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Ford Five Hundred/Mercury Montego
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Comments
But it's not pachydermically high.
As I've said, I like the 500 on paper, it's just a bit too bland in my opinion. We're drviing it tomorrow and if we really like it, we'll wait a year for the restyled one...with the bigger engine being a bonus.
They should have made a proper Station Wagon version of the 500, call it the Ford 500: Country Squire. Every manufacturer seems obsessed with turning SW's into psuedo-minivans and psuedo-SUV's... I like REAL station wagons. That is one reason the Mazda6 is getting such a strong look from us.. an actual sporty station wagon, with a MANUAL transmission, for a reasonable price!
I apologize to anyone who is feeling defensive about the 500, Freestyle & Montego. I am NOT ripping on the vehicle. Just expressing my subjective opinion on styling, nothing more. I've said over and over that it is a great car.
Thank you,
http://www.autofieldguide.com/articles/100307.html
The 3.5 liter (250 hp, 240 torque) that is first being installed in Lincoln models (and the Ford Edge) will be made available in the 500 too. I have not seen a definite "when" yet, because Ford has to ramp up enough engine manufacturing to cover many different models.
Wide, nice materials, great features and great price. Great front leg room thanks to the high seats, but I wanted the seat to go back at least another inch... needs more belly room.
Great salesman, not pushy at all, understood that I was just not into it, and appreciated me not wasting his time going out on a test drive.
I may revisit it again after the redesign.
Impala (at 50%), G6 (30%), 300 (25%), Magnum (25%), are mainly the vehicles that are picking up the fleet sales Ford is no longer interested in entertaining.
Ford continues to sell a huge volume of the lame duck Taurus for the same reason, I guess. Maybe the lower 500 volume is better. It will at least help resale values stay out of the toilet.
GM is touting how well the Impala is selling, yet they fail to point out that 50% is fleet sales, which is being picked up from ex-Ford customers. As it stands, the Taurus was actually selling 50% to fleet as well, now the Impala is the fleet sales darling.
With the introduction of the 500, Ford capped it at 15%. This is allow because of the flexible manufacturing factory in Chicago which allows them to build either a 500/FS/Mtg. depending upon on the need. Whereas previously, the Taurus plants (Chicago and ATL) HAD to Taurus/Sable to keep the factories running, then saturated the market with fleet vehicles lowering the resale.
As it stands, the 500 enjoys a 48% depreciation rate after 3 years, a digit away from Camry/Accord for comparisons sake.
Some fleet sales are good in the sense it allows people to have exposure over the vehicle at rental car outlets. There have been many conquest sales due to that. But too much of it isn't a good thing either.
Ironically just a few days ago receiving some of this information I was informed that Consumer Reports (a publication the media in starting to harp on for inconsistant reporting) have chosen the Impala as a recommended vehicle. You would think resale value is something they would have taken into the equation.
That's "Communist Reports" and there's NOTHING inconsistent about it. If it's American, it stinks. If it's Japanese, it's great. Total consistency. LOL
http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=21984&make_id=trust
Toyotas new engine family starts at 268 and so far goes to 305! Ford is comming out even later so "improved" or "good enough" will translate into incentives and no or just slow and limited sales gains.
The problem is that ford is late in the engine development (and patent) game. Therefore it does not have access to already developped VVT/Lift/VVT2 systems out there. GM was lucky b/c no one else is using OHV's so no one thought of putting the feature there. Since ford uses DOHC they have allot of competetors rushing to the patent office.
They developped VCT, which is basically undercooked VVT, but it boosts power non-the less. Ford needs to kick it in gear, but its a problem when you spend more money on health insurance and retirenment then R&D and other stuff.
I hope Ford or GM learn to combine WWT with DI (b/c Toyota already did) and patent new ways of doing so before they have nothing left.
Ford, BTW, is already expiriencing this problem with its hybrid technology, some of which it had to licence through toyota. Good, so now we need japanese permission before we make our SUV's. Whats next? (Sarcasm)
I understand that lack of respect for intellectual property is one area that no one out there can pick on Ford for.
I'd definitely get that Montego looked at. Something isn't right.
Mark.
if you compare a 500 to a semi, then it is pretty lively
however if you compare it to Azera, Avalon, Maxima, Altima 3.5SE, Accord V6 or Camry V6 – it is a dog.
The Five hundred feels like the engine is going to blow up on ya, every time you push the gas pedal.
Never understood the principle of flooring it! I want my car to have smooth and
powerful engine, and I only need to tap on the accelerator to get it to “GO”.
What is the point of driving this clunker, if to get it to accelerate decently I need to floor it every time?
:sick:
What's the point of having horsepower you'll never use, if you never intend to floor your accelerator?
So like I say they must have driven them to see that they really are a threat, otherwise why waste the time?
It is a very good car, but if you like speed and easy passing power, forget it.
Personally, the way I drive (im 21) IT suits me just fine. I however, am not the ony one out there.
I very much like the exterior looks (except the bottom of the rear bumper on the Five Hundred and the grille on the Montego), the many handy storage spaces in the interior, the huge trunk, and the safety features, but the lack of a telescoping steering wheel and the noise kept me from buying one.
I sometimes do use full throttle for merging and passing, and in California freeway traffic, reserve power is a safety feature.
The new engine and transmission should end both problems, but Ford sure is taking a long time (about one full year from now) to have cars with the new parts on the lots.
By that time, all of the competition will make another step forward and that will put Ford behind AGAIN. I am angry because I like the 500, I like the way it looks and rides, and I like the interior and space. But I could never live with this horrible noisy and grossly underpowered engine.
Com’on people, can you really compare the 500 to the Maxima’s 3.5 VQ, or the Toyota’s 3.5L VVTi ?
Everyone is acting like the Ford’s upcoming 3.5L V6 is some kind of Messiah, or a technological breakthrough of some sorts. The truth is that it is 4 years too late!!!
The 500 could have been a winner, if it came with the 270 HP, AWD from the get go.
It would have made waves just like the 300C did. People would have been lining up to get one.
Instead, it is just another AVERAGE large sedan, with below average performance and fuel economy.
I would probably forgive Ford for making the 500 so weak, if it got great fuel economy, but it is not even leading in the economy segment economy by any means.
The Impala LTZ gets the same mileage, with much better performance.
SHAME on Ford.
What I worry about is simple: can I routinely get around those that I need/want to get around?
And the answer with the Freestyle and Five Hundred is a resounding: YES!
Would a more powerful engine be nice? Sure. But then again, I looked at the 300C and Magnum with the Hemi's in them, and ended up NOT choosing those, even though they are LOADED with power.
Power isn't everything . . . it's how you USE it (and how others don't use it).
Also, given how high these vehicles ride off the ground, having too much power (300 hp would probably qualify) could be downright DANGEROUS for most people if they actually tried to use it.
IF the rest of the world actually USED all that extra hp they had in their vehicles, then maybe I would feel compelled to buy a more powerful engine in order to keep up. The thing is, for the most part, they DON'T use it . . and thus I'm able to get around just fine with less hp . . because I'll use it when I need to.
However, Ford is in business to sell cars and trucks, and the marketplace seems to want things that you don't. The 300 offers 3 (or 4) engine choices, the Impala offers 3 engine choices, and some others that offer only one choice made it an engine with both more hp and good mileage.
The 500 should have had edgier styling for a clean sheet exercise, but it should also have offered an engine for those who don't think as you do. The 3.5 will keep it in the game, but Ford needs to keep working on improving those drivetrains both in terms of hp and mileage. The competition will not wait around. It is an amazement it has taken Ford so long to realize that stellar product is the key to leadership in their business.
Then again, I don't see that many of the 300C's around. Usually the lesser engines.
The 500 should have had edgier styling for a clean sheet exercise
Maybe, maybe not. I've personally grown tired of the 300C styling already. It was neat for about a year max. And if you've driven one, you probably realize just how terrible the VIEW is out of one.
IMO, people SAY that they'd try a domestic again if the reliability/etc improved . . but few have actually SHOWN that to be true. They simply won't try them again, thinking this is still the late 70's and early 80's. And no amount of styling or more powerful engine is going to change that.
Just wait and see. Once the 3.5L come out and the 3.0L goes away, the "rallying cry" of those who refuse to try "American cars" will be that the 3.5L is untested.
Most Americans will prefer a car from the Big 2.5, if they actually made a desirable one.
The problem is that there are many offerings that are simple superior in almost every category including reliability to those of the GM and Ford.
Except for a new Mustang and maybe the explorer (subjective) Ford does not produce anything that can compete with the offerings from Hoyonda or Nissan.
Even Hyundai is offering better vehicles than Ford (Azera, Sonata)and since their reliability is as spotty as the one of Fords, they at least offer the best warranty around. What does Ford offer for a Focus with 12 major recalls? a 3/36 warranty. What a joke.
If Ford offered a 500 with 5/60 warranty, and a 250+ HP 3.5L V6 with the same price - I would buy one.
Sorry Ford, but until then, my money goes to Huyndai Azera or the new Camry.