apologies.
I bought a late model used car around Mother’s Day last year. My Explorer broke down while on a family trip to So Cal. Getting a rental car was a huge hassle. We were all vaccinated. When we returned we looked for a vehicle to replace the Explorer. I would have liked another BOF Explorer but finding one with low mileage was impossible, besides the gas mileage of my 5.0 model was pretty poor I had liked the Flex when it debuted but didn’t need or want a new car at the time. I wanted a low mileage car because due to a family emergency I knew that we were going to be doing a lot of miles in the months to come. I found a couple of very clean low mileage Flexs at a local dealer. One was a ’18 with less than 18,000 miles and a ’17 with 30,000 miles. The ’18 didn’t have nav, or a cd player. The ’17 had cd. nav, and full sunroof w/glass roof and ’20 inch wheels. Gas mileage is not good by some standards, 22-24 mpg. on long trips, but it is much better than my old Explorer. I’ve put another 14,000 miles on since purchase and it fulfills my needs. I thought that it was a good enough deal around 24K and I know these were around 40k when new. I bought the car in person and my Wife and I just wore masks w/o any problems.
Interesting to read the stories.
-Nate
My pandemic car shopping experience happened early on, in the summer of 2020. In the summer of 2019, our Ram 1500 EcoDiesel was bought back by FCA as a big fat lemon (https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/coal-2016-ram-1500-ecodiesel-the-bitter-taste-of-limone/). We went without a truck for a while, and then the pandemic hit.
Early on, everything shut down. Once dealers opened back up, no one was coming into buy because no one was really sure of their future financial situation. We were able to easily transition to WFH, so work never really slowed down. Manufacturers were throwing lots of cash on the hood, so we started looking to replace our truck. Other than the engine, we really loved our Ram. We started looking at the Ram Classic, which was the same body style as our previous Ram even though the newer DT trucks had already been out. We figured we would get a better deal on the older generation truck.
While shopping, we were seeing the deals were essentially the same between the two generation of trucks… at least locally here in San Diego. My husband found a truck that he really liked, a DT generation 2020. It was located up in San Juan Capistrano, about a 90 minute drive from San Diego. The asking price was significantly lower than comparable trucks in San Diego. Looking at all the rebates that were being applied to the trucks and comparing, the LA/OC market had an additional $3K off rebate that the SD dealers weren’t allowed to apply for.
We went up and test drove the truck. It was a different experience being in the dealer during the heavy COVID restrictions. Everyone was masked up, behind plexiglass. No one went with us on the test drive, which we sanitized the truck with hand wipes before we drove it. We ended up coming home with the truck (see attached). A bright red Ram 1500 Bighorn 4×4 with the 5.7L Hemi. The truck stickered for $52,000 and some change, and we got it for $12K less than sticker price!!!!
We bought at the absolute right time, it wasn’t soon after that people were getting back into the market, the chip shortage, etc etc. I just went onto KBB.com to get a value of our truck. Just shy of 2 years old, with 30K miles on it, I could take the truck in now and get a trade in value (acording to KBB) right at what we paid for it!
Regarding the quirk on your Fusion with the pushbutton start but no proximity entry, our truck is the same way. In the previous DS generation truck, the push button start and proximity doors were bundled together as part of the same option package. Our 1500 EcoDiesel had that option. With the new DT generation truck, Ram changed it to where they were separate options. So like your Fusion, we have the pushbutton start but not the proximity doors.
Fortunately, we haven’t needed to buy a new car during these last two years.
We did test drive a few Toyota trucks in December 2020 – but ultimately decided not to buy. This wasn’t due to the dealership experience, but rather a real-life example of drooping Consumer Confidence… my wife and I were concerned (correctly, as it turned out) about the future economic outlook, and decided that it wasn’t a good time to make a major discretionary purchase.
But our dealership experience at that time was positive. The Toyota dealership we visited was polite and accommodating, and the salesman was knowledgeable.
Just last week, I checked used car prices on CarMax – out of mere curiosity. Even being prepared for high prices, I was shocked. Cars like our 2018 minivan are selling for more than we paid for it four years ago.
I bought a 2003 Mustang GT in August of 2021 from a guy on Craigslist. I probably overpaid a bit for it as it have about 170k miles, but it was pretty much exactly what I wanted and has been rock solid for me so far, including a drive from Detroit down to Miami and back in a week. So far so good!
I sold both my Chev SS and RAM 2500 last year – the RAM was six years old with 65K on the odo and brought $27,500 from a private sale, which was about $4,000 less than I paid for it “new” (had about 700 miles on it, never titled by the dealer).
Ordered a new ’21 RAM Classic 4×4 from a dealer in LA (Mark Dodge) that had been trolling the truck forums for potential buyers, and got 10% off sticker plus another 8% off via incentives which brought my purchase price to $37K. By purchasing a Tradesman (base trim), I avoided the chip shortage issue, and it only took 7 weeks for the truck to be built and delivered, which included a ten-day delay waiting on a rail car. I rented a car one-way and drove down to take delivery, doing the break-in on the Natchez Trace on the way home. No issues at all at the dealer (no masking, etc.). I put another $4K or so in the truck in accessories, wheels & tires after I got it home.
For comparison, none of the dealers within reasonable distance of me would even budge off of sticker, some were charging 5-10% over, and likely getting it. Most trucks on the lot were high-spec trims, well out of my budget.
Running a build-and-price for a ’22 RAM Classic spec’ed the same as mine yields a price increase of over $4K. I haven’t run a price estimate, but I suspect my RAM 2500 would probably bring even more money right now than it did last June.
Nice score with that Ram Ed. That’s a good looking truck. That F8 Green (not sure the name of it on the Rams, but that’s the color as a Dodge) is gorgeous.
It definitely pays to shop around and outside of your local area. Looks like we both got great deals on our trucks that way. 🙂
It’s called Olive Pearl on the RAM. Might end up being a one-or-two-year-only color, as it wasn’t available for the ’22 MY.
Attached pic is what it looked like new. Other than upgrading the radio to the 8.4″ unit, the only other options I ordered were 4×4, skid plates and the 3.55 axle, as I wanted a bare platform with which to build it out with just the options I wanted.
I myself didn’t experience much difference except for a Ford Fairmont Futura I bought across the border in Belgium. At the time I wasnt allowed to cross the border but thankfully I didnt encounter police on either side of it.
In retrospect I must have been crazy to decide to change out our whole fleet during the pandemic, but I had good and lucky experiences buying not one but three cars in the last 2 years. The first was a 2019 Kia Niro hybrid that was a demo car that the dealer no longer wanted, a bargain at $17K with only 1500 miles on the odometer. The second was a brand new 2021 Honda CRV Hybrid which we bought with $1000 off of MSRP and dealer giving us a reasonable trade-in on our 10 year old Lincoln MKX. Then next day when we picked up the Honda, the salesman said they had a crazy morning and completely sold out of all of their CRV inventory with no more scheduled to be delivered. The third car was a low mileage 2018 Nissan Rogue which we bought for my son at sticker price (but right around KBB value). The dealer said that if I didn’t buy the car now it would be sold that same day, which I believed.
Two months later I put my 2010 Subaru Forester on Facebook Marketplace and almost immediately my phone rang off the hook. People were begging to buy my car. Rather than set up a bidding war, I made it first come first serve, list price. It sold in less than a day.
I bought a 2017 Corolla in Feb 2021, for a good price at the time. Months later, dealer sent emails saying “well give you more then you paid as a trade in”. Then what would I buy?
I’ll try to keep this short, but can’t promise. haha.
So I work at a dealer in the LA (California) area. My story will be from a dealer perspective and second as a buyer. When Covid hit, the dealership came to a screeching halt. We all came to work that day just to be told an hour later to go home. Some of my co-workers were actually laid off. I went to part-time working from home and they sent me home with a new laptop. Since I work with the fleet department, we deal mostly with brokers and surprisingly our business began to take off after a couple weeks. The next few months I had to work from home and then drive my personal car to deliver cars to customers. No more test drives. Plexy-glass in offices and masks for sure. The rest is kind of the same for everyone from then to now. After a few months, it was back to work in the dealership with obvious precautions. We stayed busy, but then the micro-chip shortage situation began to show signs of hitting.
Now to my experience as a buyer. So with Covid still in full bloom and car sales kind of stagnant, I was able to pick up a brand new 2020 Cadillac CT4 luxury trim for $8,315.00 off MSRP with zero extra junk added. I loved the car and after having it about six months I saw the “chip shortages” heading our way and the dealership was stirring with how this would affect sales and inventory. I’m not a gambler, but everything was aligning perfectly and I decided to ask my boss for a short-term lease on a Volvo S60 plug-in hybrid. The deals were still flowing and we had plenty of cars yet. I was able to get employee pricing along with several other incentives that made the deal too good to pass. For just $1,000 down, I did a 24 month lease for $398/month! On top of that, I could go almost gas free. So I took that deal and waited a few months as the chip shortages began to take a toll on inventories. When the time was right, I sold the Cadillac to CarMax and made money on it. Fast forward nearly a year now and the inventory issues became very real with used car prices through the roof. I began to look into buying out my Volvo lease to sell the car and found it was certainly worth it. So I sent Volvo a check to pay it off. However, my search for a replacement car now kicked into high gear. I’m more of a GM guy, so I began looking for an older Buick or Cadillac but with no luck. I’ll spare the details, but the 8+ cars I looked at were not what the seller “described”. Talk about junk and how someone can advertise a car as being very clean when it’s clearly not, is just horrible. So then I began to look for a lower priced (brand new) Chevrolet Spark to just buy for a temp car. Nation-wide, there were very few and the dealers I called were asking about $2,000 over MSRP. No thanks.
It was looking like I would just keep driving the Volvo for another year, when I decided to take a look at what Chevy Malibu’s were available. I was able to find several of them within 100 miles of me. Of course, most had additions to the price as well. I ended up calling a dealer that I purchased a car from a few years ago. He had two Malibu’s in stock with not much added to the price (about $1,000 in stuff). I could get the 0% for 48 months, but I just didn’t feel the deal was good enough. A few days later, he called me and said if I finance through GM with the 0%, I could now get (just announced) a nice big rebate along with my incentive for having a non-GM brand car. All said, I could buy a new $30,000.00 2021 Malibu LT for $23,300! I told him to get the car ready and I picked it up the next day. I then sold the Volvo for a nice profit several days later.
It can be done even in these strange times for buying a car. You just have to be patient and know what to look for. And don’t try to get the best deal on the hottest vehicle on the lot! I’ve been quite lucky in finding super deals on cars that may not be the hottest products on the market at that time and I’ve liked everything I purchased. Now from the looks of it, I’m lucky I did the Malibu purchase when I did because the inventories are once again in the tank with prices going back up.
I’ve been happy with my Prius Hybrid, but I need something that sets higher off the ground. For safety reasons? Yes, so I can safely take right hand corners without scraping the curb or killing a pedestrian. I need to see the edges of my vehicle, as I’ve become ‘of that age’, so a small SUV or Crossover or whatever they call them now is what I’m looking for. Hybrid or full-on electric, please.
Test driving a car isn’t possible anymore – that’s okay, I’ve bought cars online before, but I can’t be happy with a Grey, Silver, or Black car. I’ve made trips to the local Lexus, Audi, Volvo, Cadillac, and BMW dealers to see their colors in person. Most of the time I have to settle for a picture because they don’t have anything in stock or even in the service department. Pictures of colors? Now that’s a new way to buy a car.
I went back to Toyota to sit in a Rav4 because the saleswoman told me there was one to actually sit in and drive, and decided it would be the right height for me. I placed an order for the colors I want because NO black interior in the South, thank you, and was happy with a four to six week downtime. But wait, what’s this I saw online later that day – Rav4 comes in all electric?
Good luck with that, my saleswoman told me, they’re are none to be found. Fortunately, I bought my last Prius from the dealership three years ago and they have officially ordered me a Red over Nutmeg Rav4 Prime, fully loaded. I just need to be patient, as it may take a few months, maybe by Christmas?
That’s okay, given what’s going on out there – I know I’m lucky to have a dealership willing to work with me and I love my Prius in the meantime. Bottom line – it’s a sellers market and it’s important to check one’s ego and attitude at the door if one is buying. Even with a pocket full of green, one needs to be kind and one needs to be patient.
We bought a new Ford Transit in 2020; ordered in July, received late September. I believe that kind of lead time was typical pre-COVID for a full custom order. Well, there were a few days delay near the end (which’s seemed like forever) as the poor air quality due to the West Coast fires prevented Union delivery truck drivers from working, and finally our dealer sent someone to the rail yard 125 miles away to get the van. Otherwise it was a great experience, masked meetings with the commercial sales manager, very good hand-holding through the special order process, zero payment until the the van was here and we drove it, and a few grand below MSRP plus all factory incentives on top of that. It was also the first time I’d been able to view and track the van’s build process online, and see the window sticker to confirm it was as we ordered it. 22K miles later and we’ve had zero issues, though fill ups for the last few weeks have been painful. Reading the Ford Transit forums now, dealers expect deposits of several $K on special orders, plus pricing of many $K over MSRP, and then Ford will continuously reschedule and frequently cancel the order. New orders for 2022 Transits were cut off at the end of February with no word on when 2023’s will be available.
My other current experiences are EV related. First, Rivian. As has been well reported, like other “reservation holders” I received a generic email telling me that prices were going WAY up on the R1T pickup I had reserved and put a deposit on. Two days later I got a more apologetic note from Rivian’s CEO telling me that my original price would be honored but I wouldn’t see a truck until 2023. And the experience with my Ford Lightning deposit has been similar, though more professionally communicated. Tesla, to its credit has been silent about my Cybertruck deposit – no mention of delays and only a brief acknowledgement of my order almost two years ago, though my credit card was charged promptly. At this point I’m skeptical if my Rivian or Ford will actually be ready before the CT.
With two of three cars aged to the point of annoyance and questionable reliability, and three kids needing wheels in rapid succession, I went on an unprecedented (for me) buying spree in 2018 and ’19. By the summer of ’20 I was well aware of a car shortage and have thanked my lucky stars I’ve been out of the market, and crossing my fingers that it stays that way.
We ended up with two Fusions among our four purchases, a heavily optioned SE 2.5 and a loaded Titanium 2.0T AWD.
The 2.5 was purchased for my student daughter, and I picked the engine as the priority feature for economy and hopefully trouble free service. It is very smooth for a four, has decent torque off the line, and makes a nice growl in the otherwise quiet cabin. It gets a little breathless at highway speeds with a full load, but that’s rarely an issue. Economy is great, in mixed driving it won’t fall below 24, and I’ve pulled off as much as 35 on a tank on the highway, and rarely below 33 – and that’s lead footing it with a load. It has pulled our 1,000 lb jet-ski in fine fashion.
We were contemplating Continentals for my wife, but the Titanium Fusion was like getting 3/4 of a Continental for half the price. My practical side could not get around that. I’m a bit mixed on the 2.0T AWD. Gas mileage is frequently stuck at about 22, and it is a trick to get it to break 30 on the highway. It has a lot of mid-range squirt compared to the 2.5, but lacks the smoothness of the simpler drive train. There are a lot of moving parts that seem to need to get coordinated, and sometimes the turbo is slow to wind down after a good romp on the pedal. Don’t get me wrong, I like the car, squirt is good, and the AWD is a champ in winter. Putting the transmission in sport mode seems to make it a bit smoother, likely at some mileage penalty.
When our 2.5 was in the shop for some paint repairs, I had a loaner Fusion hybrid. It was as smooth as the 2.5 and a blast to play with the gauges designed to help optimize fuel economy – pushing 45 on some tanks. The moderate loss of trunk space in the hybrid is an issue for me, we use our Fusions like the LTDs they aren’t.
Yours is perhaps the first comment I’ve heard on the 2.0T and reliability. Growing up in the ’80s made me turbo adverse, but Fusion engine choices in various trims shrank as time went by. If I recall, I was dodging the 1.5T in Titanium trim by the time we bought our 2018. We got a heck of deal on it, sedan prices were in free-fall just before hell broke loose, at the time I regarded it as a low cost dice roll. Now it’s an asset I suddenly have much more respect for!
I bought a 2018 Rogue SL Premium for my daughter in January, 2020. It only had 4k miles on it, has a J VIN, and all the bells and whistles. Talk about perfect timing – 20,000 miles and 2 years later the dealer has offered me $25,500 for it, $5k more than I paid. This market is nuts. I don’t plan to shop to replace my Outback until 2024….
Is that a Garmin Nuvi on the dash? I love mine, I just used it two weeks ago on a business trip and it got me there and back to where I had to go, even without the charging cable that I left at home.
Auto dimming side mirror eh? I like the sounds of that.
Yup! It’s about nine years old at this point, but it works fine. Obviously apps like Waze have their advantages, but in my experience they tend to crash, which is why I still use the Garmin on very long road trips.
I rented a 2017 Fusion while visiting family in Toronto, in the summer of 2017. The car I rented was loaded and it drove very well. It had a heavy, strong feeling about it but the weight conspired to make the 2.0 EcoBoost not terribly peppy. Easy on fuel it was not. It used roughly the same about of fuel as my Acura TL and didn’t feel as light in its feet, since it was like 250 kg heavier. Still, a very nice car.
Being self-employed makes new car ownership a lot cheaper, as you are paying for the car in non-taxed money. With a five year depreciation cycle it would costs relatively little to replace my 2018 Golf next year.
There is no way I would do that. The car market is nuts at the moment. Many under the age of 40 or so are not familiar with inflation are buying the media created panic about their money being worth less than the paper on which it is printed. For this reason, in my rather unimportant opinion, many are out buying durable goods at inflated prices. My strategy is to sit on cash and wait for markets to have a significant correction. This has always worked for me in the past but of course, I could also be totally wrong.
I can’t imagine buying a new car at the present time. When I was car shopping in 2018, 0% loans for 84 months were everywhere. Unless you have cash, buying a new car car in this climate is going to be a very expensive purchase.
I had similar thoughts on the 2.0T Fusion. It felt very strong around town, equivalent to the Japanese 3.5s at my elevation. But the acceleration tapered off noticeably at around 40-45mph, while the V6s were just getting started. The 2.0 is a good stoplight to stoplight engine, but for freeway merges and passing maneuvers it doesn’t compare to the V6s and doesn’t seem to provide a fuel economy benefit.
Nice car, congrats! I always liked this generation of Fusion (a lot) and seriously considered one before we picked up our ’16 Camry. The Ford is an impressive balance of handling and refinement, but I didn’t get along with the seats and as you mentioned in your review the powertrains are the Achilles heel for this car. None of them are competitive.
$14,700 for a low mileage well-kept car with a $27K MSRP is a raging bargain nowadays. Frankly, that seems like a good deal even pre-pandemic, unless Fusions had abnormally high depreciation. Our Camry had a $27K MSRP as well and we grabbed it for $17K with 24K on the clock, nearly $4K below book value, which was a deal unparalleled in all of Autotrader Land at the time. So I think you did very well. I hope you’ll submit ownership updates on the car, I’d like to see how it treats you.
I had 2 Hondas on lease come due in 2020. Honda let me extend each lease by a year at the same payment, then I bought both at prices well below market. I also sold a truck for a decent little profit and got a c6 so 2021 was the biggest car year I ever had.
Bought one and sold one but old cars not new, New cars have been hard to get here my sister replaced her Mazda 6 with a CX5 and had to wait for it to arrive in country used ex JDM cars are plentifull I pass lots full of them everyday and see transporters trucking cars around every day but mixed loads of new and used and of course scrap trucks loaded with the dead heading for parting out and recycling are everywhere too,
I definitely lucked on on automobile replacement vs. COVID. Maggie’s Dodge Dart GT was replaced with a new (!-first new car I’ve been involved in in twenty years) back in July 2020, and I closed the deal on my 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV in January 2021. The car had 32,000 miles on it, and cost me roughly $16,000. And it was a couple of months before GM announced that I’m getting a whole new battery pack one of these days.
Only downside is that the 2008 Kia Sedona is rapidly approaching the 150k mark, is definitely getting shabby, and I’m dreading the day it’s time to replace it, seeing my planned replacement is a Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. Yep, everything from this point on is going to be EV or at least plug-in hybrid. I want ICE, I go to the motorcycle garage. And yes, I’m keeping my eyes opened for a used Zero.
We also bought during Covid, just before things got really crazy car-wise. First was a new 2021 Mazda CX-5 Turbo Carbon Edition, actually got it like $1500 below sticker, in March 2021!
Then in April 2021 I fulfilled a dream of mine and bought a Mustang, specifically a 2019 Bullitt. In my short search (about 3 weeks) I saw the prices on low mileage ones in my area (New Jersey) going up, and was lucky to find one for what I accepted was a good deal. The selling dealership dealt only in used cars, and generally has a no haggle policy…even when paying cash. So on National Mustang Day I drove my dream car home and have been loving it since! Almost a year later now, with 3000 additional miles driven, I can basically get what I paid for it, crazy!
The Mazda L is definitely the best Ford 4 cylinder car engine of the 2000s the Duratecs were almost as coarse as the CVH and the Ecoboost has reliability issues. I’ve had two of the 2.5s in Mazdas and both are trouble free and adequately powerful, especially the direct injected Skyactiv in the CX-5.
Our pandemic car buying has been mostly OK but we shop at the low end. I bought my pickup in late March 2020 before Covid craziness so I only paid $3000 for 2002 F150 with lowish miles and even after spending money on mechanical work I’d still be ahead since KBB is $5000 or so right now. My son has had mixed results, h looked at a Focus ST n Carmax but decided he really didn’t want to spend $25k and make payments so his fleet is a 1996 Suburban bought for $400 from a friend in June 2020, a 2000 Corolla bought as a project for $200 in early 21 and after $1000 for a used engine and transaxle and a lot of mission creep is now his daily and his latest acquisition is a 1999 3/4 ton Suburban to replace the 96. That was $3000 of Craigslist in the fall of 21 and needed a front suspension rebuild. We also did an internal transfer of his 2003 Buick LeSabre for $1000 to provide his sister with wheels. The local market seems too pricey for project cars at the moment so I am avoiding buying anything other than parts
Had a 2010Fusion Sport, 3.5L FWD, great car. Wouldn’t mind the last line of Fusion, a AWD Sport with the 2.7L Twin Turbo V6. Can’t believe Ford dropped the Fusion, I sure someone on here could dig up sales figures on the Fusions to see how it did over the years. I personally prefer the 2010 vintage and its sisters that used a two arm front suspension vs the Walmart McStrut junk. Struts are functional and there are fast cars with struts but I prefer a shock that is either independently mounted or in a coilover configuration like a lot of the pickups are using.