2010 Ford Fusion SE vs 2005 Honda Civic EX

2010 Ford Fusion SE vs 2005 Honda Civic EX                                                                       By Guiseppe Conte                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               These two sedans from the early 2000’s, which are the 2010 Ford Fusion SE and the 2005 Honda Civic EX, both bring their own strengths and weaknesses to the table. Both vehicles offer a good balance of performance and fuel efficiency, which makes them a good choice for people who aren’t willing to spend that much on a car or just tight on money. But both cars have different things about them, which people should know before buying these cars. I chose to write about these two cars because I thought it would be an interesting topic to cover and along with the fact that my friends drive them.   In this side-by-side review, I will be comparing these vehicles, which includes a variety of ups and downs, such as affordability, their gas mileage, longevity, how fast they go, and much more about these vehicles.                                                                                                                  Affordability                                                                                                                     First let’s talk about the affordability of these cars starting with the 2005 Honda Civic EX. The Honda Civic usually goes for an average of $3,000-$5,000 dollars used, while the 2010 Ford Fusion SE used goes for around $4,500-$6,500 dollars according to Kelly Blue Book (Used 2005 Honda Civic and Used 2010 Ford Fusion).Next, let’s talk about the total cost to fill up your tank empty to full of the Honda Civic with a 13.2 gallon tank. With the current market value for unleaded gasoline in the Tri-Cities WA, it would cost you approximately $52.80 to fill it up from empty to full. However, with the Ford Fusion SE, it has a 17.5 gallon tank and it would cost you about $70.00 flat to fill it all up in Tri-Cities WA. Overall, the Honda Civic would be the better choice to purchase based on the fact that it costs less than the Ford Fusion and filling up the tank is more affordable.                                                                                       

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Mileage/Longevity                 

Second is the gas mileage and longevity of these cars The Honda Civic drives about 23 miles each gallon in the city and 35 miles each gallon on a highway which averages to 28 miles per gallon according to the website Edmunds (Used 2005 Honda Civic MPG and Gas Mileage Data). With the Ford Fusion, it is 22 miles each gallon in the city and 29 miles on the highway, which averages 25 miles per gallon according to Edmunds (Used 2010 Ford Fusion MPG and Gas Mileage Data). Now with the longevity of the Honda Civic if maintained properly, it could last for 200,000-300,000 miles or even longer until the engine is no longer usable. This data comes from the website Ike Honda (How Many Miles Does a Honda Civic Last)? With the Ford Fusion, if maintained properly, it could last up to 200,000 through 250,000 miles until the engine goes out. This information comes from the website Northside Ford (How Long Does a Ford Fusion Last)? I also decided to interview my friends whose names are Johnny and Gage about these cars that they own. Starting with the Honda Civic owned by Johnny, I asked if he had any problems with the car and he responded that he has had the car for around a year and within that time he hasn’t had any sort of engine problems and it still runs well. After interviewing Johnny that owns the Honda Civic, I went to go interview Gage who owns the Ford Fusion. I asked him the same question that I asked Johnny, and he also responded with a similar answer, but he has had the car for less time than Johnny. Overall, the Honda Civic is the best choice here as well, it has better gas mileage than the Ford Fusion and can last more miles until the engine fails.                                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                                      Reliability                                                                                                                            Third let’s talk about the reliability of these vehicles. This means you can trust the car to perform well everyday and not break/shutdown often. First let us start with how reliable the Honda Civic is. On the website Kelly Blue Book (Used 2005 Honda Civic), a lot of different people would rate this car around 4.5 stars, which is really good. People loved the car for how long it runs for, it barely shuts down, doesn’t require a lot of maintenance on it, and it is easy to repair. With the Ford Fusion on Kelly Blue Book (Used 2010 Ford Fusion) as well, people rated it as a 4.5 star car too, they said the same exact things like the Honda Civic. But now let’s get into the most common problems that people have had with these vehicles, with the Honda civic people had problems with how the power window switch will possibly fail, hood release cable will possibly snap at the handle, some of them have had defective sensors in them, and lastly a damaged engine mount could allow you to feel shaking and bumpiness in the steering wheel. Now the common problems with the Ford Fusion is how the shifting of the automatic transmission can become slow or rough, the lug nuts sometimes become bigger than their original sizes, a lot of noises heard when driving over bumps and turning, and lastly a soft brake pad which could lead into many problems specifically replacements on pads or rotors and could lead to a lot of grinding sounds. All this information is found on Repair Pal (2005 Honda Civic Problems) (2010 Ford Fusion Problems) in case you want to find more information on these cars. I also spoke to Gage and Johnny about how reliable their cars have been over the months that they have been driving them. Johnny didn’t have any of these problems whatsoever, but the only problem that wasn’t written in this list that he has a problem with, is that his ac is broken. Over the year that he has owned the Honda Civic, not one time has he needed to get it fixed/checked up on, and it has not broken down on him yet, thankfully. Now with Gage, the only problem that he had was that his O2 sensors went bad. His car has never broken down and is still driving smoothly to this day. To sum it all up, both cars are both rated the same, they are both reliable, however they both have their own problems.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                             



Overall Specs                                                                                                                         Fourth is about their overall specs. This includes how fast they go, top speed, drivetrain, seating capacity, and other specifications. I got to drive these cars during the weekend, because Johnny and Gage have these cars and when driving the Honda Civic, it takes about 11 seconds to go 0-60 mph, while the Ford Fusion takes about 8 seconds to go 0-60 mph. The top speed of the Honda Civic is around 115-120 mph while the top speed of the Ford Fusion is 126 mph or little bit higher, which makes the Ford Fusion faster, but uses up gas faster than the Honda Civic. Now with the drivetrain and how powerful they are, both are front wheel drive, both are automatic, the Honda Civic does have a smaller engine, which means it is slower than the Ford Fusion, uses less gas, while the Ford Fusion has a bigger engine making it faster, but using more gas. Another specification is that they both hold five people in total, have the same trunk space, but the Honda Civic is lighter which means better fuel economy while the Ford Fusion is heavier. Even though the Ford Fusion is faster than the Honda Civic, the Civic would be a better choice, because it uses up less gas, and it’s lighter than the Ford Fusion.                                                                                        Personal Experience                                                                                                            Lastly is my personal experience with these cars. In my weekend drive, I discovered and found out many things about these two vehicles. With the Honda Civic, it drives smooth, it’s louder/sounds better than the Fusion, the seats were not as comfortable as the Fusion, steering wheel felt great to grip, but I hated how I had to press my foot all the way down to accelerate or break. Now with the Ford Fusion, the seats felt comfortable, it’s quiet, I don’t have to press my foot all the way down for it to react, and it’s a little bit more spacious than the Honda Civic, specifically more leg room. The Ford Fusion also has a built in usb port, Bluetooth, and fog lights. While the Honda Civic has neither of those or any extra utilities. While I don’t have any personal  experience with how they handle in different weather conditions, I decided to ask Johnny and Gage on how well the vehicles performed in different situations. Johnny has driven the car through rain, high winds, and fog. The car tends to slip around when driving through the rain, with high winds it pushes the car around a lot, and with fog it is extremely difficult to see without fog lights. With Gage, he has driven the car though fog, rain, and high winds also. The car handles the same with high winds and rain, but with fog it is much easier to see, because the Ford Fusion comes with fog lights. In total, the Ford Fusion wins this one, it offers more than the Honda Civic, it comes with Bluetooth, a usb port, fog lights, it’s more comfortable in my opinion, reacts better as well, and it’s a little bit more spacious.                                                                 Conclusion                                                                                                                          After comparing these two vehicles, if you're looking for a car that’s spacious, faster, reliable, and quieter, then the Ford Fusion would be a good car to purchase. If you’re looking for a car that’s cheaper than the Ford Fusion, also reliable, a bit slower, and louder, I would go with the Honda Civic. Personally, if I had to pick one of these cars, it would be the Honda Civic. Even though it is slower and less spacious, it uses less gas, costs less money to fill it up, covers more miles, it can last longer, and doesn’t have a lot of problems that occur with it.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                         Works Cited                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            “2005 Honda Civic Price, Value, Depreciation and Reviews.” Used 2005 Honda Civic, https://www.kbb.com/honda/civic/2005/                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    “2010 Ford Fusion Price, Value, Depreciation and Reviews.” Used 2010 Ford Fusion, https://www.kbb.com/ford/fusion/2010/                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            “Used 2010 Ford Fusion MPG and Gas Mileage data.” Used 2010 Ford Fusion MPG and Gas Mileage data, https://www.edmunds.com/ford/fusion/2010/mpg/                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        “Used 2005 Honda Civic MPG and Gas Mileage Data.” Used 2005 Honda Civic MPG and Gas Mileage Data, https://www.edmunds.com/honda/civic/2005/mpg/                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Honda, Ike. “How Many Miles Does a Honda Civic Last? (And How to Make It Longer.)” 20 May 2022, https://www.ikehonda.com/blog/how-long-does-a-honda-civic-last/                                                                                                                                                               Brooke. “How Long Does a Ford Fusion Last?” 25 Feb. 2025, https://www.nsford.com/how-long-does-a-ford-fusion-last/                                                                                                                                                                                                          "2010 Ford Fusion Problems and Complaints: Common Issues.” 2010 Ford Fusion Problems, https://repairpal.com/2010-ford-fusion/problems                                                                                                                                                                                                      “2005 Honda Civic Problems and Complaints: Common Issues.” 2005 Honda Civic Problems, https://repairpal.com/2005-honda-civic/problems