The two company vehicles I oversee at work are a Ford Fusion (non-turbo) and a hybrid Toyota Camry. They’ve both been good reliable vehicles, and I’d recommend either one.
How about wise beyond his years?
@same
I needed a CYA to rationalize implying acemaster was over 50.
Besides, you would have used “wise” because you are mature.
You can expect dealership mechanics to walk on eggs a bit when it comes to asking about the reliability of the brand they sell or if they’re prone to problems.
I’m not saying you would do this Marnet, but a mechanic back in the shop may make the most benign of remarks and 10 minutes later it could be blown up and in front of the General Manager as the cars they sell are total POS.
The mechanic ends up unemployed a few minutes later.
As far as the new car sales department goes, NO car ever has problems; or had, or ever will. 
Dag, I’m old. And I love it. I can do whatever I want and people just “write it off” to my being old.
Besides, for the first time in my life if I don’t like somebody I don’t have to socialize with them. I can walk away with no repercussions.
Apparently I’m not THAT wise or mature, because on further reflection it came to me that I’m 44, not 43. Forgetfulness must set in early…
@Marnet. The twin clutch is an automatic; it works differently than a torque converter automatic. Ford is having problems with those units.
A small 4 cylnder enogine with a turbo is working very hard in a mid size car. In the hands of an engineer these vehicles work OK with very dilligent maintenance and top quality oils. Ford trucks with the turbo V6 are having many more problems than the non-trubo V8.
Regarding direct injection, there is one significant difference between that newer type of system and the more traditional types of fuel injection that we have had for many years.
What is that difference?
Believe it or not, it is noise.
The first time that I was walking next to a direct-injection BMW, I first thought that it had a diesel engine under the hood. Subsequently, I was within earshot of a couple of other late-model Beemers with direct injection, and they sounded the same–LOUD, tinny, and cheap.
When Consumer Reports tested the same BMW model a few months later, they commented on the engine sounding “like a corn-popper”. Thankfully I was not hallucinating when I thought that these examples of fine German engineering sounded like tiny engines from an economy car that had never had its valve lash adjusted–or perhaps like a noisy diesel engine.
More recently, I was next to a late-model direct-injected Mercedes in a parking lot, and while it was not as noisy as a late-model BMW, suffice it to say that the noise level from the engine was not what I would expect from an expensive vehicle.
I have no idea whether US-made vehicles with direct injection are as noisy as the German-made ones are, but I have to say that my auditory introduction to direct injection has not been good so far.
It sort of depends what’s important to you, and what isnt’. To me a car is to get me from point A to point B reliably and economically, so future repair cost and down time are king in the decision process. If everything else is more or less equal, then I’ll decide by price, safety, styling, colors, etc. Of the choices you give, I’d prefer a 6 speed manual transmission vs a CVT. I’d prefer a 5 speed to a 6 speed if a 5 speed was available. I’d make the 4 cyl vs 6 cyl choice with a test drive, seeing how well it handles freeway on-ramp accelerations. Towards that decision, I’d throw in the EPA mpg figures.
The less that is unusual or non-standard the better. I’d avoid turbos. And I’d get the minimal option package I could find, especially I’d avoid electronic gadgets. I’d prefer a car that opened the door and started by inserting a key for example, not pressing a remote control button. It’s pretty difficult to find a car w/o AC these days, but if I could find one, I’d prefer no A/C.
Deciding between the vendors, I’d try to educate myself on what Consumer Reports and other sources say, but be aware of what exactly the current owners are complaining about. For example Ford owners are doing some complaining about the Ford automatic transmission, but you want a manual, so that’s not an issue. Also they are complaining about the Ford user interface to the electronics package, but you may not want electronic gadgets, or maybe Ford has fixed this problem already, so again that may not be an issue. Best of luck.
Others have already answered the direct injection question. I will confirm that they are noisier even in the Focus. The concern with direct injection, at least what I understand, is that the fuel cleaners do not clean the valves with each injection as they do in regular engines. So these engines are prone to carbon build up. The manufacturers claim that they have tested the technology and it works fine. I will check back here in 10 years and let you know
I am 46, kids are a bit grown, but we always had a no eating/drinking policy in the car. I am OCD about the cars being clean, and also don’t want to be dealing with someone choking back there when I am going 80 MPH down the fwy. My kids are no malnourished, and they don’t have any other issues either.
Direct injection squirt in fuel at the end of the compression stroke. This cools the compressed air and allows higher compassion ratio without knocking. And we like higher compression because it translates to higher thermal efficiency. But as others have stated, they are noisier because they need a beefed up fuel pump to work against the higher air pressure
The hybrid batteries, once a great concern, are proving to be very reliable and long-lived…Most manufacturers guaranty the hybrid system, including the battery, for 8 years / 100K miles…few owners keep a car longer than 8 years…The Toyota and Lexus hybrids are 'Third Generation" meaning they are completely debugged…I have driven a Fusion Hybrid, and it has a big enough battery to allow true EV, electric vehicle mode for a surprising length of time. One thing you notice when driving a hybrid, the technology of the car is light-years ahead of conventional drive systems…Since most of them have robust warranties, much of the reliability worries have been eliminated…Whether the fuel economy justifies the added cost, that’s another issue…
A couple of follow-up comments:
Regarding the allegation that “all sunroofs leak”, I have to say that I disagree.
I have owned 5 cars with sunroofs and only 1 of them leaked–and that was my '74 Volvo which was plagued with so many serious mechanical issues that the sunroof issue seemed trivial by comparison. And, since it turned out that the leak from my sunroof was the result of clogged drains (from leaves, acorns, etc), simply flushing out the drains corrected the problem. On the 4 subsequent cars with a sunroof (1 Honda and 3 Subarus), there have been zero problems.
Regarding direct injection, I believe this to be a situation where the increased detergency of Top Tier gasoline will be even more vital than it might have been previously. When I wrote to Shell Oil a few years ago with some questions about their newest super-duper detergent formulation (and why most folks would even need it), the response that I received indicated that this new formulation had been concocted with an eye on the increasing production of direct injection engines and their “special needs” regarding high detergency.
And, related to this last issue, I noted with interest that the latest issue of the Costco magazine included the notice that their gasoline is now certified as a Top Tier brand. So, if you are lucky enough to live near a Costco that has a gas station, you can now buy Top Tier gas for–most likely–a few cents less per gallon than even the no-name discount gas station down the road.
In my area, Costco gas costs anywhere from 1 to 12 cents less per gallon than other nearby stations, but the cost differential may differ in your area. Their policy is to do a daily survey of stations in the same town, and to price their gas 1 cent less than the cheapest competitor.
This will sound prejudice I know, but here goes. If the most reliable vehicles and the bedrocks of a car maker model lines start using “newer” technologies in their cars, I don’t worry about them. I don’t worry about a cvt in a Corolla or an Accord or a Subaru. None have had a long standing history of problems in general. Tubos in Fords I am not ready for.
Toyota has been hinting at using direct injections for several years now and keeps pushing back the arrival date. Maybe it’s for merchandising as it would put a crimp in buying an optional 6 when a standard four was more economical and nearly as powerful and they had a bunch in the parts bin; or maybe they still aren’t satisfied with longevity. I would buy one from them in a truck the first year it comes out ! I would not buy a first year innovation in Chrysler, Audi, VW or even GM or Ford. That has been from experience and reading CR.
The Fusion, for example has been very sound from conception because IMHo, other then the hybrid, they used existing proven mechanics and Eco Boost was not one. Direct injection does not have insurmountable problems. It is similar, not exactly the same, technology that has been around in diesels for a while and will find it’s way in gas motors as standard fair in the more reliable cars soon. The same perhaps with turbos…
@VDCdriver
I live near a Costco
I do not buy gasoline there. The lines are always very long. It’s about as expensive as Arco, but cheaper than 76 and Shell.
Sure, the fuel may be top tier, but so are lots of other stations near my house, and I don’t have to wait at those places.
It all boils down to this . . . are you willing to wait 15 minutes to save a few cents? I’m not.
@Caddyman
I can only partially agree with you about the reliability and longevity of those hybrid batteries.
Your statements are mostly true, with the GLARING exception of Honda. Many car magazines, including Consumer Reports, I believe, have mentioned Honda’s extremely disappointing hybrid batteries.
In my opinion, Toyota’s hybrid battery technology is far more reliable than Honda’s. I suspect Toyota was able to patent and license the better technology. And perhaps Honda didn’t want to pay to use Toyota technology, so they developed their own, which has proven to be inferior.
Dag, it’s here. Toyota has used direct injection in the new FRS. Interestingly, they’ve used it in conjunction with port injection. From what I’ve read, the ECU is programmed to take the best characteristics of each and use them as they best apply, mixing them when appropriate. This came as a surprise to me. I’d never heard of (or thought of) both being used together in the same engine.
“are you willing to wait 15 minutes to save a few cents?”
@db4690–Yes, I am willing to wait for a few minutes because of the following reasons:
I combine my Costco gasoline purchases with my visits to Costco for groceries & other items, so I am not going out of my way to buy gas there.
By the time I am ready to fill up, I usually need 10-12 gallons of gas. Since the other Top Tier gas stations in my area charge ~.15 per gallon more than Costco does, I am saving ~$1.50-$1.80 on that fill-up, and I think that this is a pretty decent amount of saving for devoting–perhaps–15 minutes additional to my Costco visit. (When I typically visit in the middle of the day on a weekday, the lines are–at most–3 cars long. I will not go to Costco on weekends when it is crazy-busy!)
There are some other stations in my area that are closer in price to that of Costco, but those are not Top Tier stations. I do patronize them on occasion, but I prefer to use Top Tier gas whenever possible, so I choose to buy it for less at Costco.
@VDCdriver
I’m not able to visit Costco “in the middle of the day on a weekday” . . . when I go on the weekends, the crowds are there
Clearly, getting costco gasoline is worth it to you, but not to me
Saving $1.50 on a fill-up? And waiting in line for the privilege? For a fleet manager or corporate application I can see how that might add up for dozens of cars contstantly on the road. For one person? You lose an hour of time per month for barely the cost of a cup of coffee? How is that worth anything?
Of course now the discussion has veered way off-track from auto repair and maintenance to complete strangers telling each other how to spend their money and time. This is going to end well…