by "torque" (torque01)
Published 03/30/2017 at 13:20
by "torque" (torque01)
Published 03/30/2017 at 13:20
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STARS: 0
Looking for insight from the hive mind of Oppo. Tell me about the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid.
I drove one and overall I liked it, though it is a heavy beast, it did feel planted with decent enough handling & acceleration for a midsize family car.
So... What kind of problems do they have?
I read that some have experienced loss of power at highway speeds. How common of a problem is this? From what I could find, the most common cause seems to be something wrong with the throttle body, which apparently affected the non-hybrid 2010 Fusions too. I guess there was a TSB about this but no recall. Also when this condition occurs it’s not always the throttle body and can be caused by a bad fuel pump, but apparently often no code is thrown which can complicate troubleshooting?
Also read that sometimes when you go to start them there is zero power to anything, as in no lights (exterior or interior, no fan, radio, nada, nin, zilch, which I heard can be caused by a bad parking (gear shift) sensor/switch, which can be verified by shifting to neutral & then starting it; if this works... then it’s that sensor/switch that has gone bad. This actually happened on the one that I test drove at a dealership, as I parked it (return from test drive). I when to restart it to adjust the park job and no power to anything what so ever, very weird, though I didn’t think much of it, b/c salesman was trying to close the deal that night & it was my 1st time driving one.
Anything else to watch out for? Can a Fusion Hybrid actually go the distance +200K with Accord / Camry type reliability and low cost of operation? The hybrid system should be about the same as that in the Escape Hybrid and I know some of those have been used for taxi service with of course +300K miles.
Considerations: I’m looking for a nice daily commuter, with enough space to handle kid duty occasionally. I want something with high mpg, reliable, decently fun to drive and a modest touch of luxury (moonroof & maybe leather seats is enough) and of course low +100K miles and inexpensive (so under 8K if I can help it).
Also driven: I drove a 2nd gen Prius (2004 - 2009) and ruled that out (too slow); I drove a 3rd gen (2010 - 2016) and that could be an option if I could find one with a moon roof (though this appears to be pretty rare to find). I will say I was surprised at how cheap and hard the plastic dash and door cards were on these, way worse than my current commuter (98 Jetta TDI)
Not yet driven (though open to...) Survey Says... Honda, 1st gen Accord hybrid 2nd gen Civic Hybrid or Insight
Camry Hybrid, though unless interior materials really are leaps & bounds better than the Prius, which I think is reasonable to assume from the interior pics I’ve seen.
Or one of the Korean fraternal hybrid twins (Sonata or Optima)
I’d love an early Chevy Volt b/c max commuter mpge and all* and it seems like (probably b/c Lutz was so ga-ga over the Volt introduction) it seems like GM really put forth world class type effort on the development & execution on these), though I think the backseat will be too puny for any kid duty
*Assums (as GM engineers did) that your daily commute is no more than 50 miles total, you can actually get damn high fuel economy (really best commuter car option for least running cost b/c a full electric, with really the Leaf about the only real inexpensive option)
Note: I ruled out Nissan Leaf, b/c my commute is enough (about 45 total miles per day total) that I’m just willing to push the range, especially with winter driving
"OPPOsaurus WRX" (opposaurus)
03/30/2017 at 13:30, STARS: 0
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/695414574/overview/
"OPPOsaurus WRX" (opposaurus)
03/30/2017 at 13:30, STARS: 0
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/697349536/overview/
"torque" (torque01)
03/30/2017 at 13:38, STARS: 0
Yes, a C-Max Hybrid is a good suggestion, I’ve thought about one of those too.
Do you have one? if so how do you like it? I know it has the same dash set up as the 2013+ Escape which has a kind of tight fit feel to it.
More importantly what about the reliability? Does the C-Max suffer from some of the same (or some different) major reliability issues like I found with the Fusion Hybrid? I know the throttle body issue was something that was supposed to be unique to the 2.5 liter engine.
"Eric @ opposite-lock.com" (theyrerolling)
03/30/2017 at 13:39, STARS: 0
First of all: Don’t bother with the second-gen Insight. Straight garbage.
My only knowledge of Fusions from this era is from rental cars that were in less-than-excellent condition.
"torque" (torque01)
03/30/2017 at 13:39, STARS: 0
Thanks for the suggestion, however I’m not too hip on the idea of getting a small SUV.
"OPPOsaurus WRX" (opposaurus)
03/30/2017 at 13:40, STARS: 1
my wife had a gas version and it was a decent vehicle. not exactly sporty.
"OPPOsaurus WRX" (opposaurus)
03/30/2017 at 13:41, STARS: 1
ha i know nothing about them, i just did a search on cars.com for hybrid and it pooped up and you hadn;t mentioned them
"torque" (torque01)
03/30/2017 at 13:42, STARS: 0
Tell me more about your thoughts on the gen II Insight. What makes it craptastic? Noisy inside? Piss poor fit & finish? Terrible to drive? Slow etc...
"Eric @ opposite-lock.com" (theyrerolling)
03/30/2017 at 13:54, STARS: 1
Yes.
It might be the most universally-disliked car on the road that isn’t made by GM or Chrysler. It suffers from the same problems with the first- and second-gen Honda Fits, except it’s even worse in most ways.
"Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)" (bman76-4)
03/30/2017 at 14:03, STARS: 0
My parents have a 2016 Hybrid, it gets 42mpg all day every day. Can’t speak to long term reliability, only had it 9 months (no issues yet though)