dom

The exterior is awful IMO. Very dated.

danny25

Ford cars = the automotive equivalent of Ambien

Ruski

The grille/lights remind me of QX56 for some reason.

Also what's up with tiny exhaust pipes?

alphason'sac

I fell asleep looking at that thing. Great powertrain updates. I agree that this is the car that they should have done 1st.

RWalker2

That new front is hideous. The rest of the car has been improved nicely, especially the engine, but I can't get over that front. The old one, though boring, was much easier on the eyes.

Dan Martin

I have a 2006 Ford 500 SEL for a week while my TSX is in getting a new rear bumper, and I have to say this is one shitty car.

The first thing I noticed was how small this car is on the inside. It's a big car, but with the driver's seat all the way back I am beyond uncomfortable driving it. My knees rest against the dash and I barely have enough room between the steering wheel and my leg to make a complete turn. I have cramps after making my typical 1-hour drive to and from work. It's so small, it's actually unsafe. I'm sure if I had a crash, I wouldn't walk again.

The steering is hilariously bad. It's so disconnected from the road, turning the wheel is really more like making a suggestion than a command. It might turn, it might not, the car decides, not you. I've been doing exactly the speed limit or below and leaving double the distance between the car in front of me that I normally do because I have no confidence I'd be able to avoid a collision.

The brakes are spongy, then grabby. They probably stop short enough, but with very little feel along the way. In stop & go traffic the brakes are very grabby. Combined with the floaty suspension, it's a little like driving a water bed.

Power is lacking, but I wasn't expecting a V10 under the hood. What is unacceptable though is the horrendous mileage. According to the trip computer, in the 23,000KM this car has been on the road, it has averaged only 14.5L/100KM (16.2MPG)! By comparison, in the 89,000km I've had my TSX, I've averaged 9.2L/100KM (25.5MPG).

So with those major things out of the way, the minor annoyances also add up. For one, the stereo sounds like someone left a walkman running in the back seat. Second, they don't give you any way of opening the trunk from the outside of the car. Third, the auto headlights don't work. They turned off twice at night on my ride home today. Lastly, they used sound effects for the turn signal! It sounds like playing Frogger whenever I make a turn.


I can't possibly imagine laying down any amount of money for this car. If I could pick one up for $5,000, I think I'd buy something else.

Street Spirit

^ Funny how you fit comfortably in the compact Mazda 3, but not in the large-sized Ford.

Dan Martin

I fit better in the Fit than I do in the 500.

SpeedyV6

Here's a comparison of how the 500 stacks up against the TSX:

Unless you have unusually wide hips or very long legs the extra head and shoulder room in the 500 should make it feel like a larger car.
http://www.edmunds.com/apps/nvc/edmu...op=3&tab=specs

Dan Martin

Head and shoulder room isn't the problem, the problem is my knees rest against the dash. The pedals are so close that I can't tuck my legs under the wheel. If I got in a crash, there is zero crumple space in the cabin. My legs would take 100% of the impact.

I'll take a picture tomorrow to show what I mean.

Dan Martin

Using the photos above, here's my problem:

Street Spirit

Dude, he's 6'5" and fits better in the Fit and Mazda 3. It's all how they plan the interior, dash, seats, and centre console. For example, the Camry looks like a pretty big car, but there's really not a whole lot of room for the driver, even with the front seat all the way back. My brother, who is prob like 5'10" even found the Camry cramped and couldn't stretch his legs comfortably in the driver's seat. Looks are sometimes deceiving and numbers only matter if they work for you.

Dan Martin

I really think it would be OK if they just moved the pedals back 6" or so. They're almost directly below the steering wheel. If they were farther back, I could stretch out a bit and my knees wouldn't hit the dash.

S A CHO

If I'm not mistaken, weren't they available with adjustable pedals?

Maybe not in the rental version...

SpeedyV6

They do have adjustable pedals. You can also raise or lower the seat if your trying to optimize your leg room. Besides, how many people have a 42" inseam?

Dan Martin

Ok, I'll have a look for adjustable pedals this morning...

Dan Martin

No such luck...

Stapler

Though I have never been in a 500 I have seen that sort of thing with other fords. I fit in my mom's mini better than my grandma's crown vic. I hit my knees on the dash of the vic too.

Dan Martin

I was able to squeeze an inch or two by reclining a little and making sure my back is completely against the seat, but there's still less room than my TSX. It's crazy for a car this big. I should be swimming in room, not trying to compromise my seating position.

Trunk room and rear seat room is great, but those should all come after driver comfort.

gavriil

The hip room lacking in the 500 may be due to the tunnel used for the AWD hardware, which the TSX lacks. No?

Dan Martin

I guess that's a possibility, but it's surprising that I can fit well in an Impreza or Legacy, and not in the much bigger 500.

Hip room really isn't too much of an issue, it's just the leg (knee) room.

Black Tire

I'm sorry, but this day in age where all the automakers are making better than average looking cars. This car seems as though a designer from 1950's was on it.

DEI99662

DETROIT -(Dow Jones)- Just months after putting an end to the Taurus sedan, Ford Motor Co. (F) is getting set to resurrect the name of what was once the top-selling car in the U.S.

Company executives will announce Wednesday at the Chicago auto show that Ford's Five Hundred mid-size sedan, which was launched in 2004, will be renamed Taurus, according to multiple sources briefed on the company's plan.

Ford spokesman Jim Cain would neither confirm nor deny the move. He noted that Ford Chief Executive Alan Mulally has been a vocal advocate of the Taurus name and that many media outlets have speculated about the moniker's return to the marketplace.

"Taurus is a wonderful brand that's fondly remembered by a great many people and it's been fantastic to see so many reminders of that on blogs and other web sites," Cain said.

Ford, which is scrambling to recover from a $12.7 billion loss in 2006, sold nearly 7 million Tauruses during the two decades it was in production. The Taurus, which was the best-selling car in the U.S. for several years starting in the early 1990s, lost its standing in recent years as Asian competitors such as Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) and Honda Motor Co. (HMC) steadily improved their comparable entries. Lately the Taurus was mostly sold to rental car firms.

Mulally, who took the helm of Ford in October after a long career at Boeing Co. (BA), has said repeatedly that he does not understand why the company did not adequately invest in the Taurus. Last month, in an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Mulally hinted the auto maker may be considering reviving the Taurus name, but stopped short of giving a clear indication of confirming the move.

The Five Hundred, a larger car than the defunct Taurus, has met a cool reception since its launch.

In 2006, sales of the Five Hundred fell 22% to 84,218 vehicles, or about half as many Tauruses as were sold in the last year of production. Sales of the Five Hundred were down 51% in January from a year earlier, at 3,526 vehicles.

Ford is doing a modest redesign on the Five Hundred for the 2008 model year, a move that the company hopes will help it reposition the car in the marketplace

The Five Hundred shares many of its parts and a common architecture with the Ford Freestyle crossover vehicle and the Mercury Montego sedan, all of which are built in Chicago.

A Ford dealer who asked not to be identified said the company has great " equity" in the Taurus name, but he is concerned the company has wasted the cachet by not having updated the Taurus in recent years. He worries that the Five Hundred may not be an adequate replacement for people who truly appreciated the Taurus.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/...3_FORTUNE5.htm

biker

500=Taurus. Marketing guys are working overtime.

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

Glad to see that Ford is still making decisions that will make it more competitive...

agranado

what a joke. That car was nothing more than a rental queen when it was axed. It better get a fresh start and not be sold directly to Hertz or some shit if it wants to succeed again.

Black Tire

i've could have done that

F23A4

....maybe Ford should just offer 'Taurus' badging as an accessory package to the Five Hundred.

dom

Are you kidding me. Ford doesn't know if its coming or going. Go out of business already.

Whats next, the MKZ back to Zephyr and Edge to Bronco.

afici0nad0

^

qft

dom

I had to urban dictionary that one.

LuvMyTSX

Oh yes, bring back the Taurus name, that will make the 500 sell better. LOL...

Ford needs to get its head out of its ass and really fix what's wrong. Hint: it's not the name of your products, it's the products themselves. Morons.

Black Tire

Import the Ford Mondeo and rebadge as a Taurus.

F23A4

....had to Wiki that one myself.

Whiskers

I usually stay out of car talk....But who is the marketing genious who came up with this one?

JediMindTricks

no kidding...

but the SHO's were cool.

gavriil

Have got to be kidding me...

Moog-Type-S

The Taurus moniker WAS valuable...not IS.
Ford killed the Taurus by running it into the ground like alot of their products.

Hey Ford, if you make a great car, you can call it anything you want....and people will beat a path to your door.

Crazy88

Yeah the TAURUS nameplate was reputable in the late 80s early 90s. Since then as said above, its been driven into the ground. Most people wouldn't want to be driving a TAURUS because now days it just means a boring senior citizen car. FIVE HUNDRED sounds much better and less geriatric. I really don't think the name is the reason for slumping sales of the 500.

Infamous425

how about renaming the focus back to escort while theyre at it