Ford Freestyle

Price Paid:  $14100.00 from Auction

Strengths:
Versatility, size, comfort

Weaknesses:
rear brakes

Summary:
I love this car! Coming from my big Expedition, this seats about the same but I save so much $$ on the gas! It's smooth and sturdy and I'm amazed at the amount of "stuff" I can fit into it along with my family.
Only bad part is the rear brakes. The concept of having the rear brakes receive more of the braking force is sweet in regards to safety, like the Volvo, the sad part is the cheap Ford pads used to perform this feat and the failure of the caliper. Shouldn't have to replace the brakes this soon/often!

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 13.00 votes

Price Paid:  $27000.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
2005 Freestyle Limited

Strengths:
Good looks,storage spaces, interior size and room for passengers, cup holders, door sizing and placement.

Weaknesses:
Poor brakes and tire wear, poor airflow design when opening back windows alone.

Summary:
Vehicle has good looks and style, very good crash protection in vehicle. For anyone commuting, this vehicle has some nice features with storage container on the dash and the audio/video system with wireless headphones. Sunroof is great but the vehicle has strange airflow if you try to open only the rear windows. Fairly smooth ride and very smooth acceleration and braking.

Gas mileage is about 22-25 miles in city/highway driving in the Southeast. Seems like Chevron gas runs the best and actually adds about a mpg compared to other brands.


Ford has used poor brakes and tires on this vehicle; I replace mine at 30K. FORD tells me that they are not covered in the so called "Bumper-Bumper" warranty. (I wonder why brakes are not between the bumpers?) I never replaced brakes/tires on any new vehicle in the past before 50-60K miles. I am concerned about the over longevity of the vehicle from my experience with these items. I have been loyal FORD owner of 6 new ones in the past 2 decades, but this may be the last one I’ll buy.

Similar Products Used:
Ford F150- Explorer- Expedition - Excurision - Escape

Price Paid:  $19000.00 from Car Max

Year / Model Reviewed:
2005 Freestyle limited

Summary:
My family loves it. We have 3 kids and lots of stuff when we travel. We chose the bench seat for the 2nd row so all 3 kids could sit there while hauling things.
The Freestyle drives like a car, hauls like an SUV and has all-wheel drive like an SUV, but get car like MPG.So far so good.

Price Paid:  $24000.00 from Corning Ford

Year / Model Reviewed:
2005 freestyle AWD

Strengths:
roomy interior, alot of storage, easy access and exiting. Stylish

Weaknesses:
mechanical reliability, brakes, transmission,door latches, alot of cheap looking plastic in the interior. Many dealers don't know how to work on them.

Summary:
We were first impressed with the utility of the vehicle, stationwagon and SUV. It rode well and seemed to handle well on city streets and freeway driving. Even though it is small on the outside, it is big on the inside.
We have had problems with door laches, brakes, and transmission. It floats in tight turns and lacks acceleration.

Similar Products Used:
Toyota Privia Minivan

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $22500.00 from Galpin Ford

Year / Model Reviewed:
2005 Freestyle

Strengths:
Drives like a car, great gas mileage and lots of room inside. CVT transmission is an asset in my opinion. Likely to be very reliable, but doesn't give you that sexy, press you into your seat acceleration. But it will help you save your pennies for retirement.

Weaknesses:
It's a bit long, so be careful for the first month or two, especially if you're coming from an Escape or Mustang, like I was.

The door latches on some early models were covered by a factory recall, so check with your dealer.

Brakes are an issue. For some reason the rear brakes seem to do more stopping than the front. Very odd. It's a big vehicle and it does take a lot of brake to stop it, but for the life of me I can't figure why the rears wear faster than the front.

With disc brakes being easy and cheap to change yourself in about an hour, I'm not too worried when my warranty ends. I once put four pair of "Guaranteed For Life" sets on my T-Bird over the course of about 8 years. Funny thing is that the auto parts store that I bought the 1st pair from doesn't sell them as "Guaranteed for Life" any more. Too bad, I paid $22 for 4 pairs of brakes. I think they may have lost money on that one.

Besides the brake issue, I have no problems. The car has a time tested 3.0 liter Ford engine, an German CVT Trans (Audi uses it too), and has a Volvo body. I call mine a "ForValdi".

For the money, Freestyle is a great car!

Summary:
Great "SUV" size with car like driving characteristics. Longer than the usual SUV and slightly lower. Has the same room as the Explorer with MUCH better gas mileage. In the Explorer I got 12mpg city and 19mpg Hwy. In the Freestyle, 16mpg city and 27mpg Hwy. CVT transmission doesn't give you the sports car like acceleration, but then you get the great gas mileage. CVT may prove MORE reliable over time as it has very few moving parts, unlike a modern automatic transmission witch has dozens of moving parts meshed together.

If you like the acceleration and don't mind giving more money to the Saudis go for the new Taurus X, with a 3.5 liter 6 speed transmission.

The noise mentioned in other reviews are typical of a lot of SUV and Cars. Opening just the rear windows does make a whop, whop, whop noise like a helicopter. That said, opening all four windows, even just a little bit doesn't make this noise. Again, other makes of SUVs and sedans also make this noise, so it's not just the Freestyle that does it.

Similar Products Used:
Ford Explorer, Ford Escape Hybrid, Toyota Highlander Hybrid.