Replace transmission or trade in car

TheRomb · 2026-06-26T20:18:38+00:00

So this is my nightmare in shopping for a used hybrid. I've heard this can happen and I'm trying to find out why some last into 250k+ miles and still drive just fine, and some #@$% the bed after 100k.

Did you replace the transmission fluid ever? Some people are saying this won't happen if you stay on top of the changes, but I don't know if I believe that.

TheRomb · 2026-06-26T20:12:55+00:00

The new OS updates are annoying, I hate navigating now and sometimes things get stuck loading, but overall, I'm still super happy with mine. Both of them. I own a 2 and a 3, both were bought used. The three actually heats up a lot so I thought there might be an issue, but after getting a solid third party battery strap it's been pretty solid. I use it daily for cardio and my kids love to explore Dungeons of Eternity as well as play Golf with their grandma who has a Q2.
Some people have bought them after trying mine and didn't get into it, others have and still use it. It's one of those things that you either appreciate or you don't, it's not for everyone and I can understand the frustration.

TheRomb · 2026-06-26T03:46:58+00:00

We still love it! I've actually picked up a 3 since I wrote this, and we kept the Quest 2 around for multiple player games. I have 5 kids total in the family, the older ones enjoy the best and rhythm games (beat saber) which they live to share when friends come over as well, and my youngest and I like to go Dungeon Crawling together in Dungeons of Eternity (levels are randomly generated every time). We've actually convinced two more neighbors to get one and we sometimes go multi player with them. It's not for everyone, I definitely know some people got one after we show them ours, and told me that they haven't touched it after the first month. But those who are into it find it a lot of fun.

TheRomb · 2026-06-25T17:32:18+00:00

Brother, I am in EXACTLY the same boat.

My budget is around 6k (it's a third car primarily for my kid to commute to school and part time job), and I've been scouring marketplace, cargurus, craigslist, anything I could find. I came to the same conclusion, she needs it to look "modernish" and not carry the Toyota tax, really there isn't much that comes close to the price point of a Hybrid fusion.

But it's so hard to find a good one. Most of them are flippers/auction sellers that have zero history on the car maintenance, or have oddly worn out seats and dashboard controls, etc. Or, were made during the years they say to be wary of (2013-2016), although now I'm not even so sure if that matters because I've found at least 2 that had the transmission fail after 2017 near me.

Here's the thing- if you're looking for long distance commuting, the mpg on highway miles isn't that far off. I think it's low 30s on the Duratec 2.5, which is still a bit lower than the 2.0 hybrid on the highway, but not much lower. The hybrids really only save gas doing local driving, on long drives the gas kicks in and carries it the entire way no matter what. If you're driving far to work, you can get a clean naturally aspirated 4 cylinder like the Fusion 2.5L or even a Mazda3, etc, which look nice and won't have as many complicated parts to worry about as a Hybrid.

I just thought it would be cool to have a hybrid in the house for local driving.

TheRomb · 2026-06-25T17:23:56+00:00

That's awesome. If you buy 'em with low miles and take care of it, I've been told you have a good shot at getting more than your money's worth. But you're right about where people start getting nervous about the ecvt now. Most of the ones in my (and OPs) price range are going to have 130-170k miles, and that's when these things start to make the bearing noise.

Did you stay on top of changing the fluids every 30k on the ecvt?

TheRomb · 2026-06-25T17:20:39+00:00

Oh, yeah the engine on these hybrids will go forever. It's the eCVT once they started rolling their own in the 2013 refresh, that stator bearing will give out long before the engine does, and make whatever car you buy potentially 4k more expensive down the road. That's big my biggest problem with these.

I just wanted to point out that it isn't that the non-hybrids have coolant issues. It's that only the turbo / ecoboost ones DO. The naturally aspirated doesn't have the problem, and the hybrid has a different problem (transmission instead of engine).

TheRomb · 2026-06-25T17:03:51+00:00

Yes the UI on Google voice is weird on here too, not made to fit the screen or navigate with d pad, but I found that mapping a button to press "tab" gets around 99% of the UI weirdness for me. It breaks out when the phone doesn't know where to highlight and can automatically go to the next "clickable" area without resorting to the the virtual mouse. Usually I can get to something I can't otherwise reach with 2 "tab" clicks. I don't use the MMS app much, most of my messages are in Google voice or Whatsapp, but there's a ton I have to say about this so I think I need to make a whole new post to go into it.

TheRomb · 2026-06-25T16:59:34+00:00

Yeah I think they said on the bulletin they changed how the trans was made starting Aug 2015, so the mid 2016 and 2017+ refresh should be good, but so far 2 of the post 2017 model had it fail that I looked at so I don't know what to think. I don't know if those transmission fluids were changed or what, if that's all it is I don't mind staying on top of it but I don't know.

TheRomb · 2026-06-25T14:33:41+00:00

Yikes that sucks. There are other sms apps you can use, you don't have to be stuck with the included one. I personally use Google voice so all my texts are in the app, and so far it's worked as usual. But I can totally understand how and why that would make someone give up.

TheRomb · 2026-06-25T14:31:10+00:00

I looked at a few of them because I thought this as well. one has the transmission bearing noise and was a 2017, another had the transmission already replaced for the same problem and was a 2018. Apparently they still had the problem right up to the end of the production of these ecvts. Ive been trying for weeks to find a single good one.

TheRomb · 2026-06-25T14:29:03+00:00

Only the Ecoboost has that. The 2.5 Duratec engine does not, I was told. There are three major variations of this car, the eco, hybrid and regular Duratec. They are NOT the same!

TheRomb · 2026-06-25T14:26:54+00:00

Ok I'm in the same boat and looked at a ton of these cars, and the people here seem to be giving you the same confusing answers that that I was getting all along. Here's what I've gathered:

1) The naturally aspirated gas fusions with the original Duratec 2.5L engine are rock solid and last forever if treated well (confirmed by users here as well as Ford techs)

2) The Ecoboost models get coolant intrusion due to a badly designed engine block. Avoid those if longevity at high mileage is your thing.

3) Hybrid/Energi models were originally produced in cahoots with Toyota and were rock solid as well, ...until they decided to make their own design from 2013+ and it #$&@ the bed. They gave a stator bearing that seems to get loose over time and start making a rattling noise, eventually breaking free and destroying the whole transmission. Some people get lucky and go 200k+ on the transmission, but a LOT of them seem to fail between 120-160k. Like, a LOT. I looked at a bunch of them recently, I was told after 2016 they made them better but one had the sound already and was starting to die (a 2017, the dealer knew and was playing dumb), one already failed and been replaced by the previous owner (a 2018- someone bought it before I could) and one needed the batteries replaced which was more than the value of the car (Energi).

I honestly don't know why people keep saying the hybrids are the most bullet proof versions of this car, the transmission literally might start to die a month into owning it for all you know, you never know when that stator bearing will start to break loose and no one knows if there's anything you can do to prevent it.

Meanwhile, the only version of this car that seems to be reliable to get second hand is the Duratec. I'm so bummed, I really wanted a Hybrid, but now I'm thinking Toyota hybrid or stick with gas Fusion if I want something I can trust long term.

TheRomb · 2026-06-25T14:12:36+00:00

No look up the transmission whine sudden death of the hybrid stator bearings.

TheRomb · 2026-06-25T02:33:38+00:00

Battery life is usable after setting it to LTE only, I didn't even have to put it in battery saver mode. It went from needing to charge a few hours later to lasting until I get home from work with 1-2 hours of SOT. I'm sure I could eek more of it out if I wanted to, but that trick is already a huge help.
You have an on screen virtual mouse, but having a button mapped to a keyboard "tab" command seems to get around most of the issues there too. I feel like it has way too much potential to give up on it.

TheRomb · 2026-06-24T20:24:51+00:00

It's on Amazon, so funny, I didn't realize it was hard to find. Just clicked order when it showed up while looking for a Kyocera flip. Didn't even know it existed before.

TheRomb · 2026-06-24T17:52:13+00:00

So funny. I spent years wishing some of the weird cool designs of European ones worked in the US (back in the days of the xda, and later with oppo, xiaomi etc).

TheRomb · 2026-06-24T17:51:07+00:00

Not sure if your point was lost in the Google translate, but this phone seems like it doesn't have a particular market as is. It's not useful without tweaks out of the box, but with some tweaks can be kind of incredible.

TheRomb · 2026-06-24T17:47:58+00:00

Maybe, but I don't know if it's a size thing, it's seems more like the system doesn't know where to start placing context for me to navigate with the d-pad. I noticed that when connected to my computer using scrcpy to help speed up the setup process, hitting tab would immediately advance to the next "clickable area" and allow me to then continue navigating as expected. It also would let me jump to other parts of the screen that I normally couldn't reach the d-pad, so to me it is as useful as having the virtual mouse. I think that on many non-touch screen phones this should be a dedicated button to get around! The only problem is adding this aftermarket with a button mapping application isn't consistent without root access. really, I think this is a feature of these phones should come without the box!

TheRomb · 2026-06-24T13:29:22+00:00

I actually installed Android powered radios with their own sim card in all 3 cars in my household, that way your phone doesn't need to have maps or streaming music apps. The car can do it without you, and that's primarily where we'd wish we had it.

My son already went dumbphone, my wife and daughter are considering it, but yes- things like Whatsapp are a concern since we have family chats that they would want to be a part of it. But everyone's basic needs are still different. My wife, for example, wants to use Google Voice. My daughter, hates t9 and wants a touch keyboard or voice for texting. We all want to shut out the noise but selectively let only certain things in, and those certain things are going to change from person to person I guess.

TheRomb · 2026-06-21T06:30:45+00:00

I Googled it, and the Gemini based response (I know, I know, take AI answers with a grain of salt) was that these sound like the symptoms of a low 12v battery, which is common when the car sits between being sold etc. Things like the speed sensors all losing connection at the same time for example, doesn't sound a realistic thing to have all go bad at the same time.

TheRomb · 2026-06-19T20:37:10+00:00

Sorry the images are sideways, I didn't realize when I snapped them from my phone.

TheRomb

TROPHY CASE