I saw Scotty put the 2012 Ford Fusion in his 5 Best Used Cars list
How reliable are the 2006-2012 Fusions?
From searching it up in the search bar, along with carcomplaints data, I see 2010-2012 had expensive power steering problems. Thinking about 08/09 model years, won't pay much, how reliable? They are around 1/4 of the cost of a Camry, which I would have to get around 20 years old to get the same price.
Are they good first cars? Should I get one with the 3.5 V6 to get the Aisin automatic, or stick to the Ford automatic? How are the Duratec engines? Should I stay completely away form Ford? Is there any way a mechanic could know if the power steering issues were fixed?
If you were going to get one, the 3.5 V6 is the only one worth consideration. The quality was average as you would expect on an entry level American sedan. It costs 1/4 the price of the Camry because it is 1/4 the car when you factor in maintenance, longevity, etc.
I would consider anything past 150k rolling the dice. No matter the mileage you want a mechanic to check it out thoroughly before purchase. By 2012 they had some of the bugs figured out, but you are looking at the early run cars.
thanks, might as well skip on that one;) Keep on looking at Corollas...
Corollas are a much better car. I would say you are making the right choice.
And then didn’t that Duratec 3.5 V6 engine have the water pump driven off the timing chain which if the pump leaked could take out the engine worst case?
Mod Man and @daywalker thank you going to narrow down Corolla choices thx so much
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/2014-2016-toyota-corolla-transmission-reliability-opinions/
@DayWalker Yes it did. None really had good designs, but seems like lately if I say a Ford is bad people jump on my case, so I just thought I'd point out that the 3.5 was the only one to consider....but still not a good option.