Ford Freestyle - Taurus X

aggie60

Our leak(s) is concentrated in the rear of the vehicle. My thoughts, along with thoughts from other engineers at work (I work for an automobile Tier I supplier which makes weatherstrips -- ironic isn't it?), is that the water is coming through welds in the body (roof rack) and possibly around the rear door hinges. It then moves down the pillars and is filling up the area around the wheel wells. Water was noted around all of the pillar openings for the safety belts and around the lower LATCH openings. It has also affected the DVD player.

stmss

Unless you park your car in a garage. Remote start is useless (and dangerous!) in this application. In dead of winter the garage may still be well below freezing (most people don't have heated garage). Remote start is overkill and waste of fuel for the many instances where heated seats will do.

Bottom line is that no manufacturer selling cars in northern climates should be offfering leather without heated seats!

manasota

Your completely wrong and obviously have never owned or used one. What does a garage have to do with anything and how is it dangerous? :confuse:

I'm not going to worry about a nickle worth of gas while my car cools down or warms up. Also, it's better for the engine to let it idle and get the oil flowing before driving. :P

tidester

I think he's referring to the exhaust (carbon monoxide/dioxide).

tidester, host

stmss

No I have never owned one (or used one) so I may have assumed that there is no safety device on it from preventing your car from starting in the garage. I don't know what that would be though.

Yes I am talking about carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide production from auto starting your car in a closed garage or confined space! There have been deaths from this exact problem.

explorerx4

what can i say. i'm a cheap yankee. i'd rather have a nickel in my pocket, so i can spend it on something else. 3 of my cars have heated seats. i think they work pretty well. there definitely aftermarket seat heaters out there.

ranger2001xlt

There was a production stoppage when the Freestyles were first being built. There were about 12,000 that Ford had to hang onto and fix body welds, allignment issues and such. This was part of the quality control launch of this vehicle. It sounds like you got one that slipped through. I believe the stoppage started around mid-late November 2004 and lasted several weeks.

I would make Ford replace it at their expense. Tell them that you got a vehicle which was part of this group and their quality control procedures failed in this case.

bruneau1

I bought the rubber mats from Ford Accessories on the net. 65$ plus shipping. They are very high quality and look very good. Should last the life of the vehicle. Once again, for windshield glare, try the dark towel trick. It works, is very inexpensive, can be removed instantly, probably looks just as good or better than an ill-formed, bulging dash mat.

northlakes

If you want to know how the AWD Freestyle behaves in snow, this article from Road & Travel earlier this year may be of interest. Very positive review! :shades:

www.roadandtravel.com/roadtests/reviews/2005roadtests/newcarreviews/fordwinterdriving.htm

cmuniz

Thanks for the link. With winter coming it's nice to know that we can expect good ice & snow performance.

willie19

I got the same Freestyle mats but lucky for me I did not pay extra for them as my dealer threw them in for free on the deal.Yeah, being a moocher I also got a half dozen oil filters, couple of thermal coffee mugs,set of locking wheel nuts, and a complimentary oil change. He's happy and we're happy.
The Ford mats are of good quality but I found them to be somewhat skimpy in size and did not cover the carpet too well.
However, I have no reason to complain.Also have learned to ignore the windshield glare.Sometimes it doesn't even appear to be there but then I don't drive it regularly as it's the wife's vehicle.

tourist1234

Hey Willie,
Can I bring you with me next time I go buy a car! We can load the car up with Freebie with freebies.

willie19

Yeah but to be truthful I'm like some of those railbirds that go to the horse races and only talk about the times they won .During the last 12 years our family members bought 6 vehicles from the same dealer.
I'm quite sure they got more than their pound of flesh and the little doodads they throw in is just more inducement for repeat business and make me much poorer.Nevertheless I feel we got fair treatment and sure love our Freebie.

pnewby

Anyone else getting annoyed with the Inside Line Video box covering the right side of the Msg Ctr area, and part of the 1st few posts?

stever

Yep, one of those unintended consequences of a production push. It's being worked on:

Sylvia, "Forums Software! Your Questions Answered..." #2223, 1 Nov 2005 12:43 am

Steve, Host

aggie60

Is this information correct? What is the source? I have got to the Zone Manager level and used this info. She asked how did I know this? I will never reveal source! No, I told her that I work for a Tier 1 supplier and we know whenever there is a line stoppage regarding vehicles we supply, the reason, and root cause (especially when it is one of our products which caused the line stoppage...so far, through 2 launches we have been fortunate but they will nickel and dime the Tier 1's over some of the most innane situations...gotta make a buck somehow!

Thanks for the info...we are sticking by our guns and demanding the car be replaced even though the dealer says it is fixed (which we did not authorize). Our stance has been not to repair as it can't be repaired...replace it with a comparbly equipped vehicle. That's not too much to ask is it?

:lemon:

passat_2002

To say that it "cant be repaired" is a little extreme. Anything can be repaired. The bottom line here is.. can it be made just like new. I'd go look at it and have either the dealer's service manager or a Ford area representative show you exactly what work was done and what was replaced on your vehicle. Show some skepticism, but try to be fair as well. If there is absolutely no trace or hint (musty odor) that water damage occurred, then I would say you have been made whole again. That's the bottom line. Perhaps they might consider giving you an extension on your warranty for your trouble.

aggie60

Certainly anything can be repaired but when there is extensive damage from the ceiling to the wheelwells which includes wiring, carpeting, underlayment, seat supports, a reasonable person will ask several questions including is this cost efficient and will the vehicle not suffer any ill effects such as premature corrosion, increased squeaks and rattles, etc. Poor body welds are difficult, if not impossible, for a dealer to repair. When a customer pays nearly $30,000 for a vehicle, he/she should be able to wash it and drive it during rainstorms. It is beginning to appear that this vehicle was sold yet never titled (prob. the owner found the leaks), it leaked for nearly a year prior to our purchase of the new car with 245 miles on the odometer, repairs were already attempted by the original dealer (the vehicle was located in a neigboring state 180 miles away and was delivered with 425 miles), and there was a leakage problem serious enough to halt production for nearly a month during the launch of the vehicle.

passat_2002

I can certainly understand your concerns about the future effects of the water damage. I too would not be happy with this situation. Simply stated, a new vehicle's warranty should not have to be applied to extensive water damage that predated your purchase.That's an unreasonable position for your dealer to take, and one they have no business asking you to accept. If the vehicle was sold to you as "new" and not as "used", (i.e. "as is") then I think you have a case that would stand-up in any courtroom as long as you can show that the water damage predated your purchase. That's the key thing here.

Since your handle is aggie60, I'm going to guess that you might possibly live in S.E. Texas, and that the "neighboring state" that your vehicle came from is quite possibly Louisiana. Did your vehicle perhaps go through Katrina before you bought it? What about Rita? And did you buy this car sight unseen from 180 miles away? I don't mean to rub salt in any wounds here... but never buy a vehicle that you can't see in front of you. Good luck and let us know how this turns out.

nymom

Hello,
We will be having our third child in may 06 and have started looking at vehicles. We live where there is alot of snow in the winter so AWD or 4WD is a must. The Freestyle looks like a good option but am wondering about how car seat friendly it is? The three kids will be 5,2 and newborn, so i need something that can handle three car seats across if. Do any freestyle owners out there have experience with this. Your knowledge would be wonderful. Just wondering if this is even a vehicle i should have on my list?

puckyhuddle

I'm not sure if the 2nd row bench will accomodate 3 car seats (using latch). I know the 3rd row seat has at least one latch, and the 2nd row bucket seats option each have one. The only thing to remember is that to get to the third row, you need to fold up the 2nd row. Very easily done, but impossible if there are car seats in the 2nd row.

We have 2 kids and went with the 2nd row bucket seat option with 2 car seats in the 2nd row. We didn't get the 2nd row center console. This way, small kids or nimble adults can pass through the middle of the second row buckets to get the the 3rd row. If your 5 year old can buckle themselves in, then maybe he/she could sit in the 3rd row, with your other two in the 2nd row buckets. Hope that helps.

stmss

We have 3 kids - 11,10,7. They are all out of car seats now but we went through this same thing a few years ago. My advice is the following
- when looking at vehicles, don't be afraid to take some car seats with you and buckle them in to check it out. It may look funny but this is too important to overlook and hope to 'live' with later. It is a major decision criteria for those of us with 3 (or more) young kids.
- the car seat design is important as there are many wide ones out there that won't fit 3 abreast regardless of vehicle.
- vehicle dimensions don't tell the story as sometimes the buckle location or curve of the seats or door attachments interfere with getting three seats across.
- resist the third row for the third child - it consumes storage but more importantly also puts the third child at higher risk during possible rear end accidents.
- the Freestyle with a bench should be on the list (the bench is relatively flat) but i don't know how the tethers are set up.
- our kids grew up with three seats across the middle of a 99 Volvo V70. Surprising, but there was more room here than most SUVs at the time we bought it. Seats wouldn't fit in a Lexus E300 or Toyota 4runner. Once we narrowed down our list we were in the dealership with child seats in tow. We even got some of the dealers to lend us the vehicles for the day and we took them home and tried them out.

explorerx4

nymom... it looks like advice doesn't get any better than that.

bobw3

We have an SE with a 2nd row bench and have had a booster seat for a 6 year old, forward facing seat for a 3 year old, and rear facing carseat for the 10 month old, and they all fit in the 2nd row. We had the 10month old in the middle and the 3 year old behind the driver. That left the booster seat, which is only a seat bottom, behind the front passenger seat. On the split 2nd row bench, the pass side of the split can be tipped forward for access to the 3rd row, so if you have a bottom-only booster seat you can put it there and still have access to the 3rd row if you need it. We just kept the 3rd row flat for storage, but if we did need to carry a couple more people, then we'd just put the booster in the 3rd row anyway.

nymom

Thank you everyone who let me know about having three kids in the freestyle. I hope that the oldest could go to a booster in the next year but i don't know because he is small for his age. we will be test driving all the vehicles that we are interested in and bringing along all the car seats as well as the strollers. so much to think about it. Thanks again!!

jschreiber

I thought I would update all you freestyle owners as I hit 17,000 miles and year one on my AWD SE Freestyle.

No repair problems at all--none
drives beautifully holding up well--NO rattles
did well on cross country road trip and got 26 mpg
averaging 22.5 mpg in mixed stop and go hiway in metro Minneapolis
Got one bad tank of gas with engine light on--went away with no ethanol shell after one tank
NOTE--air filters a little hard to find--had to go to Ford dealership

northlakes

On the St. Paul side of Minneapolis/St. Paul, my Freestyle AWD SEL turns one year on December 1st. With the exception of the bad gas experience you had, my experience has been the same as yours. No problems or rattles. :shades:

explorerx4

ok..., the advice does get better!

bruneau1

Thanks for the positive input. We tend to get the bad stuff in this forum. It is interesting to note that Consumer Reports gives the 500 and Montego good report cards, but not the Freestyle (AWD). It will be interesting to see what the details are. Drove a Milan and a Montego (awd) yesterday. The Milan is a fun car, but i prefer the Montego for its better ride, seat height and CVT. The 6sp. in the Milan does a lot of shifting. I"ll take a little less speed and lot more smoothness.

tom049

Hello
Nice to find this great site. It has come time for me to buy a new vehicle to replace my 2002 Explorer Sport. I've owned 2 of these in a row and have had little or no problems with them. Unfortunately, the 2-door Sport is no longer made by Ford (Escape similar), but I need a 4 door vehicle now anyway.
I've driven several Freestyles and love the styling and features and the fact it's not a dreaded mini-van, yet not as big a gas hog as a 4 door Explorer with a V-8. My question to all you FS owners is: how would you rate the power and get-up-and-go of your FS with the 3.0 engine. That is the only thing that worries me is that it just doesn't have the power it needs for such a heavy vehicle. Although gas prices were very high recently, they've come back down and I'm still tempted to go for the loaded Eddie Bauer 4 door Explorer, but resale down the road could be problematic.
I've also gotten pretty spoiled with 4 wheel drive in the snow here, so I'm a bit leery of AWD. Any comments?
I'd appreciate your thoughts as I struggle to make a decision this week. Thanks in advance, Tom :shades:

passat_2002

Why would you be leery of AWD in snow country? It's exactly what you need on snow and ice.

cmuniz

I have had both 4WD and AWD vehicles in snow and the both handle snow covered roads well. The 4WD vehicles usually have a low range and sit higher off the ground so if either of those things are important to you 4WD is better. AWD is easier to use since you don't have to think about it.

As far as power, I don't think anyone can convince you whether it has enough power or not. Most owners think it has enough, but that is a personal thing.You have to decide that for yourself in order to be happy with your purchase. The power in a Freestyle with a CVT is deceptive. If you think about it, a vehicle with a conventional transmission revs up to say 3,000 rpm, then shifts gears, goes down to say 2,400 rpm, goes up to 3,000 again, shifts gears, etc, etc... The Freestyle revs up to what it considers optimum rpms and then stays there while the cvt is the one that is gearing down as accelation is taking place. A totally different feel, but more efficient mechanically so it doesn't need all that horsepower. I'm no engineer, but that's the way I would explain it. It tends to be (or appear) slower at the beginning of the acceleration but picks up speed quickly after that.

tourist1234

>>The power in a Freestyle with a CVT is deceptive.<<
I agree with this statement. We had our Freestyle on vacation in the southeast with lots of hill and mountain climbling. The constant up and down gave the CVT a pretty good work out. I was impressed with the sense of smooth acceleration that the Freestyle exhibited under different conditions. Acceleration uphill when needed seemed effortless. We never felt as if we were struggling to pass slower semis etc. Even on tough grades the Freestyle seemed as if it was not struggling. This is where I agree that the power is deceptive. It is so smooth and even that it gives a sense of more acceleration than is taking place. I don't know if that statement makes any sense. Its not like you are shifting through gears for more torque. For every day driving though the Freestyle is more than adequetely powered. We have no problem getting up to 70mph on our short expressway ramps or passing and merging at expressway speeds.
In regards to snow. We have an AWD Honda CRV that has done very well in deep snow going to mom in law. It has higher clearance than the Freestyle. In the winter we reguarly visit and have to travel 5 miles down unplowed back roads. (It usually takes the county 2-3 days to plow) I am a bit concerned that despite AWD on the Freestyle, it may struggle when the snowfall gets over 10". The CRV has easily handled 15". I have noticed driving around town that the clearance of the Freestyle is limited.

aikenangie

Well it's time for my 6th trip to the Ford Dealer for my CD player. The tech told me he spoke with the rep of the company who makes the CD players for Ford. They are aware that there is a problem with the CD Players. The only thing the tech offered was to order a new cd player. They put it in and once again the display buttons were not programed to backlight. I called the Dealer today to vent and hopefully I'll get some sort of satisfaction. Pray for me! Thanks for reading.

stmss

Further to some of the comments here on power. I think the power is fine however, my wife does not. But, I drive the vehicle much more than her and I admit that it took me about 1500 km or so of driving to get use to the CVT. She has not put that many miles on it yet. I am not surprised that a test drive of this vehicle would leave those with the impression of the car being underpowered (especially if they have read any of the reviews beforehand).

explorerx4

the 4wd explorer has awd along with 4wd. it is rear biased awd until the the fronts kick in. this is better than you are used to. the locked 4hi and 4low are just like what you have. my '02 v8 with towing package gets pretty much the epa numbers(14-19). what kind of mileage does your explorer sport get? my kid wants to get one. the freestyle will no doubt use less gas than either.

lulu54usa

I was just curious as to why you would change the air filter at only 17,000 miles? :confuse:

explorerx4

where i live there is a lot of sand spread on the roads during the winter. i replace the air filter in the sping after the sand is cleaned up.

vgumbatz

I don't know if this at all doable, but does anyone know if a non LTD Freestyle can be retrofited with the memory feature for the seats? I know that the LTD has a door mounted switch that allows two drives to have separate settings for the drivers seat, mirrors and pedals. I have a SEL and was just wondering if the driver's door might already be wired up for the controller. Just add the controller and you're ready to go? Of course, the SEL doesn't have adjustable pedals, but the memory seats would be way cool. Thanks!

aggie60

I actually live in western North Carolina, but grew up and went to college in California (UC Davis is also the Aggies and the number was mine when I played ball). The car was in eastern Tenn and my wife had certain requirements like a middle row bench, dvd, safety package. We also wanted to get the vehicle prior to the end of the "Friends & Family" promotion to save some money. The dealer in Winston-Salem found the car in a search as, at the time, there was not a single SEL with a middle bench in NC or SC. This will be the last time we try this...if I have to we will order it from the factory. I did this with my '01 Ram 2500 4x4 and never had a problem while getting a truck I can live with for a long time.

On a whim I ran the SEL on CarFax and it showed that the vehicle had at least one owner (not us) and the warranty started in Jan '05. This raised a lot of alarms. The dealer in Tenn was wrong on several levels in this case. The dealer in NC had the vehicle long enough to clean it up, however, our point was that they were the representative for Ford in this sale. Make it right with us and seek restitution against the dealer in Tenn on their own. I would have welcomed the chance to help them, but they did not want to help us in any way.

As far as an update, I finally got in touch with the Zone Mgr and she was fair. The dealer told her one story and we told her the truth. We are now waiting for the dealer to find a replacement new SEL.

jschreiber

well that is a good question of why I'd replace the air filter after 17K miles, but when I looked at it it was dirty--full of grit and sandy stuff (as noted in the other comment), so what the heck I replaced it. That said, I couldn't find the part except by going to the dealership and ordering it--you'd think it would be standard duratec but apprently not.

passat_2002

So the vehicle was pre-owned then and sold to you as "used"? Is that correct?

bruneau1

If your goal is to haul no more than 4 people at a time and not tow boats or speed up mountains, the power is fine. If you need to haul heavy loads up hills a lot, your noise levels (high rpms) and mileage will not be very good. The Freestyle is a very sensible and even fun vehicle when operated in its limits.

bobw3

If the goal is to haul no more than 4 people, then why buy a vehicle that seats 7? I've had 5 in the car with lots of luggage in and on the roof, plus I've driven it locally with 7, and I've never had power problems. As with any vehicle, the more you carry, the worse the MPG, and since the Freestyle is starting out with great mileage for a vehicle of its size, then even when it goes down because of the added weight, it's still better than most vehicles of its size. Also, I just want to echo what others have said in that their is a perception of low power because of the CVT, but it's just that...a perception.

prettyslick65

I've finally decided to let go of my 91 Ranger that I've owned since I bought it new. It's been a great truck, topping out at 198,000 some odd miles. I've been watching the Freestyle since I first saw it at the 2005 Philly auto show and am very pleased to say, I will be finally visiting a showroom on Friday to compare and drive it along with an Explorer. After surveying the internet,many many web boards including this and other sources, I've concluded that the Freestyle is a great vehicle for me to choose from. I really hope that once I drive it and compare it to the Explorer, that it will be my choice. It just depends on which will suit my needs and comfort level better. I have to say that I am as disappointed as other members in Fords lack of exposure for the Freestyle. I think that I am proving the critics wrong when they say that the Freestyle doesn't appeal to a broad range of car buyers. I'm a single woman, 35 with a large German Shepherd that needs a comfortable ride. I grew up in a Ford Family and am somewhat of a motor head. Owning a 69 Mustang Mach1 and a 65 Dodge Coronet I am somewhat sensitive to what I drive and the way it feels. Really knowing what "power" is. Saying this, I have absolutely no reservations about "lack of power" or "AWD" capability. I think the strong points of the Freestyle are apparent and are quite impressive. I can't wait.

bruneau1

What you say is true, but the smaller Freestyle engine has to work much harder to deliver than a big v-6 or v-8. And those 7 seats are a marketing ploy. If i were to fill those up and head for the hills, I would want more ponies and torque. Otherwise, it's too much roaring at high rpms. And that means engine wear,too.

explorerx4

a '69 mach1? color me green with envy!

bobw3

So how many RPMs will it take for a fully loaded Freestyle to go up the mountains? I just want to know the basis for your comments about the roaring and high RPMs.

prettyslick65

I'm curious about bruneau1's comments too. I've concluded based on other members on this board that the CVT carriers the Freestyle with no problems in the mountains. I think there have been some statments from other members saying so.

pnewby

Been through the mountains in TN and NC, also in Arkansas(never can remember the 2 letters for there), fully loaded and found no problems, still passed all those "powerful vehicles" any time I wanted, and I swear I'm not deaf from the engine roar.