Interestingly, I, too, will be replacing my 1996 Ford Escort wagon. It’s been a great car for me – very reliable, so you could say that Ford has earned my trust. I did want something a little bit bigger than the Escort, since I play ice hockey and I could always use the extra hauling capacity for all of my gear that sits in a very large bag. The good thing about the AWD Freestyle is that it only switches to AWD mode when it needs it – for regular city and highway cruising, it stays in FWD mode to conserve gas.
It is true that it’s a first model year, and there’s always a risk with going with a brand-new model car, but it’s been out for a year and a half, and after carefully perusing numerous Freestyle message boards and websites, I’ve yet to hear of anything systematically negative in terms of reliability or functionality. The CVT, supposedly, is the hardest thing to get used to (I can’t say for sure, since I have yet to test drive one). The most difficult thing for me will be deciding on the color.
Have a look at the Ford Escape. I find it to be a perfect compromise. It gets reasonably good mileage, it’s comfortable and reasonably powerful, and it handles great. It’s strangely fun to drive. I’ve got a 2003, and so far it has been flawless, with nothing but regularly scheduled maintenance required. It doesn’t even have a squeak or a rattle in it. It looks, feels, and drives like a brand new vehicle. I’ll probably drive it for another 8 years.
I was thinking about this thread this afternoon as I walked around the St. Louis Auto Show.
St. Louis is one of the “A list” auto show stops. Pretty much every manufacturer, from Kia and Hyundai to BMW and Mercedes. Durting the time I was there, thousands of people were wandering around.
Besides the concept cars (of course) what were they looking at? SUV’s. Didn’t matter whether it was Ford or Toyota or BMW. If it was an SUV there were people - young, old, families, obviously well-off, obviously not well-off - standing around them looking at features, obviously interested.
Meanwhile, the sedans and coupes were ignored. Only families dragging around multiple kids even glanced at the sensible minivans. The hot little sports cars attracted a few hot young men and women, and a few rich, old guys. But everyone was looking at SUV’s.
Mind you, this is a city where Ford is closing an assembly plant that makes SUV’s.
Maybe the people who attend auto shows aren’t typical. Maybe St. Louis is a “big iron” town.
Or maybe, just maybe, a lot of consumers like SUV’s.
