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The Freestyle price for comparable equipment was also better at the time, but with the rebates on the Pacifica, I don't know if that is still the case. If your friend is worried about the power on the Freestyle, it performed better than the Pacifica in every test I saw. It's only underpowered if you happen to be an automotive journalist. Kind of a sign of the times for most journalists, the truth doesn't matter, only the truth as they report it.
The dealer then told me that I needed a 15K mile service, a great bargain at $379 that pressure cleans the injectors, change the fuel filter, etc. I told him that I didn't see this in the maintenance manual that came with the car and he came back with one (I had mine in my hand already) and lo and behold, he couldn't find it either--surprise, surprise, surprise. He told me that I needed to get these things done for warranty purposes. Um, I'm thinking that he's thinking that I'm a girl or something so he'll tell me that and I'll buy it???
My question to you people, who know more than the dealer and more than myself, is: is there any advantage to having the injectors cleaned (this is something they are always pushing at the oil change places, too) and replacing the fuel filter at this point? And if I opt out, my warranty is still valid as long as I've had the stuff done that's in the manual?
Thanks--sorry to hear about the transmission stuff going on--I would love to know the percentage of failures vs. models sold, miles driven, etc.
Bottom line is you do not need to do anything more than what is recommended in the manual to maintain your warranty, and even some of the things recommended in the manual are just recommended safety inspection items, like brake inspections and hose inspections etc.
Injector cleaning in my opinion should only be done in response to some poor engine operation, such as rough idle, etc, and even then before I paid for an expensive injector flush, I would throw in a bottle of injector cleaner in a tank of gas before going to a large expense item.
I think I'll keep my $379 and put it in the piggy bank for a trip to Baja...
;-)
1. The front passenger seat has a rattle that appears to originate from the left front mounting point of the seat to the floor. I suspect it could be coming from the latch system which allows the front seat to fold forward. Anyone else hear this on rough roads and have any suggestions for a fix?
2. The Reverse Sensing feature has "beeped" a couple of times initially going into reverse with nothing behind the vehicle. Both times it was or recently had been raining very heavily. Not sure if heavy rain triggered the response or something else. Anyone else experience this?
I have been getting 21-22 mpg commuting (40 mi round trip per day of highway/local) and general running around town. My 2002 GMC Envoy was getting 17-18. The Freestyle engine is a little loud at 2,250 rpms (its not bad below or above this rpm!) but the power and response has been as good as the Envoy.
I have RubberTite floor mats for the 1st and 2nd row and for the cargo area (with the 3rd row seats folder into the floor) -- for the price they will work fine, but are not as nice as the Catch-All mats I had for the Envoy (but the RubberTite are alot less expensive).
Now if I could find splash guards for the car that will fit!
From a standing start the Ford reaches 60 mph in 8.15 seconds, the Honda in 8.90 seconds. Through the quarter-mile the Freestyle manages a tarmac-scorching top speed of 88.0 mph, passing the sticks in 16.25 seconds, while the Odyssey could only manage 83.1 mph in 16.88 seconds.
The Freestyle also nips the Odyssey coming to a stop from 60 mph, its 129 feet chopping two feet off the Odyssey’s best, even if the Honda’s brakes feel slightly better to operate. It is the slalom, however, that really separates these two people movers.
The Ford steers better through the slalom than its trucky design implies, with a precise and quick response to inputs that makes weaving around the cones an almost point-and-shoot process. One tester even said of it: “[The Freestyle] doesn’t have as much delay in the steering as I would have expected for this class of vehicle. In fact, steering response is pretty exceptional for a box like this.”
The reverse sensor will go off when I back out of my driveway on occasion--even a hump/high crowned road can do that. Now that I've gotten used to having it, I wouldn't want to do without. It's pretty sensitive but wonderful feature, I think. I have a FWD and have been a little disappointed in the mileage--around 21 MPG or so on the freeway, but I do tend to drive somewhat over the speed limit (well, everyone else is, too!). I traded in my 2003 Expedition on the Freestyle, so in comparison to the mileage on that beast, I'm okay with it.
Enjoy! :shades:
regards,
Webbcam
After posting this message I found some numbers after going a little deeper in Blue Oval News. May 2005 sales: 6084, May 2005 CYTD: 28,677. I'm still wondering where they all are.
I've also seen two Fivehundreds in Bloomington. They seem more scarce than Freestyles.
Freestyle being the best rated SUV among all brands in the rollover testing. This validates one of the main reasons I went for the Freestyle- Safety. It was nice to hear something good about an American brand for a change. Noticed a Honda and a Subaru in the 4 star range, no Toys though. :shades:
Maybe this latest NHTSA report will ease their mind as to whether they really need a Freestyle with S.C. or not.
next week...anyone else have a similar problem?
*******************************************
March 7, 2005
Dearborn, Michigan. Ford Motor Company told dealers that 2005 Ford Freestyle vehicles with the 3.0L 4-valve engine and the continuously variable transmission (CVT) may exhibit intermittent drivability concerns on deceleration and/or during turning maneuvers.
To solve this drivability concern, Ford will reprogram the powertrain control module (PCM).
Owners who experience intermittent drivability concerns with their Freestyle should consult their Ford or Lincoln-Mercury to have the above mentioned service performed. :shades:
When you think rollover, think center of gravity. It is more than that, but that is what the engineers are designing around. The Freestyle's is lower than SUVs' (it is a crossover), and higher than a car. It's NHTSA rating reflects this well. :shades:
Now as for Anti-Skid systems in general, the majroity will serve as a nanny to aid the vehicle from spinning out of it's intended path. Keyword...."Aid"... As stated before, there will always be an accident that was unavoidable.
I myself prevent AWD since your able to drive out of harms way, ans stick to the ground and continue on your maneuver, rather than have "Anti-skid" come in and cut off power, and applied certain brakes. Anti-Skids works and kicks in provided there's no grip, or low grip levels to get you out of the situation, provided you ad least have some sort of grip (at some point it'll completely cut engine power if your on a sheet of ice). Whereas, AWD will kick in and give you that grip x 4....
Although misconception some people here is "Oh it needs to have Anti-skid system if not it's not good enough"...then shut their mind off and don't listen to other venues, such as AWD which does more.
Back to the NHTSA rollover tests, the Wall Street Journal said today, "Still, stability-control gear isn't a magic bullet, since rollover risk stems from many factors, including whether or not a vehicle has a high center of gravity. In fact, the two top-performing SUVs in the latest tests - two versions of the Ford Freestyle - don't have stability control yet still outperform other vehicles." - Laura Meckler
And now that the Freestyle has taken top honors in the anti roll-over category, perhaps people will stop insisting on it needing stability control.
up to 8000 on AWD SE model--has been terrific knock on wood and passengers also comment on smoothness and comfort of seats. Mileage has improved dramitcally (for all of you with mileage complaints) after 5000 miles--getting 23.5 mpg mixed hiway and stop and go (I-394 so you know what I mean). Not bad for large AWD station wagon.
Stability control works as advertised - a NHTSA study from last fall showed a 30% reduction in single vehicle accidents among cars and a whopping 63% reduction in single vehicle crashes in SUVs equipped with the technology:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/regrev/evaluate/809790.html
Note that this has nothing to do with rollover resistance or airbags or any other safety measure - this is about accident avoidance.
In my opinion, the lack of stability control on the Freestyle is glaring and is the one thing holding me back from getting one. The lack is especially glaring as Ford has a perfectly good stability control system it could have used, and that Ford otherwise seems to have gone out of their way to engineer a safe family vehicle. Wake up, Ford! At least include ESC as an option - I would gladly pay extra for its inclusion, and the lack of it may cost you a sale (from me at least).<a href="
Rain slickened roads have never...ever....been a problem with traction. If you lose traction on a rain slickened road then you're going WAY too fast.
So that leaves stability control to handle roll-overs....and we already know how the freestyle is in that category.
Sure, I guess Ford could have added another feature to the vehicle to appease the masses. I guess they figured that a family station wagon wasn't going to be making turns at 3 G's or doing an rally races.
The specs say it does 0-60 in about 8.5 seconds. That's not considered slow. In fact, that time is probably faster than about 50 percent of the cars/trucks/minvans being sold today.
I can't comment on the CVT becasue that is a question mark in my book also. I do know that it is based on a proven design and that it is designed and built by a reputable manufacturer. So far, most of the complaints I have heard are from people that have needed the reprogramming done on the CVT.
Have you driven one yet? That will be your best bet.
Our car is driven mostly by my wife, but of the times I have driven it, I have no worry about merging into fast traffic. No, its not a BMW M5 , but its not slow either.
If you are on the fence over buying one, I would suggest that you take it out on an extended drive and try this out yourself.
The problem is with the bias of the automotive press. They simply do not like American built cars. When the restyled Cougar came out in 1998 (built in Wixom, Michigan), I knew it was a perfect vehicle for my daughter to drive -- side air bags, the CD changer was in the trunk to avoid new driver distraction, 17" wheels and four-wheel disk brakes and a rear window wiper.
I was on a flight with a member of the automotive press sitting next to me (he had a logo shirt on.) I was reading his magazine's review about the Cougar. He was a very chatty fellow and commented on the article and I said to him "and they even rated it very good when they never say anything good about American cars -- it must be truly superior." The journalist shut up and would not talk to me the rest of the flight.
My daughter still has the car. It was voted the "Best Car Ownned By A Girl" in her senior High School class awards and carried her through four years of college and into her first job. It still runs good and the Rio Red paint shines like new.
"Among the 2005 SUVs tested, the Ford Freestyle 4x4 was rated the best among the four-star vehicles with a 13-percent chance of rollover."
STUDY: Newer SUVs Are Less Prone to Rollovers (Inside Line)
Steve, Host
I recently completed changing the oil in my Freestyle and it was truly the easiest oil change I've ever done! I had just a bit over 3K miles and wanted to change the oil myself so I got the proper oil (5W20) filter (FL820S) and 15mm socket to remove the oil drain bolt. I also had to obtain a strap-type oil filter wrench to remove the original filter as the cap-type filter wrench I had didn't fit. I made sure I could get the filter off and then the drain bolt - no problems in either case. I did note that there was a white paint mark on the bottom part of the oil pan and drain bolt. I assume this was done to know that the first oil change did occur for those who might take their Freestyles to the dealer for the first change. Anyway, after all the oil drained out, I replaced the drain bolt and removed the old filter and put the new one on. After filling up with 6 qts I started up the engine and noted the oil light remained on for about 2 seconds. I finally ran through the setup and reset the oil life to 100%.
Changing the oil in any vehicle is not something I look forward to, but the ease of accessability of the filter and drain bolt made this oil change a breeze!
Regards -
M. J. McCloskey - AWD Limited - Titanium
Thansk, Brian
The car runs as a front-wheel drive car until slippage is detected, and then roughly half the power can be transferred to the rear wheels. This kicks in very rapidly. You don't have to do anything, and if you are like me, you hardly notice it except that you don't have any problem moving. You also have traction control so that power is available at the wheels that actually have traction. It is a very nice system, and it just works without you needing to worry about it.
There are a lot of buttons, but they don't have a whole lot to do with driving the car, except cruise control. We got the Comfort Package and I think the climate controls could be designed better, although the climate control system seems to work well. I found resetting the oil life confusing too. But all in all I don't think that should keep you from enjoying the car.
Also, you should consider how you are going to use the car. A Freestyle is considerably larger than a Legacy or a Cherokee. I expect any of them will handle well in snow, but if you need the room in a Freestyle, you probably wouldn't want the others. On the other hand, you can get a Legacy (not all of them) which could get significantly better gas mileage than a Freestyle especially in the city.
I purchased an AWD LTD in early March and we had several good snow storms within the first couple of weeks (Central Massachusetts). The AWD handled the snow wonderfully! We traded in a 2001 Legacy Outback and I feel there was no comparison in handling. The Subaru always felt like the back end was slipping or on the verge of slipping. We had 4 new tires put on last fall and it was a little better this winter, but the Freestyle definitely has better snow traction and handling.
Nancy
I have not had any problems with our Freestyle and would recommend it (have not driven the Jeep or Pacifica). The only way to tell for sure is to compare them in a test drive.
One, AWD/4WD is costly (not just the extra dough at purchase time and later in fueling costs, but also in terms of increased maintenance costs throughout the life of the vehicle). And then there are performance costs to having AWD/4WD on dry pavement (slower acceleration, more noise).
Second, winter tire "technology" has come a long, long way. Perhaps the best winter tire for heavy snow is Bridgestone's Blizzak, but I've been plenty happy up here in Minnesota running my car with Michelin Arctic Alpins from Thanksgiving to late March. Personally, I see no need for AWD since only half the year is winter - even up here. Having AWD is like wearing a parka all year long. Sure, it comes in handy on those cold days, but you're lugging it around EVERY day.
Perhaps fuel economy isn't a big concern for you, but on your list the Freestyle FWD would be the most fuel efficient of the lot with the exception of the Legacy. I wanted to get a Mazda 6 wagon at one time myself, but it's a bit of a gas hog for a midsizer. I know with my luck that if I bought one, gas would be $3.50/gallon the following week.