My boss is looking at getting a AWD Freestyle for his wife, to replace the POS Saturn Vue that she hs only had about 9months and can't stand. What are the goods/bads about it? What mileage could a person expect?

TIA
Paul

 

My wife drives a 2005 Freestyle AWD that we have owned since new. It now has about 36,000 miles on it, and although it has not been trouble free, it has been a very good and reliable vehicle, (we traded in a 2002 Trailblazer that was junk from day one).

A lot of people do not like the CVT transmission in these vehicles, but we like ours. I have heard that if something happens to the CVT after the warranty and it needs replaced, they are over $5,000 though. Some people also say that the 3.0L engine has no power, but actually it is not bad coupled to the CVT.

I assume that this Freestyle is used that your boss is looking at, since they replaced the Freestyle with the Taurus X for '08, or is it a left over '07? The Taurus X definately has more power with the 3.5L engine versus the 3.0L in the Freestyle, plus the CVT was replaced with a normal auto transmission.

My wife drives almost all city and no highway, and I believe she gets around 19mpg.

 

it's an outstanding vehicle.

better fuel economy than any V6 minivan.
cavernous interior
extremely stable at highway speeds
one of the safest vehicles on the road (addition of stability control in Taurus X resulted in IIHS "safest in the US designation)

3.0 and CVT are well suited to each other. It will keep up to a 5.4 F150. So those that think the 5.4 is a slug wont like it (but then they wont like anything that doesn't accelerate like a sportscar)

All in all, its a fantastic car

 

They ain't bad. The CVT is kind of a toss up...if you don't have any problems with it within the first 20-30K miles or so, you probably will never have a problem with it. Mechanically, everything in the transmission is massively overbuilt (the Germans seem to be good at that), and unlike a lot of other CVTs this one uses a chain so belt slippage/breaking isn't a concern. And yes, should the CVT ever blow up, it's about $4300 for a replacement unit.

 

I had one as a loaner for about 2 weeks. Mechanically, performance, wasn't bad. But I absolutely HATED the interior setup/layout/function. I can't put my finger on it, but I just couldn't stand being on the inside. I bought a MKX for my wife, and my friend bought an Edge for his wife. Much better vehicle in my opinion. Like I said, its just my opinion, but I hated it.

 

Thanks for the input guys! My boss told me yesterday that him and his wife where going to test drive a Freestyle today. There is a used 05 AWD, 40,000 miles, loaded with leather, heated seats, ect for $14,500 at the local Dodge dealer. My bosses wife thinks that she wants a Chrysler Town and Country but my boss wants a Freestyle. They are going to test drive both of them today, so we will see what happens.

Thanks again!

 

We looked at the Taurus X when we bought my wife's new car yesterday. We went with the Edge AWD and absolutely love it. The Edge is so much better than the Taurus X...and I love that BAMR!