shawn_carter69

I installed HID lights in the stock housings and am not happy with the lighting output. I'm wondering if I would get better light spread

with projector headlights? The other issue is I can't seem to find any projectors for an 09 Fusion. All I can find is for older ford models.

Hope someone can help.

The light housings in a halogen and HID headlamp are different. They are designed to disperse the light according to the light source intended for them, ergo your halogen designed headlamps are not going to do as good of a job dispersing light from an HID as a light housing designed for an HID bulb. That being said when my HID kit was working in my 2010 for the limited time it did work I thought it did an ample job so maybe if you could find a projector it would help but I would recommend finding a headlamp designed for HID bulbs.

You seemed to not have any luck with DDM. Like I said, I had god luck, and between my friends and I, we're on our 12th kit. Just for everyone to know though, most "warranties" that are out there are bs. Just like Shawn said, they find a way to charge you anyway. Pretty much if it breaks, be ready to buy a new one. A new kit is only 40 bucks so I'm not really worried.

I don't mean any disrespect to DDM as I said they were very helpful and did what they "could" to help and seemed to truly want to help. Just so those who from outside the US know they won't get too much help should anything go wrong.

I did up a black Explorer for a friend's son, and put a carbon fiber oval sticker over the blue oval. Subtle change that worked.

Were you able to find pre-cut covers? Or did you have to cut them yourself? If you found them where?

No, your avatar is a distraction.

Ain't that the truth! :P

So an FYI to all "international" customers (read not American) considering an HID kit. If you have an issue with your kit from DDM Tuning and need a warranty claim then you will have to foot the bill on shipping back to them. They were fairly helpful trying to help me figure out the issues with my kit and eventually came to the conclusion I had bad ballasts and issued me a ticket to have them exchanged under warranty but they want me to pay another $30 in shipping (I'm assuming thats the cost because of what they charged me to ship them to me in the first place) for a kit I have had for about two weeks and has never worked properly.

Has anybody tried tinting their tail lamps on a 2010 yet? If so did you do it yourself? and if so how did it go?

You could check the Fusion pix on the Ford website: Fusion Gallery

 

The Sport front styling was clearly influenced by Ford's Australian Falcon. That's where I got the idea to paint my fog light surround bezels.

 

 

How did you go about painting the surrounds? Did you remove them or tape them off?

As in it went on easily, or it was a MOFO to put on? My wife complains that she can't hear it to shift, and I want a different exhaust.

Wasnt too hard. She will definitely be able to hear it my wife complains it's too loud now.

 

A quick search of Google reveals no "gauge faces" for the 2010 yet. Something tells me it may not be a practical solution on these cars, given the way the hashmarks seem to be "molded-in" etc. And of course, if "gauge faces" were available on the aftermarket, they'd likely be even more outrageous.

Last I checked changing the gauge faces doesn't change the color of the backlighting that is in the car, 2 totally different things

Debadged my 07 Fusion a few days ago... now that i'm off today just waxed it and waiting for it to dry so i can finish it up. pics will be up later today. messed around with the emblems and came up with some funny things that i can put on my car..lol

I've never quite understood the reasoning behind debadging. Why did you do it?

Any pics yet? Glad to hear that the exhaust paths are the same!

No sorry no pics yet. I've worked 8 straight at this point and won't be off until Saturday at the earliest, I think....

try and get a refund, and head over to HIDhub.com i've been running two 35watt kits low, and fogs and havent had one problem yet. Also i dont get the flickering that i have heard about with others using 35watt kits. check my other post to see how they look

Might happen if i can't get it to work but hid hub is literally 3 1/2 times the price... That would have to be a freaking huge gain in performance, reliability and anything you cannthink of...

I have a 2010 SEL V6, I bought the regular kit, no slim ballast, no digital, and have had no problems. I plan to do the fogs when i get the money. None of the cars we have done HID's on have had problems. This is odd, I'm not saying you did anything wrong with the wiring at all, they make it dummy proof even lol. Maybe you got a bad ballast. It's just odd how we're on our 12th kit and soon to order another for a mustang, and we have yet to have a problem.

I wonder, I went with the slim ballast but again I don't see what diff that would make I guess I just need s couple of minutes to actually call them to get some ideas from them.

In theory the dealer is trying to keep similar cash flow as they are losing a lot of money with the new longer intervals.

They should (I re-in force this should) recommend the shorter intervals because you can't actually over service but tell you that if you don't have any of the driving conditions that cause you to "be required" to shorten the interval then it's up to you. This is what we do at our dealer and most customers are ok with this explanation.

Really? We're now on our 12th kit and have had no problems at all. 4 different cars, Fusion, explorer, jetta, and grand marquis, all work great and are fantastic. Here's the thing. HID's use way more than 55 watts on startup, so if your wires are getting too hot, or possibly a connection is bad, then maybe I could see the light shutting off. The lights only shut off if they can't get enough power.

I've readjusted and checked the wires 3 or 4 times to make sure the connections are good and they can't get any better. Not sure why they would "overheat" in my Fusion but not yours. What year is your? I have a 2010 with the projectors so if you have an 06-09 with open area with better heat displacement I guess that would explain.

I actually think that the 2010 Sport-style rocker moldings that are now available in the aftermarket have a lot more character than the straight rocker moldings that 3D Carbon made for the earlier Fusions.

 

You can get the new ones on eBay for less than the real Sport rocker moldings purchased from a Ford dealer.

Here's a link: 2010 Fusion Rocker Moldings

I totally agree with the look of the rockers but holy over priced batman. You can buy the whole 3dCarbon kit for the same price as just the rockers....

ddm tuning, great service from then. I have 8k 55w, and they are bright, used a lumen meter to check brightness, it is what they actually say on their website. Have order 4 kits from them now, no problems at all. Couldn't be happier. Got the kit for 50 bucks, no flickering, and did not need a relay.

4 kits and no issues? I have been having mass issues with my ddm tuning kit. My driver's side stays on for 5minutes then cuts out, my passenger has gone out a time or 2 and flickers on occassion... not impressed. Had them a week, I'm gonna talk to somebody this week annd see what can be done about it.

The exhaust came in yesterday and we got it on. I'll work on getting pics up ASAP. Looks pretty good and sounds great.

Hi shawn. :D To add to what akirby stated: Yes, you are correct that it is "possible". And we actually have covered this many times in the past. In fact, a Dealer can also sell a car to a customer at the AZ-Plan price without a PIN (but it won't be an AZ-Plan sale). A Dealer can even sell a car to a customer at a loss, or give a car to a customer for free. But all of theses scenarios, while possible, are not likely in the majority of cases. While an X-Plan price sale without a PIN is slightly more likely than those possibilities, the majority of customers will not see a better than X-Plan price in the majority of cases (at least not before available Incentives and Rebates are deducted)..

 

To elaborate: The problem with not having a PIN is that without a PIN, none of the AXZ-Plan customer protections are in effect. The Dealer does not have to show the customer the Factory Invoice with the X-Plan PIN visible (or at all), the Dealer can tack on various "Customary fees and charges" that are prohibited by Ford on AXZ-Plan sales, etc. etc.. So without an X-Plan PIN, it won't be an X-Plan sale and it won't have those built in protections.

 

So while it is "possible" for a customer to negotiate a "better than X-Plan" price on their own (again, before available Incentives and Rebates are factored in), it is unlikely in the majority of cases, since most customers have neither the access to pricing information, nor the negotiation skills necessary to do so.

 

So as I always recommend to people (friends or family) who wonder if the X-Plan really gives a good deal: Go to a few Dealers (that you would not normally buy from) and try to negotiate your best price on a vehicle you want while not mentioning the X-Plan. Then go to your local Dealer where you would purchase, notify them that you will be buying on the X-Plan and see what your X-Plan price is for the same vehicle.

 

Or, simply tell the Dealer you are an X-Plan buyer and ask them to beat the X-Plan price (while still showing you the Factory Invoice and X-Plan Price). This method is quicker, but does not work as well, for various reasons that are easy to see if thought about for a minute. Either way, the majority of customers will get a better price with an X-Plan PIN on a legitimate Plan sale.

 

Of course, there are other variations of the same shopping techniques I mentioned above, so people should feel free to get their best price how they feel is fair. Just keep in mind that technically, you are required to identify yourself as an X-Plan buyer upfront at the Dealership where you actually plan on using the X-Plan, .

 

Hope this avoids any confusion for those using or contemplating using the X-Plan.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

No doubt I totally agree. That is in fact what I said is it not? They can sell it to you at an X-plan price but in all likelihood will not d/t next to no profit...

FYI they can sell you a vehicle at the X-plan price if they so choose without the PIN. There still is a small amount of profit without the additional incentives from Ford on an X-plan price. They would in all likelihood not want to sell the car for that price and next to no profit. but some will do a deal just to make a deal. Not saying it is going to happen just the fact that it is possible.

 

I have sold Ford's for nearly 4 years and have dealt with X plan deals and from the management side of it as well, but I am assuming that things work the same in the US (I'm in Canada)

 

Hopefully this info is helpful in some way to some people.

P.S. Thank you for adding the extras about protecting on the limited doc and other "protections" etc that I left out.

The theory and everything this Yale guy is saying makes sense to me, but I don't think i would to have my seat vibrating all of teh time even if just a small amount. I would think it would be very irritating if not almost annoying.

Well, here is the scoop everyone! I took my Fusion to the dealership regarding the "creases" in the leather seats.. photos were taken, and Ford responded by saying it was not an issue covered by any warranty program that they offer... so much for "bumper to bumper"... I sent an email to customer service, and received the same response... I started using Lexol to hopefully protect these areas from cracking, but looks like I will be investing in repairs in the future...

Bumper to Bumper is a misnomer. No non-luxury brand automaker offers a true Bumper to Bumper warranty as things like brakes, light bulbs, wiper blades are not covered outside of the first year by anybody outside of a BMW, MB, Lexus, Audi etc, and even not all of them do it either.

I have an '06 Fusion and the dash is starting to warp around the passenger airbag and in the middle section of where the dash meets the windshield. Has anyone else experienced this? This was a Ford Certified car when I bought it in '08 so I'm wondering if I have a leg to stand on in trying to get this fixed somehow.

 

I can only imagine how much a dash replacement would cost out of pocket and I would rather avoid filing an insurance claim...

Call your dealer and see what the warranty was on the Certified vehicle. I'm not sure as Ford doesn't do that in Canada that I 'm aware of. If they say the basic warranty was a couple of years your good, if they say that it is like most other Certified waranties (Honda) then it is only powertrain and your hooped.

2010 SE I4 AT

the only problem I have had (besides getting rear ended and having the exhaust bent getting a Magnaflow Split rear on insurance :happy feet:) has been with a couple of hard shifts when shifting from R into D. But it hasn't happened since I had the flash recall done so all is well.

Hi chitown. :D So others do not get confused by accidentally misleading information, I wanted to address what you stated concerning "Whether or not one could actually negotiate against it probably depends on the salesperson." The AZX-Plan rules/regulations and program are set and administered by Ford, not the Dealer or salespeople. If a buyer is buying on the X-Plan and using an X-Plan PIN, there is no negotiating on the vehicle X-Plan Price. The price is set by Ford. The Dealer must follow the rules and fill out the paperwork with the proper X-Plan price listed on the Factory Invoice. Any variation and the Plan sale will be kicked back to the Dealer and they will not be compensated for the X-Plan sale until the mistake is corrected. No exceptions.

 

Hope this information helps.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

Just going to throw in my last 2 cents and leave it alone. I've checked with my GM and dealer principals. They can negotiate on A/Z/X plan purchase and still turn it in. They never do it as they is 0 profit on one of those deals. Again I wanted to point out it may differnet in Canada or whatever I'm not going to get involved any longer but as far as Ford of Canada is concerned the dealer can sell any vehicle they want at any price they want, using whatever programs they want as long as Ford of Canada gets their invoice amount for the vehicle, whatever the dealer does is their call. Dictating what a dealer sells the vehicle for is legally price fixing. Just talk to Toyota Canada about that one and the whole Access Pricing fiasco.

3D doesn't have any future plans for the styling kit for the 2010 S, SE, SEL....I e-mailed the rep & he said its not in the budget this year anyway......Somebody has to have one in the making somewhere...

Yeah I got the same the response, a bunch of stuff about the econonmy and cost of R&D.... blah blah blah. Lol, I know it's not cheap I'm just disappointed.