OT: Anyone have an AWD Freestyle?

[Thomas Rogers]

And if so, how do you like it?



Looking at a fully decked out, used '05 with 16K miles.



TJR

 

[Gavin Allan]

Freestyle = fugly.



Sorry, not for me.



Seats not all that comfortable either.

 

[Tom Schindler]

I am not a fan of a Freestyle. I did drive one. Kinda ho-hum for me.





Tom

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Gavin, I sat in a leather seated 2007 Freestyle...seemed much more comfortable than the ST and my wife's Mountaineer.



I didn't find either the Edge or the Freestyle to be overly pretty on the outside...kind of plain, both, actually.



I think I will test drive the AWD Freestyle and then the AWD Edge and report back.



Thanks for the input.



TJR

 

[Tom Schindler]

TJR,



If there is something new you are considering, please contact me first.





Tom

 

[Robert Poole]

We have a limited AWD Freestyle, and the wife loves it. It carries all of her stuff, it is well built and well though out. We have owned one since Dec 05 and would buy one again.



Have a good one





Bob

 

[John Walker]

My wife also has an AWD Freestyle. She loves it!!

 

[Thomas Rogers]

That's good to hear Robert and John. I tend to "fall in love" with just about anything I test drive and see in a showroom, so I am not a good judge. We haven't test-drove one of the AWD Freestyles, yet, but it is on the short list (Murano, Rendevous).



As I said, I will let you guys know more after we test drive. If we decide to go forward with anything Ford, Caymen, I will contact you first.



TJR

 

[Jerry Crisp]

I traded in my sport trac for one, 2005 loaded w/cvt trans. I love the all wheel drive, the ride is good, not great. fuel mileage is not bad @ 21-23mpg. I do miss the trac though.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

I just through the Buick Acadia into the AWD mix of choices...though as I said, I loath first model year vehicles.



But 5 year, 100K mile warranty is impressive.



TJR

 

[Thomas Rogers]

My wife and I drove the '07 GMC Acadia tonight (I said Buick before...I was wrong).



Anyway it's a SWEEEEET ride. Very nice 8 passenger cross over.



Could be in our future.



TJR

 

[Gavin Allan]

Freestyle

Rendevous

Murano

Acadia



While I wouldn't be interested in any of these vehicles, the Murano is about 100 times better than the others. I wouldn't put it in the same class as the others listed. If this is the list, it would be a very easy decision for me!

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Gavin, that's easy to say, but can you please give me some rationale behind that?



Have you test driven all vehicles? The Murano is better why? What criteria are you rating of most importance to you?



TJR

 

[Gavin Allan]

I've ridden several times in the Freestyle. Don't like its appearance, for one.

Friend had a Rendesvous. Beside the goofy Aztec exterior styling, ugly GM interior, poor GM quality and resale value, hers was a rattling POS with less than 20,000 miles on it.

Drove a Murano and was impressed by the quality and styling. One of the car rags recently did a comparosion article and rated it very high--it compared with the BMW, Lexus, Cayenne, etc.

Don't know much about the Acadia, but I'm not crazy about the styling, or the GM'ness.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Take a look at the Acadia...drive one. I feel the same about everything you say, but the Acadia changed my mind on several fronts.



We will be test driving the Murano, but right now, the Acadia has one thing going for it...size...it will fit our family COMFORTABLY...more room than our 05 Mountaineer.



TJR

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Gavin, for size comparisons between the Murano and Acadia:



Murano:



Exterior

- Overall length 187.6

- Overall width 74.0

- Overall height 66.5



Interior

- Head room (front/rear) 40.7/39.7

- Leg room (front/rear) 43.4/36.1

- Hip room (front/rear) 56.2/56.6

- Shoulder room (front/rear) 59.6/59.1





Acadia:



Exterior

- Overall length 200.7

- Overall width 78.2

- Overall height 69.9



Interior

- Head room (front/rear/third) 40.4/39.3/38.4

- Leg room (front/rear/third) 41.3/36.9/33.2

- Hip room (front/rear/third) 57.8/57.9/48.3

- Shoulder room (front/rear) 61.9/61.1/57.8





Note that the Acadia is bigger, and it has the third-seat that is actually usable, which is pretty much a requirement for us. Does the Murano offer a third seat?



TJR

 

[Gavin Allan]

I think the Murano does offer a third seat, but like most of those vehicles, it is basically unusable except for small kids.



I drove a Subaru B9 Tribeca too. It was OK, but I am not a fan of that style. Guess if you have a large family, you don't have much choice. Seems a better value would be a Dodge Caravan or Honda Odysee, though.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Gavin,



That is what was surprising about the Acadia, the third row seat was actually usable for real people.



TJR

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

I like the VW Toureg, which I think looks very nice both interior and exterior, and I rode in one 3 yrs. ago and it was comfortable. I think that it is an economy version of the Porshe Cayan so it has good heritage.

 

[Tom Schindler]

I think that it is an economy version of the Porshe Cayan so it has good heritage.

Or is the Porsche Cayenne a more expensive version of the VW Toureg?





Tom