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Ford Taurus X Prices Paid and Buying Experiences
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traction control is now an option (Was in 2005 too, but Ford installed it on all 05's from Dec 04 thru the end of the model year. Local dealer was upset, because he did not order TC on any new FWD models expecting it to be included automatically - wrong). Did not want the nav system anyway. Option packages are the same. Really bothered me that you have to order a $495 Comfort Pkg on the SEL to get the outside temp readout, so I passed on that too. Other than that, I saw no other changes. The dealers are dealing, sales really slow here in late Aug and early Sept.
What is the "X-Plan"? Is the price you get with it the same as the Family Plan? I ask because we're probably going to buy a Freestyle this month and hadn't considered a 2006 because the Family Plan prices don't apply to 2006 Freestyles.
But we are AAA members, and you said they qualify for the X-Plan prices. So if the X-Plan prices are as good or nearly as good as the Family Plan prices, we'll certainly start shopping for a 2006. Thanks!
To give you an example on a loaded 2006 Freestyle the A/Z plan (which is the same as the family plan) was 31320.55 and the X-Plan is 32591.96. MSRP is 35270.
http://www.fordvehicles.com/familyplan/pricevehicle/index.asp
The dealership was the best I'd been to, but they claimed not to know this $1000 cash back applied to the Freestyle without Ford's own financing. Whether they were pretending or not, I'm glad I printed it out and brought it with me
This seems to replace the $500 cash back they had running to Oct. 3rd.
It's a very low price, and if you try to bargain you won't get thousands more off. Perhaps $500. If you're very clever and they're very desperate, it might work. We didn't try too hard, negotiating for that little amount didn't seem worth the trouble.
kirstie_h
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Share your vehicle reviews
Just wanted to say thanks for all the help and advice in the last
week or so. This forum has made buying out next vehicle a very easy
time of it. We signed the papaers at the dealers last night.
We went with a Black/Shale AWD SEL 2006 FreeStyle.
Got the Safety package, Front row comfort package, Auxillary Climate Controls,
Reverse sensor, 2nd row bench seat and the 3rd row seat.
Total $ was 29031.26.
We traded in our Suzuki Aerio 2003 AWD that had 17K+ miles on her.
this had some passenger side dents and scratches. From someone in a
mail parking lot who opened their door without thinking, . Dealer
gave us $6000 for her. After my wife did some great haggling with
them.
In the end with the trade in and the discounts we got the new car for
$26582.66.
What do ye all think? Hope to get her in a few days as the dealer has
to have it shipped from Delaware to here in NJ.
we are happy and hope to have her for a trip to upper NY that we will
be going on very soon. Also Our WolfHound puppy will be joining us in
about 3 weeks, so just in time. Should have all the gadgets learned
by then.
Thanks all.
Deasun
I guess we'll have to go shopping again!
If this works out, I'll call my local dealer to thank them for their time, and definitely recommend them in the future. And if it doesn't work out, I still may buy through them
First, the dealership tried pulling we no know nothing about about the 4.9, 1000 cash rebate on the web-site. Thankfully, they have internet access,went to Ford.com, and they had to concede that it exists, of course they couldn't believe it was there, no one told them, they just have too many programs in the area.
Now, comes the drawn out part, which was the wait for the finance department. I Generally most people have other things to do, but business for Car dealerships is always different, expediant is not in their vocabulary most of the time, but they support the community in a lot of ways so be it, and I noticed I wasn't the only one waiting for what seems to be a long time. It can take a long time to wait to buy a car, maybe a good thing because it gives you time to opt out. We bought on Saturday, but the dealership didn't seem that busy. From acceptance of our offer, to end, it was easily over 2 hours. Once in the Finance department, the gentleman was courtesy and professional and it went smoothly, so I couldn't figure out why it took so long.
Now the rub, the Freestyle had dealer add-ons, Goodyear Eagels, and bling-bling rims, that were supposed to switched, to the standard freestyle rims and tires. Not a problem as we're not much in to the bling-bling, but here's where the the problem starts. Since it was a Saturday, they had no one to do the swap, I guess, so we were supposed to come back and get them swapped out. Our sales guy said it would be easy, and only take a 1/2 hour. Still, no problem, fair enough, 1/2 hour at the dealership which is about 10 miles away. so dropping it off and waiting for a 1/2 hour wouldn't be a big deal.
Now, we both work, have kids, probably normal Freestyle buyers, and were expecting Ford to call us to set up an appointment to get the tires swapped, in a very reasonable amount between normal business hours Monday-Friday. Well didn't happen, and my wife, called set the appointment to get the tires off , preferably where I could set up a block of time to get it done. The rims are called z somethings so they're probably worth some money, or value to someone. Well my wife called on Thursday, and they said bring the car in tomorrow, it would take an hour, no problem, any time.
On Friday, I followed up, called the Service department up, talked to the girl there, and informed her, I'd be there around 2. I got there at 1:45. Now here's where I get rubbed the wrong way, first of all, my wife arranged for a sitter between 1:30 and 4. Plenty of time for the 1/2 hour to 1 hr it would take to get the tires changed, except, now when I get there, I get informed, by the service manager it would take 2 hours. Okay, our sitter is our neighbor, who we trust, and I still figured I would make it home by 4 or a little after.
Now for the journey, Ford's got the car, to do an easy swap job, they have plenty of Freestyles on the lot, without the bling bling, and they were all pretty much the same, I only looked because I had time to burn obviously, and was wondering which rims we'd end up with,and the sales guys told me in would only take 1/2 hour, service department lady said 1 hour, then when the rubber hit the department it went up to 2 hours. Like I said though, no problem, there was McDonald's in walking distance,and I had some work to do anyway.
Now for complete and total manure, I get back there after 4, I had a lot of work to do, but take into account, around 3:30, I the called sitter to ask if it would be okay if I was a little late, because I was catching up on some work. Imagine that, calling and asking a person working for you to let them know you're behind schedule. Her answer was no, and thanked me for calling, nothing worse than being rude to someone of course. Now keep in mind the time- table, I walk back to the dealership/service department, the car hasn't been touched. Okay, I think to myself, talk to the service person and see what's up. Of course they said they'd get right on it. I'm not pushy, that's one of my problems. I walk out of there, and back into the dealership and read a magazine and call home to let the sitter know what's up. Her comment not mine, this is a 19 year old girl, "you know those places lie." my response was yeah, but they also sponsor the community was my repsonse, even still I've kept the positive in place.
Now its after 4:45, I have to beat my wife home or else she's going to get on my case for being rude to our sitter, not being pushy with the Service Department, and the dishes not unloaded :mad:
I went to the Service lady, and told her I had to leave and needed my keys. She said, my car was next again. I didn't get mad, I told her look, I watch Nascar, they swap tires in less than 30 seconds, I had to get home or else I might have a long weekend. The worst part, is she started to get upset, like it was her fault, I don't know if it was, but I was consoling her. Telling her its okay.
Now here's my problem, I've gone over the sales contract, I've signed nothing saying I owe the tires back. Why do I have to go out of my way, get sitters, get lied to to help these guys out. This is the second time I've done business with this dealership, and last, and both times they've made money on our trade-ins and buys, and that's fine to me, but this is also the second time, the service department has kept me overtime. Also, I've never complained about anything before/ written a letter. The only time I've done the letter thing is to praise service. The question is where do I stand with these rims and tires, morally/ethically, and does Ford owe me anything for my time?
Guess what, the dealership is calling me now, asking me when I can set up an appointment?
I would do it at your convenience - maybe at the first service period.
Reminds me of recent episode with my Saab dealer to replace the left headlamp wiper motor. One hour job went 2.5 hours before they worked up the courage to come out and tell me the motor they had ordered was for the right side!
Now, I know the X3 3.0i is a completely different animal, but my parents just picked one up from BMW a few months ago. Their car is nicely optioned, it's a much more expensive vehicle, and they're spending almost $80/mo less.
Is Ford really trying to push people away from the Freestyle and into an Explorer? The $299/mo value of the Explorer XLT lease is so heavily incentivized compared to the fees for the less expensive Freestyle that it makes me wonder what Ford is thinking.
-Eric
On my recent lease, I found the Ford worksheet missing some numbers. As you suggest, I took in my own numbers (both from my own research and competitors) to arrive at an agreeable monthly rate. I jsut made them rework whatever they had to to get the right answer!
Car_man
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Here's my buying experience--I purchased my SE Freestyle Jan, 12, 05 from Gresham Ford in Gresham, Oregon (near Portland).
They treated me very well-were patient and not condescending--very important because I was a "single woman" buying the car. And I should mention that I had excellent credit but no job at the time. I took it for a test drive and really liked it. When I told them I had to leave for a doctor's appointment they offered to let me take the car. We hadn't done any paperwork on it or anything. I came back after my appointment and finished the purchase. It did take a while but they worked to find me a good deal for the financing. I even got a free Ford watch and baseball cap out of the deal. And my son got a free toy Ford semi-truck. We drove home that night in our new car!
About two days later I noticed a problem with the paint-it was "bumpy." It took three trips to the dealer to finally get it cleared up. The Ford district manager was there and even looked at the car & took pictures. Each time they gave me a rental car for free. It was some sort of material on top of the paint, possibly picked up during transport. They buffed it out and shined it up-it was gorgeous and the whitest white car I've ever seen.
Unfortunately I wasn't planning to buy a car-I just wanted to look at the Hybrid Escape and ended up driving a Freestyle. I could have waited to buy and get in on the financing deals but I didn't want to. My 05 SE AWD cost me 27295 USD. But the treatment at the dealership has been worth the few extra bucks it cost me to buy it from them. I'll take good service over a good deal any day. And I don't think I paid too much, I just didn't get a great "deal" on the car. But I LOVE IT and won't trade it for anything, except a new one in a year or two. :shades:
Car_man
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Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums
They called with a couple prices for a 2006 – first 24,300 then a week later 23,700. I went to the dealership on a rainy Friday, ready to sign if they came down to 23,500. Instead, they withdrew the 23,700 offer. I walked out and they said they’d call if they could come down in price. They called a few days later saying the exact car we wanted was coming into their dealership in a few days, and they said the could offer the 23,700 price again. My wife held firm and said we wouldn’t accept anything above 23,500. They said ok and the deal was done over the phone.
I just picked it up a few weeks ago, and with tax and registration I gave them a personal check for a bit over $25,000. I also found out then that the car has traction control – which I hadn’t requested. I was happy to get the $200 bonus Even though it was standard for 2005 and the option probably costs Ford all of $5 to implement (change the ABS computer code and put the switch on the dash).
I am very happy with myself for holding firm on price and options, and getting the exact car I wanted.
I used Edmunds four years ago to decide on a Camry XLE, which I bought from Cars Direct on-line due to advice here.
I wanted a station wagon with reasonable gas milage but the Taurus has been phased out with no replacement wagon from Ford. We're still moving college-age children to and from school, and need cargo capacity capable of carrying a twin bed mattress and box spring.
Passats are too small, while the Mazda DA6 has a lethal side-impact safety rating absent side airbags. The Subaru Outback requires high-octane gas while its stock engine can't handle hills and airconditioning both, and is too expensive with a more powerful engine. The Toyota Highlander's stock engine has lousy gas milage - 20-21 mpg on a highway. We even considered a minivan, but the Toyota Sienna is the only one with decent mpg while requiring high-octane, which defeats the point. The boards here were critical in teaching me the bad points of vehicles I decided not to buy.
The Freestyle topic about Real World MPG convinced me that the Freestyle is capable of 25-27 mpg freeway milage if cruise control is employed to take advantage of the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). My 2002 Camry XLE with the 4-cylinder engine gets 32mpg on the freeway when the cruise control is used.
My wife and I test-drove an AWD Freestyle today to check its visibility (marginal), its ride (adequate on the dreadful local freeway - Highway 99 betewen Turlock and Modesto, but not as good as my Camry's), and interior noise (almost as quiet as my 2002 Camry's, which is saying something).
The Ford dealer knew he was competing against Cars Direct and so gave us a good no-hassle price. We probably could have gotten another $500 off, but we've bought cars from him before and relationships are sometimes important. When my wife totalled her previous station wagon, the Ford dealer found us a replacement for it within 48 hours.
And I am aware that the Freestyle will be phased out after the 2007 model year - I read that here too. The decision is understandable if you consider that Ford trades off performance for reliability, as shown by the 200hp V6 Duratec engine in the Freestyle, which is less powerful than competitors' engines with the same displacement.
The CVT Ford uses would have its reliability fall off too much with a more powerful engine, so Ford has to drop the CVT if it wants to increase Freestyle power. And customers in this market are not like my wife and I - they prefer power over milage. Not to mention that the newness of the CVT means that most buyers don't know how to maximize the CVT's mpg advantages over a conventional transmission.
So the 2008 Mercury-only version of the Freestyle will probaby debut with 250hp engine and conventional transmission. Ford will use CVT's only for vehicle lines whose engines never exceed @ 200hp.
For my wife and I, however, the 2006 Freestyle has the same horsepower per weight ratio of our 2002 Camry sedan and Taurus station wagon, i.e., adequate. And the Freestyle is the only vehicle we can buy with both our desired cargo capacity and 25+ mpg freeway milage using regular gas.
The discussions here are marvelously informative. Thank you.
I figure I am better off just ordering from the factory. I found a dealer who will gaurantee x-plan pricing + whatever rebate is availble when they deliver my Freestyle.
Does this seem reasonable for a $500 deposit?
I get the exact vehicle I want but may only get the x-plan discount if there are no rebates next month. However, if they offer a rebate I'll get that too.
Another dealer I talked to wouldn't gaurantee anything. He wasn't asking for a deposit but the price would be negotiated after the car showed up on the lot. He did indicate he would sell for $300-400 over invoice which they do for most of their vehicles anyways.
Decisions...decisions...
50/50 Split Seat
Front Row Comfort Package
Aux Climate Control
2nd Row Center Floor Console
28425 MSRP
Simple Plan Price 26540
-2000 cash back
-1000 ford credit bonus
-750 katrina discount
+1195 dealer added all leather seats in all three rows
Final price 23985
4440 below original msrp / 2203 below original invoice
Seems like a good deal especially with the real leather seats as opposed to leather seat covers on the first two rows and vinyl on everything else. Since it is an '05 traction control is free.
Still trying to score on the deal of the century..lol.
I decided to go with a shadow gray limited as I just had to have the black leather and sliding bucket seats in the middle row.
What a great car!
from the website;
"3rd-row 50/50 split bench seat with perforated vinyl with fold-down- into-floor feature (requires Front Row Comfort Package, leather-trimmed front seats and 2nd-row seats)"
the 3rd seats are all vinyl and only the seating areas are actually leather.
So far, so good. Price was $27,600 on X-Plan and I got 48 months at 1.9% financing. Ford Dealership (Hagen Ford, Bay City, MI) was fine. I actually went to the next town over, as the dealership in my town seemed to not care whether they got my money or not. Same impression on three separate visits to the dealership. I felt like I was having to beg to get someone to pay attention to me.
Annoyances:
a) the auxiliary heat for the second row is really only on the driver's side. There's not a vent on the passenger side.
b) the third row only has cup holders on the passenger side, which is kind of stupid. They could have easily put cup holders into the center console or on both sides, but didn't. The sales rep thought that the third row cupholders were because of the location for the fan motor for the auxiliary heat. Could be, but it's still some poor design.
c) The second row center console has a significant amount of dead space that could have been used, like for a storage drawer or something.
d) on the 7 passenger model, the front console has a flip out for second row for cup holders. They take that out when there's the second row console, which also seems stupid to me.
However, I like the lines of the car, the way it drives, and the fact it gets significantly better milage than anything else close in size.