[prashant316]

4 years ago, a Fusion of my uncles fusion was the first ford i ever drove in my life. i just loved the petrol engine - the sound of it, the gear lever and the way the gears shifted and the drive of the car.

Till date i have a soft spot for all Ford cars because of this one car. Its a pity that it wasnt very successful.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by prashant316

4 years ago, a Fusion of my uncles fusion was the first ford i ever drove in my life. i just loved the petrol engine - the sound of it, the gear lever and the way the gears shifted and the drive of the car.

Till date i have a soft spot for all Ford cars because of this one car. Its a pity that it wasnt very successful.

Prashant,

Even today after seven years, the gear shift is as slick as ever. Very smooth and slots in perfectly.
I totally agree on the drive aspect of Ford cars. That is the reason, I am holding on to this car till I have a closer
look at the Ecosport.

[prashant316]

Originally Posted by ampere

Prashant,

Even today after seven years, the gear shift is as slick as ever. Very smooth and slots in perfectly.
I totally agree on the drive aspect of Ford cars. That is the reason, I am holding on to this car till I have a closer
look at the Ecosport.

Ecosport should be another beauty. I sincerely hope Ford gets it right this time. They have always gone wrong with their pricing and then tried to correct it with special models, huge discounts etc. This doesnt speak well for their image.

I am personally waiting for the Fiesta Hatchback. But got to know that it will again have the toned down engine :(

[vnabhi]

Nice to see a well-maintained Fusion on the prior page. I wish you many more miles of fun with it.

I wonder why Ford phased it out. Maybe at that time it was considered a costly hatch or MUV. But after i-20 and Punto hit our shores, it does look more VFM, moreso due to its roominess and high G.C. I'd have bought a tdci Fusion now, if it were still on sale. I am holding back for the Fiesta hatch or Eco Sport.

But the dampening news is that the Ecosport is a sub-4 meter SUV, and that the Fiesta hatch will be de-tuned in India. In that case, I may go for something else next year to replace my 11-year old Waggie.

[frequentflyer]

I am hanging on to the Fusion as there is still no replacement in the Indian market. The power, the space, the price, the features are unmatched so many years later. I wonder if the Ecosport with its over engineered features will replace the Fusion's functionality. Fiddling with length to cater for tax laws is never a good idea. However a day will come when one will have to change cars. I hope there will be a good replacement at that time.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I wonder why Ford phased it out. Maybe at that time it was considered a costly hatch or MUV. But after i-20 and Punto hit our shores,
it does look more VFM, moreso due to its roominess and high G.C. I'd have bought a tdci Fusion now, if it were still on sale.
I am holding back for the Fiesta hatch or Eco Sport.

I think the killer for Fusion was its Petrol engine. Killer in both the sense. From a positive side its a brilliant engine with its
price and performance.
Negative because, it never provided good mileage.

Diesel I think came a bit too late. By then others were firmly in place. Punto/I20 were taking were the sub-4m advantage
and hence they were profitable in their ventures. Fusion was also losing out on that front I think.

Originally Posted by frequentflyer

I am hanging on to the Fusion as there is still no replacement in the Indian market.
The power, the space, the price, the features are unmatched so many years later. I wonder if the Ecosport with its over engineered
features will replace the Fusion's functionality. Fiddling with length to cater for tax laws is never a good idea. However a day
will come when one will have to change cars. I hope there will be a good replacement at that time.

@FF,

Based on what I read, I think Ecosport will offer functionality similar to the Fusion. But since they may go the premium tag,
they need the sub 4m badge to keep the cost down. It is in that department, I think they will sacrifice on the rear seat space
and comfort. Though I am also looking for one, but I fear for back seat comfort.

[frequentflyer]

Originally Posted by ampere

I think the killer for Fusion was its Petrol engine. Killer in both the sense. From a positive side its a brilliant engine with its
price and performance.
Negative because, it never provided good mileage.

Diesel I think came a bit too late. By then others were firmly in place. Punto/I20 were taking were the sub-4m advantage
and hence they were profitable in their ventures. Fusion was also losing out on that front I think.




@FF,

Based on what I read, I think Ecosport will offer functionality similar to the Fusion. But since they may go the premium tag,
they need the sub 4m badge to keep the cost down. It is in that department, I think they will sacrifice on the rear seat space
and comfort. Though I am also looking for one, but I fear for back seat comfort.

The Fusion did not do well due to it being perceived as a hatch in the 6 lakh plus bracket when hatches were selling at 4.5. The Indian fascination for sedans affected sales and the other features went unnoticed. Dealer apathy was another reason. The third was the simple 'look' that goes unnoticed. I remember a review in a UK magazine that said the Fusion is an ideal getaway car for a thief because it would never be noticed! yet, today when I park it I find a person asking me which car is this!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by frequentflyer

Dealer apathy was another reason. The third was the simple 'look' that goes unnoticed. I remember a review in a UK magazine that said the Fusion is an ideal getaway car for a thief because it would never be noticed! yet, today when I park it I find a person asking me which car is this!

In fact I like such simple under stated looks. That way one may not even burgle such a car.
But yes it does get that odd look! The last long drive was to Goa, (this month) and the car held on its own.

A couple of snaps taken around Bangalore.

At Manchanabele Dam (Mysore Road)




Some where between Dobbaspet and Doddaballapur, enjoying the country roads. (I had posted in the trekking thread. Hence just posting the link)

[frequentflyer]

Your car looks good for another 40-50k I should think! I have now crossed 62k and the car is purring...!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by frequentflyer

Your car looks good for another 40-50k I should think! I have now crossed 62k and the car is purring...!

The car is definitely good for another 40-50K, but the only issue is FE. City mileage is about 11. With long distance and faster speeds, FE again dips.
This is also prompting me to look at a change. (Given that its now seven years and odo reads ~95K)

Was looking at Duster as a potential change. Suits perfectly well for my requirements.

[paragsachania]

With a single driver behind its wheels and proper care taken by periodic servicing and regular usage, there is no set limit on how much your car's engine can last.

I for one have used my car (not a Fusion though) extensively for more than 177k kms and the engine still runs as new without an issue so far. I was told many a times by the SAs that it will last more than 2.5L kms easily. When I went to 3M Center for underbody coating, folks there couldn't find a single spot where the under-chassis sections had rusted even after 6+ years.

One promising thing by the manufacturer even today is the easy availability of any spare part for my car (variant) which was last produced in early 2006. Even if nothing was changed in Transmission or Engine in the next variant till 2010, sourcing parts for exteriors/interiors has never been a problem. Perhaps, this is one reason why I have never thought of selling if off but my mind still does think of adding one more of such an MUV.

If this holds good for Ford also, I would see no particular reason, except for the escalating Petrol price along with a not so great FE of the car to be the primary concerns for doing away with such a wonderful and practical car from Ford.

In India, those years of launch for cars like these that introduced station Wagon type of concept in body designs promising all round space and practicality was way too early for buyers to decide. The Octavia, Adventure, Baleno were a few more that never sold in good numbers.

Today we see the Figo doing very good and it was launched at the right time when Passenger Space + Luggage space started to become one of the primary reasons for buyers to make a decision.

I Wish you many more lovely kilometers on the car that I almost bought except for a reason I mentioned you before!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

I Wish you many more lovely kilometers on the car that I almost bought except for a reason I mentioned you before!

Thanks Parag. That is very true. As you said, I can go many more miles.
But with all new Fiesta/Ecosport etc coming into play with new engines, I am not sure how long spares will continue. Also going forward the trend is to shift the 1.6L petrol to the Ecoboost 1L. Till then I think I can continue.

However the other big thing as I mentioned earlier is the petrol versus diesel aspect which is making me re-look at this. I think 7-8 years of trouble free ownership was good. But beyond that, every change in the car starts costing much more. I am not very sure how that would show up for Ford. Thats the other reason I am looking at this aspect.

[ampere]

There is a time when we also need to know, when to let it go. For me finally time did come to look for a change. When I write this the care is already gone. Since the start of 2012, I had started looking out for a change. Though the car would have stood another 40-50K easily, I was not sure about holding it with the unknown of what would have been in store for me from a service point of view (Paranoia?).

I was pampered with gadgets, power, good ride & handling with Fusion. So finding a change was not at all easy. A bit more of space and the requirement of a diesel was also pushing me to look out. With more city traffic Fusion FE was at about 11-12. That also made me look for a diesel. Also I could sense the signs of ageing in Fusion.

The only choices staring right in front of me were the Duster and the Ecosport. Most natural upgrade was Ecosport. Familiar service network and Ford DNA made it a natural product to wait for. But I willingly wrote it off because I was not all convinced that it would provide more cabin and boot space (as compared to Fusion).

With that there was nothing but the Duster left out in the fray. I wanted more of a city drivability and a sedate drive on the highways. With that as the background, I did a pre-launch booking of the Duster 85 RXL (O). Bangalore Renault dealership is Trident who also has a very active used-car network.
So I gave away Fusion in exchange for the Duster. Final Odo reading stood somewhere around 97K.

By September end I was an owner of a new Duster. Till date I have already driven it for more than 7000km. But that story in a different thread !

To the outgoing .....

One last drive around Bangalore


Lost in the woods


New guy in the garage (Thanks to @Condor for the snap)

[condor]

I myself had a soft corner for the Fusion, and may have even bought it but for the pricing, and the not so good power-to-weight ratio. I think the Fusion deserved a 1.5 Diesel mill than the 1.4 it had.

The Fusion had served you faithfully for a long time. And it was time to bid good bye, in more ways than one. I think things turned out well, and here's wishing you a happy new begining !

[Ford5]

By the time the diesel came into the Fusion the market had written of this car!

Not to mention the drab showrooms of Ford and eagerness of the salespeople to push the Fiesta diesel back then.