Rob Curtin

Hey all, I just wanted your opinion on this, and my apologies if the answer ends up being obvious. My Fusion just crossed over 2,500 miles, and the fuel economy has been getting better. I've realized that I do a lot more city-style driving than I ever thought, and I'm now very aware of all the stops and starts I have in my daily commute. I also downloaded an app for my iPhone that tracks my average speed, and that's been pretty helpful as well. All that being the back story, I live in St. Louis equidistant between two major highways that both lead to work. The route I've been taking in the 3 years I've lived there is only about 7.5 miles, which includes 9 stops (traffic lights and stop signs) between my house and the highway, and once I get on the highway, it's about 3.5 miles before I'm getting off onto another city street to go to work. The other route I could go (which I took this morning) is 4 miles longer, but between my house and that highway are only 5 potential stops (all traffic lights, so potentially only one or two if I'm lucky), plus there's 4 more miles of highway driving, and I still get off at the same city street for work, so that end doesn't change at all. My question is if it's more efficient to go the shorter route mile-wise with more stops and starts, or the longer route with more consistent speeds? TL;DR version: is it more fuel efficient to drive shorter with more stops OR longer with a more consistent speed? Thanks all!

Ford divested between 2008 and 2010.

**UPDATE (again)** Just got a call from the dealership. They said that the new headliner is installed correctly, and that they went out on the lot to see how the others looked. Some had the gap and some didn't, so they called Ford about it, saying that it sounds like "kind of a wide-spread problem." They're going to order me ANOTHER new headliner (which they weren't sure if it was back-ordered or not), and are hoping that solves the problem. I know that, at the end of the day, the headliner is in no way necessary to the function of the car, but I think you'd all agree that a brand new car shouldn't have these kinds of problems; or when it does, it gets fixed in a timely manner. This may be blasphemy on a Ford owners forum, and may also be my anger talking, but when this 3 year lease is up, I'm thinking I'll just go back to Mazda.

**UPDATE** So I called the Ford dealership located about 2 miles from my house (not the one I bought from) around June 9th to tell them about the headliner issue. They couldn't get it in until the 20th (the following Friday), where they keep it overnight and determine that, yeah, I need a whole new headliner (it was coming loose in other places I hadn't noticed). Those units are back-ordered, though, and it doesn't come in until around July 23-ish. However, then they tell me that their backed way up on repairs, and I can't get in until August 11. They get it first thing in the morning, end up keeping it overnight, and I pick it up yesterday. Go to work, feel good, leave work get home, and notice that I have the same problem as before on the back end. There is a gap (albeit a smaller one now, but still a gap) between the headliner and the roof of the car, and I can see end of it (rigid piece and all). I haven't looked too closely at the back ends of other 2014 Fusions, but I can't imagine that they are supposed to look this way. I called the dealership again today to complain and set up another appointment, which will now be next Wednesday the 20th, the earliest they can get me in. It's just frustrating to me that this is happening on a new car, and that I'm having the same problem again with a brand new headliner that I had to wait 2 months for. I mostly just wanted to vent and give an update, but does anyone else have any similar experiences? Thanks, Rob

Have you sold these rims yet?

Thanks for the heads up! Looking through that thread and doing some Google searching, it looks like upgrading the IDS version in the Audio Control Module is something that would need to be done at the dealership, right? It's not like a SYNC upgrade where I can put the info on a flash drive?

Has anyone else noticed that sometimes the door open chime sounds tinny, as if it's coming from a simple speaker mounted around the steering wheel, and other times it sounds "warm" and is coming from the car stereo system? I haven't paid enough attention to figure out when it does which, but I was just totally curious if any of you mods or more experienced owners had any insight? It doesn't bother me either way, just was wondering. Thanks!

Jeff, would you say that this is an "official" issue for the 2014 Fusions too? I actually noticed this the other day when I was parked on an incline and getting something out of my trunk. I had my spoiler added at the dealership, so I could see where the spring isn't strong enough since it didn't roll out of the factory with it. Just wanted to see if you knew about this year or not. Thanks!

Today I took my 2014 Fusion to a self-wash today to clean and wax it. While vacuuming the inside, the hose put some small scratches on that glossy center console around the cup holders. I did some Googling and found Meguiar's PlastX, and someone who posted a YouTube video using it to clean their radio screen (video below). Do you guys know if there's any harm in using it on the center console inside? Is there any coating I'd be in danger of stripping off? Thanks!

Funny that you should say that you weren't sure it was an A6 or an A8, as that reminds me of this Jalopnik article: http://dougdemuro.kinja.com/audis-boring-styling-has-turned-its-sedans-into-shoe-si-1529905532 And yeah, the first time I noticed the one-headlight-off-while-turn-signal-is-on thing was in a turn lane when I saw the reflection in the trunklid/bumper of the car in front of me. I thought "Jesus Christ, a light is out ALREADY?!" before collecting myself and turning the blinker off just to be sure. That was my "huh..." moment.

I had my car into a dealer last week to look at some warranty work, and they were able to turn them on free of charge, and this wasn't the dealer I originally bought from. One thing that I think is kind of quirky about the DRLs is that when you turn on your turn signal, it turns off that side's headlamp, so it looks like you have one side out. Not a problem or even really an annoyance, just one of those things where I saw it and went "huh..."

Thanks for the advice, it's much appreciated. When I take the car in to replace the headliner (it's currently on back order), I may ask them to change the oil. At the same time, though, this is a lease vehicle so since I'm only planning to have it for the next ~36,000 miles and not 160,000 that I had on my old Mazda, I might not worry about it. I will say that the gas mileage is improving. According to Fuelly, my first tank after getting it home from Kentucky I only got about 17 MPG, but on the current tank, I'm getting 19.8 MPG, and an overall of 22.6 (both according to the computer). After each fill-up, I reset the trip meters, and it's been interesting on this tank to see how the average MPG can fluctuate between city and highway driving, but also just sitting idly. I was in a drive-through line last night, and the MPG went down about .5 just sitting there. As I get closer to 1,000 or 1,500 miles, I'm looking forward to getting the MPG up a bit more. Otherwise, it's been a great car (except sometimes Sync gets frustrating), and I'm very happy with it. I appreciate all the feedback and advice... it's helped a lot!

Hey guys, I have a quick question about the four "Function" keys after hitting "Media." Right now, when I hit "Media," it defaults to the Auxiliary Input, and the function buttons across the bottom display "Shuffle, Repeat, (blank), blank)." However, on my wife's 2014 Escape, as well as in a '13 Focus I rented for work last week, when you hit "Media" and it goes to the Aux input, the function keys instead will let you choose USB or Bluetooth Audio. This is way more convenient since I usually listen to my music through USB than the aux input. My question is if there is any way to change this somewhere in the settings? I'm fine with the Media key defaulting to aux mode if it means that I can hit one more button and be on USB or Bluetooth. Any advice? Thanks! -Rob

I'm taking my Fusion into the dealership this weekend for some other warranty work, and I've requested they turn on the DRL feature. I know that they're a point of contention in the US, but I don't see the harm in having them. Any reason why they shouldn't be activated?

I definitely have that, I just wasn't sure if it was supposed to look the same as the Escape with the headlights and taillights illuminated. Thanks!