My Daily Driver: @realmudmonster's 2011 Ford Fusion

1. How did you come to the decision of buying this car?

A couple of years ago, my dad decided to replace his 2011 Ford Fusion with a CPO 2016 Acura MDX. My car, a 2006 Ford Fusion, was on its last legs. It had over 230,000 miles and various issues that was making it too expensive to fix. He made the decision to pass down his Fusion to me, while my car would be donated.

2. What has your ownership experience been like?

About what I expected with a vehicle that has over 200,000 miles on the clock. The only major repair that I have done was to replace the front suspension due to it being driven on Michigan’s *quality* roads for all of its life. Otherwise, the sedan has been performing quite flawlessly. I think some of the reason for this is the Fusion goes for long stretches without being driven as I’m doing a run of new car reviews.

3. What is your fondest memory with this car?

Back in 2016 when my dad still owned the Fusion, I arranged a group shot with it, my old Fusion, and a new one that I was reviewing. I gathered all three on our driveway and took some quick photos. I would end up using one of those photos in my review.

More recently, I took the Fusion on a bit of drive on some of the backroads I use whenever I have a review vehicle. I needed to clear my head as I had been working from home for a week due to my office being closed down for coronavirus concerns. The Fusion isn’t the sharpest around the bends or speedy, but I didn’t care. This was a time for me to get away from the world for a bit, and the Fusion was a perfect partner for this.

4. Why do you love cars?

I can’t fully explain where my love of cars came from. There is a picture of me about three to four years old looking at the dealer ads from the Sunday paper. But I think I know why. I was a bit of a problematic child, getting into a lot of trouble and annoying my parents to no end. This stems from me being diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Along with being an outsider for all of my school life, I needed something that would allow me to leave the real world for a time. That’s what reading various car magazines or watching the latest episode of MotorWeek and Motor Trend TV gave me. It showed that I could escape to anywhere. To explore the world or down to the local store, giving me the space to decompress.

Intaking all of this also would give me a somewhat encyclopedic knowledge of cars, which would open the doors to me becoming a freelance automotive writer and now, a researcher for automotive data firm.

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If you would like to participate, just answer the above four questions and submit one to three photos of your daily driver to milhousevanh at geemail. Thanks and have fun!