Nervous New Owner (Repost)

[Rob Curtin]

Hey everyone!

 

I posted this in the "Interiors" section of the main forum, but since it pertains to a 2014 Fusion, I thought I might put it here too in case it's more relevant.

 

I bought a brand new 2014 Ford Fusion SE 2.5L automatic this past Saturday. I did this after doing a couple of months of research and homework so that when I ultimately walked onto the lot, they had the exact car I wanted (deep impact blue, moonroof, spoiler, regular SYNC [without myford touch]), I could sign the paperwork, and be off. And so far, I love it! Up until now, I was driving an '02 Mazda Protege with about 160,000 miles on it, so it's a night-and-day difference.

However, yesterday I was looking at the rear window to put a sticker back there, and noticed that the whole headliner (rigid piece and all) was disconnected from the roof of the car along the back. I even ran my finger along it to make sure I wasn't seeing things, and I could feel the rough edge, and even put my finger between the roof and the headliner. I called the dealership right away, and they said they can fit it in this weekend for a repair (I also Google searched it and found this to be an issue with 2013 Fusions, so maybe it carried over).

My question is if there's anything else I should look out for that you guys have seen in new Fusions? Any other "common problems" I should have them fix or look for, since I've only owned the car for about 5 days and damn well better be covered under the warranty? I will say that the gas mileage is disappointing, but I don't know if I just had unrealistic expectations of that or if there is a problem with my car. I filled up yesterday after work, did about 45 miles of combined city and highway driving last night and this morning, and I'm already showing 2 gallons of fuel used with the needle just a smidge above the 3/4 tank mark. I know it's kind of an apples to oranges comparison, but I don't feel like my Mazda was that bad.

Am I being overly paranoid with all of this? It's my first new car ever, so I definitely want things to be perfect, and I don't know if any of you are like this, but once I see one thing wrong with a new "toy," I immediately get suspicious of everything else.

Anyway, thanks so much for any advice or comforting words you can give. I'm still very excited about my new car, I just can't wait for it to be fixed so that I can be worry-free again!

-Rob

[Burnout]

I'm not sure about the rest of your post ( I own a 2011), but I wouldn't be overly concerned with gas mileage yet, because the engine isn't nearly broken in yet. What are you currently getting for mpg?

 

BT

[akirby]

If you're talking about sync, once your phone is paired it should reconnect automatically.

[Rob Curtin]

I'm not so much worried about sync, as I feel like I've got a pretty good grasp on that. Burnout, the computer today is saying 22.5 average mpg, and I've driven about 60 miles mixed highway/city driving in that time. Also, I didn't know that you still needed to "break in" a new engine. Also, my old Mazda had about 14,000 miles when I got it, so I didn't have to go through that before. What do you recommend I do to make sure it gets broken in correctly?

[akirby]

The owner's manual says not to drive the exact same speed for long periods for the first 500 miles or so. That's it.

[Burnout]

I'm not so much worried about sync, as I feel like I've got a pretty good grasp on that. Burnout, the computer today is saying 22.5 average mpg, and I've driven about 60 miles mixed highway/city driving in that time. Also, I didn't know that you still needed to "break in" a new engine. Also, my old Mazda had about 14,000 miles when I got it, so I didn't have to go through that before. What do you recommend I do to make sure it gets broken in correctly?

When I got my Fusion in April it had just under 35,000 miles and it was getting 18 mpg avg. I drive everyday and it's still averaging now. I believe it's at 25.6 avg. mpg right now, but that's with a 240 horsepower V6.

 

BT

[Rob Curtin]

The owner's manual says not to drive the exact same speed for long periods for the first 500 miles or so. That's it.

So.... I bought it out of state from a family friend who owns a Ford dealership in Louisville. I drove it back to St. Louis (~270 mile trip) using the cruise control set at 75. It sounds like I have pretty well violated that rule. Am I boned now, or is it something that will be corrected over time?

[Rob Curtin]

When I got my Fusion in April it had just under 35,000 miles and it was getting 18 mpg avg. I drive everyday and it's still averaging now. I believe it's at 25.6 avg. mpg right now, but that's with a 240 horsepower V6.

 

BT

Also, the fact that it's in the manual is embarrassing, because right after I bought the car, I thumbed through the manual 2 or 3 times to pick up some tips or what I should do. I guess I flew right by that part.

[akirby]

It's not that big of a deal.

[Burnout]

It's not that big of a deal.

Exactly. It's not like driving on flat tires for example.

 

BT

[Waldo]

When the EPA tests a vehicle for it's fuel economy rating, they put at least 4000 miles on it before even starting any testing.

[Rob Curtin]

So it sounds like even though I did 270-ish miles at a cruse-controlled speed of 75 mph within the first 500 on the car, I should still (eventually) be ok since I do a daily mix of city and highway driving? And it sounds like anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 is when I can start to expect the engine to run "normally." FWIW, in the owners manual, it simply says:

"Avoid driving too fast during the first 1000 miles (1600 kilometers). Vary your speed frequently and change up through the gears early. Do not labor the engine. Do not tow during the first 1000 miles (1600 kilometers)."

 

Also, I found this article from 2010 yesterday, and was wondering what you all think of it, particularly the part about changing the oil at 20 miles and then again at 1,000:

 

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/saturday-mechanic-blog/how-to-break-in-a-new-car

 

Once again, many thanks everyone. I love this car and I want to make sure I'm doing everything right to take care of it!

Edited June 13, 2014 by Rob Curtin

[akirby]

Also, I found this article from 2010 yesterday, and was wondering what you all think of it, particularly the part about changing the oil at 20 miles and then again at 1,000:

 

I don't buy that on modern vehicles. 20-30 years ago, sure. Engine assembly rooms are like operating rooms and the engineering tolerances are tiny. Since the oil filter is new why wouldn't it trap any "metal flakes" floating around in the oil? There is no need to change it early the first time unless you just like to waste oil.

[RybSE]

Or money

[Rob Curtin]

Since I'm going to be taking the car into the dealership to fix the headliner issue, should I also have their mechanics look at the engine to make sure I didn't do any permanent damage since I didn't follow any normal instructions correctly? Or is it one of those things that I won't know until a few thousand miles down the road?

[Waldo]

Since I'm going to be taking the car into the dealership to fix the headliner issue, should I also have their mechanics look at the engine to make sure I didn't do any permanent damage since I didn't follow any normal instructions correctly? Or is it one of those things that I won't know until a few thousand miles down the road?

 

Good grief. Did you fart in the car? If so, do you want them to check the seats to see if you did any permanent damage?

 

If you bring up the break-in at the dealer, they will laugh at you and you will completely lose their respect.

 

My 2007 Mariner had 100 miles on it when I set the cruise and drove it from Detroit to Phoenix. Eight years later it's just fine.

[Rob Curtin]

 

Good grief. Did you fart in the car? If so, do you want them to check the seats to see if you did any permanent damage?

 

If you bring up the break-in at the dealer, they will laugh at you and you will completely lose their respect.

 

My 2007 Mariner had 100 miles on it when I set the cruise and drove it from Detroit to Phoenix. Eight years later it's just fine.

Alright, first of all... point taken. I'll let it go.

 

But second, if the dealer would laugh at me for bringing it up, your trip from Detroit to Phoenix did no damage whatsoever, etc., then why is there so much about breaking in a new engine all over the place? I admittedly know nothing about cars (but I'm sure you all picked up on that), so it can be very confusing when there's advice saying keep it below a certain speed, keep the revs low, shorten the gears, switch up speeds, mix city and highway, do not go a constant speed, whatever. If none of that matters, why isn't that a pinned thread on here? Something saying "New car owners: drive normally"?

[JGee]

Rob,

Owner manuals are written by techies living in their own perfect worlds.

Go run the $hit out of your car for 270 miles to make up for the 270 miles you babied it & you should be good to go.

Just don't tell the Service Mgr. or you'll have to sit on the naughty seat for an hour.

[RybSE]

Hypothetical

 

You bring the car into the dealership/mechanic.

 

Dealer: Did you drive a long way at one speed?

 

You: No

 

Dealer: Okay

[akirby]

Break-in USED to be a big deal on older vehicles but not any more. Most people never read the OM anyway so they don't know about the suggestion to vary speed.

[drolds1]

I always laugh at this discussion and think back to my two tours of the now-defunct Wixom Lincoln assembly plant in years gone by. When we got to the end of the tour, they showed us how each car was run on a chassis dynamometer at wide open throttle to ensure that everything was OK. So all those new cars had been run flat out before they even left the factory.

 

Stop worrying so much, Rob. Just drive the car and enjoy it. It's not like you drove across the country at a steady 80mph.

I see that one of your interests is wine. Have a glass of wine and relax.

 

[Buzz2K1]

I've had mine since December 2013 and no issues. I avg 30.1 combined and closer to 40 on the highway. I set cruise control at 63 mph.

[Noahfreak]

So it sounds like even though I did 270-ish miles at a cruse-controlled speed of 75 mph within the first 500 on the car, I should still (eventually) be ok since I do a daily mix of city and highway driving? And it sounds like anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 is when I can start to expect the engine to run "normally." FWIW, in the owners manual, it simply says:

"Avoid driving too fast during the first 1000 miles (1600 kilometers). Vary your speed frequently and change up through the gears early. Do not labor the engine. Do not tow during the first 1000 miles (1600 kilometers)."

 

Also, I found this article from 2010 yesterday, and was wondering what you all think of it, particularly the part about changing the oil at 20 miles and then again at 1,000:

 

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/saturday-mechanic-blog/how-to-break-in-a-new-car

 

Once again, many thanks everyone. I love this car and I want to make sure I'm doing everything right to take care of it!

I do 500/1000/5000 and 5000 intervals thereafter, switching to synthetic oil at 10,000. I've done this with 3 motors total, one on a brand new Nissan Frontier, one on a 7000 rpm 302 build that I assembled myself (motor had 40,000 hard miles on it when I sold the car and it still used the standard quart of oil between changes) and most recently on a 4.9L I6 that I assembled myself as well. On the 4.9L that I'm planning to keep forever, I started the engine, got it up to operating temp once, drove it around the block a few times, changed the oil and filter with it still hot, then did my suggestion above. I used inexpensive conventional oil and a Purolator oil filter for this, and upon cutting it apart it did have a few flecks of metal in it. I would call this the extra-anal-break-in procedure. Maybe not necessary, but it ain't gonna hurt either, and it's good peace of mind if you plan to run the car for 150,000+ miles yourself. That motor in my F150 just made a 6000 mile cross-country trip, carrying/pulling an extra 4500 pounds of trailer and load through snow and 0*F weather on the way back while still getting ~12 mpg. Not too bad.

 

I can't imagine a method of assembly that will completely eliminate the extra metal particulate that builds up in the first miles that an engine runs. Even with proper use of assembly lube and an oil pump prime, the metal parts must wear and sort of settle into each other as they mate, generating a lot more gunk than you'd see in an already broken-in engine. By virtue of the fact that you always see a bump in mileage and horsepower after a few thousand miles of running, even on the newest engines this break-in is evidently occurring, albeit to a lesser degree.

 

For what it's worth, I recommend what popular mechanics says. Don't worry too much about the cruise control thing either. Those cars are pretty aerodynamic, so I doubt the load on the engine was excessive. Just change the oil as soon as you can and then at the regular intervals and you will be one better than 90% of owners. Also, don't worry about the jerks here trying to make you look stupid for asking. Seemed like an intelligent question to me.

[Rob Curtin]

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!

[Rob Curtin]

**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