A subscriber put me on to this cheap Ford Fusion but does it deserve the Chops Garage treatment? Gas Guru - / @thegasguy Join this channel to get exclusive access to all videos early. / @chopsgarage
Evening James, thank you so much for the shout out, my daughter loves the car and I can't thank you enough, you looked after her, she has gone fiat 500 mad now lol.
A few years ago I was selling more Fusions than you can shake a stick at here in Herefordshire. Reliable & so practical, if they ever come back in part exchange these days I'm always pleased to see them!
I’m sat in my wife’s old fusion that we use for our allotment. It’s an ‘03 on 198k miles. It’s absolutely insane how practical it is, it’s essentially a small van.
The Fusion is a cracking little car - have had a 53 plate 1.4 TDCI as the "frugal" car for around three years and other than servicing and MOT has cost me nothing and easily gives 50 MPG. Nudging 190K miles and still going strong. Basic motoring but handles like a go-kart and practical too - massive space when you get the rear seats down.
I think it is going to be great. I think they are useful little cars. Had a hire one 15 years ago travelling around central Spain and it was great fun. Also, a proper refurb video start to finish would be great!
Them fusions good reliable car nothing fancy but bags of room and great boot especially if you have dogs the low flat floor very easy for them to jump into
Heated windscreen is a very good thing to have on the fusion, i imagine a good selling feature to mention, if your doing a cambelt on it replace the rocket cover gasket at sametime and if theres oil in sparkplug area itll need one, it just pushed in to the rocker cover and costs 8quid for the part and like 30 mins or less todo it 850 quid for that motor with full mot is a bargin on the millage, yeah its just a fiesta for the older person, like a stepway is to a sandeo
Well worth the money,easily passing it's MOT said it all.Definitely in need of alot of cleaning and some painting but worth it for the margin.Someone will love that car after you're finished.
Fun fact, the fusion and first gen Mazda 2 are closely related being on the same platform. First gen Mazda 2 very unpopular, second gen (the ones you frequently sell) very popular 🤷♂️
The fusion is actually a really good car, with its 1.4 duratec (zetec-se) petrol engine, nippy and reliable.They handle well too, and i've never seen a rusty one yet! I'm sure you'll turn that into a nice little car in no time :-)
James, marketing bollox had these down for young "loft dwellers". the reality is oldies bought them. They might look uninspiring but when I hired one on holiday a few years ago I was really surprised, they are actually OK and bags of space in the back. Top VFM!
Its funny to see what qualifies as "pretty beat up" in the UK vs the US. Here in the states that car wouldn't even be considered near beat up, they'd sell that as "like new" lol. Also you wouldn't be able to buy it for under $3k USD (so £2200). I suppose its down to your rigorous MOT standards, here we hardly have any inspections and some states don't have none at all.
We've a 108 and the boot leaked through the brake light. The franchise dealer agreed to replace it, only for it to leak again! Nothing on Google (that I could find), so I put some sealer round it myself. A nice little car let down by a very poor design, particularly when the previous model suffered from it. How do they expect it to work with no gasket???
Great car with the fusion minor paint that will make a major difference along with advisory free mot and one owner which on face of it looks like car has been cared for , hopefully not a water pump leak which would add additional money.... as you know
My mum had one of these she bought it at 70k miles about a year later at 85k Miles 3rd gear stopped engaging and the clutch started slipping but apart from that it was a really good car managed to drive from Scotland to Blackpool and back every couple months about 320 miles round trip.
My advice on Small Fords always avoid the TDCI models as i had a 2009 Fiesta diesel years ago and that was a shed , the injectors went and would have cost over £1000 to replace not good
@ Chops coolent looks low on the fusion cheak the core plugs between the plug leads inside the head are not leaking common fault on these done plenty easy repair and could avoid a customer return visit
Another brilliant video James - that Ford Fusion will turn out to be an excellent motor. Your bodywork and rattle can expertise will certainly make it pop.
As an American who owns a Fusion, this is weird lol. I know in the UK the Mondeo is the same thing as our Fusion, but I had no idea the Fusion name was used overseas in a totally different car we don’t even have. Feels like a parallel universe 😅
Had a couple of fusions 2's.... 1 manual 1 semi auto, they are the dullest of cars but a great thing to drive & a ideal small car for the larger driver, they are just a plodding about type car, never seen one without damage on it, good little shopping trolleys but avoid the semi autos, the auto ecu go bad on them an a absolutely pain to fix cheap! I like them, they don't look it but they are bigger than you think, pretty much the same size as a Renault scenic! Just an XL fiesta! If I remember rightly the passenger seat base lifts up for a hidden cube hole!
That Fusion will be a great little buy for you and then the next owner. I don't know a lot about them, but I know a few people who use them as cheap daily runabouts. They're affordable and spacious which works well with small families who don't care whether the kids or dog tear the inside apart. Again, this is the sort of car which a LOT of people SHOULD be buying, but will instead turn their nose up at it and get a PCP deal on an A3 costing them upwards of £300pm. Private deals like this the way forward, James?
My wife bought a new Fusion 3 diesel in 2006 with a huge discount. We live up a rough track so the extra ground clearance was brilliant. Really ugly car, but totally reliable and very economical. Sold it to a friend several years ago and it’s still giving good service at 210k miles.
Ford Fusion, bland but reliable, but how many cars can you say the same thing? Youngsters do not understand the value of a cheap first car formerly owned by sensible people. I bought a very cheap Panda as a sole trader to start my niece off driving for free. . At 17 I would have run through walls to get a free car. "We are not to reason why". Another interesting vid James.
I remember when these came out, thinking who needs a bigger Fiesta. Then the dealership I worked at took one in as a p/x against a new Skoda and the local traders were practically falling over each other to buy it. £600 is a great price for something as solid as that
A very minor point, but on the Note please take off the cheap used car dealer stickers on the reg plates which are over the top of the previous dealer names - it’s detail I know but does ruin the look of what is a very good looking car
The only reason people don't like them is because they're a cross between the Fiesta and Transit Connect and were most likely designed with motorbility in mind as that's where a lot went... Oh and they are quite disliked for being basically the same in 2012 than 2002 when they were released so very outdated when compared to other competitors in its later production years. Quite a high seating position, like an MPV for a small hatchback. Basically what I'm getting at is is pretty much a late 90's car that was still produced in 2012 Overall good cars just unpopular. Guessing you'll be putting a 3 month warranty on it, only thing to beware of is the dreaded "EAC fail"! Zetec is roughly midway to top spec. Heated front windscreen as a bonus which I was shouting at the screen lol.
looking forward to the refurb video James, it will be great to see you turn this one into a Bobby dazzler. The Fusions are great little cars by the way.
The Fusion is a great car in terms of practicality and like any car is great if cared for rubbish if neglected .. I've worked on plenty but only regular servicing and consumables so I've not come across any issues.. I think the peoplee who knock them are not people who want a practical economical run about.. Peace and love brother 👍🏻☮♥️
Had dealings with two of these. One had a cylinder head cracking problem and the other had the core plug in the head adjacent to cylinder 3 rust out.The latter was fixed....and then the head cracked ! Both were scrapped as the cost of repair was simply not cost effective. Hope you have more luck....but I would not go anywhere near that engine.
I think back in the day Fusions were just seen as a bit dull, they suffered from the "Top Gear" mentality I.e. that if it's not a supercar it's rubbish. Being a 2000s Ford it should drive very nicely.
Can you tell . I am desperate to clean my engine bay . What would you advise using? It’s a 1.5 dci Diesel engine in a duster car . Always been told don’t get water in there incase you do the electrics . Thanks
Hi James Dad had a secondhand one of these to tide him over for the then 3 months wait for a New B Max from stock from the local Ford Agent, who guaranteed a minimum of what he paid for it back agai St the B Max. Diesel, and top spec whatever that was, above the Zetec. It was such a Nice Car, he was considering cancelling the B Max, to keep it. But as dad had never had a New Car at that point, and having it apecced exactly how he wanted it, I convinced him to Treat hi self, as being his Chauffer most of the time, a B Max was a far better Car for him to get in and out of - the only issue for him with the Fusion, as dad's mobility wasn't good, plus if he was having a really bad day with his hips, the sliding rear door was a godsend for getting in and out, and we'd joke about me getting a Chauffer's hat, which would have looked good with the B Max Black Paint job, and dad sat in the back. As it turned out, the Trade in Price had gone up quite a bit when done (too many good second hand cars were going to scrap for a sponsored trade in if I remember right, so there was a dire shortage of secondhand cars for a while) so dad was really chuffed. Lots of Locals have kept their Fusions for quite a long time as you notice such things when driving one around, so someone should get a nice motor there, fingers crossed. 🤞
@@sammytheseal2307 Now the London ULEZ has expanded, all these old diesel 'shitters' are coming onto the market. If you guys in the 'shires are after a diesel bargain, get down south? If you know where to look you could take home a bargain, for now?
If you’ve not already painted the floor have you looked at garage floor tiles from tuff-tile etc? A lot of the dealers are using these and it looks so much better and lasts longer than paint. Presume doesn’t look dirty as well so quick like the grey paint does when driven over. I’ve priced it up on a unit of ours recently similar size to yours at £1200+vat ish
Fusions are great little cars to own and cheap enough to run. Put the work in to make a cracking car, as it's got the low miles and one owner in its favour for top money.
Trust me mate thats in mint condition compared to my old car , i have a huge dent on the rear passenger side on mine where a car sideswiped me and inside a friends dog attacked the drivers seat and bit a chunk out lol but engine wise my cars A1 booked it in for MOT next Friday , im expecting to pay out a few hundred but i know the car , i know its got a few years left in it , thats probably same for that Ford Fusion will last someone a good few years i reckon
If it were possible to sell that Fusion here, with those miles and that condition it would easily fetch £3500. But yes, a 10+ year old car is a gamble. BTW, 1 of my drivers is a 2013 Fusion (American model) with the 2.5 Dura-Torq petrol engine and it currently has 28,000 on it. Not a bad car, but not a range topper so I have full power accessories but no alloy wheels. The dealer " rattle canned " the plastic wheelcovers and with the second good car wash the paint flaked off the covers.
As a bonus that colour blue, ford jeans blue metallic, seems to be quite an easy colour to match and blend in. I've never seen one with mismatched panels apart from the normal plastic bumper/metal wing difference 👍
@@petelivingstone5129 It might be, very hard to tell through the camera. I've got a Focus in jeans blue and it seems to be quite a dark colour in dim daylight i.e when it's not sunny
I was thinking you may have paid £200 for it, probably what it would’ve fetched BCE (Before Covid Epidemic) with no MOT. I’ve noticed a lot of new cars on the road the last few weeks, perhaps dealers are finally getting new stock in, be interesting to see what happens to used prices in the near future. Thanks for the channel, always look forward to watching new videos.
What tickles me is people who hat on these have never even sat in 1 yet alone owned or driven 1, I was pleasantly surprised on how nice it was to drive and everyone I know who has owned them enjoyed them ideal for someone older with a bad back.
"£2.50 and a pack of Quavers" no I'd up-sell it to at least £2.86 a share pack of Nik Naks Rib'N'Saucy... Maybe once the paint job is tarted up maybe even some Pork Scratchings 😂
Hi James, don't know if it's of interest but my local garage has a 2010 renault clio up for £1500, don't know anything about it but seems cheap. Great video.
Never been a fan of the Fusion - it was sort of between Fiesta and Focus at the time and I did wonder why it even existed. Looked at one once and it was just sort of there in front of me but "saying nothing " to me......just too bland for me tbh but I am sure it will make someone a good car
My wife and I love our 2007 Fusion. Best feature by far is the higher roofline - means we can get in/out easily without banging our heads ! When you get older this is important. :-) .
