FORD FREESTAR

VEHICLE - FORD FREESTAR
REGISTRATION - 354611
LOCATION - AL HILAL
DATE - 13.09.2008
THE PROUD OWNER/USER - NOT YET KNOWN

The Ford Freestar is a minivan that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company from 2004 until November 2006. It replaced the Ford Windstar for the 2004 model year. The name change accommodated Ford's strategy to rename all their cars to words beginning in F. The Freestar and its twin, the Mercury Monterey, were built in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

The Freestar can accommodate up to seven passengers and features an electronically controlled 4-speed automatic transmission as part of the van's standard equipment. Five trim levels were available: base, SE, Sport, SEL, and Limited. In the United States, the Freestar was available with two different gasoline-powered V6 engines. The smaller 3.9 L (available only in the United States) develop a maximum power of 193 hp (144 kW) at 4500 rpm and 240 ft·lbf (325 N·m) of torque at 3750 rpm, while the larger 4.2 L produces 201 hp (150 kW) at 4,250 rpm and 263 ft·lbf (357 N·m) of torque at 3650 rpm. While the smaller engine came on the base model in the United States, the larger 4.2 L engine is standard on all models in Canada.

The Freestar and Monterey were criticized for poor interior quality and their overall lack of refinement compared to the competition. Sales of the Freestar in 2006 were down 20 percent from 2005, and its Mercury sibling, the Monterey, had seen sales slump 40 percent from 2005. The last Freestar rolled off the assembly line on November 17, 2006.

When the Windstar was first introduced, it was a strong seller that had beat Chrysler to an aerodynamically styled minivan. The "all-new" (as Ford advertised) Freestar on the other hand, was nothing more than a lightly-restyled Windstar. It used the same V-platform, which dated back to 1999, and basically all that was changed was the front fascia, the dashboard/center console, and the rear portion of the floorpan.

The Freestar's main innovation, a fold-flat third row bench seat, had already been adopted by competitors, and it placed last in many reviews. It was no longer competitive as Japanese makes had finally adopted the layout and size of the class-defining Chrysler minivans, and its early retirement also contributed to Ford's financial problems, as they had also discontinued the Taurus, Thunderbird, Ford GT and renamed the Ford Five Hundred back to "Taurus", a name more familiar to the buying public, reversing the "F" naming strategy which had failed.

The Freestar used the code A5 in the 5th and 6th positions of the VIN.