97 F350 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 We are looking at a very low mileage 2006 Freestyle. It has the CVT. I thought I read somewhere here that you didn't want the CVT. IS that correct? What were the problems with it? I've tried searching and can't find the thread I was thinking of. Are there any other problems with the Freestyle? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbf2530 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 We are looking at a very low mileage 2006 Freestyle. It has the CVT. I thought I read somewhere here that you didn't want the CVT. IS that correct? What were the problems with it? I've tried searching and can't find the thread I was thinking of. Are there any other problems with the Freestyle? Thanks. Hi 97 F350. :D There are no "problems" with the CVT. It just operates differently than a regular transmission, and certainly in a different manner than most Americans are used to (no perceptible gear shifts). In fact, the CVT uses the engine powerband more efficiently than a "traditional" transmission. But again, it's efficient use of the powerband makes it feel differently than a traditional trans. And there are no common problem areas with the Freestyle to look out for. it is a very reliable vehicle (my sister has one) Hope this information helps. Good luck. :beerchug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougS Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I own a 2005 Freestyle with about 50,000 miles on it, and it has been very reliable. The biggest issue we have had with the vehicle is with the second row 60/40 bench seat. The "60" part of the seat has had its flip and fold mechanism replaced twice so far. The "40" side is the one that is used all the time, and we have not had any problems with it. I believe the big concern with the CVT transmission is that if anything ever goes wrong with it, it is very expensive to fix. You might try checking out the Freestyle/Taurus X forum here for more info: http://www.myfordfreestyle.com/index.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97 F350 Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 Well, I went to test drive the Freestyle yesterday. I had looked it over and the sales rep and I were getting into the car to drive away and the used car manager caught us and said "It's sold." $%&*(O!! The car only had 7695 miles for an 06! Thanks everybody for your replies though - good to know that its a pretty-trouble free car as we didn't find out the Windstar's common problems until we already owned one. Then we pretty much went right down the list. There is another one we are thinking of looking at. It has about 56k miles - a little more loaded. Only thing we don't like is it has leather seats. We want cloth because we have two child seats which are murder on leather upholstery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveTaurus Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 (edited) Well, I went to test drive the Freestyle yesterday. I had looked it over and the sales rep and I were getting into the car to drive away and the used car manager caught us and said "It's sold." $%&*(O!! The car only had 7695 miles for an 06! Thanks everybody for your replies though - good to know that its a pretty-trouble free car Freestyle CUV has been average reliable or above average on the 2006, 2007. But still since Freestyle used many of Volvo's (somewhat less reliable)drivetrain parts; early inexperience with the CVT transmission (different from hybrid CVT); and chances of AWD mechanisms meet minor problems. It would be wise to have Ford extend warranty, since those repairs are quite costly. And yes, the Myfordfreestyle.com had all the typical problems a owner may meet discussed there, read there if an owner ever run into troubles. p.s. It is possible for a Freestyle AWD to get highway(only) gas mileage over 31 mpg; the FWD gets 1 or 2 mpg more ;-P Edited July 18, 2009 by LoveTaurus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
97 F350 Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 That is good to hear another testament to the reliability. We went ahead and pulled the trigger on an 2006 SEL fwd with not quite 52k miles. Just waiting on wrapping up the financing with my credit union and they are fixing a couple of cosmetic blips. Hopefully will pick up tomorrow. Got the 4 year/48k mile Ford ESP warranty. That should get us to 100k miles with minimal troubles. Sad to see the old Windstar go. It still looks great inside and out - just issues were starting to pop up and with the miles it had, was worried about repeats of the head gasket and transmission problems we had at about 85k miles. But I think the Freestyle looks pretty good for a kiddo-hauler. Guess I will be lurking a bit on Myfordfreestyle.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveTaurus Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 (edited) Welcome to the Freestyle family! We want cloth because we have two child seats which are murder on leather upholstery. Cloth seating surfaces are very easily stained and difficult to lift the dirt, especially complains from Freestyles owners. But there was suggestion on one product which clean cloth on a Freestyle very effectively, read the Freestyle forum! Edited July 18, 2009 by LoveTaurus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regfootball Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 i took my other vehicle into the tranny shop to have it looked at and i mentioned how my ford is a taurus x with the 6 speed and that its similar to the old freestyle. the tranny shop guy said the freestyle CVTs were a problem tranny. 60k and bam. one municipality locally had bought several as xity fleet vehicles and they had issues with almost all of them. now, it wasnt my first hand info but it does make me wonder why freestyles are so inexpensive on the used market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveTaurus Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 (edited) i took my other vehicle into the tranny shop to have it looked at and i mentioned how my ford is a taurus x with the 6 speed and that its similar to the old freestyle. the tranny shop guy said the freestyle CVTs were a problem tranny. 60k and bam. one municipality locally had bought several as xity fleet vehicles and they had issues with almost all of them. now, it wasnt my first hand info but it does make me wonder why freestyles are so inexpensive on the used market. The Freestyles' CVT transmission have been quite reliable, no worst than traditional transmissions. There are very few parts that can go wrong with the CVT. The only problem on the CVT that I read about was the "input shaft". An that is pretty easy to replace. Freestyles need Ford Dealers with "trained Freestyle's technicians" to repair many of the mechanical parts, especially the CVT and Haldex AWD system, etc. It was a confusion for the early Freestyles' first 2 years, as many dealer did not have "trained" technicians. They did not know how to repair Freestyles' problems, sometimes mis-repaired them, messed up and dissatisfied the owners, I had read! the tranny shop guy said the freestyle CVTs were a problem tranny. 60k and bam. Without details there were no way to determine what had happened with the "fleet". At 60,000 miles the CVT are due for first maintenance service. It could had been the owner did not do the fluid change and caused the CVT to start having trouble. And incidents I heard a lot early on, were the dealer did not know CVT fluid change procedure and ended up killed the CVT after the maintenance service. One thing the NO, NO for CVT was to flush it; you flushed it, it died. The reason for inexpensive Freestyle on the used car market was mostly cause by early bad marketing. People simply had not heard of it or mixed it up with Freestar! Edited August 24, 2009 by LoveTaurus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsonmy Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 My mother has a 2006 Ford Freestyle with just shy of 52k, and so far has been problem free. However, there is an Edmonds site with many Freestyle owners claiming CVT issues beginning as early as 50k. Her service requirements also shows NO SERVICE on the transmission until 100k! We're getting concerned, as these thansmissions reportedly cost 7k to replace! http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0da870 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveTaurus Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 My mother has a 2006 Ford Freestyle with just shy of 52k, and so far has been problem free. However, there is an Edmonds site with many Freestyle owners claiming CVT issues beginning as early as 50k. Her service requirements also shows NO SERVICE on the transmission until 100k! We're getting concerned, as these thansmissions reportedly cost 7k to replace! http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0da870 At 60000 miles fluid change to the CVT transmission at a dependable Ford dealer. Never ever "FLUSH" these CVT transmissions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T'Cal Posted October 14, 2011 Share Posted October 14, 2011 I always liked the styling of the Freestyle since it looked like a more modern take on the Explorer but I found the name to be wimpy; Taurus X was a better name but not a great one. While the Freestyle offered only the CVT, the 500 sedan for 2005-2007 offered an Aisin 6 speed automatic with FWD and the CVT with AWD. Both transmissions were replaced with a Ford-built 6 speed auto box when the Freestyle was completely revamped, along with the 500 and Montego, and it was renamed Taurus X and the sedans were renamed Taurus and Sable. I always liked the name Montego better than Sable as the latter sounds too feminine. I remember seeing a concept version of the wagon/crossover at the auto shows called Mercury Meta One, which was diesel powered but that obviously never made it to production. Too bad, too, as I always felt the Taurus X/Meta One worked better for Mercury as long as Ford had the Flex. I bought an '11 Explorer several months ago and love it but it was expensive. I seriously considered finding a late model, low mileage used Taurus X instead. Ford sold that as a crossover and the new Explorer as an SUV. Who cares? In the end it's all marketing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
630land Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 (edited) A simple name change to the D3 CUV, and voila! a huge hit. Edited October 17, 2011 by 630land Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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