The one thing that I semi-hate about having a new(ish) car is the need to keep it looking new(ish) as long as possible. For the past month I've been hitting the innanets watching as many detailing tips as possible. My wife is ordering my first DA polisher and I've got over $150 in wash, wax, polish and seal tools set to be ordered. The sad thing is, I stopped giving 2 fucks about the L200 in its older years (and definitely after the first engine was replaced). Apparently my wash technique has been wrong for 3 decades (2 bucket wash seems the way to go). Anybody have any favorite wash/wax/tire shine stuff they go with? Or is everybody rolling dirty?

After a few months with the Fusion, I can definitely say I REALLY like this thing. It's far from perfect, but you could stand to do much worse for a family sedan. I think because Ford has to sell this in the UK (Mondeo) they couldn't really skimp out on some fit and finish details or the chassis settings. Across the pond, the Mondeo has to fight against crossover/CUVs (as every midsize sedan does everywhere), but also the lower end 3 series and C class (we're talking base model repmobiles) so bells and whistles have to be baked in, and a good spirited ride is a must. Still, you can see how they tried to hide some of the cost cutting. Take the door. The parts that you touch (say the top of the door or the arm rest) is padded/soft touch material. The inner door card, where your arm would brush against, isn't quite the same material, as it would have cost more, but in a padded fabric similar to the seats, which keeps the illusion up. The bottom of the door, however? Straight up Tupperware status. BUt at least it looks cohesive