So...I was at a ford dealer looking at used cars.  Dealer puts me in a newly traded in Ford Fusion with an eco boost and says, "It hasn't been cleaned yet, but hop in and let me know what you think!" So I started it up and looked around at the bells and whistles and noticed in the rear view mirror a HUGE poof of white smoke!  I shut off the car immediately adn told the dealer and she said its normal for an eco boost to put out a little smoke.  I said it was more than a little bit! 

Now I'm no mechanic but I've had my fair share of boyfriends in my life that have been good with cars and have learned through association that smoke=engine problems...big engine problems.  Dealer said she would be giving me a warranty that would cover any engine problems that may come up.  My gut says to walk away...but other than that it was a nice car. 

Thoughts?

White smoke is usually water condensation in the exhaust system after the car's been sitting for a while overnight, for example.  Now, if the smoke carried with it some smell, like antifreeze, then that would definitely be an issue with coolant leak somewhere.  I assume the smoke dissipated within a minute or so of the engine being started?

A little black (fuel) or blue (oil) smoke on these GDI engines at startup is not a big deal either, but a plume, yes, most definitely.

In any case, I'd be looking for what warranty coverage comes with the Fusion, as well as what additional warranty I could get, even if everything had been 100% AOK on the test.  Remaining B2B, powertrain, ESP all worth looking at.

Welcome to EBPF, hope we can help you buy your dream Ecoboost

Is this a CPO car?

What warranty, Ford or aftermarket?

My first instinct would be to....RUN!

Walk away ... your description of the amount of white smoke makes me nervous enough warranty or not

Welcome to the forum from Livernois Motorsports!

The EcoBoost vehicles are notorious for having some smoke especially at cold start.  If the smoke was as huge as it sounds on your post, I would personally continue shopping as others have mentioned.  Feel free to let us know if there is anything we can help you with. 

After the trip to SHO Convention our eco sat for an entire week before being started, and when it was started after the sit I had a nice white cloud burn off. Plenty of water dripping from it too. After that start it hasn't smoked at all. I'm siding with water build up too. But, it's something you'd want to be sure about before purchasing.

Rich