I own one (and in 9 years I've owned 5 cars) and the freestyle has the perfect mix of everything for me! I've been in two severe crashes so safety was #1 for me. Ford used a ton of Volvo technology on this car and I think Ford really thought about the car... as a busy mom with 2 kids, own my own business and drive carpool with 2 other kids....I always have enough room for kids, gear, visiting grandparents, groceries ect......
I live in the mountains at 8000 ft and have to drive over two mountain passes over 10,000 ft. to get to a major city. The freestyle has plenty of power (way better than my subaru wagon) and with the CVT engine I get great gas mileage (24+ on average-higher on freeway only). I've owned mine since Aug. 05 and have 32,000 miles on it --- so I drive a lot -- and in the snow for 8 months out of the year. I have the AWD version and IceX tires on it and haven't had a single slip yet.
There are 4 sets of latch and 4 tether anchors --- seats have never been a problem to install. As you can tell, I really LOVE my car. A friend of mine said, you have to drive it, and she was right -- once I drove it I loved it.
I needed to get a bigger car for carpool and really wanted a Sienna but it was just too much out of our budget -- while I still love the Sienna, I really love my freestyle and don't have toyota envy anymore! Also, ford often has "new buyer incentives" so I got a great interest rate as a first time ford buyer.
The only thing I don't like about the cloth seats I have (not an issue if you are considering the limited w/leather) is that they stain very easily, even water will stain them. So, I would not let that deter you from buying the car, I would just recommend you get the seats scotchguarded before you use it. After this winter, I'm going to get my seats steamcleaned and scotch guarded.
Feel free to PM me if you have more questions about the freestyle!