Driving Fusion

I do not own a car, nor have I ever owned a car. This is purely thanks to lack of budget rather than lack of interest. Believe me, if I could find a way to not rely on Metro Transit to get back and forth to work, I would (YES). Unfortunately, that is not in the cards at this stage in my life so if I want to drive I have to subsist on borrowing cars belonging to others.

This weekend I was lucky enough to test drive a brand new car. Don't get me wrong - my mom's and boyfriend's cars are just fine, but they are not new, nor do they have what I would call "fancy" features. Do I need fancy features? No, of course not. But let's be honest - they are nice to have and it's safe to say I could get used to having them.

I picked up my Ford Fusion at Steele Ford on Friday night and returned it Monday evening so I had lot's of time to get used to it. Over those 3 days, I drove to Dartmouth and back twice (once for some shopping and errands, and once to a friend's house for some evening fun), to the Annapolis Valley for blueberry-picking and sight-seeing, and to work and back on Monday.

There were things I liked about the car, and things I didn't like. Let's start with the things I DID like!

First of all, the colour:

Is it "burgundy" or "eggplant"? Not sure but I love it. Classy but also fun and different (not the usual grey or black).

Second, Sirius Satellite Radio:

Keeping it old school, homies.

Oh Sirius, where have you been all my life! Hundreds of channels are at your fingertips - literally ANY kind of music you could possibly want to listen to is just a dial turn away. Don't want to listen to music? There are tons of talk options, too! I am really moody when it comes to music (I change my mind daily, even hourly, about what I want to listen to) so having endless options is just perfect. I could browse through the stations all day long. Perfect for a road trip (I should know, we went on one!).

I'm also a fan of the back-up camera.

I always thought these things were kind of hokey - another excuse to be lazy (God forbid I have to turn my head/upper body around!). However, I found it did actually make backing up the car easier - not only because you can see behind you, but you can also better see the sides and front, which increases your chances of seeing other cars and/or people in your path. It beeps at you manically if you get too close to anything on any side, which is a tad annoying in the moment, but a good safety feature, especially when you are trying to park. I really liked the computer screen in general and the fact that you can control everything from here (climate, entertainment, navigation).

Heated seats. Oh yeah.

I liked the easy controls to move the seat up, down and forward. I am really short (barely 5 feet tall) so I have to sit up pretty close to the pedals to be able to drive properly. In my mom's and boyfriend's cars I have to lean far down, practically with my head under the steering wheel to yank up a handle and then use my legs to hitch the seat forward. In the Fusion, all I had to do was touch the buttons on the side and the seat moved itself. So much easier and less awkward! The seat even automatically moves back when you turn off the car so that you don't have to adjust again before getting out. I also liked all the compartments and cup-holders inside - I am a bit of a pack-mule so I like having lots of places to put things.

A few of the things I didn't like were - the curvature of the seats (I found it curved back too far in the middle and forward too far at the top, sort of forcing me to slouch), the GPS was not very user-friendly (it was really difficult to find landmarks - when you do a search by name, for some reason it assumes what you are looking for and "blocks out" certain letters (?). It was difficult to search for places and so we ended up not using it), and the trunk is almost too large (although I like how deep it is, it makes the back end of the car large/long and the back window smaller. Fine, just not ideal for me). 

Finally, it was hard to tell only having it for a few days, but I'm not quite sure it is the cheapest in terms of gas - I used approx. 1/2 of a tank over the 3 days and $30 did not quite top that back up. I found this a tad pricey (usually $20 fills my mom's tank over 1/2 way and I can sometimes go a week before refilling again). But again, there are lots of factors at play here, so I think I would really have to drive it more to get a better sense of the mileage.

All in all, I would seriously consider buying a Ford Fusion...if I had the money to buy a car. Someday, I'm sure :)

 

Thank you SO much to National PR and Steele Ford for this opportunity!