Somewhere between then and now, I have convinced mom to buy an ‘06 AWD, dad an ’09 AWD, sister an ’04 Base, brother an ’03 Base, brother’s girlfriend two ’04 AWDs (one for parts), a friend to get a Matrix, and a few others towards Corolla’s. Hard to beat these cheap, easy, reliable, versatile, fun vehicles with a quirky support group behind them.
With my ’03 GT needing at least $2k in repairs, I set out looking for a new vehicle, and was even scouting out some TDI Sportwagens, Crosstreks, Frontiers, etc. At the end of the day, I really couldn’t sacrifice the cost per mile you get in the Vibes. Essentially, my ’03 GT I went ~25 miles for every dollar I paid for it. Really great value. Recently in my hunt, an ‘04 monotone Fusion GT popped up for sale.
Seeming too good to be true, I did a little internet research. True one-owner car with a mere 96k miles. Verified by the most recently dealer service when he advised it was serviced at 90k miles. Saturday, I departed bright and early to go see if this was a real deal. Six hours later, I arrived in Virginia where the car was located. The myth is true. It really did have only 96k miles on it! After taking it for a spin, we sealed the deal and I drove the 6 hours back home with no issues. Paying only $2500, the new-to-me Fusion GT is a heck of a steal.
I’ll be sticking around these forums for a while. Just hard to get ride that beats the value of the Vibe (especially a GT).
With that said, in the coming weeks my ’03 GT will be parted out if anyone is looking for parts!
Bonus pics of the Fusion my 2007, and with part of the family collection at home.
