Ford 500 Review

[dwasson]

From: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/
Ford Five Hundred
By Chris Paukert



Applebee’s. Outback. Red Lobster. Mediocre eateries are carpet-bombing America’s landscape with the sort of scorched-earth expansionist verve that would chafe Sam Walton. How is that, exactly? To a chain, most such restaurants have been designed to look, feel, and taste the same regardless of locale. Accidental tourists who dined in a Scranton Ruby Tuesday’s have a sporting chance of finding the bathroom in the Seattle franchise without asking the waitstaff. Outsized, filling portions dominate, with the quantities served constituting something of an apology for the food itself. And yet, to gorge oneself stupid on basket after basket of Riblets is to leave feeling strangely bloated and unsatisfied.

So it is with Ford’s new Five Hundred. Make no bones about it: Dearborn’s ‘Year of the Car’ centerpiece is no gourmet's feast. More to the point, the Five Hundred is a blandly flavored proposition inside and out, enticing consumers on portion size, a smorgasbord of ingredients and a low price point. Like the themed restaurants in front of which it will inevitably park, the Five-Hundred is a blatant attempt to appeal to the lowest-common denominator, blueprinted to offend as few as possible.

To begin with, Ford design guru J Mays’ verbal tap-dancing notwithstanding, the Fiver is a visual snoozer. Dearborn’s dapper design daddy has touted the car’s ‘sophisticated’ lines to any wag foolish enough to listen. But the reality is that Ford’s Five Hundred does little to quiet the critics’ charge that Mays has penned the same sedan regardless of whose corporate parasol he finds himself sunning under. The rounded wheel openings, arching roofline and refined yet non-committal face are serialized Mays – unmistakable echoes of his work on the VW Passat and Ford Mondeo.

Inside, it’s more of the same: an ergonomically sound dashboard, milquetoast in flavor. Like the washroom in a Des Moines TGIFriday’s, unfamiliar eyes (and hands) will find everything intuitively. This is just as well, as the 70’s era digital telltales for the center stack wash out in bright sunlight anyhow. On the positive side, buyers nursing an SUV-hangover will take solace in the Five Hundred’s airy, generously proportioned interior. The trunk is equally epic. Without resorting to a comedic protuberance (e.g. BMW’s 7-series), Ford’s packaging boffins have somehow created a space bigger than many Manhattan efficiencies. After a quick eighteen, a party of five can head to Bennigan’s without fear of mangling their Big Berthas.

Shoppers contemplating abandoning their soft-roaders will also appreciate the high hip-points afforded by the Five-Hundred’s chairs…err… seats. Designed to accommodate middle-America’s excess poundage, they work in tandem with good sight lines to foster excellent visibility. When the tarmac gets twisty, they’re about as supportive as a bowl of Jell-O.

The Five Hundred comes with your choice of Ford’s evergreen 3.0L Duratec V6 or… another car. With just over two hundred ponies providing propulsion for a relatively large machine, the Five Hundred is just this side of slow. Seat-of-the-pants impressions indicate a duel for that last spot in front of Perkins with a pensioner’s Toyota Avalon would be a dead heat. Taking on a young squire in his Hemi-fortified 300C would mean missing out on the early-bird special, whilst creating an unfortunate racket.

Given a length of undulating tarmac, our front-drive SE tester (a Haldex-sourced AWD system is optional) eschewed much of the Flipper-aping body motions that undo the Blue Oval’s other big car offering, the Quee….err… Crown Victoria. Predictably, plenty of safety-first understeer is dialed-in when approaching the car’s cornering limits, putting the clamps on enthusiastic driving. Absolute limits are higher than expected, but the Five Hundred fails to make such exploits feel like anything more than an inconvenience.

On the highway, where its ponderous feeling controls and over-servoed brakes aren’t as intrusive, the Five Hundred finally finds its true métier. The sedan dispatches long stretches of road with the hush n’ plush experience of a 1970’s Yank-tank.

If this all begins to sound a bit like damning with faint praise, then we’re looking at the same menu. That doesn’t necessarily make Ford’s latest the wrong choice, mind. With a FWD or AWD drivetrain, the Five Hundred should do well with snow-belters fearing the 300’s rear-wheel-drive layout in inclement weather. Of course, Daimler-Chrysler’s mobster-mobile will shortly offer power at all fours, which will negate any such advantage, but the 300 will still cost more than the Fiver.

Fortunately for Ford, it isn’t as if best-selling sedans normally trade on emotional appeal. From Toyota’s Camry to Chevy’s insipid Impala, the segment’s underlying M.O. has been prepackaged painless ownership-- the road-going equivalent of Ireland’s culinary maxim: “When in doubt, add more gray” -- the plainer, the better. Provided Ford can nail dealer conduct, resale value, etc., the Five Hundred will sell well. But drivers who haven’t reconciled themselves to motorized mediocrity are advised to dine elsewhere.

Author's Rating

Ford Five Hundred
Performance: 2 stars
Ride and Handling: 2 stars
Desirability 1 star
Design: 1 star

The Numbers:

Curb Weight: 3815 lbs.
Engine: 3.5-liter V6
Engine Type: aluminum block, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder
Horsepower: 203hp @ 5750rpms
Torque: 207 ft.-lbs. @ 4700rpms
Drive type: AWD
0 to 60: 8.8 secs.
60 to 0: NA
1/4 Mile: 16.9 secs.

[danbike]

Glad I bought the Maruader instead of waiting for a 500!!!

:) :D :banana2: :beer: :banana2: :D :)

[RF Overlord]

I wonder if Ford is trying to get take advantage of the recognition factor in calling the car the "500"...

Anyone here old enough (like me) to remember the Galaxie 500? It was 10 times the car the new 500 is...both literally and figuratively...I guess now that Ford is run by a soccer mom, this is all we're going to get from now on...

[Krytin]

Glad I bought the Maruader instead of waiting for a 500!!!

:) :D :banana2: :beer: :banana2: :D :)

I agree! This guy sounds like he hates everthing Ford - probably didn't like the Marauder either!

[rayjay]

I looked one over at the local dealer, no thanks. If I had bought anything other than the Marauder, I'd be kicking myself for not waiting for the new Stang.

[Marauder8]

I wonder if Ford is trying to get take advantage of the recognition factor in calling the car the "500"...

Anyone here old enough (like me) to remember the Galaxie 500? It was 10 times the car the new 500 is...both literally and figuratively...I guess now that Ford is run by a soccer mom, this is all we're going to get from now on...
I remember the glaxie 500. Used to work on them NEW.
How are the new brake lines working, Bob?

[jgc61sr2002]

RF - I sure do remeber the Galaxie 500.

[BlackHole]

Reason it was called the Galaxie 500 is because of Nascar ruling in that you had to build 500 in order to race it on the circuit. My uncle has no idea on why Ford used 500 on this vehicle

[Silver_04]

Given Ford's recent "quality", 500 is probably how many miles it will go without having a problem.

[69marquis conv]

Indeed I remember the Galaxie 500, had two of them. First car was a '63, then a '66 ragtop. Oh... hindsight can be so clear from where I am now....

[ncmm]

Well I test drove one(no CVT) and found it was just like a Taurus(not a SHO) in handling and engine response. :bigcry: Exterior and interior made it seem a bit SUVish. One really bad thing are the outside mirrors. They were like 8" x 10"!! Opted for a Marauder instead, glad I did. I can't completely knock the 500. For a first model there's alot to build on. Maybe a V8 or turbo V6 could be the key. Time will tell. Of course there's always the 427 to look forward to. . .:burnout:

[teamrope]

Anyone here old enough (like me) to remember the Galaxie 500? Remember? Oh ya, it's one of those things I've got in the garage! :D

O well, I'm glad we got the Marauders. If FoMoCo don't get their snit strait my next car might be a (Heaven forbid) Dodge!

[teamrope]

Given Ford's recent "quality", 500 is probably how many miles it will go without having a problem.
:lol: :rofl: :lol: :rofl:

[2003DOHC]

Got my drivers license in a 1967 Galaxie 500 2 door 390 auto.

[NAVCHAP]

The good news is that Ford builds a sensational car for Australia, the Falcon, and it comes with optional stick and optional V-8. Maybe they'll listen.

And don't half bake it like the General did with the Holden Commodore for the USA (GTO.)

I need another set of orders overseas. I owned and driven some great cars that we never get. -kjs-

[MyTMerc]

I remember the day in the summer of 1963 when my dad took me with him to pick up his new maroone (aka DTR) 500 on RT 88 in NJ. A great day! It was his first new car.

[bigslim]

There are quite a few Five Hundreds showing up in my parking lot at work. One of them already has 20's on it. Not a bad car for a second or family car.

[jerrym3]

Glad I bought the LS rather thsan waiting for this....car.

I still have my Galaxie 500XL. Just can't part with it, even though I know I should.

[jonroe]

I saw one in the flesh on the way home from work today. Ho hum. I've been a Ford guy but this thing is REALLY boring.

Jon

[wchain]

Really sad that they cranked a car out less exciting than the Ford Taurus.

This could have been built on a DEW98 Platform with the 4.0L V8 and MIGHT have had a fighting chance with the Chrysler 300, yet again, Ford has come to the market with a "offend nor please anyone" car.

:depress:

[prchrman]

seen one at the local blue oval and it was $27,000...good grief Charley Brown...thats a lot of dough for a Buick wannabe...how much is a Hemi 300C...plain ole plain...and the kicker is that 203hp is the most hp you can get...if this car sells I have lost all respect for the America consumer...willie

[Joe Walsh]

Ford seems to be pitching the '500' as a tall sedan in their commercials....This reminds me of the 70's when Ford was trying to sell their anemic boats with the "Road Hugging Weight" commercials!!!

[Marauder386]

...Stopped at my local Blue Oval lot yesterday and looked over the 500 which was right next to the new Mustang...the choice was obvious...
Ahh well, F/L/M shot themselves in both feet so I guess now they are gonna do the head shot with the "500"...



M386

[TripleTransAm]

Ahh well, F/L/M shot themselves in both feet so I guess now they are gonna do the head shot with the "500"...



:lol: :lol: :lol:

[Krytin]

I saw my first 500 today - next to me at the trafic light (he was tuning left).
There's a part of me that wants to say "thats not a bad looking car - looks solid with a lot of room. That might be a nice family sedan!"
Fortunatly, I can easily subvert that part! What a POS! It looks like a big ****ing Pasat!

[Tallboy]

i'd buy one.



if trilogy comes out with a supercharger kit for it.:burnout:

[BillyGman]

[QUOTE=dwasson]the Fiver is a visual snoozer. He can say that again!!! Without resorting to a comedic protuberance Uhmm, I'll have to get out my dictionary for that one.:confused: After a quick eighteen, a party of five can head to Bennigan’s without fear of mangling their Big Berthas. :rofl: That can be taken in a number of different ways!!!!

Given a length of undulating tarmac, our front-drive SE tester (a Haldex-sourced AWD system is optional) eschewed much of the Flipper-aping body motions that undo the Blue Oval’s other big car offering, the Quee….err… Crown Victoria. If there's anything or anyone "queer" it's this guy (or her husband)......

Chevy’s insipid Impala, I'll go along w/that! But drivers who haven’t reconciled themselves to motorized mediocrity are advised to dine elsewhere. Agreed.

[BillyGman]

...I guess now that Ford is run by a soccer mom, this is all we're going to get from now on...Yep, that's what I've been thinking too.

[JohnE]

I'd rather get a Malibu Max than a 500 for a rental. Not interested in owning either car. These fall into the same category as a Camry, bought because needed a car, no real desires. Bland transport.

If you look at a Volvo, you'll notice most of the design roots from one. Only Ford used the usual poor looking quality parts suppliers and cheap plastic. They didn't even bother to come up with a good engine for the 500. Only trying to push the CVT. From what I've heard, stay away from these, especially Fords.


I also think the soccer moms drive this company's car divisions. After all most cars are driven my women and most trucks are driven by men. Not a chance I'd risk buying Ford stock with the stuff their trying to push out the door. They keep cutting the corners and engineering in favor of the bean counters thinking everyone is blind to it.

[jerrym3]

While I really can't say anything good (or really bad) about this car, I can understand Ford's direction.

The number of driving enthusiasts as opposed to the number of "normal" drivers (SUVs and cars) is peanuts. Ford's after the Accord/Camry/Altima driver, not the performance car driver.

FORD wants to be your truck company, with a few sensible (ie-boring)vehicles thrown in for Mr everday driver and Mrs soccer/shopping mom, and very few vehicles for the certified car nut.

As much as I hate to admit it, their direction is best for the Ford Motor Company.

[TripleTransAm]

Problem is, high-performance improves the breed. While your conclusion makes perfect business sense from a business model point-of-view, the end result of this kind of direction is a total stagnation in product development. As it is, I disagree with the idea of lumping all forward-thinking excitement-focused planning into a side organization with 3 letters (SVT, SVO, SVE, etc.etc.), and with its planned vacation for 2005, that leaves little left for development. I certainly don't expect Kia or Hyundai to come out with any technological breakthroughs anytime soon, and this probably works well with their business model, but then again they are not trying to play in the 'big three'.

I honestly would have expected some trickle-down engineering from the Ford GT or at least the new Mustang, trickling down to some high-performance sedan. But I just don't see it happening, for some reason.

[prchrman]

right now the only things ford has got that I would even think about are mustang and F150...of course GT but egad...I would have to sell my farm to buy one...ford sucks and that kills me to say that...being a life long ford fan...62 country sedan wagon, 72 F100, 64 ford stepside, 69 marauder, 86 ford conversion van, 72 linc IV, 92 town car, 84 ford pu, 80 ford pu, 72 mustang, 77 linc town car, 94 F150, 69 Tbird, 62 ford pu, 59 ford pu, and others I can not remember...ford has lost their way...willie

[jerrym3]

I might be wrong here, but it didn't require a high performance vehicle for the Asian carmakers to take over the heart and soul of the car buying public. As much as I hate to admit it, they did it by providing a high quality product for the masses, while good old Ford jumped on the cash cow called the SUV and gave up on the car market.

(Back in the 60's, I used to drive Datsuns from the NJ port of entry to the Datsun dealership about 20 miles away. On the NJ Turnpike, at night, in bad weather, it was downright scarey to drive those cars. But, they didn't give up; they kept redesigning and improving their product.)

Except for the Mustang, anything with a little bit of excitement attached to it (the 90' TBirds, the Lincoln LSC's, and the SHO) got dumped real quick when sales started to slow. Rather than keep them fresh and updated, Ford put the bucks into the light truck product because that's where Ford had the sales advantage.

They also gave up on the full size performance sedan, the retro TBird, and sports sedan market (Lincoln LS), although improving the last two cars would have bumped heads with the Jaguar products.

Actually, until the foreigners caught up, it was a good strategy. But, as cars seemed to be making a comeback and the Asian light truck lines were getting stronger, Ford was left with aging platforms for it's full sized and intermediate cars.

Now, unless the reviews get better or the engine upgrade for the Montego/500 comes sooner than expected, there could be additional trouble.

On the plus side, the Mustang looks like a real winner (but, so did the TBird and LS in the beginning), and, for you rich folks, Ford seems to have no trouble selling the GT.

[Silver_04]

I might be wrong here, but it didn't require a high performance vehicle for the Asian carmakers to take over the heart and soul of the car buying public. As much as I hate to admit it, they did it by providing a high quality product for the masses, while good old Ford jumped on the cash cow called the SUV and gave up on the car market.

Gonna have to disagree with you there...

Acura NSX, S2000, Prelude, never minding all of the Type R Acuras and Hondas
Toyota Supra (but this bad boy is long gone), MR2 (dead but not forgotten)
Mazda RX-7 and now the RX-8, Miata
Nissan Z cars, Sentra R

The Japanese guys have almost always had a hot little car hidden somewhere. Toyota is the only one guilty of killing off ALL of its hot rides and not bringing them back. Honda has always had fun little cars and Mazda and Nissan are gettin' back in the game with a full swing. While Japanese cars don't appeal to me, there always has been a "fun" car or two offered by the guys across the Pacific. Oh, and even they appreciate the benefits of RWD on a sports car or two.

[jerrym3]

Sikver 04 : no problem, but some of those that you noted may have been introduced after the Asians had already taken over the car market.

[Bradley G]

The very early asian cars were not very goodIMHO,When gas got tight in the 70's,they got very popular. Seems the domestic makers were slow to respond to these demands for economy cars. All makes have come a long way in quality.I don't feel the difference in quality is an issue anymore.I realize this is a perception ( not nescessarily the popular one)One interesting note is : Import owners statistically spend more on maintaining thier vehicle as do domestics(except Marauder'ers)And... most likely to have the dealer perform routien maintenence. nice spelling huh??
Bradley G

[2005Marauder]

The following statement is:WRONG
"As much as I hate to admit it, they did it by providing a high quality product for the masses, "
============================== =========================
I worked in Automotive for some 12 years and still keep up with the industry.
Here is a more accurate picture of what happened:

In the late 80's, Ford was producing a BETTER quality car and could not understand why buyers thought the import cars were better. They did a exhaustive study which I was privileged to get an executive review in 1991. What Ford found out was that the imports did a better job on Warranty and 'secret' warranty work, whereas Ford would try to get out of paying warranty claims on the most trival issue. Also, the import dealers were more likely to fix the problem the first time and Ford dealers did not. To keep this short, if you had ANY problem with your import it was usually fixed for free and fixed the first time. If you had a problem with a Ford you were lucky if Ford would or could fix it. Bottom line was that people remembered the bad experience that they had at the Ford Dealers and relayed that to everyone they knew. Even though the import owner had more problems, to the owner it wasn't a problem because of the polite way the problem was handled and the fact they they did not have to pay for repairs, and the fact that they often got problems fixed FOR FREE after the warranty had expired. The import owners did not have any bad experiences with the dealers and thus were much happier and told everyone.

Ford did produce better cars up until Nassar took control of Ford. Then the quality did begin to suffer under his leadership. Before Nassar, there was at least one year that Ford had the top five selling vehicles.

[jerrym3]

No argument here. The late 80's Fords were high quality vehicles.

But can the same be said for earlier years?

If my 81 Fairmont Futura wagon was any indication of Ford quality in the early 80's, it was pretty bad.

But my 89 Towncar, except for a trans rebuild, was still quiet and running great at 148,000 miles. Those items that wear out had to be replaced, but other than that, it was a great car.

And I agree that it's now a misconception that foreign is better.

I read somewhere recently that European cars are reporting more troubles than American cars, but the Asians are still slightly ahead.

[duhtroll]

Don't forget the soon-to-be released Ford 500 S-Trim which will have an increase in HP from 203 to 215. Flywheel, of course. :rolleyes:

For a 3800# car, that thing can't possibly get to 60 in under 10 seconds. What a pathetic waste. Everyone else seems to have figured out reliability, fuel economy, and not releasing anemic vehicles at the same time, even KIA for the sake of Pete.

The new Ford car line sucks. I will never buy one again until they shape up or I get old enough to be able to justify the Mustang. It's DC or <gasp> even a GM product from here on out if they have some HP behind them.

-A

[JohnE]

Ford needs something like the 3.5L that brought people back to Nissan. And the smaller engines need power and economy. A little styling woundn't hurt either. Look at the Altima or the 300C, these weren't boring and they sold. Honda has an excellent V-6, which gets stuffed many vehicles too.

------

If you want a good dealer service experience, check out Lexus. I never got a loaner car when my Grand Marquis was in for service (warranty work) multiple times. I get a POS Civic when my Volvo is in for warranty work and it's been several times. Ford sure could improve upon their image if they took care of their mistakes w/o hassle the first time. And 36,000mi is not enough warranty for people in big cities. My warranty was out in 1 1/2 years.

There are well-known design flaws with Fords that come up. When the Police ban together, Ford fixes theirs for free. At the same time they seriously overcharge the general public to fix the same issues on their cars. Not something that brings brand loyalty or a quality image.


Then there's the thrifting of the vehicles that goes on there. It seems to me that they're even cutting corners in the engineering side, past the obvious deletions of features and cheap interiors. Not that GM doesn't too. But the stuff they're supplying just doesn't seem designed to last past 5 years. I expect the CVT to have troubles just a bit outside of warranty and expensive. The new 5-speed auto in the Mustang has less torque capacity than previous years along with more power than it ever had.

----

edited:

Okay, I was a bit too harsh. Ford does have some pretty good stuff. They are more reliable than GM and DC, but plenty of room for improvement. Even though I hate be stuck with the Modular engines, since they’re so limited on choices they’ve brought a huge improvement in performance and reliability to a smaller displacement.

[rayjay]

JohnE has it right. Ford needs to standardize the way dealers service their customers. The place I bought my Focus always had a loaner for me. Where I bought my MM, I can rent a car. The MM stickers for 3x my Focus. Something wrong here, hello. Luckily I have had very few problems with Fords over the years. Been buying them since 1971. On the one occasion I bought a Chrysler product, I had multiple recurring headaches that could not be properly fixed. I was really psyched to buy a PT Cruiser, then they put the same POS 4 banger in it that I had nothing but trouble with in my Breeze. Went back to Ford. My Focus ZX3 was always reliable, a blast to drive and relatively cheap to modify. Then came the fuel pump issue for the 00-02 model year. The Focus community came together, stayed on the Feds, and effected a recall. I did get my money back in a very timely manner along with a upgraded pump installed for free, and a free loaner. I'm still waiting for the ignition lock recall to get money back. Anyway, I digress. My wife is looking forward to buying a FreeStyle. For her it would be great and hopefully there will be "deer catcher" front bumper option... 200hp is more than enough for her. Scares the you know what out of me anytime shes in the driver seat of the MM, which is only as a designated driver coming home from the pop stand.

[Silver_04]

Sikver 04 : no problem, but some of those that you noted may have been introduced after the Asians had already taken over the car market.

What do you mean by take over? I will say the Asians have taken a huge bite out of the car market and are positioning themselves for more market share, but only Toyota has cracked the top three in vehicle sales at this point. Considering I don't believe the Asians have yet to "take over" the car market, I'll stand behind my list of vehicles. I welcome the fact that the Japanese seem - and I stress the word seem - to offer a superior product in the eyes of consumers...it keeps our domestic guys on their toes.

And if anyone wants a good read go here------>JDPower (http://www.jdpower.com/cc/auto/index.jsp)
And here is something else we can all worry about...
"For the first time ever, Korean-built vehicles outpace both the Europeans and Domestics in initial quality." -source JD Power website.

[RCSignals]

Ford's first "500" was the Fairlane500, in 1957. It wasn't named "500" because of any production # requirement.

This new 500 isn't that bad of a car, the Mercury version is better, but they both lose because they are FWD based.

The reviewer is a nut. really. read his article again.