One Less Honda...

[stevencrosbie]

congrats. You knew this was coming.

[2hondas]

Very nice! I like the body style of the Freestyle.

Did you try the Outback by any chance?

[andysinnh]

So I promised a while ago to put some pics of my wife's new ride, and here and below are a few. It's got 1500 miles on it, getting smoother every day, and the fit/finish/drivability of the Pilot - perhaps better. Time will tell whether it lasts, but so far, so good!!!

andy

[in4mation]

i would have gotten a Toyota Highlander.

[andysinnh]

Originally Posted by in4mation

i would have gotten a Toyota Highlander.

Step-in height was too high...... Plus, IMHO, driving the two isn't a contest. I prefer the Pilot to the Highlander, and the Freestyle falls somewhere in between...

[ncelk]

Nice car!

Congrats!

I don't know about you, but it felt strange to buy a new car and it not be a Honda after all these years.

[andysinnh]

Originally Posted by ncelk

I don't know about you, but it felt strange to buy a new car and it not be a Honda after all these years.

I know what you mean. We had to sleep on it a couple of nights before deciding to pull the trigger. And especially since it was a Ford - been a long time since we bought domestic!!! But so far, so good!

andy

[anysia]

[RTexasF]

Good for you! I think you made a great decision and the vehicle looks darned nice. I like my Honda but that doesn't mean I'm glued to the brand.

[andysinnh]

Originally Posted by RTexasF

Good for you! I think you made a great decision and the vehicle looks darned nice. I like my Honda but that doesn't mean I'm glued to the brand.

So we're now at the 3 month point, and just clicked over 4400 miles this week. So far it's been a great vehicle! Drove it up north through the mountains - about a 350 mile round trip - and it got a tick over 23 mpg with the a/c blasting and it loaded with people/luggage. The CVT tranny is very nice overall, and so far has always done what I'd have expected a normal auto tranny to do - but smoother! Did the first oil change at 3500 miles - didn't use a drop and was the easiest car to change the oil on I've done for a long time!

I still like driving my Pilot around, but this Ford is growing on me - sounds odd, I know, but this Chicago-built wagon has been great!

andy

[anysia]

something about the exterior makes me feel like it's chunks of a few vehicles welded together. not mimicking other vehicles as in the case of hyundai (one of the worst offenders for that as i have ever noticed-or atleast hyundai picks the most noticeable chunks of other cars and sticks em together to make their cars, but anyway...) on the freestyle it's more of it doesn't "flow". does that make sense? like few cars were grabbed at a junkyard and the viable pieces of each stuck together or something.....

not my cup of tea lookswise at all in other words. not many suv's and especially not many crossover's (aka station wagons) do much of anything for me looks wise. MAYBE the mdx, but that's about it. so i'm a tough one to please looks wise in that department anyway.

glad to hear it's holding it's own so far..... out of the domestic options, it's probably one of the better choices..... (not that i think it's the best option out there by far, but if you must go domestic, well.... but still )

(ps~minivans seem to be overall perfect for those who have trouble getting in and out of vehicles. problem is getting a decent one at a good price. )

[andysinnh]

Originally Posted by anysia

something about the exterior makes me feel like it's chunks of a few vehicles welded together. not mimicking other vehicles as in the case of hyundai (one of the worst offenders for that as i have ever noticed-or atleast hyundai picks the most noticeable chunks of other cars and sticks em together to make their cars, but anyway...) on the freestyle it's more of it doesn't "flow". does that make sense? like few cars were grabbed at a junkyard and the viable pieces of each stuck together or something.....

not my cup of tea lookswise at all in other words. not many suv's and especially not many crossover's (aka station wagons) do much of anything for me looks wise. MAYBE the mdx, but that's about it. so i'm a tough one to please looks wise in that department anyway.

glad to hear it's holding it's own so far..... out of the domestic options, it's probably one of the better choices..... (not that i think it's the best option out there by far, but if you must go domestic, well.... but still )

(ps~minivans seem to be overall perfect for those who have trouble getting in and out of vehicles. problem is getting a decent one at a good price. )

After owning cars for over 30 years, the top priority is function, and "style" shows up down the list several notches. Problem with minivans is that they're BIG, and even though entry/egress is relatively easy, the sheer size of a minivan is just not necessary, especially with only 1 kid getting hauled around. We actually were in the market for a sedan, but finding a decent sedan with AWD in our price range wasn't easy to find - and that's why the Freestyle came up on the radar screen. It's pretty much the only one that could meet all of our criteria - and wasn't on our list till near the end.

Anyhow, I left domestic cars several years ago, and this is the first foray back into them, and I'm pretty impressed so far. That's not the same for some of the other domestics we drove - the GM's were nasty, the chryslers were the same old "buzz when the auto tranny downshifts to 1st", and even some of the Fords were just not great. This, with its Volvo underpinnings, was much different than I'd expected - in a good way.

Guess hitting the century mark for age put me back into a station wagon

andy

[RTexasF]

You know what brother? No matter what anyone else says or thinks.....who cares? It's YOUR money and YOUR decision. "I would have bought this" or "I would have bought that"........yeah right. Then why didn't you buy it then? Horsepuckey!

Treading back into domestic auto territory is scary indeed and only time will tell the story. You shopped, you drove, & you googled to find the right vehicle. You like it and more importantly MAMA likes it so all is well. Now all you need is several coats of Wet Paint for the mild NH winter

[ItsaHonda]

Treading back into domestic auto territory is scary indeed >>>

Oh c'mon, It's not that bad!

[RTexasF]

Perhaps not but it depends on the domestics you have owned in the past and what went wrong with them that was inexcusable. I've been fortunate with domestics but the last one I owned was a 1984 Buick.