Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see May lease deals!
Options
Ford Five Hundred/Mercury Montego
This discussion has been closed.
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
I still dont exactly see how this is a big competitive advantage. Most of the new Toyotas have higher hip points anyway, as they are taller vehicles than competing Hondas/Nissans, for example.
~alpha
It is me. Ford is derived from Volvo S80 and Avalon from Camry. Thats why I do not expect any miracles from Avalon. Tweak suspension or not - the basic design sets limitations.
Not true - Ford wants to be class leader in the worst way, has for years! Go read CAR, the story of the evolution and birth of the 96 Taurus redesign, you'll see how hard they tried to beat the Camry, and almost did, but the bean counters won in the end and they came up just short once again. No, Ford wants to, but American corporate politics, finance, lawyers, unions, management and stockholders always seem to demand instant returns, nobody has the patience to build like the Japanese have been willing to do, therefore, if you don't bring the return in right now, we sell off your stock, your capital is gone, and your BK. That's why you see Ford, Chrysler and GM come and go in fits and starts, and Toyota build slowly and steadily year after year. The magic of the F-150 has been almost a Toyota paradigm, since it has sort of been the gold standard forever, and been funded and protected as such. But competition is almost all over it now, and it soon may face the dreaded scrutiny it has never had before, of real equals to contend with. Anyway, that's how I interpret it - not a strange approach, as much as a function of the market and management.
500 was rightly billed as part of the salvation of Ford, its development was greeted with a lot of fanfare. And yet Ford couldn't produce a new, more powerful engine for its debut. It had to make do with 200 hp, not nearly enough for its hefty weight. Its design is uninspiring, and 90ish at best.
Avalon had long been known as old man's car and bland styling, for good reason. And yet Toyota is going the extra mile and install 270 hp (3.5L) in it. From pics of the LA auto show, it looks miles better than the current one.
It's easy to see which one will be sold with lots of incentives, which one with lots of profits.
And Toyota's far from the only one. New Passat V6 will have 280hp, current Maxima 265.
What I'm amazed at is, for a critical product which Ford spent tons of money developing, why did Ford let it slip so much behind the foreign competition.
Other manufacturers don't seem to take that long when they are determined to be competitive..
Regarding 96 Taurus you are not right – it ended up over priced and still did not catch up with Camry which had better engines, transmissions and brakes. 1997 Camry being cheaper did not leave Taurus any chance. Ford spent too much money on styling that compromised things like weight, handling, trunk space and etc.
Bean counters have nothing to do with ’96 Taurus failure– Ford just chose the wrong strategy and did not have competitive hardware.
Ford spent too much money buying companies overseas instead of new development, so now it relies completely on engineering from European and Asian brands.
Last night, Doing 70MPH on I-4,raining... an 18 wheeler just decided to throw itself into my lane without any warning. Having another 18 wheeler on my rear and knowing there would be no chance for him to stop if I slammed my brakes, I veered into what I thought was an empty lane that happened to be an off-ramp which loops to the right.
Between AWD and ABS, I was shooting down that ramp decelerating between 70 at the top, to 25MPH by the time I reached the bottom. Trying not to hit the brakes too hard to upset the cars front axis camber and toe-in (avoid sideslide and fish-tailing if I exceeded AWD's programmed capabilities). The whole time the vehicle felt very planted and manueverable.
Although my date sitting in the front passenger seat, didn't appreciate the scare. Something tells me it might have been the last date too heh....
With all due respect, that sounds very foolish. If I were your date I might have gotten out and walked.
All the other magazines have 8.6sec (0-60) times for the 6 speed auto.
The rain was a slight drizzle but the lanes had water on them from being exposed to passing showers all day/night, visibility wasn't hampered by it, which is why it's odd the truck which ran me off didn't see me since we were all going a steady 60-70mph for many miles prior.
"You'll note, he's still single....."
I'll never marry, I've seen what it's done to others. Hard to find a union/relationship as good as they were "back in the days" without the evolutionary issues that plague our societies today, I rather date or live/move without the constraints of "paper". I'm not anti-marriage, I'm just pro-happy
I have speculated that perhaps the CVT will become more expensive and less available unless more parts for it are domestically sourced...
It always seemed very odd that the CVT, a premium item, came ONLY on the least expensive SE line for the FWDs. Very odd, indeed.
The Accord.
Best sellers.
Great styling?
No.
Midsize segment?
Yes.
The Ford Crown Vic.
The Grand Marquis.
Also great sellers for their market (though they have cooled off some recently and the Five Hundred/Montego may ironically contribute to their demise after all).
Again, not great styling as I would suspect you would define it.
Market segmentation.
The large/midsize market does not go for "out there" styling, for the most part.
Look what happened to the oddly designed Maximas with the weird rear lights. They were quickly redesigned.
Time will telll whether Ford or Chrysler made the right decision LONG TERM for their large car lines.
http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/ford6e_20050106.htm
but this is to Ford's credit, not shipping problematic cars..
Our Freestyle did the run to 60 mph in 8.2 seconds, which beats the V-6 Explorer's 9.0-second time. It even beat the 8.8-second ramble of a Porsche Cayenne V-6. However, those 8.2 seconds are a bit uncomfortable, because the engine note never changes from a constant 5800 rpm, and the sound from the 3.0-liter engine is about as enjoyable as an American Idol reject.
http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_- id=8897&page_number=1
Mark
The link below has the scoop:
http://www.automedia.com/autoReviews/2005/ford/500/rts20041101fh.- asp?affid=
http://www.iihs.org/news_releases/2004/pr102804.htm
~alpha
Ouch. That hurts. :>)
After my measurements showed that the only other sedan which could replace my SUV is the way-too expensive LS430, and rejecting the awful new Honda pickup, I decided to look at the Montego again. Ford only showed a concept new Explorer Sport Trac, so maybe that will be something to look at in a few years.
I think I have a solution to the narrow footwell - a piece of wood over the present dead pedal to bring it up even with the hump to the left of it, then a piece of rubber or a mat over that area to prevent wearing through the carpet. Has anyone else tried this? I am going to the dealership tomorrow to see if it works.
I also realized, based on the Car & Driver review of the Freestyle, that it is approximately as quick as my V8 '02 Mountaineer, but much quieter and smoother, so will also look at it, since it has a narrower center console which gives more leg space and looks nice. Their tests confirm my initial impresion, so I think I was fooled or distracted by the noise from the engine reving to 5,800 RPM into thinking it slow. I also like the fact that you can buy the Freestyle Limited with front wheel drive and still get the CVT, while you have to spend $1,700 more for the AWD to get the CVT on the Limited/Premier sedans.
The vehicles certainly performed well on the government wreck tests.
It's the upcoming Fusion, NOT the Five Hundred or Montego, which is to be made in Mexico. The Five Hundred and Montego are assembled with pride in Chicago. And I have the sticker to prove it!
As far as the power goes, Ford doesn't have it. They don't have a more powerful engine that will fit in the engine bay of the Five Hundred. GM has a big advantage here because they haven't abandoned OHV engines. The new Impala will have a 5.3L OHV V8.
Wait for the 3.5L Duratec
The Ford CVT is the product a partnership that Ford had with ZF, that ZF now owns 100%. CVT's have been extensively used on Audi/Focus/MINI cars in Europe, as well as Nissans over here. GM screwed up their CVT, but thankfully not as bad as they screwed up diesels and killed them off for the US market.
Mark
In Dec. I bought a 500 SEL FWD with leather, moon roof, safety canopy, backup sensor. Basically I got the SEL FWD with all available options. My car cost $5000 less than her's did 2 years ago.
I like mine she likes her's. The things I like are the hugh trunk, the fold downseats, the command seating which makes entry and exit great( I am 6'3 230 lbs and 68 with stiff knees) and yes it does handle better than her's. The Avalon has a scary lean in a tight fast turn.
She likes the luxurious feel, softer ride, sound and looks of her car better. We both have what we want and we both like the other car too.
As far as features go she has VSC but I have the
safety canopy, fold down seats, bigger trunk, back up sensor and $5000. To each his own!
This is from Consumer Guide:
"Not sports-sedan agile, but more than competent for a large car. Natural-feeling steering. Undisturbed straight line stability. Well-behaved in turns, with good grip, moderate body lean, minimal noseplow."
Your wife should consider the new version...
~alpha