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Ford Taurus X Prices Paid and Buying Experiences

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Comments

  • brandy1909brandy1909 Member Posts: 4
    Sorry to hear about your not getting a better deal, come on down to Kelly Ford in Melbourne, Florida.... I just traded my 2002 Chevy LTZ Trailbrazer with 59,000 miles on it. They did not go by Kelly Blue Book but went by a black Wholesale book. Still we received $12,500 for the trade in value. What I did was printed out the Blue book value on my car and than went to the problem site for the Freestyle and printed alot of them out too! So, when we start to negotiate, I was ready. So I didn't get the Blue book value on the Chevy but it came close... Hey, I had nothing to lose... could keep my car or just go to another dealer in another town. Now, that's the attitude you have to go with and stick to you guns! One other thing, I didn't get a 2006, I opt. for a 2005. Still it was over $33,000 but with the trade in and incentives.. I am a happy camper. Good Luck!
  • vwcarcrazyvwcarcrazy Member Posts: 52
    I just picked up our new Freestyle SEL yesterday (Labor Day). I traded a 2002 Tahoe with 30K miles for it. Since the Freestyle was a 2006, it did not qualify for the Family deal. But the company I work for qualifies for the Ford X-Plan. I also qualify for the X-Plan through my AAA membership. With the Plan and the $500 rebate, it was $3500 off the invoice, so I paid $24,221. The dealer gave me "good" KBB trade-in value. Considering that you do not have to pay sales tax on the trade-in value, this was equivilant to $20,300. I purposely worked with this dealer because I know the franchise also owns a local Chevrolet dealer, which is where my Tahoe was shipped to go on the Chevy lot. Single-brand dealers often will not give you a good trade-in for a different brand, multi-store dealers will usually give you more. So, go armed with your invoice information and run the KBB at an honest trade-in value - use the rating tool they have online. Yes, 75K is high mileage. Most dealers and KBB use 12K miles per year as the average (note - the same as most car warranties). Would you consider 75K high miles high for a 4 year old car if you were buying, I would. Yes, KBB values are often behind the current market by 1-2 months, particularly at model-year change time (Sept 1). Yes, values on full-size SUV's is dropping. In a few months, you will have even more trouble unloading them if the gas prices stay up. Keep in mind the extra/hidden value you get for trading in (less hassle, sales tax savings, no sales costs, no insurance on the old vehicle while trying to sell it). Also, watch out for dealer add-ons like a "special value package", seal-coating, extended warranties, etc. They just add to the price are are NOT worth the money. The Ford dealer and sales manager I worked with in Stillwater, MN were excellent - no pressure and no bull. But they knew I did my homework. Good luck.
  • vwcarcrazyvwcarcrazy Member Posts: 52
    Just picked up my 2006 SEL Freestyle yesterday. My local dealer got in a bunch a few weeks ago. They have the pamphlets for the 2006's. Changes are colors (Norsea Blue dropped, Silver Birch added - really just plain silver when you see it),
    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.
  • behoopsbehoops Member Posts: 5
    Great post, vwcarcrazy...
    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! :)
  • dzdncnfzddzdncnfzd Member Posts: 34
    The X-plan is usually for employees of businesses that are suppliers to Ford. I'm not sure about the AAA thing.

    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.
  • vwcarcrazyvwcarcrazy Member Posts: 52
    The X-Plan is mainly for employees of companies that are suppliers or good customers of Ford. If you work for a larger company, check with your HR dept to see if you qualify. I believe the X-Plan difference from the "Family Plan" is 1% of the sticker plus $150. So the 2006 was about $500 more than a 2005 under the Family Plan. I thought that was OK because the selection of 2005 models is poor to almost non-existant, they had a good selection of 2006's and it still qualified for the $500 rebate. Plus the vehicle was not 1 model year old the minute I drove it off the lot. 6 months ago, the Freestyle was considered a "limited availability model" and did not qualify for the X-Plan. I assume it qualifies now because they are not selling as well as Ford hoped. The Ford GT and new Mustangs are the only current non-qualifying Ford vehicles. As far as the AAA deal, check with your local AAA office to see what the best deal you can get is. My understanding is that it is just slightly higher than the X-Plan. Don't let the dealer try to cut your trade-in value to make up for the discount. Run the KBB trade-in value of your vehicle, factoring in the sales tax savings and stick to your guns. Give them your name and number and walk out if you have to (I would be surprised if you made it to your car before they gave it to your offer), and don't let them tack on any dealer add-ons that don't add value - like seal coating or extra warranty programs. Good luck.
  • vwcarcrazyvwcarcrazy Member Posts: 52
    I checked with my local AAA and they no longer are sponsoring a vehicle purchase plan (they did last time I checked - about 1 year ago, but I did not bother re-checking since I have the X-Plan now thru where I work). However, SAMS Club does (check their web site if you are a member). I do not know the specific details. I would think you could do almost as well on your own by using the Family Plan information, and dickering for a 2006. I always ask before a big purchase "do you have any other special deals for AAA, AERP, My Company/Union, etc". There are discounts for just about everybody. Don't forget to check with your bank, credit union or auto insurance company (State Farm?). Some of them can get special deals, especially if you are financing through them.
  • maymaymaymay Member Posts: 16
    Just picked up our new Limted AWD '05 two days ago, brought a printout of this along:
    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.
  • free05free05 Member Posts: 2
    Picked up a Silver Frost/Shale SE FWD today. Paid $22,056 + TTL (before trade-in, see below). Took dealer offer of $600 for 1988 Nissan Sentra with 112K miles and in decent condition.
  • woobegonewoobegone Member Posts: 21
    New 2005 SE FWD with Family Plan price of $23,079 and $1000 Clearance Cash for total asking price of $22,079. Is there any point in trying to negotiate the price down, or is this the realistic bottom line for the dealer? No trade involved, just a cash payment.
  • maymaymaymay Member Posts: 16
    You could try, it will just depend on the dealer. They need to get rid of the 05's, but I didn't find any bargaining room where I went, and they pretend the 06's don't even exist :D

    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.
  • pes1955pes1955 Member Posts: 1
    You seem to have had your Freestyle for a while. How is the Gas milage? Does get the 27mpg? Please let me know . Thanks.
  • Kirstie_HKirstie_H Administrator Posts: 11,147
    Since this is the pricing discussion, you'll get more feedback about ownership issues from owners who hang out in our general Ford Freestyle discussion.

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  • cmunizcmuniz Member Posts: 604
    I've had mine since May 30th. Most recent trip mileage was 23.7 on a 3,000 mile trip. Around home I get close to 20 mpg. This is for AWD Limited. Have never seen 27mpg, but only have 7,000 on the odo.
  • deasundeasun Member Posts: 11
    Good morning all,

    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
  • n_a_cn_a_c Member Posts: 7
    Yesterday I bought a 2005 SE for $500 off the family plan and $1000 rebate price. The dealer was going get the car from another dealer and had exactly the options we wanted: bench second row, silver with dark interior, safety package and the convenience package. Actually, I wasn't sure about the convenience package, but am happy to have it. He said the family plan price was 23,915 and I could get the $1000 off. I said I'd take it for $500 and he accepted after the traditional walk back to the managers office. I wonder if I should have asked for more off, but since it was exactly what I wanted, and they were going to drive 150 miles to get it, I am happy. It was a cash deal with no trade in. Overall the experience was wonderful - they even let me test drive alone for an hour and drive back to my family.
  • n_a_cn_a_c Member Posts: 7
    My deal for $500 off the family plan and $1000 off fell through. Dealer called saying they didn't know the car at another dealer was a demo. She offered to sell an equivalent 2006 for $2600 more. Ain't gonna happen. I suspect this was a bait and switch, and I won't be shopping at that dealer again.

    I guess we'll have to go shopping again!
  • bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    I think that everytime you get a dealer like that, you should write a letter to Ford and CC the dealer telling them what happened. Dealers are always getting reviewed by the company on surveys, so an individual letter should make some impact if enough people do it...the silent upset customer can make no impact.
  • n_a_cn_a_c Member Posts: 7
    I agree with you Bobw3. I was thinking of writing Ford, contacting the Better Business Bureau, the whole 9 yards. BUT, it turns out they were 100% honest. We did some searching on Ford's site, found the matching car and called the dealer in Chester PA. The car is exactly as described, and has 4k miles. We are waiting to hear what the price is, and might drive there this weekend to get it!

    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 :)
  • rileyfinnrileyfinn Member Posts: 2
    Hi all, Just traded in my Expedition for a Freestyle. Love the car, but here's the buying experience..We bought an plain se, tried getting the 22,056, 1000 cashback/4.9 but since I got what I wanted for the Expedition, although I could of probably done better, I'm not that much of a haggler, I used this sight, Ebay, and ford.com and determined where we would be. Got the 4.9, and paid approximately 25 with ttl, so overall a fair deal for us.

    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?
  • bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    Just because a dealer is honest, doesn't mean that you can't write to the company about their incompetence. They should have called the other dealer to determine if the car is really available or just a demo. The same with the previous message. The only way a dealer is going to get the message are letters to the company. Dealers live & die by the survey.
  • volfangaryvolfangary Member Posts: 105
    You were a lot kinder than I would have been. I would take my time calling back and make them do it on your time, such as after five some evening. Make them provide a loaner car, put them out some how. If they really want the rims back, they need to work around what you demand! :D
  • stmssstmss Member Posts: 206
    How does that old adage go 'he who has the gold makes the rules'? Unless I see some effort with dealers, this the rule I live by these days - never use to - but I have got tired of being inconvenienced for someone elses benefit. This from someone who has had a service manager fired due to plain incompetence. Usually, you will get more consideration and attention if you owe someone something rather than the other way around.

    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!
  • rileyfinnrileyfinn Member Posts: 2
    yeah, first service sounds about right. The rims should be okay, but the tires are going to have some miles on them. The wife's going out of town with the car, wonder if there's some legal requirement on reporting actual miles on tires, and I wonder how often dealers switch semi worn tires on cars that look new. No vin number on tires I'm aware of. I'll definitely be requesting new tires.
  • bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    Of course if you end up putting 30,000 miles on a tire, a few hundred miles here or there doesn't mean much.
  • dieselg4dieselg4 Member Posts: 23
    I went to Ford's website, but they don't have lease information for the Freestyle. I was looking at a Freestyle SE w/ AWD and the convenience package. Any ideas? Somehow I think it will be higher than the nearly ubsurd $299 lease promotion on the new Explorer XLT.
  • edmeyer01edmeyer01 Member Posts: 5
    I've actually been checking quotes for the FS and from what I can see, they right now are waiving sec. deposits and acq fees, and they have good interest rates and residuals with some cap cost reduction. Good luck.
  • sueespontesueesponte Member Posts: 10
    We actually went to a dealer real quickly yesterday to test drive a Freestyle, and ask a few questions about pricing. The salesman wasn't the greatest, and I'm not even sure if he wanted to sell a car from his attitude, but without ANY negotiation on our part or incentives on the dealer's side whatsoever (in fact, the net cap cost was basically set at MSRP), the lease price we were given on a Limited (with no options - no sec deposit) was $477/mo (w/6% tax). If you put $485 (or something like that) down as a sec dep the fee was about $455 (w/6% tax).

    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
  • passat_2002passat_2002 Member Posts: 468
    Why don't you share the X3 lease info with your Ford dealer and see if the terms for a Freestyle Limited lease don't get suddenly better. Also, make sure you're comparing apples to apples when comparing lease's. For instance, didn't the X3 lease include a considerable down payment? (capital cost reduction, deposit, etc.) Allowed yearly mileage is another way leases vary. A persons credit rating may make a difference as well.
  • stmssstmss Member Posts: 206
    Good advice - you really need to be careful in comparing. You can run some numbers to check out what Ford is offering on many auto websites, including this one. You need to be sure Ford is giving you all the terms in order to evaluate properly. There should be no hidden numbers. These tools are also very helpful in understanding effect of downpayment and interest rate.

    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!
  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hi dieselg4. I suspect that a Ford Freestyle will be more expensive to lease than a Ford Explorer as well. We can find out how much the exact Freestyle that you want will cost to lease if you let me know which model you want, a Freestyle SE 2WD, a Freestyle SEL AWD, etc..., its full MSRP, and approximate selling price.

    Car_man
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  • sandy_jsandy_j Member Posts: 6
    These posts have been very interesting to read.

    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! :D

    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:
  • cmunizcmuniz Member Posts: 604
    I agree with u. Well said.
  • mtdsmtds Member Posts: 1
    Car_man - Since I haven't seen dieselg4's reply I am interested in a Ford Freestyle Limited AWD with MSRP ($30,580) and approximate selling price, true market value($30,254)per Edmunds.com
  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hi mtds. I take it that you would like me to estimate what this vehicle's lease program should be for you. You never mentioned how long you want to lease it for or how many miles per year you want to be able to drive it, so for now I will assume that we are talking about a 36 month lease with 12,000 miles per year. You definitely can do a lot better than the terrible True Market Value price that is listed for this model right now. Using the pricing that is currently being offered through Ford's "Keep it Simple" promotion a 2006 Ford Freestyle Limited AWD has an MSRP of $31,280 and a selling price of $28,228.62. Since you are leasing though, the cash incentives on this model are $500 less, so the capitalized cost would be based upon a price of $28,728.62. Using these numbers, if you were to lease this truck through Ford Credit right now for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, its zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $378.

    Car_man
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  • n_a_cn_a_c Member Posts: 7
    I bought a 2006 SE with traction control and the safety package for $23,495 cash with no trade in. I’m happy with getting $3300 off MSRP :) Two months ago I had signed to buy a similar 2005 for $22,400 – but that deal fell apart when the dealership found out the car (which was at another dealership) was a demo. I believe that was an honest mistake. It worked to my advantage because the dealer knew I was serious. In our negotiations, I stuck to my desire of a SE in Silver, with 2nd Row bench and safety package – no exceptions.

    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.
  • jvicoryjvicory Member Posts: 1
    Just purchased a 2005 SEL AWD w/Safety & Front Comfort Packages along with 50/50 3rd row seat; out the door excluding T,T & L for $ 24,720.00 The dealership also gave me fair trade-in value on a 99 taurus w/118,000 miles which came off the $24720.00 total. Actual dollars spend $ 23,520.00 Everything went very smooth until, signing paperwork time came. I made an appointment with the finance person, my sales person phoned me to ask if I could come early. I did and ended up waiting 90 minutes just to get into the finance office ( this turned out to be 60 minutes past my orginal appointment time). I honestly just about cancelled the deal and left because of this, It turned a great buying experience into a below average one.
  • tom_holsingertom_holsinger Member Posts: 58
    These boards at Edmund's are fantastic! I just bought a 2006 Freestyle SE (FWD) from Patchett's Ford in Stanislaus County, California for $24,944 (Convenience & Safety groups + Traction Control). The boards here helped me zero in exactly which vehicle I wanted, and alerted me to a Freesyle dashboard reflection problem which I was able to avoid by specifying a dark shale interior.

    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.
  • mynameheremynamehere Member Posts: 4
    The only Freestyle Limited I can find that comes close to the options, trim, etc. I want is halfway across the country. The dealer wants to charge me $1300 for profit and transport to their lot.

    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...
  • bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    I rather pay the deposit and know the price up front. You're risking the $500 if there's something wrong with the car, but otherwise when the car comes in who knows what you'll pay!
  • volfangaryvolfangary Member Posts: 105
    I agree. I would rather pay the $500 then not be certain what you are going to pay when it arrives. I knew someone that waited until their car came in and then someone else saw it at the dealership and the dealer sold it to the other person because they were willing to pay more.
  • mynameheremynamehere Member Posts: 4
    05 Norsea Blue SEL

    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. :)
  • volfangaryvolfangary Member Posts: 105
    Congratulations on a great deal. I didn't know you could get factory leather seats for third row? I'll have to check into getting those.
  • quadad2quadad2 Member Posts: 1
    Sounds VERY good. I never heard of the Kartina discount. Is that for the Louisiana region or something ?
  • mynameheremynamehere Member Posts: 4
    Yes, the Katrina discount was just for certain areas of Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

    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!
  • freealfasfreealfas Member Posts: 652
    I do not beleive the third row is leather from the accounts I have seen here on this site and the other FS forumn. I thought the "leather" package for the FS was only the 1st/2nd row seating surfaces only...

    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)"
  • vwcarcrazyvwcarcrazy Member Posts: 52
    I believe from the original post that the leather interior in this case was dealer installed (aftermarket). You are correct that with the factory leather interior, the 3rd row seat is all vinyl (on the front seats, only the seating surface is leather, the remainder is vinyl) with either the SE/SEL optional or Limited standard. The vinyl available today is very good and can be difficult to tell that it is not leather. By the way, this is the same with most other US manufacturers also - Chrysler and GM -
    the 3rd seats are all vinyl and only the seating areas are actually leather.
  • freealfasfreealfas Member Posts: 652
    Why would the dealer be installing an aftermarket leather interior? I have never heard of such a thing... Not to say it doesn't happen it just seems a bit fishy to me that they would be doing that on a brand new vehicle, it more seems to me a bit of a $1100 scam...Having the dealer install a aftermarket leather package might affect the passenger side air bags effectiveness if the seats weren't tested with them. This story just seems more than a bit wrong to me that's all... just pointing out my skepticism
  • vwcarcrazyvwcarcrazy Member Posts: 52
    Dealers install aftermarket leather interiors all the time when a customer wants to replace the original cloth interior with leather at purchase, or when a certain vehicle or trim level is not offered with a leather interior. Note that the optional leather interior on many cars runs $800 - $1200, so $1100 is not too bad a price. I had the cloth interior replaced on my Tahoe at delivery several years ago. The vehicle they had in stock was cheaper to have this done than to factory order one, there was a $2500 rebate that would expire if I did not buy from stock. On many vehicles, including my Tahoe, the side passenger airbags are not effected as they have a cutout on the side of the seat with a plastic cover that the seat fabric/leather goes around.
  • soccerrefsoccerref Member Posts: 4
    Just took delivery of a 2006 Merlot/Pebble Freestyle Limited, with safety option, 6 passenger seating, second row center console, front wheel drive, auxiliary climate control, and adjustable pedals. Would have liked to have the remote sensing option, but couldn't find one with the rest of what I wanted.

    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.
This discussion has been closed.