General Comments:
Remember this car is really used by a family of 5. Kids are 9, 12, 13 and ride in the car all the time. We also live on a 2-mile long dirt road. At 55,000 miles, the suspension is still like new with no looseness, no wobbles, no pulling, no nothing, and the tires are just now worn down to needing to be replaced, and its steering wheel is still straight, and the car has never needed to be aligned yet.
We exclusively burn the flex fueled Ethanol blend E-85, and we are still getting close to 30 mpg on the highway.
Even being just a small 4 cylinder and an automatic, the car still accelerates good, and the little super efficient 4 cyl. isn't too thrashy on hard, high rev, aggressive accelerations.
The transmission works very well with the engine.
The interior room is very good for a mid-size car. The seats are very comfortable for a mid size car, and the foot room is great.
I wish the car had more rear seat head room.
The trunk is very large for a mid size car.
The brakes will stop the car very quickly; you have to be careful or you will get rear ended, because I think this car will stop much faster than most cars on the road.
The features on this car are very good for a $23,000 mid size car.
Heated leather, a cool radio that gives lots of info, sync, key pad entry on the driver's door, really neat interior lighting, awesome instrument cluster look, and a steering wheel that you can keep your hand at 6 o'clock. Most cars have a third arm at 6 o'clock that prevents you from keeping your hand at the bottom of the wheel. I drive at 6 o'clock all the time.
The heat and A/C work like magic.
All the doors open and close with the feel of a $40,000 car. Road noise is about what you would expect in a full size car, which is very acceptable. This is just a mid size car.
The ride is well controlled, but still smooth enough to not be considered offensive, or "harsh".
The ties are easy to change in a flat, the spare tire is easy to get to and pull out, unlike a van or truck's spare.
The exterior looks of the car is excellent. People tell us all the time that our car is very beautiful and I agree. Ours is Red.
We are very pleased with the car and have no buyers remorse whatsoever. Buying this car has been a wonderful, trouble free experience.
Things I'd change or add:
A little bit more side head room and top head room, especially in the back seat.
I'd add red or clear lights to all doors, so that when you open the door up, you can see the ground a bit. Our Hyundai had these lights on all doors.
I'd add a better sun visor - one that you can push to the side, and an extra small one that you can keep on the windshield.
I'd add a bit more zap to the electrically heated leather seats. They take about 5 minutes to start to heat up.
I'd add a bit of fake wood to the dash and such, to give the car a more upscale feel.
Other than these things, the car is perfect.
9th Jan 2012, 23:10
"I'd add a better sun visor - one that you can push to the side, and an extra small one that you can keep on the windshield."
I used to own a '93 Grand Marquis GS that had this option. Very useful on a sunny day!