[ming321]

I did a brief comparo of a rental 300C with the 3.5L V6 a few months back so I thought I'd do one for a Chevy Impala LT I had the last couple of days. I tried to price it out at Chevy's website and think I got pretty close at $25k. It was silver, black leather, XM, spoiler, 17's, heated seats and the 3.9L V6 with active fuel management (can run on 3 cyl). According to Chevy, the 3.9L is good for 233 hp and 240 lb ft.

First, what I liked about the Impala. The leather felt like a much higher quality than my Fusion SEL. The grain was smoother and softer, on the seats and steering wheel. Also, the center armrest was stitched leather, not that plastic crap in the Fusion. The instrumentaion was cleaner and looked more modern. The XM was great (I know- Sirius is avail now on the Fusion), and the Impala was roomier than the Fusion. I expect a fairer comparison would be the Ford 500 from a roominess standpoint. Also the trunk and back seat area was huge. And of course the engine- 240 lb ft (39?? more than Fusion) is hard to hide. You just touch the gas and you feel it instantly. I don't know how their 0-60 times compare- but th Impala had that "torque on demand" feel to it. Lastly, the active fuel mgmt is a great feature, and it actually shows when you are in 3 vs 6 cyl mode on the info display- along with your mpg.

Now for the dislikes. It's not as attractive as the Fusion. Ok its boring compared to the Fusion. The interior has some cheap plastics (the dash sounds hollow), and the door panels are hard (but the seams narrower). The transmission is really disappointing- only a 4 speed. I imagine a 6 spd would really let the engine run. The steering was also way overboosted- which wasn't too bad in a parking lot, but a little nervious on less that smooth roads. Having the XM was great, but the speaker quality and power was below par. Lastly, it had a lot more roll and understeer in the corners- very noticeable on off-ramps where I had to correct several times to keep a steady line.

Dollar for dollar I would say the Fusion wins by a hair. There is no comparison with the engines- that extra .9L makes a big difference for the Impala. But luckily the Fusion has the 6 spd tranny to help compensate for the lack of power. If all I did was travel interstate, I would choose the Impala for the room and comfort, but for all around I'll stick with my Fusion.

 

[97SHOMANN]

Did You try to get in the back seat of the Impala?? I was doing a remote at a local Chevy dealer and tried to get into the back seat of an Impala SS....My size 14's had a real problem!!!! The Impala maybe bigger but the interior room in the back seat (for those of us with big feet) is Horrible for a car of this size. Leg and Head room is also not as good as the Fusion.
Just my .02 worth.

 

[ming321]

I spent all my time in the drivers seat . I'm 6'3" and had the seat all the way back, but it still looked like there was more rear legroom than in the Fusion. I did notice the front seats didn't appear to give much room for rear passengers feet to slide under the seat- like you are talking about. One other dislike I forgot to mention- steering was tilt only and I need it to telescope like the Fusion.

 

[urnews]

Ming321,
That review makes me wish we had taken a look at the Impala. (Wife was sold on the Fusion.) Having had our $27,105 MSRP V6, six-speed automatic, SEL AWD 2007 Fusion for a month I can definitely say that I wish we had shopped around more. (Did I mention that my wife was sold on the Fusion?)

My biggest gripe is horrific gas mileage for the first 500 or so miles, 13.8 and 13.2 using both the on-board computer and the conventional divide the gallons into the miles driven method. The EPA city estimate for this vehicle is 19 mpg, which is what I expected.

The difference between 13 mpg and 19 mpg is $539.24 for 10,000 miles, our yearly average, when gasoline is $2.22 per gallon. I have better uses for that $539 than dumping it into the Fusion's gas tank.

I don't suppose you checked your gas mileage on the Impala?

The Fusion is, in our opinion, a much more stylish car but the gas mileage, 13 mpg, is driving me up a wall. Beauty is as beauty does. I now believe we made a terrible mistake by going for the combination that we did. (Did I mention that my wife was really sold on the Fusion?)

Thanks for the review of the Impala. It was insightful and enlightening. I only wish I had read it prior to Dec. 4, when we bought our Fusion. Boz

 

[ming321]

Sorry to hear about your "buyers remorse". I'll admit I had it to for a month or two after buying my Fusion. My previous car was a V8 Benz with RWD, so it took some getting used to. My Fusion was being driven by the sales mgr so it already had 3k miles when I bought it. I do a mixture of city/hwy driving so it's hard for me to nail down what my true city vs hwy mileage would be. However, according to the computer, I normally get mid-20's, and I would say my driving is spirited most of the time.

I'm afraid my review came a week or two later than your purchase, but I think you will learn to like the Fusion more as the engine breaks in and mileage improves. I didn't drive the Impala enough to really check the mileage, but it was brand new when I rented it. I really like the cylinder deactivation and think it can be helpful with idling around town or cruising on the interstate. I hope automakers will start including this feature on more cars in the future.

Thanks for the comments on my review and I'll add another review the next time I rent a similar car. I have a trip to FL later this month and will be driving around Tampa and then to Orlando- so I'll have some good seat time. I wish I could get a new Camry or Hyundai to compare....

 

[urnews]

[quote author=ming321 link=topic=64579.msg1129221#msg1129221 date=1167759863]
Sorry to hear about your "buyers remorse". I'll admit I had it to for a month or two after buying my Fusion. My previous car was a V8 Benz with RWD, so it took some getting used to. My Fusion was being driven by the sales mgr so it already had 3k miles when I bought it. I do a mixture of city/hwy driving so it's hard for me to nail down what my true city vs hwy mileage would be. However, according to the computer, I normally get mid-20's, and I would say my driving is spirited most of the time.

I'm afraid my review came a week or two later than your purchase, but I think you will learn to like the Fusion more as the engine breaks in and mileage improves. I didn't drive the Impala enough to really check the mileage, but it was brand new when I rented it. I really like the cylinder deactivation and think it can be helpful with idling around town or cruising on the interstate. I hope automakers will start including this feature on more cars in the future.

Thanks for the comments on my review and I'll add another review the next time I rent a similar car. I have a trip to FL later this month and will be driving around Tampa and then to Orlando- so I'll have some good seat time. I wish I could get a new Camry or Hyundai to compare....
[/quote]
Ming321,

I checked out your www.cardomain.com site. Nice wheels, although I cannot imagine anyone trading a Mercedes for a Fusion, but we traded a 2000 Mazda Miata MK-5 convertible with only 7,500 miles on it. The 7,500 is not a typo. My mother, at age 80, bought the car new and it only drove it around town, to the bank, hair dressers, grocery store, church. We inherited the car after she had an accident with it (no injuries but she gave up her driver's license).

We got rid of the Miata because we wanted a more practical car and because we chauffeur Mom around these days. Yes, I am suffering from buyer's remorse, primarily because of the really crummy mileage. Fully 95 percent of our driving is in-city. My wife and I are both conservative drivers and we just start the car and go, no warm-up idling. The terrain here on the Delmarva Peninsula is as flat as a pool table and the tires are properly inflated to 33 psi. (One forum member recommended I increase the pressure to 37. I might try that.)

One of the problems with buyer's remorse is that when something major (13 mpg qualifies in my book) goes wrong you begin to notice other things that bug you and pretty soon you have a disgruntled customer. I'm beginning to appreciate my 2000 Focus station wagon more each passing day and it even has hand-crank windows, no bells or whistles and 93,000 miles on it. Sadly, Ford is discontinuing production of the Focus wagon. That is a shame. In Salisbury, MD, there are actually more Focus wagons in circulation than Fusions.

Our local Ford, Lincoln Mercury dealer, Sherwood of Salisbury, is also the Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep and Kia dealer. He had about 50 pickups and 20 Mustangs on the lot but only about eight Fusions to choose from. In retrospect, we should have ordered a Fusion instead of settling on the one we got, SEL AWD, $27,105 MSRP.

Again, you did a fine job on the Impala review and I look forward to reading more of them. Maybe the cylinder deactivation feature is the wave of the future. Right now I wish our Fusion would run on two. The difference between 13 mpg and 19 mpg is $539.24 over the course of 10,000 miles when gasoline is $2.22 a gallon. I've got much better things to do with that extra $539 than pour it into this Fusion's gas tank. Boz, disturbed in Salisbury, MD.

 

[ming321]

Seems like I read another post on poor mileage for the AWD- maybe it's a weight issue. I'm sure it will improve some- especially as the engine breaks in. I traded my Benz due to some quality issues, but in retrospect I wish I'd have kept it and done more shopping before I bought the Fusion. I just bought my wife a new Hyundai Entourage (minivan) and Hyundai is making some very nice vehicles these days. It's also hard to beat that warranty.

 

[urnews]

Ming,

My wife was dying for a Mustang. Just not practical given our present circumstances. I was thinking about some of oriental cars. She said she would settle for a Fusion. Our SEL AWD is OK transportation but the 13 mpg in town has me steaming. I wasn't expecting 30 mpg, just the EPA's 19 mpg in town. I'm not going to ever be happy with "The Guzzler" until it delivers that 19.

Boz,
Sorrowful in Salisbury