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This is the big President's Day Weekend Sale on just about anything you can think of, right? In our local paper (San Franciso Chronicle), not one ad for a Freestyle, not one picture of one. There is a place in San Francisco that has a bunch of Escape Hybrids in stock--I thought those were pretty much gone by now. I read an article that said that while you save gas in the short run, replacing components eats up any savings in the long run (what has to be replaced, I wonder?)Their contention was that drive it so you don't feel guilty, but bottom line is that there is no real dollar savings. Hmmmmm. I'm so skeptical about articles these days, especially after seeing all the erroneous information printed about the Freestyle.
That would be so cool, K's Daddy--tell your wife I totally support her. But try not to get the same color--that would just confuse the neighbors too much!
FS Gal,
I'm not telling the wife nothing, she will have me trying to sell my old Mustang GT again, it almost cost me a marriage but I won hehehe. Can't part with my Pony :O)
Praying for warm weather so I could wash the Freebie :O(
Stop Back And Keep on Rockin in a FREE World!
K's Daddy
That's what I thought and thanks for the confirmation. I was very skeptical about this when I got a quotation sheet from one dealer which stated under order code "D" Perforated Leather-Trimmed Bucket Seats....includes heated driver and passenger seat.
That's a real bummer!
Thanks
I plan on backing it in.
As far as I can figure out, mirror to mirror (not folded in) I have 7' 4.5"
faxed/ emailed confirmation of the status of your order. It only takes them a few days (less than a week to put the car all together.) So I hope this helps you determine the time frame. The hardest part is waiting for it. (It will be a LOOOOONNNNNGGG 6-8 weeks...lol)
If anyone is in the Northeast Pa. area and doesn't want to wait to order one they should take a road trip.
K's Daddy :O)
I am a 100% convert to awd in dry, rain or snow. The car drives as one unit rather than from the front with the rear trailing behind.
Holding off the order so I can decide between Pilot (which has colors and options I want) or Freestyle (which doesn't). Silver frost heated seats are musts for starters.
Ford been silly with not lengthening the stalk for the rear view mirror on the inside when optioning the moonroof - all I see are switches. 6ft 3 ins if you're wondering
This option features: - Heated driver+passenger seat cushions
- Heated driver+passenger seatbacks
- Power reclining driver seat
- Leather seat upholstery
- Leatherette seatback material
- Leatherette door trim
- Leather rear seat upholstery
- Vinyl 3rd row seat material
- Driver memory seat settings
- Number of memory setting(s): 2
- Memory settings include door mirrors
Options/std. features are different between the two countries.
I really like this vehicle but the lack of decent colors in LTDs, and lack of heated seats on SELs has me leaning elsewhere. Wont wait for them to fix these problems in 06s.
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Thanks
J
I'm still working on it.. I already decided to go with FWD now I am negotiating with the local Ford dealers about the PRICE... so far I have two dealers that are willing to sell me the car to 150-250 dollars over Invoice Price which is an approx savings of 20% of MSRP... but I just want to pay INVOICE price - I know that close to the end of the month if the dealers didn't meet the quota they will be selling me the car at INVOICE - thanks for you advise
How did you get them down so low? What plan did you get? The A plan? D plan? I got them lower than the X-plan about $300-$500 (that's with every option on the Limited AWD.) I still want the customer rebate as well on top of it. I normally do not buy a car brand spanking new like this, but felt this one was worth it because it just fits my lifestyle perfect being so versatile and practical. Any other savings would help. Any advise you can give me????
I have the same stress marks in the plastic that you are referring to.
I also have a problem with the front passenger seat not folding forward. I assume that there is something wrong with the seat be I guess I could be doing something wrong. I pull on the strap and nothing happens. Can anyone tell me if you are supposed to pull the strap down towards the floor or back towards the rear of the vehicle or up or sideways or anything strange? I have and SEL with leather seats and the comfort package so the seat has the power recline. Do I have to use the power recline lever and recline the seat back all of the way or forward all of the way? Maybe the seat has to be slid all of the way forward or backwards first. I haven't taken the time to look into it much yet but I assume that the seat is just broken.
Mine works just fine.
Tony
So after more consideration we decided to go for the Limited FWD to get all the bells and whistles and forego on the AWD. Now my dealer tells us that Ford's order banks Not accepting orders for LTD FWD. This is really frustrating and a real disappointment as we didn't mind waiting the usual 6-8 weeks on a factory order. We get Yes and No answers from different sources. What is really going on ? Anyone with a definite answer ? ANT14 where are you when we need you. You have always been the most informed. The irony is I read somewhere that the Haldex system mfr. is having a hard time keeping up with demand so when is Ford going to lift the embargo on their topline FWD???
We are just about on the verge of going back to Toyota.
Issue is, there's an overwhelming orders for LTD AWD, therefore, Ford is wanting to produce more LTD with the AWD and fill those orders, before filling the LTD FWD. But the order ban should be lifted soon.
Hope this helps,
K's daddy :O)
got to the dealer on Feb 22nd. I haven't picked it up yet--next couple of days.
For this reason it appears illogical to me why Ford would shun the Limited FWD demand which also produces higher profit per unit than all those unsold lower trims and putting all the financial pressure on the unhappy dealers. Just my $0.02 .
Also my dealer tells me the LTD FWD will likely be available by around Sept. or possibly an '06 model. That's the state of confusion Ford's Marketing is creating. Some of those people need to have a job re-appraisal.
The SUV alternative (Macleans)
Steve, Host
Sunday another dealer in the paper was offering an LTD AWD loaded for the same price. I went to the first dealer's site looked over the inventory found nothing to match.
Closed with the second dealer Sunday afternoon and Tuesday night drove home. I have commuted to work thrice for a total of over 400 miles in snow, rain, sun, day, and night. This is a solid handling vehicle.
Now all I have to do is get my deposit back from the first dealer. I found this forum most helpful. Thank you.
We are both retired and the LTD FWD is meant for the wife. No need to drive to work nor into skiing. Hopefully that will be our "fair weather" vehicle. When it snows we can still go somewhere in my Ford Explorer Sport Trac.
I've had my Freestyle since Jan 3 and I finally saw another one! I live in San Francisco Bay Area and while I know there are a few on the road (because you're on this forum), I haven't seen you. I'm in LA awaiting the birth of my first grandchild (due date was today, but nothing yet) and while we were at the doctor's office, I saw another silver SEL in the parking lot--hooray!!! I went up to it and looked inside to see what they had and I was really hoping the security guy wouldn't catch me. I could explain myself to the owner, but I had a feeling the security guy might not buy my story. I mean, I'm such a threatening looking character walking around with an extremely pregnant young woman...She's been driving the Freestyle around (I know--but isn't a testament the fun-factor and the adjustability of the seats??). They have a RAV 4 and they liking the Freestyle as a possible replacement vehicle. They said it feels like driving a Volvo to them.
Safety question: the headrests in the front seats are bothering my daughters, who both have ponytails and the headrests were bothering them because they are angled forward. I popped them out and turned them around--did I do a terrible thing? I find it more comfortable too, but I really don't want a whiplash...
It's kind of disheartening to read of so many of you having problems getting your Freestyles--I don't know how you are being so patient! I think it's worth the wait, though.
I wouldn't recommend flipping over the headrests. You are cutting it's maximum efficiency incase of an accident. The way the headrest mechanism works, is upon rear impact, pressure from your upper body submarining into the upper backrest, will activate the structure of the headrests, to protrude forward and catch the skull with minimal travel.... (More travel, higher chance of whiplash injury).
I'm not sure how to bypass the ponytail issue. I do have a friend which she reclines the seat back a bit, and uses this half-donut headrest placed upon her shoulders, and it allows her to have her extravagant hairdo's.
Now about those 410 miles on your "new" Freebie. I hope you got a discount or something for the usage. Enjoy it!
I didn't do anything unusual.. What I did first is to built the Freestyle I'm looking for on Autos MSN.com, and also on Kelly Blue Book (kbb.com)... both websites gave both prices the MSRP and the Invoice Price. Based on those figures I submitted for quote prices and started negotiating with the 10 closest Ford dealers from my area and this is who I was able to get the lowest price. Based on my previous reply, I mentioned that I found two dealers that were willing to sell me the Freestyle at 150-250 over invoice.
Well yesterday I got the response from another dealer that the were willing to sell me car for 100 over the invoice, and another dealer that is selling me the car just at the invoice price...
So now I found the dealer that is willing to sell me the Freestyle at invoice but now my other concern is based on the previous messages posted it seems like that Ford put a hold or ban on the Limited FWD... So I will appreciate if any one knows or has an idea when they will be available...
Also can someone explain to me what the "A" Plan, "D" Plan or "X"-Plan means?
Thanks!!!
Also:
* Dealers don't order them as they can charge more for the installation. Ours was supposedly $400 (got it for $300). Compare that to the $250 MSRP factory installed version.
* The warranty on the dealer sensor may not likely match the one in your vehicle.
* If you get extended warranties, you may not get coverage either. (I'm not sure, but I bet Ford ESP won't cover ours.)
Sorry I've been away for a while. Doing a Master's is tough on chat time.
Sam
* If you put the soda case under the seats, the bags won't slide in.
* Consider buying collapsible (or folding) crates. A quick search on e-bay or google can get you several sellers. Here's one:
http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?PRODID=60192&C- ATID=71236
Sam
PS - The prospective user of Freebie's second row (baby) has only 4 more months before popping out. The stork should arrive in July 11 +/-. I was amazed when I saw his face (fully detailed) on the ultrasound screen.
PPS- He won't have neither my dad's nor my oversize nose...