Prospective Buyer Mini Review on Rental (Long)

[cmoses]

I am in the market for a new vehicle and have been considering a CUV. I have interest in the Ford Edge, Nissan Murano, BMW X3, Infiniti FX 35. I have been doing a little online research and getting some information before going out to look. I have been reading a lot off of this forum as the Edge is one of the top contenders.

 

Some background on me, my first new car purchase was a 1998 Ford Contour SVT. I loved this car. It was stylish, well designed, great engine, very unique and priced well below the cars that it compared to. I never tired of people inquiring about it and the attention it drew. Unfortunately after owning it for 4 years I had to sell it shortly after getting married as my wife did not know how to drive a manual. We decided to get something more practical and started looking for a SUV. I found a great deal, 0% financing, on an Isuzu Rodeo. It was all decked out, leather, moon roof, upgraded stereo, etc, so I didn’t fell like I totally lost out. I have owned it for 6 ½ years and it has over 100,000 miles on it. Routine maintenance is the only thing I have done to it.

 

I am just starting to look for a replacement for my Rodeo. I want something a little more sporty, but still have some additional cargo space not afforded in a sporty four door sedan. I think a CUV fits right into that category. So I have begun the process of online inquiry and will shortly begin some test drives.

 

On a recent business trip I had the opportunity to rent an Edge or a Murano. I went with the Edge figuring this would be even better than a test drive. I got to drive it around and get a really good feel for the Edge. There were definitely some pros and cons which I wanted to bring up here and get some feedback on.

 

I rented a Black 2007 Ford Edge, with Camel interior. There was no model identification on it (SE, SEL). Is there a non model version for rental car companies? It was a typical rental, cloth seating, standard radio, 17” wheels, power locks and windows, remote entry, no BAMR, no NAV, no conienve packages, etc. Here are my thoughts and impressions for my time spent with the Edge.

 

Pros:

•Styling – very attractive looking vehicle. Looked as good up close and in person as it did in the pictures and TV spots. I liked the three bar chrome grill, aggressive looking feel of the car, powerful yet sophisticated.

•Fit and Finish – everything seemed to be well thought out and put together. All functions were where you would expect them, easy to reach, well thought out and designed.

•Interior Room – very roomy, comfortable fit. I am 6’3” so if I can adjust the front seat and then go sit behind it without issue then it should be fine for anyone. There was plenty of room for me in the back seat. I thought the fold down arm rest/cup holder was a very nice touch. I also liked the ability to recline as well as fold flat the rear seats. I think the Edge would hold four passengers very comfortably, five might be tight for a long trip. Cargo space was as expected with just a little less room than my SUV.

 

Cons:

•Window Glare – now I know what all the fuss is about. I was shocked at how much dash board reflection I could see in the front glass. My Edge had the two tone tan/brown dash which I think made it even worse. The tan being so light it seemed to reflect more than the brown sections. The glare was there, no matter what the lighting was, direct sun, above, behind, even under overpasses there was still some glare from the natural light. It wasn’t until it was completely dark outside that I had no glare at all.

•Engine Power – felt a little under powered most of the time. If you punched it, it was fine, it wasn’t super fast but felt good. It was mostly when you were driving down the road and wanted to accelerate or pass. You would press on the gas and it would be slow to respond and then feel like it was struggling a little. You really had to punch it to get it to respond.

•Lower Exterior Trim – being that my rental was black the lower edge trim did not stand out as bad, but I would not want that on any other color as it would take away from the exterior look.

•Mini Van Feel – The over feel when I was inside the Edge was that I was in a small mini van with no third seat. I think this is more a personal issue, but still had that feeling I should be taxing around kids. Being that I do not have any kids I am not sure that this is the feel I am going for.

 

At this point I would not rule out getting an Edge when the time comes. I know the Edge I has was a little on the bland side (not a lot of features, cloth seats, etc.) being that it was a rental. I would definitely have to see what one feels like when it was configured more to my liking. Either a SEL+ or Limited, charcoal trim and black leather, DVD NAV system with audiophile sound system, 18” or 20” chrome wheels, power lift gate, convience packages, seating package, etc. I am very interested in the BAMR but need to see it in person before deciding.

 

So I am hoping that some of you Edge owners can chime in on my concerns. Is having a darker dash better for the glare problem? Could my Edge have been a little under powered because it was a rental? Any chance of getting color matched lower trim for 2008? Am I the only one that has felt that small mini van feel?

 

Any thought and opinions you have are greatly appreciated. I am looking forward to the 2008 Limited, I hope that I can go see one on a Ford lot soon.

 

Clayton

[07 MKX]

ONE post was ENOUGHT.

 

GET THE DODGE

[raginpitbull]

I rented a Black 2007 Ford Edge, with Camel interior. There was no model identification on it (SE, SEL). Is there a non model version for rental car companies? It was a typical rental, cloth seating, standard radio, 17” wheels, power locks and windows, remote entry, no BAMR, no NAV, no conienve packages, etc. Here are my thoughts and impressions for my time spent with the Edge.

Which rental car company did you rent the Edge from?

[edge2go]

here's what i've experienced - i posted earlier about a road trip over the rockies and back to the west coast - and the Edge was flawless. up or downshifting was pretty seamless with the 6 speed auto.

 

I tend to think rentals get abused somewhat, so there's no real way to test the performance unless you take a new one for a drive. The rental may also have been an early production unit, which does suffer some growing pains. Later units cleared up problems like windshield glare.

 

Our edge is an sel fwd, alloy (built 11/06) with charcoal interior. the dash is trimmed with brushed aluminum. Driving anytime of the day doesn't create any glare. gotta get the BAMR, that's what sold us! we really didn't needthe nav system but the unit we picked came equipped with it.

 

You seem to be shopping across a wide range of cuv's. bear in mind the bmw and inifiniti are high end models and should perform better. the murano is 5 years old and needs a do-over. for the price, package and styling, i think the edge is the right choice. we looked at acadia and outlook, and they just didn't click.

 

one last thing, i'm a firm believer in made in america (and canada). let's keep our guys working.

 

let us know where you are, and what your choice is.

 

doug

[cmoses]

Which rental car company did you rent the Edge from?

 

 

I rented the car from Enterprise at the Ontario, CA airport while traveling this week. I was also in Phoenix and was hoping to rent the Murano but when I talked to the agent he said that they didn't have the Edge or the Murano at all. So it obviously depends on location.

Edited September 21, 2007 by cmoses

[cmoses]

here's what i've experienced - i posted earlier about a road trip over the rockies and back to the west coast - and the Edge was flawless. up or downshifting was pretty seamless with the 6 speed auto.

 

I tend to think rentals get abused somewhat, so there's no real way to test the performance unless you take a new one for a drive. The rental may also have been an early production unit, which does suffer some growing pains. Later units cleared up problems like windshield glare.

 

Our edge is an sel fwd, alloy (built 11/06) with charcoal interior. the dash is trimmed with brushed aluminum. Driving anytime of the day doesn't create any glare. gotta get the BAMR, that's what sold us! we really didn't needthe nav system but the unit we picked came equipped with it.

 

You seem to be shopping across a wide range of cuv's. bear in mind the bmw and inifiniti are high end models and should perform better. the murano is 5 years old and needs a do-over. for the price, package and styling, i think the edge is the right choice. we looked at acadia and outlook, and they just didn't click.

 

one last thing, i'm a firm believer in made in america (and canada). let's keep our guys working.

 

let us know where you are, and what your choice is.

 

doug

 

Doug,

 

You stated that later units cleared up windshield glare. I haven't seen anything on this, do you know what was done?

 

You also said you do not experience any glare with your charcoal interior with the brushed aluminum trim. I would think that the darker color would be less prone to the glare so that makes sense. But I would think that the brushed aluminum would be even worse than the Camel dash. Could you elaborate on this some more?

 

Yes you are correct in that my list is pretty broad right now. I have really just begun to do some research. There will be a lot of factors that go into the final decision, look, feel, price and availablility will all be issues. I am sure that I will find good and bad about all the models that I look into. I will definitely keep everyone up to speed on my decisions. I will also continue to read this forum to see all the latest news on the 2008's, especially the limited.

 

Clayton