Husband wants a new car. Had last one for 11 years. It's time.

We are looking at 2012 Malibu or Fusion.

Checked the Edmonds site. Now I want to hear from real people.

Comments, horror stories, recommendations, etc. welcome.

I'd go to www.msn.com and select the autos button.

They have a lot of consumer reviews there that you can read through to get a better idea of people who have them and use them daily. A pretty good source of information from real world people and longer term owners.

Checked the Edmonds site. Now I want to hear from real people.

Then why are you asking here?

Get the '72 Malibu for sure!

I have owned neither but have had both as rental cars. I probably would give the edge tot he fusion in what little driving I've done of both. It was comfortable, got decent mileage, handled well and had enough power.

I've driven and know people that have the Fusion. It gets better gas mileage than it's rated for and has great get up and go. I'd go with the Fusion.

I'm in a rental car nearly every week of my life, and quite often it's a Fusion or a Malibu. I'd go with the Fusion! Hands-down!

Consumer Reports has given the Fusion good marks for a couple of years now. The overall ratings for both are pretty even, but the Fusion is given "very good" reliability where the Malibu's reliability is rated as "average". These ratings apply to both the 4-cyl and the V-6.

F-ound
O-n
R-oad
D-ead

There is also one for Chevy but I don't recall it...

Or....

F-irst
O-n
R-ace
D-ay

Then again theres:

F-ix
O-r
R-epair
D-aily


I'm just sayin...

I've driven the Saturn Aura (same car as the Malibu), but that was a couple years ago. It was nice, but I wasn't overly impressed.

Since 1994, I've owned several Fords, and each was a very good car. I've heard nothing but good things about the Fusion as well.

Now, Taurus SHO might be an even better option....

My brother had a Fusion for a company car for 6 years. It isn't fancy but it rides nicely. And didn't need any major repairs in that time.

Pup, does Saturn even exist any more?

Did they downgrade it like Pluto?

O_o

In my search for a late model used car last year, I found Chevy Cobalts and Malibus everywhere but very few Ford Focus and Fusions were out there. Comparably, the few Fords that I did find were more expensive than the Chevy's. I took from this that people were hanging on to these cars longer and that they were holding their value better. From personal experience and the research I did back then, the Fords seemed to be the better car.

I have owned 10 fords over the past 25+ years and have only had one that gave me problems - a Ford Windstar van with chronic transmission problems. I was not the primary driver of that van and suspect that the way it was driven had something to do with those problems, but that model was notorious for that problem.

My previous chevy lasted 15 years and had over 200k on the odo. my main problem with it was the Odom. stopped working for 2 years. Had to get rid of it when a girl in a ford crashed into it. The cars still ran and the crash fixed the odo.

But, if you go drive a Subaru WRX STI, you will hate both of them!
I did drive a Buick Regal the other day with a turbo and a 6 speed transmission. Must say that I was impressed and it was under $30K. It was rated for 20/32 MPG

My sister drives a Fusion and loves it! She searched until she found a good used one.

Or try here!

www.consumerreports.org

I have been researching new cars for quite a while. As AG points out, Consumer reports is a great resource, as well as many other websites out there- Edmonds, KBB, etc.

You can go to google, type in Fusion vs. Malibu and find webites that will compare the 2 side by side in every category.

Since everyone has different driving habits and your location can make a difference in performance, I'd suggest talking to local friends/family, along with going for a test drive (or 2).

...like for 9 mos...

bus pass

9 Months? Do we hear the patter of Baby-Sox?

Have owned a Fusion for three years. I am going to trade it in this fall for a new car. Guess which one? Another Fusion. It's the best car I have ever driven.

Uh, no. You hear the patter of my lab....need to make sure she has plenty of room back there...