This latest gas price hike has kinda slapped me in the face with reality. My 20mpg Tundra needs to be retired from daily driver status and used mostly around the property. As a result I went car shopping  last Saturday and drove my top 3 choices. If anyone cares here's my conclusions. Fusion with the 1.5l Ecoboost is a disappointing bad joke. Rough ride, poor fit/finish (drivers door was visibly misaligned with the rear door line), acceleration was so bad when my wife asked if I was going to check the max acceleration from a stop..I told her that I was doing so that very moment. and standard features?? Embarrassing compared to the similar priced accord and Camry. Ford had better get its head out of the sand if they want to play with the big boys!

Of course the fusion was at a severe disadvantage. We had just finished driving a Camry. Truely a car deserving of its reputation for excellence. Great ride, decent pickup, quiet and very well put together. Honestly it's only flaw was a drivers seat that was a couple of inches short on thigh length. They only had a 4 banger available but still a very nice car.

Drove two flavors of accord. The EX-L 4 cyl with cvt and the EX-L with 6 cyl. What a disappointment on the 4 cyl. It's horribly handicapped by that disaster of a transmission. From a stop it had a horrible judder that would've made me go postal within a week. Now the 6 cyl with a conventional 6 speed auto was a whole different beast. Excellent acceleration from its 278hp and overall a smooth driving car. The standard equipment list is just amazing. The only real negative is that it's got a timing belt so every 100k miles it'll have to be replaced.

I've pretty much locked on to the 6 cyl accord and have been getting quotes over the internet. That's been a remarkably painless process thus far and it looks like I'll be able to get the car for close to $6k off msrp.

These aren't the most frugal gas sipers nor the sportiest/ most fun to drive cars out there. But I spend 2 hours a day driving/500miles per week. I want something comfortable and long lasting and most important...trouble free. Others have different priorities and needs and that's ok.

My accord 2013 4 cylinder has been flawless with none of the transmission issues you reported. Also get 33-36mpg highway and around 27 city
The Passat TDI gets great mileage but I found it boring and it was 6K more than my accord

Also I used Yahoo autos to get my quotes and they were $1800 less than Consumer reports, BJ's, USAA or Sam's Club

From my research the juddering from the cvt was supposedly a sometime thing that was fixed in '13 so it was quite a shock to encounter it. I thought hard about the tdi but with diesel prices as high as they are here that really cuts the mpg advantage. Plus my wife just hated the ride so it was a non starter. I've had 2 accords before I got my truck and they were both outstanding cars. A huge difference from my Buick that was in the shop almost every month.

My Tundra made me get a commuter as well, I drive 140 miles a day.  I have a 2012 Camry SE with a 4cly.  I drive 75-80 mph on the interstate most of the way and am averaging 32 mpg.
 

Yeah my wife wanted me to go all-in on a tiny super cheap car but since I'm in that thing 2hours out of my day I need some comfort. Something pulling in the 40's mpg wise would've been nice but those are all cars that would leave me beat up at the end of the day. I'm too old and cranky enough as it is. Lots of people describe that class of car as boring. And I guess it is but I'm past my sports car days. I don't fit in them well and I'm not limber enough to get in and out easily. The joints creak and my back doesn't like me much sometimes. A rough suspension (kids call them taut lol) just beats the crap out of me on long trips.

I started with the Yaris.  It got 39 mpg even doing the speeds I did.   While it saved money on gas it was absolutely a miserable drive.  I decided to trade it in and get the Camry, IMO it was worth it.  I don't dread climbing in to it when I leave work like I did with the Yaris.

 

My FIL has an 08 accord and he has all kinds of weird automatic transmission issues.

Weird...I also have a 2002 Honda Accord with zero transmission problems and My 2006 Honda Accord had none as well...My 2008 Honda Civic also had zero transmission problems

You didn't consider the mazda 6?



http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/displayPage.action?pageParameter=modelsMain&vehicleCode=M6G

This is the car. Actual gas mileage is solidly astounding. Uses regular too. Go drive one before you buy the Honda.

This thread is of interest to me for the same reasons as OP.  I've considered the same three cars but haven't test driven any.

I never thought I'd say this but I've also considered the Kia Optima.  Could y'all also chime in if you have any experience with these?

Not the Kia but I briefly considered adding the Hyundai sonata to my list but a friend of mine has had some issues that leads me to worry about the long term reliability and since the price wasn't all THAT different I just dropped it. If it's feasible try to drive as many of your candidates on the same day as you can. The differences really stand out that way.

OP needs to go test drive a Mazda 6.

I test drove the Camry, both engines and the Accord V6. The Mazda 6 Skyactiv was clearly on a higher level to me.  It actually gets the sticker's gas mileage too.

I was in the same situation with a Denali.  We parked it and bought a 2014 Accord ex-l.  6k miles so far and love the car.

Since the Camry and Fusion are within 4 HP of each other, I have to assume you don't actually know how to floor the throttle on a vehicle.

The Fusion, which I own a 1.6 version of, beat the pants off the Camry in car magazine tests that indicated the exact opposite of your opinion.

For you, I'd recommend the Camry.

Had an 06 accord that I loved.  Sold it last year because I needed to get a truck.  Had 74k miles on it and never had a single problem with it.  It was the LX 4 cyl and automatic transmission.  Got 31-33mpg on the highway average and 24 around town.  If I was spending 1 1/2-2 hours driving a day I would still have it.  It was comfortable and handled well.  I'm 5'9" and about 250 and had plenty of room to feel comfortable.

Umm ok. The fusion I DROVE was the 1.5l ecoboost. Oddly enough I thought when my right foot was planted hard on the throttle and the throttle was on the floor, that it counted as floored. Maybe not. And I agree the specs allege to be within a few HP of each other. The actual driving experience? Not even close. Don't care what a magazine wants to write if it conflicts with the observed facts. But I'm happy you like your fusion.