2018 FORD Edge

A good deal on a sporty and comfortable vehicle

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 4 Reliability Rating: 3 Safety Rating: 4 Technology Rating: 4 Value Rating: 4

With the new ST months away from release, the Ford dealers are aggressively pricing the sport so it's a great time to buy. I received a substantial discount from the MSRP from the dealer. Additional car show incentives and being the last day of the month also helped. I got a fully loaded Sport with pretty much with every possible option. 5 top things I like: (1) the sport appearance is fantastic, especially in black with black painted 21 inch wheels. (2) I find the seats and driving position very comfortable. The seats are a perfect height and the step in height is low. My arthritic mother with bad knees and hips has a difficult time climbing into many medium size SUV's but has no problems getting in and out of the Edge. Conversely, sedans also give her problems because she sits too low so she has a difficult time getting out of the seat. Also, she has to duck her head to get in the sedan. The Edge seems to be perfect for her. (3) The vehicle is very quiet with little wind or road noise and no rattles. (4) There is a great deal of cargo space and room for rear passengers. It has way more room than compact SUV's but is still small enough for easy entry and for fitting in a small garage. (5) All the gadgets are great (blind spot, rear cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise, lane keeping assist, Apple carplay, hands-free liftgate, automatic parallel and perpindicular parking) . The dash display with two color graphical displays surrounding the speedometer, and the Sync 3 system is very responsive (touch sensitive) and great to look at. The panoramic sunroof and power sun shades really brighten things up. 5 top things I don't like: (1) Parking into tight spaces is tougher than I hoped. The vehicle is really wide and the turning radius is only so-so. It's hard to tell where the front bumper is. The front cameras help somewhat but you can't really tell how far away you are from things in front. Also, mitigating the problem, the parking sensors in the rear, front, and sides give you coverage from all sides, and they beep and light up when you get too close to something. However, you have to move slowly to give the sensors and lights enough time to respond. A surround view camera would be preferable. (2) There is a bit of a learning curve with such a huge amount of tech. (3) The upgraded Sony stereo system is good but not as good as some that can be found in the class. However, it does have a CD player still. (4) The interior is very monochromatic so it's a little on the dull side. (5) The gas mileage is not great. So far I'm getting about 22 mpg, mostly highway miles. I think if I paid full price, (close to $50000) I would feel that the value would not be there. It's clearly not in the league of luxury vehicles that are in the 50000 to 60000 range. However, if you can get a good discount like I did (about $40000), it starts to seem like a good deal when you see a fully loaded compact SUV like the Honda CRV or Toyota RAV4 can be in the $35000 to $40000 range. One comment about the IIHS safety ratings. They really criticized the headlights. However, I found the HID headlights in the Sport are really very powerful and shine a long way. However, there seems to be almost no difference between high and low beam so I suppose they found the glare to other drivers objectionable.