Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
In other words, an Altima, Passat, Optima, Accord, or Sonata might be more "made in USA" than a Ford Fusion.
I just bought a 2013 Fusion. This is my 3rd new vehicle and all were new models purchased within the first few months of production. My 06 Fusion was the 2nd one off the truck at the dealer and the only thing I had to do to it over 7.5 years and 60K miles was replace one door handle and change the oil, filter and tires.
The quality problems with the 2013 Fusion are assembly errors or parts being out of spec or defective from the supplier. Once corrected those problems won't reappear. For example the major delay last October was due to a headlamp problem where the supplier didn't cure the plastic properly. These problems, like the 1.6L fires, appear almost immediately and are fixed just as quickly.
I don't have any long term reliability issues with any of the current crop of midsized sedans. The worst vehicle today is better than the best vehicle 20 years ago.
I agree with what you say in that almost all cars today are way beyond what was available 20 years ago.
The Fusion is a great looking car. And many tests say the handling and performance of the Fusion are both very good.
I imagine you're probably right about the quality issues. Ford hit a few bumps in the road, but no doubt they are working overtime to fix them.
There are a lot of great choices for midsize buyers, and the Fusion is definitely in the mix if the quality issues are mostly resolved at this point.
van
I, too,chuckled at that until I realized the bridge from San Francisco to Honolulu must now be complete.
One small gripe about the Fusion...with the longest wheelbase (over 112"), it should have full-size room, like the Accord and Sonata do. The Passat with 2" less wheelbase is cavernous by comparison. The Ford may be high style, but that doesn't explain the lack of interior room. It is not lower or narrower than any of its rivals. Its back seat hardly even trumps the Malibu's, which rides on a wheelbase many inches shorter.
As for exterior... no comparison there, the Accord looks like any Accord from the past 15 years or so. Not bad, and the Genesis-like rear end is an improvement over last generation. But nothing to heighten the pulse rate like the Mazda6, Fusion, Sonata, and Optima. At least the Accord is less boring outside than the Impala... I mean, Passat!
"Quality/reliability, safety, styling, and handling. When I first started looking for a new sedan the optima was top on my list until I saw the front grill and price tag in person for all the features I want. I'm open to looking at other vehicles I'm just familiar with Ford and Nissan and both vehicles match my 25,000-30,000 price range."
There are a lot of great choices in the 25-30k price! The consumer is king in the midsize field because of the intense competition.
Since you put quality and reliability at the top, let me reveal my personal bias right now in that I owned a Ford and VW long ago that were lemons, and as a result I've written off those brands. But I do realize that Ford and VW are much better today! Ford is having some trouble with the launch of the Fusion, as this article in the WSJ indicates. But perhaps the problems are mostly in the past?:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324640104578165540663925634.html
"Ford Recalls Cast Spotlight on Fusion
...Ford hasn't disclosed how it will fix a problem linked to 13 engine fires in certain 2013 Fusion and Ford Escape crossovers. Ford last week recalled about 19,000 of its 2013 Ford Fusion SE and SEL sedans equipped with a 1.6-liter, 4-cylinder engine....
Ford said there were no injuries related to the fires, but told owners of the vehicles to stop driving them. As of Thursday, Ford had not come up with a repair for the problem....Ford has said during its quarterly earnings calls that it isn't hitting its goals for improving quality."
I personally feel that Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, and KIA are probably about equal in quality. And maybe Ford and VW are about the same now too. I just don't know.
My personal experiences owning a 2002 Accord LX and 2008 Accord EXL is that these have been the two best and most reliable cars I've ever had in 33 years of driving all sorts of brands. Both were made in the Honda factory in Ohio. Both of these cars needed only routine maintenance and nothing else. Perhaps I was lucky, but I do think Honda makes good cars. I plan to buy another new Accord at some point in the next year.
The Accord earned the top safety rating in the new IIHS small offset crash test. It was the only top selling car to do that, and even outscored the BWM 3 series and Mercedes C class. The Camry got a Poor rating, and so basically failed. Watch this video. It's an eye-opener:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByPAhoeU6UQ
In terms of style, probably the most exciting choices are the Fusion, Mazda 6 and Optima. As many have said, the Accord has rather subdued styling, which I like, but for many it's just bland.
In terms of handling the top picks are probably the Passat, Fusion and Accord.
For me visibility is an important thing. I don't like blind spots, which I now have on my 2010 Mazda 5. My Accords were/are so outstanding in terms of visibility that I took it for granted somehow that other cars were similar. But they simply are not. Most cars have thick rear pillars and small windows in back that made for a closed-in coupe like feel and poor visibility. That's the trade-off often for flashy styling. My wife and I argue in a good natured way about who gets to drive the "good car"—which for us means the Honda.
As you can tell, I favor the Accord. That's what I'm going to buy. But there are lots of good choices!
I imagine the people who like KIA, Ford, VW, Hyundai, etc., will add in their 2 cents.
I hope you test drive at least 3 different cars before you make your choice to see what YOU actually like the best.
Happy shopping! Hope you'll let us know how it goes.
For example: I personally am afraid of CVT's still. I like the idea of actual gears and not a band that will wear out at some point. It is probably silly to even have this preference, since both are tested, tested, and re-tested for reliability. I am sure both units will last a long while.
My point is that after you have done your homework and know that 2 or three cars meet your needs; then buy the ONE THAT YOU LOVE.
It's a big purchase. Enjoy it .
in the end, the Accord won. Not a "star" in any one area, but very good in all of them.
the Altima finished last, and they did not eve talk about it. 4th was the Camry. 3rd was the Optima (I think) and 2nd was the fusion.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I think Ford has been consciously pushing hard to get a lot of new vehicles out the door in a short time and now it's catching up to them. But these aren't long term reliability problems and most are being caught before customers are taking delivery.
And they did comment that the CVT was the best yet, and that you pretty much would not know it had one, if you did not already know!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
a better test is the same car. When Subaru moved to a CVT, with otherwise the same car and engine, MPG went up a whole bunch.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
"Too bad they didn't include the new Mazda6, or the Passat."
I agree.
But the Passat has one significant weak point: its old-tech 5 cylinder engine.
Acceleration with Passat's standard engine 0-60 is the slowest in the whole class at about 8.8 seconds, and mpg is also lowest in the whole class at 31 mpg hwy. Those numbers would have been fine 5 years ago, but today that's poor performance compared to the competition. The base Accord with the auto gets to 60 in just 7.7 seconds, and the manual Accord makes it in 6.8 seconds. And the Accord CVT gets 36 mpg hwy.
The Sonata and Optima started off the latest rush to put quite advanced engines in even base models of midsize cars. The Sonata and Optima have direct injected 2.4 engines that are powerful and economical.
I think that may have forced Honda to put its new directed injected engine in even the base LX model Accord. Honda used to save its higher-end VTEC engines for the EX and up models, but now even the LX gets a top-end engine.
Also the Passat beat out all comers in MT's latest comparo, and even C/D ranked it ahead of the Camry and Optima. So its absence is pretty glaring, IMO.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Unfortunately not...southern state all the way up to Canada. It was probably closer to 5.5 - 6K rpm. 17 hour trip in 14 hours, but surprisingly good mpg in the low 20's.
I think I'll leave this event out of the curriculum when I teach my boys to drive
Mike :shades:
There is no doubt that the CVT is more efficient than automatics in this class.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdqt84_3t-k
Hmmm... the Mazda Skyactiv 6AT does pretty well for itself, e.g. 40 mpg from a 155 hp engine in the Mazda3, while the Sentra gets 39 mpg (40 with the extra cost FE+ variant) but with only 130 hp; and 38 mpg with a 189 hp engine on the Mazda6 (vs. 38 mpg with 182 hp on the Altima).
Looks to me the automatic tranny is not dead yet, compared to the latest CVTs.
I believe the new Mazda6 has more HP than the Altima but gets as good of MPG.
Some of my bias against them is due to some time that I have spent in an Outback that had one. It boasted fairly impressive highway numbers, but in the real world, you'd have to draft every semi-truck you could find in order to actually get them. That thing could smell a grade with revs a half mile off.
And the other thing I have against them..and granted it is a mental thing but still counts if you can't get over it...but I had a hard time mentally convincing myself that that trans wasn't slipping everywhere I went. With the revs all over the place, the only car I can think of that would be even more disconcerting in this regard would be the Volt once you had exhausted all batteries and were on gas generator.
Now I imagine a person must get over that sorta thing, but I am a very visceral seat-of-the-pants type driver. Irregular noises like engine revs that have nothing to do with your actual speed etc really rob some of the fun I (still) get from driving. And for this reason I doubt I would ever spring for a Prius type car if it was my only ride. It'd be strictly an A - B fuel saver. I still have to drive one, but my guess is that in 'go' mode it is easier to take than a CVT in, let's say that 10?Subaru or the 09? Altima I last drove that had it...that is until you applied the brakes..then all bets are off as for any normal visceral feedback that you would normally associate with braking a car..
That said though I hear the new Accord has really nailed making the CVT as...well..apparently it's CVT works quite 'normally' (doesn't spin up unexpectedly compared to what you are asking of it).
But there's also the downsides... pretty sluggish when pressed (at least my Sentra is, but it's not Nissan's latest CVT design), and high engine noise at high revs.
My preference is still a good 6MT, although there's some really good 6+ automatics out there now that are easy to live with. My wife's 2013 Sonata has a very smooth 6AT, and it has a manumatic feature if someone really wants to shift for themselves (which I think is kinda dumb with an automatic, but whatever).
I have a 2011 Sonata with that same 6 speed AT and it is very smooth with decent gas mileage (hwy 31 avg at 70mph). the manumatic feature works very well and really shows the power that DI engine has at 198hp.
That being said, the fact that Honda (from what I've read) seems to have gotten it right gives the technology itself a lot of credit in my eyes (YMMV).
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
EPA hwy estimates are based on 48.3 mph over a complex testing spectrum
IIRC, difference in mpg from 50 to 70 mph is approximately 20%
details:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml
FWIW, my trip computer (2011 Sonata GLS) always overestimates fuel economy by about 2 mpg...
At least that has been my experience in every other car I've driven on the highway in the past 20 years or so.
My lease is up soon and I am investigating several alternatives (Accord, Optima, Mazda 6). Too many choices in this mid-size sedan arena. Incentives vary widely and change month-to-month. glad i only do this every 3 years...
The comparisons I am making are in the 2.4 to 2.5 liter size engines, or their analogs. Example: the Ford EcoBoost 1.6 makes similar power.
I am not keen on CVT's either, but if Honda risked offering it in the flagship Accord as the only automatic, then I need to re-think my view.