The 500 was a excellent sedan had one as the family car from 05 till 2020. That car was comfortable and spacious, good in the snow,cheap to fix and lasted 305k before the transmission gave out.
I liked my preowned 2005 Ford Five Hundred Limited very much. Sadly the rear quarter panels rusted around the wheel wells and progressed rapidly. I was a salesperson and frequently took customers out for lunch. The rust ruined the appearance of the car. I decided to replace it. Since then I took notice of the rear quarter panels whenever I saw a 2005/2006 Five-Hundred on the road. Sure enough they all exhibited rust around the wheel wells. I was always a Ford guy and this soured my impression of Ford quality. Especially considering this new design was supposed to elevate the Ford sedan. I decided to replace it with an SUV. I had my heart set on a Ford Edge. I ended up choosing a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport because I lost faith in Ford’s design for quality.
@steveyankees1 my car did that to but it was well over 200k and more than 12 years old. Also rust is just a thing I live in the rust belt everything used has rust unless you drive it 8 weeks a year and undercoat it every other month.
The Five Hundred & Mercury Montego were great cars. I’ve owned two Montego’s as well as an ‘08 Sable and all three were very solid and dependable cars that were also very comfortable. Gas mileage was fantastic for such a large car too. I’d definitely own one again.
I really wish Ford would start building cars for the American market again. I’m in Europe, and Fords are everywhere. The Mondeo/Fusion wagon is a work of art, and is likely far more efficient than most of their big, clumsy SUVs.
Had both a 2005 Montego Premier as well as a 2005 Freestyle Limited. The Montego was FWD with the 6 speed and the Freestyle was AWD with the CVT. Both were well built and comfortable cars. The Montego was eventually a trade in for a F350 in 2008 but the Freestyle was still running flawlessly in 2016 when we finally replaced it. Again both were fine cars but that Freestyle was truly ahead of its time and would be a perfect vehicle even in today's environment.
I'm from a Dodge family, but my aunt stepped out of our family norm and bought a freestyle or the Taurus wagon, can't actually remember specifically what one it was, but either way I drove it once to the corner store or something, and I have to say, i do remember it impressing me at the time, however I wondered at the time about the cvt. And judging by how I dont see any on the road anymore, I don't think they held up well.
@@michaelvecera8394 I rented a Ford Flex for a couple of months and if it weren't for Ford's horrible seats that are not suitable for people 6'5", I really likes everything else about it.
I really enjoyed my 07 Five Hundred. Purchased second-hand, I drove it for 11 years and added 100,000 miles to the odometer. My dad, well into his 80s when I bought, preferred riding in my car over my mom's Lincoln Town Car. I sold it late last year to a couple in their mid-20s, now she loves it!
You gotta remember that the 2010 Taurus was still based on the 500 platform, that's why the proportions were still very odd. Although I thought the styling was better up front but the rear end looked like someone tried to hide the size they got. I actually was issued that version of the Taurus and it was an ok car. Huge with an interior that looked great but didn't use the space too well.
The Ford 500 was a GREAT car. My mom had one with the cvt and not only was it a really nice car but it ran great all the way up to the time we sold it at 300k miles and the people who bought was excited to get it. It was just a nice looking car all around. Black on tan.
Had a 2005 500 Limited and a 2008 Sable Premiere. Best cars I've ever owned. I bought the Sable new in late 2007 and kept it until a deer totaled the car in 2023 at 300k+ miles.
I find it interesting that the designer said that the 500 and the Freestyle were not some of his best moments. I always liked the look of the Freestyle, and I think it doesn't look dated today like some designs do. I have no idea of the reliability of them, but I still see quite a few today. I quite enjoy the reliability of Ford in general as I have a '92 Ranger, '98 Crown Victoria (police), 2005 Freestar, '17 Escape, and a '17 Fusion Hybrid.
I have to say they were great cars for Ford and Mercury. I fault Ford for not promoting these vehicles as they were the best full size cars on the market. I currently own a 2006 Freestyle with 185,000 miles on it and it looks great, I love this vehicle and it has been very reliable. Yes it has the CVT in it but it has been very reliable. 4 wheel drive is great and very secure in bad weather too. Ford made a mistake not keeping these cars in there lineup.
I actually love these. Big trunk and back seat, upright driving position, comfortable and good visibility. I think some minor styling tweaks could have given it more presence, but it already looked a lot like an Audi A6/A8.
I have the 08 Sable with the larger v 6 and I am 6 foot 3 inches and I love it the heater warms up right away and the nice radio and really nice seats Only flaw was the cam phaser failed early and it was a pain to fix it.I replaced many engine parts that I did not need to because the engine was apart anyway. It has more room than my crown vic had.
I believe the Five Hundred was the official car of the Men in Black because the memory of this vehicle has been wiped from our memory. On a serious note, I have seen one or two of these out in the wild. They weren't embraced by the driving public and faded away.
These cars are extremely underrated and were unjustifiably ignored by the buying public back in the day. The vast majority of the people who bought them really enjoyed them and sang their praises. Unfortunately, the cars lacked the visual appeal of their competitors like the Chrysler 300 and so they were a sales flop. Ford seemed not to know just how good a product they had and so they let it languish!
We inherited my brother in laws 08 Taurus It looked like a big Volkswagen Passat the interior was excellent .The rear seat leg room was like a limousine styling was the problem especially when the competition was the Chrysler 300
I own a 2006 Montego Premier, I bought it used in 2019. It's one of the best handling front wheel drive cars I've ever owned, right up there with my long gone 1985 Audi 5000. The build quality and feel is very good and it has HID head lights (low beams), LED tail lights and LED lights in the bottoms of the side mirrors that light the area around the front door at night when you unlock it with the key fob or touch the door handle. The V6 doesn't have much power but the 6-speed is aggressive so it feel quick, 0-60 is around 7.5 seconds.
Out of all the buyouts, this one had the most potential of working for Ford. Ford gained not just this platform but the platform the underpinned the focus and the Mazda 3 from Volvo. They got different safety technology as well. They just needed to do a better job of creating synergy through group buys with things like the Aisin 6-speed. I seriously doubt that the ancient Taurus platform was capable of creating nearly as good a car for not just this but for the front wheel drive explorer that was also created from this platform. While the original Taurus platform did a great job for its long run, by the end it was pretty long in tooth. I will never forget that we got a fairly loaded 04 SES for $8,000 off. The Taurus might have sold in high numbers but I question if it was profitable at all at the end. The transmission was due for retirement, the Vulcan engine was due for retirement, the Duratec 3 l needed an upgrade after being on the market for 10 years with no major update at that point, they had used the same styling and one form or another since '96. It was time for something new. If they didn't buy a Volvo they were going to need to spend a lot of money to make a competitive platform. Our '08 Taurus was an awesome car for us it currently has 250,000 mi and it's still runs. Many of these seem to run forever (so long as the water pump doesn't fail on the 3.5 Cyclone naturally). I will note that a similar argument could be made about the Lincoln LS considering that it only lasted one generation or the 2003 Thunderbird as both were pretty much failures. But just like the successful front wheel drive explorer being based off of the Volvo S80 platform, my understanding is the s197 Mustang was loosely based off of this platform minus the independent rear suspension. I think the biggest problem with the premiere Auto group is they needed to do a better job of creating a synergy with the companies along with having More restrain to buy unnecessary divisions such as Land Rover. With the acquisition of Volvo much technology was gained. With Jaguar and Land Rover, a brand was gained that required a massive amount of investment and repair to a long damaged reputation. Before they had any business buying Land Rover they needed to first make Jaguar and Aston Martin profitable. Part of accomplishing this may have been to cut down on duplicate engines. If Ford would have first released the modular double overhead cam V8 under Jaguar then after a couple years let it pass down to Lincoln then to Ford instead of having both the AJV8 and the modular V8 (not to mention the Yamaha built 4.4 V8) Ford could have followed the proper procedure of having one V8 but let it start off in the premium divisions and let it pass down to the less premium divisions. Thereby saving a lot of R&d. If Ford parts weren't adequate on things such as transmissions, having a corporate purchase of specific transmissions from third party vendors such as ZF or Aisin could have given them quantity discounts instead of seeming to pick random transmissions in random vehicles. The main area to spend the money would have been on completely separate sheet metal and completely separate interiors made to the appropriate price points for each division.
Thank you for your comment. I have to disagree. If Ford would would have taken the money they had spent on these brands and used it internally to develop a newer platform on their own they would have been better off. It cost them dearly in the end and yes they gained a lot from Mazda and Volvo however there is no reason this couldn't have been handled without the those purchases and especially the other brand purchases. They seemed to distracted by these brands to focus internally.
@@TonysFordsandMustangs I will agree that it might have been possible for them to do this on their own but the question I have for you is would they do it on their own let alone would they have done as competent a job on their own? The problem that the big three struggle with is letting the bean counters make the decisions. Think about the fact that they went nearly 10 years without updating the Duratec V6 in the Ford lineup, And once they did it seems that the upgraded versions were first found in Mazda and Jaguar years before they were found in Ford. This was a problem because Ford was really falling behind compared to Toyota and Honda in power And they finally offered it It was down in power compared to their competitors. Another example was they didn't even give the 4th generation Taurus a full refresh which it really needed as it still had the door styling. It was a refresh versus revolution it needed to distance itself from the oval madness third generation. It also lacked a model that was particularly fuel efficient as the Vulcan had such poor economy compared to either its 4 cylinder rivals from Toyota Camry or Honda Accord or GM from the 3.4 powered Impala and ironically was out powered by them as well. Part of the problem with declaring it a failure was They really didn't give it a long enough trial. Purchasing a competitor has massive up front cost and trying to make drastic changes and test out a solution takes capital and this was during a time when the economy wasn't doing quite as well. It also doesn't look at how much Ford gained by not having to develop many of these technologies but have access to them as a fringe benefit. Concerning the whole premiere Auto group failure, How much of it was Volvo versus the continued weight that Jaguar and Aston Martin added plus adding the disaster that Land Rover was which really didn't have much value outside of the name. That finally forced the company to abandon this plan? What realistically did Ford gain from their acquisition of Jaguar other than the name? The only platform that I'm aware that Ford used was the one that was developed under Ford's watch (which Ford could have probably used the Australian falcon platform in its place had they never purchased Jaguar), The AJV8 was not needed by Ford as they had their own modular V8 come out a couple years earlier than The AJ V8 did (and Ford paid for the AJV8to be built), And much of the electronics from Jaguar had to be replaced as it was so poor quality thanks to their prior owner (British Leland if I remember correctly), The V12 was putting out V8 level power so it wasn't really useful to Ford. So far it appears that geely was able to make Volvo profitable much like Tata has been able to make Jaguar Land Rover profitable (at least on the short term). Having a realistic picture of saying that Ford didn't need Mazda It's a hard claim to support considering how intertwined they were. Ford had been using Mazda platforms If memory serves correctly from around the early '90s. The Duratec 4 cylinder family is based off of the Mazda 4 cylinders as I understand it. The first Ford Fusion was based off of the Mazda 6. Looking at how poorly so many Ford of Europe models turned out whether it was the first generation focus or the last generation focus, the mondeo-based contour, the merkur, etc. I don't know how well Ford on its own in those classes of vehicles. I would submit that the original Mondeo might be a prime example that something is wrong with Ford that they developed a global platform at such a massive cost but the car wasn't competitive and it wasn't well liked in the United States. Considering that Mazda seemed to increase in sales and profitability after Ford no longer had an influence The problem might just be ford itself doesn't know how to manage anything other than The division of Ford. And it pains me to say that but what else does the evidence point to? Mercury is dead, Lincoln is not doing well, all these companies that they bought and sold are still in business and in the hands of the same owners that they sold them to.
Both the 500's, Montego's and the Focus and Milan were considered Taurus replacements however the Focus and Milan are much smaller than a Taurus, The 08 Taurus was this car refreshed.
Actually, this was a great car… when the cvt was replaced with the 6-speed. It was roomy and dependable. The 3.0 was a good motor…. the 3.5 even better. Alan Mullaly was a good CEO, I think his time there was short another 5 years would have been better - Thank you Tony ‘
I'm not going to hit the like button because this was a great car , Ford should have made it and still for a few more years. My neighbor has 2005 limited and she still love the car and hardly any issues over the years
I'm glad to hear you like your car. This video ended up being more about where Ford was as a company. Volvo was one of the few companies that it didn't loose a ton of money on. That said Ford as a company would have been better off never buying ownership in any of these companies and therefore these cars would have never been built.
I bought a brand new sable. Well technically it was prior model year and it had been driven by the sister of the dealership owner. Where is the closest I'll ever get to new car I don't like throwing my money out the window as soon as I drive down the street from the dealership. Fell at work so and he came over me and said shook my hand Pat me on the back told me I did a good thing moving up to Jaguar. I know what he's talking about. Then I saw the same year jaguar. You know from 20 ft it'd be off your hard to tell which ones Jag and which one was the sable. I kept an old Taurus as a company car for a long time past its prime. One ladies in the office bought one of the first ones off the line at Ford 500 and it was junk. Just some of my thoughts. Appreciate your show and channel
My son and daughter-in-law had an '06 Freestyle. Was a nice car. Only issue was in 2012 (and 150K miles), is had an "intermittent" electrical issue no one could fix. Sometimes, for no reason or rhyme, it would shut off, not start, act like the ignition was just disconnected. It always solved itself within minutes, but was annoying.
Nasser got rid of a ton of great Ford products in his brief tenure. Ford Tractor was sold. Ford school buses - gone, Ford Louisville truck line- sold. He brought in the Ford contour - Mondeo. Great driving car, absolute nightmare to work on. Which led to the Focus a great little car at the right time.
I had a 2005 Ford Five Hundred Limited This was a GREAT CAR! I am in CA, it needed a paint job and I tinted out windows! It was my Mafia Staff Car ! Loved the Back seat ! And passenger seat folded down... I've had about 300 cars so far! Very Reliable and got 20-30 mpg ! Took it on some Great Road Trips ...
Alan Mullally was one of the best leaders Ford ever had. It's been all downhill since he left. As for the Five Hundred, I understand the car that was originally supposed to get that name was the 427 show car. That would have been SO much better than the Five Hundred we got. An Americanized Aussie Falcon would have been great too. Almost anything would have been better than what we got.
Due to this video, I just went and looked on auto trader for a 2010+ Ford Taurus. VERY NICE CAR! I found multiple examples with under 40,000 miles for $15,000! I might seriously look at this as I'm due a new used car! THANK YOU!
I remember an article from the time which you touched upon about bringing the name Taurus back. The former CEO decided that all the cars should have names that match the first letter of the brand. Ford went with Freestyle and Five Hundred and Mercury with Montego and Mariner. Probably some others I can't recall. The new CEO saw this as ridiculous and brought back the nameplates Ford was known for, Taurus etc. I did drive a Five Hundred. It was a nice comfortable car. Not much excitement to it as you mentioned.
years ago, i took my car in for service at an independent shop. the loaner given to me was a Ford 500. It was a nice car but not really memorable. It was a new loaner for the shop and they asked me what I thought of it when I returned it. I said it wasn't my cup of tea but my Dad would probably really like it. A few years later, Dad was in a market for a new car and wanted something with all wheel drive...and decided to get a Subaru.
My mom bought a 500 to replace her early 90s Mercury Marquis. I liked the 500 the one time I drove it, but over a few months, she found the seat position uncomfortable. In less than a year she traded for a Ford Edge which she still drives.
The 500 and Montego were dependable, solid cars. (With the 6 speed transmission) . But they were EXTREMELY BLAND. They were just transportation. Nothing stood out. The performance was mediocre. Again, they were dependable. But nothing stood out that made a person really want them.
I have not enjoyed Ford's sedans since 1995 when I turned 16, and my parents bought me an emerald green w tan leather throughout 1995 Taurus SHO. It was literally taken off of the showroom floor for me.
8:41 - This was a misstep. Ford was living off Vovlo for the Taurus & Explorer while Lincoln benefitted from Jaguar's S-Type. Meanwhile, Jaguar benefitted from some much needed QC in its manufacturing. PAG was working, even if not ideally. They could have kept the Volvo & Jaguar pieces and let the rest go.
The 2010 Taurus was built on the same chassis as the 500-which in turn came from Volvo. While I agree that the PAG should never have been formed, a few other relatively successful vehicles were spawned from the acquisition of Volvo. Today’s Explorer chassis for example is a derivative of the same chassis used for the 500. The Ford Flex is another. Both nameplates didn’t have huge success but played a part in the revitalization of Ford post-2008. Ford did not have the captial to design; test; build a suitable chassis for the Explorer in the time they had.
I'm not saying it's a bad car or platform. I'm saying Ford could have revised & modernized the Taurus and other platforms instead of purchasing companies and trying to incorporate their platforms into what they were doing. PAG was a huge mistake and one that could have cost Ford dearly.
@@TonysFordsandMustangswhile I agree, I don’t think Ford had enough capital or the time to engineer a completely new chassis during that period. PAG was a monumental failure but the use of Volvo chassis’ were a benefit imo-they made the best out of a poor situation.
My mom bought an 05 Montego with cloth seats and it was mint green inside and out. About a year later her sister showed up with a blue one from outta state. Anyway she liked the car and kept it till 2016 when she trade it for an Equinox. Thanks for the memory Stay well
I own 2 Five Hundreds... A 2007 "Limited" FWD that I bought in 2018, came from an estate sale of an old gal I knew from church. It hadnt ran in a couple years, only had like 47,000 miles on it at the time. Its a Limited with leather and all the bells and whistles. Was the first vehicle I ever owned with more then 2 doors and less then 3 pedals. I spent the 20ish years prior buying and buiding fox body mustangs and 1980-1997 F-series trucks, I got old and decided i needed to add a "going to town" car to the fleet 😂. It has about 60,000 miles on it now, still looks and drives like new. In the winter of 2021 my designated winter beater 1987 F150 was down for repairs, so ended up driving the five hundred for a few days. I felt bad subjecting the car to Iowa road salt, I just so happen to be browsing the classifieds and found a 2006 SEL AWD for a thousand bucks... Its rusty, its ugly, and its now rolling around on bfg all terrain tires. I would not be afraid to go rallying racing in that car, its an absolute tank.
In my oil change days, I saw these with rusty, rotted frames after only a few short years. I remember having to tell a customer the central cross beam on their Montego was basically gone. She said the dealers knew of the problems and Ford did nothing to address it as usual.
I have a 2005 Mercury Montego. I bought it in 2009. Spent a lot of money fixing it. One stupid thing is the dash goes black. Fortunately it was temporary. Check engine light keeps coming on. It has 168,000 miles and runs good. I live in R.I. where Mr. Tasca has a huge dealership. I remember him talking about the Ford 500 on the radio. He had some connections to the Ford people. I like my Mercury because the driving position is up high. And steering is tight.
I'm not saying it's a bad car, I'm saying Ford could have revised modernized the Taurus instead of purchasing these company and trying to incorporate their platforms into what they were doing.
I still have my 2008 Taurus SEL that I purchased in June of 2007. My son uses it now. My wife bought a new 2005 Freestyle Limited. It had a moon roof and the DVD player with wireless head phones. She traded that in 10 years later. My Taurus 3.5 V6 was quicker and smoother than the Freestyle due to the 263 horsepower and 249 toque upgrade.
Side curtain airbags came along pretty late for a company that talks about safety. My mother bought a brand new 2002 golf. It had six airbags standard equipment. Ford was a little late with stability control as well
I feel like Ford executives said "Oh F***" when Chrysler dropped the 300C and saw how many of them they were selling, and scrambled to come up with a competitior. Although I think they kinda had a better car already in the Lincoln LS. They should have just made a watered down ford version of that Lincoln.
We’ve driven a Five Hundred since 2006. It has been an excellent car. I’m 6’7” and my son is 6’6” and 300lb former college offensive lineman. Either of us fits comfortably in the back seat. The upright seating position gave a feeling of visibility and control that was missing in other sedans of the time. The platform was excellent for Ford because it was carried over to the Freestyle, Taurus, TaurusX, and Explorer. One of the best cars Ford made in the modern era. Our only complaint was that the air conditioning was weak for a car with such a large greenhouse.
My great aunt Rose owned one. I feel they should have not used the five hundred name. But the Taurus name right at the beginning. But also could have used the turbo 5 and 6 cylinder engines from Volvo. Would have been great to see a 300 hp twin turbo straight six in a Taurus. Great video 😊
Considering I've driven the same camread since new 10/99 I'm not somebody that needs a cor to look like a 17-year-old punk covered it in plastic body kits or a racing dashboard but when these first 500 came out I thought they were the most blandesigned to be rental Fleet use things I had ever seen and then after driving when it felt pokey for such a big car. The updated for Taurus version helped a little with the styling but I didn't have the finish of an Avalon
Besides not watering it down with too much input, they probably should have made this a Taurus and Sable in 2005 and got rid of the existing one. There wasn't enough reason for both to exist, given they also had the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis. I rented a Taurus in 2005 on a trip in Ohio (to look an old Lincoln for sale), and it was not a good experience...maybe there was something wrong with the Taurus, possibly abused given it being a rental with God knows what tires, but it was almost scary to drive around hard turns on roads I had to keep up a moderate speed, where the limits of the car suddenly came up with almost no time for correction. If my example was anything like a Taurus of the era typically, it certainly needed replacement.
what I'm saying and what they eventually did was look at what they were doing and improve upon it instead of trying to figure out how to incorporate other companies tech into their cars.
I did like the five hundred and Montego when they came out. They were very spacious on the inside, and I liked the ride!!! I just wish that they would stop going the European route. Our roads are bigger, and our cars need to match that. Leave the girly stuff to the European manufacturers. Thank you for covering these two cars!!!
The 2007 Interceptor concept 7:49 is a continuation of the 2003 427 concept that would have been a direct Charger/300/Magnum RWD plaform competitor. In fact, the 2003 427 concept LOOKS like a 300 with Fusion front end. Maybe you could do a episode about all the concepts that could have been.
Very good video, although I'm not sure there's any excuse to mispronounce Alan Mulally's name when it can be easily found on UA-cam. My mom has the next-gen version of these, a 2008 Sable, with the much more powerful 3.5 V6 and better refinement and numerous other improvements. It's been an excellent car since new, with a cavernous interior, although I wouldn't say it has the most compelling proportions from the outside, sporting a rather frumpy shape, actually.
@@TonysFordsandMustangs I've followed that very impressive person quite closely, and the pronunciation I have always heard is consistent and different from yours. You can Google myriad interviews (there's a great one with Jay Leno) for confirmation.
We STILL have our 2005 Ford Five Hundred - it has been WONDERFUL! no problems and runs like a top. (we have the AWD version with the CVT transmission). WE have NO complaints and disagree with you 1 million percent. We are HAPPY they were made on a Volvo platform....
It cost Ford 15 billions of dollars to buy and a few years later sell these brands. Ford would have been much better off if they never purchased a single brand including Volvo. I'm not sure how you can disagree with that statement.
@@TonysFordsandMustangs I disagree because (as I stated earlier) our Ford Five Hundred has been wonderful - still goes every day with no issues AND IF FORD had NOT bought all those brands - including Volvo - they would not have had them to sell when the other manufacturers had to get government money to survive. I will always love and defend Ford - no other brand even comes close to their quality and longevity IMO!
@@rockandroll4689 I understand you love your car. I have never said these were bad cars. I love Ford products as well however the company is run by people and sometime those people make mistakes. Buying those brands and selling the brands at a loss was a bad move for the Company. Had Ford not bought those brands they would have been in a substantially better position. You are never ahead when you sell something at a 15 billion dollar loss. They would have been better served putting the cash somewhere else. Volvo was the only one that saw Ford break even.
@@TonysFordsandMustangs well saying they "should never have been built" made me think you thought they are bad cars. If I misunderstood the tone on that - please accept my apologies. And all brands of everything made are made by people who make mistakes - I agree with you on that. I was so proud of Ford for not taking the government money like GM and Chrysler had to though - so even if they lost money - they still came out on top with Americans and me. Thank you for your kind comment.
@@rockandroll4689 Bringing in Mulally is s what saved Ford. He looked at all the brand purchases and realized the mistake. He righted the the ship and just in time. I too am happy that Ford was able to not take a pass on the bailout. Had Mulally not seen what the error of those that came before him it could have been a very different story. Thank you for your understanding and for looking at this rationally. As to the 500 some good can come out of a bad situation.
I should have bought a new one. My used 05 Montego was a nightmare..especially A/C and trans...great ride, good room and plenty of options... I kept it a year and traded it in on and older Grand Marquis with less miles...much better car....
We have an 06 montego premier awd. Very comfortable nice car, and very roomy but bland. Super reliable too. I still see a lot on the road of these twins. That being said, they kept taking cost out of the taurus and sable to the point they were very mediocre and not class leading like the original taurus
I remember being disappointed in 2004 when the 500 and Freestyle made their debut. The 500 was automatically an old person's car and was too big and too conservatively styled to pose any real threat to the Accord and Camry. Add in reliability issues with the CVT and the 500/Montego and Freestyle didn't really have a chance.
The Taurus and and mid sized cars like them to be sub par in over all comfort(head room, leg room, ride) RWD body on frame make for a better road car 99% of the time.
😮 Evocative '500' (e.g. Fairlane 500, Galaxie 500) v/s blocky, all-cap 'FIVE HUNDRED' blah! Shocked me. PS the first-ever hearing of this era's Montego for me (in 🇨🇦Canada) is on this post of yours.
Why would any car company discontinue a model name that was so successful? I wonder if part of the issue was corporate brass that was so obsessed with making an egotistical mark on the company that they sacrifice success in order to be able to say, "look at what I accomplished!"
Honestly I never understood the 500 nor the Mercury M. I felt Ford found something in their freezer and had some leftovers and threw everything together. Yes the Meal came out good but it was almost like a last Minute thought. Then they got rid of those vehicles kinda quickly. Yes the Taurus was the Top Selling Sedan in the early 90s, but Ford messed up with those ugly designs for the Taurus & Sable in the mid 90s. Quite a few owners i knew of with older ones didn't care for the new designs and went to other Manufacturers.
The Fivehundred was never planned as the replacement for the Taurus. It was the replacement for the Crown Vic. The Fusion was the replacement for the Taurus. As designed, they were comfortable large sedans suffering from a slightly dull design. Hence your argument that they were a failed replacement for the Taurus/Sable is a non-starter.
The 500 & the Fusion were both considered replacements for the Taurus however the Fusion is much smaller than a Taurus. This car renamed the Taurus in 08.
Volvo's problem, with Saab, was never doing it's own stuff until it had to at the very last moment, effectively removing it's industrial base. The PRV V6 Volvo decided to use killed off its abilities to make better sixes and fives..it bought engines from the VW Light Truck as well. The Volvo engined European Focus XR5T was never seen in the USA because it was so gorsh darned expensive. For Saab, the V4 60° Ford and Standard Triumph OHC with buy in Triumph 1500 front drive design were just the beginning of the end for the brands. If you don't spend money on the Means of Production, others will own it. In terms of outright cash, Ford got owned by Volvo, Jaguar and Aston Martin and Mazda. It's ironic that the same scathing reaction to the cost of the brilliant MN12 and FN10 wasn't applied to the Ford 500. What Ford used to do best, was build cars down to a price point better than anyone else. What Volvo got out of the Ford relationship was the SHO 60° Yamaha V8 under a backyard deal. And cashed up with Ford bore centre engines ( the 4.0157 bore 60° engines, the 3.78" bore four cylinder Mazda engine) no one has capitalised on the gifts given by Ford to Volvo, Jaguar, Aston Martin and Mazda. Ford's buys were previously Cologne Ford Capris, De Tomaso Panteras and especially the Cologne V6 engines and Bordeaux gearboxes that effectively made a 98 Explorer a 40% imported US made SUV..., paid for under World War II war repatriation funds for the two places those components were made. Ford just needed to return to Smart Money.
I think Ford should have focused on Ford and making the products they had better. Instead they got distracted by how they could incorporate these brands into their products and vise versa. Thanks for watching and for your comment.
So what you're really trying to say is what everybody already knew. Continuation of the Ford Taurus was a great idea and acquiring a bunch of failing European brands was not.
I didn’t think these were bad looking cars for the time. My athletic director bought one when driving his F150 120 miles daily was to expensive with $3.25 a gallon gas. My priest owned one too. My priest had his car crushed with a tree branch at a stop sign somewhere. It was repaired. He also had a Contour SE in champagne.
Best FWD car I ever owned. My Montego was a BMW killer. Ford has lost its way lately but the reasonably priced, fun to drive, economical 4 door Montego/500 was a winner... Well except for the CVT, never buy a CVT.
I couldn't put this in the video but Ford promoted this right after GM's CVT failed hard. Theirs was belt driven and Ford promised their CVT would be better because it was chain driven.
0:31, I love you, I subbed to you, but never for the rest of your life, ever say "JAGUIRE" again, like Mark McGuire the baseball player. JAG=WIRE really? Come on man. Surely you know how to properly pronounce that lol
@@TonysFordsandMustangs Right on brother! That's all we can ask for. Now here's to hoping you always say MARE-COOR (as it was always supposed to be in German!) if you ever review a Merkur XR4Ti :) Don't get me started on the Fiat ABARTH or any Peugeot please
They dropped the Taurus and replaced it with the 500. Can't even count how many loyal Taurus buyers showed up at dealerships ready to upgrade their old yours with a new model. They were incredulous when there was only the 500. It might be the same car, but, since it didn't have the word Taurus on it, they always left without buying. Ford REALLY screwed themselves with that
I always thought Ford was looking at 500 😊as the crown Vic replacement. I think it was a very good car, visibility was great tons of interior and trunk room. The head stylist came from Audi and you can see a resemblance to the big Audi sedans of the time. The greenhouse, the shoulders down the side of the car even the grill and taillights have a resemblance . The CVT made for poor driving experience which hurt the car. I think the premier auto group was a good idea poorly executed. That was an opportunity to become a larger more global company. Sadly I think Ford is not big enough to survive without merging with another larger player in the long term. My guess would be Volkswagen.
The 500 and the Fusion were both considered replacements for the Taurus. The Fusion was much smaller than the Taurus. I don't think 500 was a bad car either and I agree they were looking at Audio when they styled this car. I think Ford would have been off not acquiring any of these brands and using the funds to develop and build a better version of Ford cars and trucks. Outside of an ownership stake in Mazda & buying Volvo there was little to be gained from any of these acquisitions.
They were full of the YAWN factor. If someone told a child to drive a generic car, it would look like the 500. The 500/Montego generic factor was especially apparent when contrasted with the 2006 Dodge Charger that had some style even though it wasn’t that great mechanically. I’m a Ford guy . So I was very disappointed with the blandness of these otherwise solid vehicles. The sheet metal ruined them. If we’d gotten the 2010 Taurus in 2006, things may have turned out differently.
The Ford Fusion replaced the Ford Taurus. The Mercury Milan replaced the Mercury Sable. Both were mid sized cars like the Taurus and Sable were. Ford renamed cars then. The Ford 500 was a full size Ford car. The Mercury Montigo was a full size Mercury Car. The 500 got renamed Taurus due to sales and the Montigo to Sable due to sales. Ford just tried renaming cars that failed.
As I despise SUVs and crossovers, I wish Ford still made sedans like these.
Eh... Crossovers are little more than taller, upright station wagons. We like station wagons, right?
@@doug6191 LOL, no crossover/SUV will EVER be as awesome as a mid-70s station wagon!
@VelmaTheID The Suburban IS the modern 1970s station wagon.
I totally agree
These were great cars. Ford and Volvo made a great pair.
you are SO right!
The 500 was a excellent sedan had one as the family car from 05 till 2020. That car was comfortable and spacious, good in the snow,cheap to fix and lasted 305k before the transmission gave out.
Thanks for sharing!
@@TwoDollarGararge That is great!
I liked my preowned 2005 Ford Five Hundred Limited very much. Sadly the rear quarter panels rusted around the wheel wells and progressed rapidly. I was a salesperson and frequently took customers out for lunch. The rust ruined the appearance of the car. I decided to replace it. Since then I took notice of the rear quarter panels whenever I saw a 2005/2006 Five-Hundred on the road. Sure enough they all exhibited rust around the wheel wells. I was always a Ford guy and this soured my impression of Ford quality. Especially considering this new design was supposed to elevate the Ford sedan. I decided to replace it with an SUV. I had my heart set on a Ford Edge. I ended up choosing a Hyundai Santa Fe Sport because I lost faith in Ford’s design for quality.
@steveyankees1 my car did that to but it was well over 200k and more than 12 years old. Also rust is just a thing I live in the rust belt everything used has rust unless you drive it 8 weeks a year and undercoat it every other month.
Our transmission is still good - will be very sad when it goes too.
Loved my 500. Drove it to 285000 miles. Hit a dear one morning otw to work . Insurance totalled it .
That's impressive! Thanks for sharing!
I had a 2008 ford Taurus - the later version of this car. Probably the best car I ever owned .
The Five Hundred & Mercury Montego were great cars. I’ve owned two Montego’s as well as an ‘08 Sable and all three were very solid and dependable cars that were also very comfortable. Gas mileage was fantastic for such a large car too. I’d definitely own one again.
I really wish Ford would start building cars for the American market again. I’m in Europe, and Fords are everywhere. The Mondeo/Fusion wagon is a work of art, and is likely far more efficient than most of their big, clumsy SUVs.
I had a Ford 500. Loved it. No complaints.
I had one as a fleet car for a while and honestly I liked it especially in that role. It was comfortable and not a bad vehicle.
Thanks for watching and for sharing your experience!
Had both a 2005 Montego Premier as well as a 2005 Freestyle Limited. The Montego was FWD with the 6 speed and the Freestyle was AWD with the CVT. Both were well built and comfortable cars. The Montego was eventually a trade in for a F350 in 2008 but the Freestyle was still running flawlessly in 2016 when we finally replaced it. Again both were fine cars but that Freestyle was truly ahead of its time and would be a perfect vehicle even in today's environment.
I'm from a Dodge family, but my aunt stepped out of our family norm and bought a freestyle or the Taurus wagon, can't actually remember specifically what one it was, but either way I drove it once to the corner store or something, and I have to say, i do remember it impressing me at the time, however I wondered at the time about the cvt. And judging by how I dont see any on the road anymore, I don't think they held up well.
The best Volvo ever sold at a Ford dealership.
The only one really! Thanks for watching!
@@TonysFordsandMustangs along with the Lincoln MKS; Ford Explorer; Ford Flex…
@@michaelvecera8394 I rented a Ford Flex for a couple of months and if it weren't for Ford's horrible seats that are not suitable for people 6'5", I really likes everything else about it.
I just got rid of mine. That engine went hard. Easy 250,000 no engine issues. Great car 👍🏾
Very awesome!
I really enjoyed my 07 Five Hundred. Purchased second-hand, I drove it for 11 years and added 100,000 miles to the odometer. My dad, well into his 80s when I bought, preferred riding in my car over my mom's Lincoln Town Car. I sold it late last year to a couple in their mid-20s, now she loves it!
You gotta remember that the 2010 Taurus was still based on the 500 platform, that's why the proportions were still very odd. Although I thought the styling was better up front but the rear end looked like someone tried to hide the size they got. I actually was issued that version of the Taurus and it was an ok car. Huge with an interior that looked great but didn't use the space too well.
The Ford 500 was a GREAT car. My mom had one with the cvt and not only was it a really nice car but it ran great all the way up to the time we sold it at 300k miles and the people who bought was excited to get it. It was just a nice looking car all around. Black on tan.
Had a 2005 500 Limited and a 2008 Sable Premiere. Best cars I've ever owned. I bought the Sable new in late 2007 and kept it until a deer totaled the car in 2023 at 300k+ miles.
Bought a new 500 Limited . My great nephew is now driving it to work and school.
I find it interesting that the designer said that the 500 and the Freestyle were not some of his best moments. I always liked the look of the Freestyle, and I think it doesn't look dated today like some designs do. I have no idea of the reliability of them, but I still see quite a few today. I quite enjoy the reliability of Ford in general as I have a '92 Ranger, '98 Crown Victoria (police), 2005 Freestar, '17 Escape, and a '17 Fusion Hybrid.
I have to say they were great cars for Ford and Mercury. I fault Ford for not promoting these vehicles as they were the best full size cars on the market. I currently own a 2006 Freestyle with 185,000 miles on it and it looks great, I love this vehicle and it has been very reliable. Yes it has the CVT in it but it has been very reliable. 4 wheel drive is great and very secure in bad weather too. Ford made a mistake not keeping these cars in there lineup.
Thanks for your comment.
I actually love these. Big trunk and back seat, upright driving position, comfortable and good visibility. I think some minor styling tweaks could have given it more presence, but it already looked a lot like an Audi A6/A8.
I think that's the car they were gunning for with it.
Id say more like a VW Passat, doesn't quite have the elegance of an Audi.
I have the 08 Sable with the larger v 6 and I am 6 foot 3 inches and I love it the heater warms up right away and the nice radio and really nice seats Only flaw was the cam phaser failed early and it was a pain to fix it.I replaced many engine parts that I did not need to because the engine was apart anyway. It has more room than my crown vic had.
I believe the Five Hundred was the official car of the Men in Black because the memory of this vehicle has been wiped from our memory. On a serious note, I have seen one or two of these out in the wild. They weren't embraced by the driving public and faded away.
Ford couldn’t get rid of Jay Mays fast enough. Hiring Alan Mullaly was one of the best decisions Ford made. He retired too soon.
Alan Mullaly made some really good decisions that put Ford in a decent positive when it counted.
@TonysFordsandMustangs He also needs credit for selling assets just in time, it turned out, and did NOT take government bailouts.
These cars are extremely underrated and were unjustifiably ignored by the buying public back in the day. The vast majority of the people who bought them really enjoyed them and sang their praises. Unfortunately, the cars lacked the visual appeal of their competitors like the Chrysler 300 and so they were a sales flop. Ford seemed not to know just how good a product they had and so they let it languish!
We inherited my brother in laws 08 Taurus
It looked like a big Volkswagen Passat the interior was excellent .The rear seat leg room was like a limousine styling was the problem especially when the competition was the Chrysler 300
I own a 2006 Montego Premier, I bought it used in 2019. It's one of the best handling front wheel drive cars I've ever owned, right up there with my long gone 1985 Audi 5000. The build quality and feel is very good and it has HID head lights (low beams), LED tail lights and LED lights in the bottoms of the side mirrors that light the area around the front door at night when you unlock it with the key fob or touch the door handle. The V6 doesn't have much power but the 6-speed is aggressive so it feel quick, 0-60 is around 7.5 seconds.
Thanks watching and for sharing your experience.
I loved these cars even though I am a GM person. They looked so clean and stout. Great design; interior as well.
Out of all the buyouts, this one had the most potential of working for Ford. Ford gained not just this platform but the platform the underpinned the focus and the Mazda 3 from Volvo. They got different safety technology as well. They just needed to do a better job of creating synergy through group buys with things like the Aisin 6-speed.
I seriously doubt that the ancient Taurus platform was capable of creating nearly as good a car for not just this but for the front wheel drive explorer that was also created from this platform. While the original Taurus platform did a great job for its long run, by the end it was pretty long in tooth. I will never forget that we got a fairly loaded 04 SES for $8,000 off. The Taurus might have sold in high numbers but I question if it was profitable at all at the end. The transmission was due for retirement, the Vulcan engine was due for retirement, the Duratec 3 l needed an upgrade after being on the market for 10 years with no major update at that point, they had used the same styling and one form or another since '96. It was time for something new. If they didn't buy a Volvo they were going to need to spend a lot of money to make a competitive platform. Our '08 Taurus was an awesome car for us it currently has 250,000 mi and it's still runs. Many of these seem to run forever (so long as the water pump doesn't fail on the 3.5 Cyclone naturally).
I will note that a similar argument could be made about the Lincoln LS considering that it only lasted one generation or the 2003 Thunderbird as both were pretty much failures. But just like the successful front wheel drive explorer being based off of the Volvo S80 platform, my understanding is the s197 Mustang was loosely based off of this platform minus the independent rear suspension. I think the biggest problem with the premiere Auto group is they needed to do a better job of creating a synergy with the companies along with having More restrain to buy unnecessary divisions such as Land Rover. With the acquisition of Volvo much technology was gained. With Jaguar and Land Rover, a brand was gained that required a massive amount of investment and repair to a long damaged reputation. Before they had any business buying Land Rover they needed to first make Jaguar and Aston Martin profitable. Part of accomplishing this may have been to cut down on duplicate engines. If Ford would have first released the modular double overhead cam V8 under Jaguar then after a couple years let it pass down to Lincoln then to Ford instead of having both the AJV8 and the modular V8 (not to mention the Yamaha built 4.4 V8) Ford could have followed the proper procedure of having one V8 but let it start off in the premium divisions and let it pass down to the less premium divisions. Thereby saving a lot of R&d. If Ford parts weren't adequate on things such as transmissions, having a corporate purchase of specific transmissions from third party vendors such as ZF or Aisin could have given them quantity discounts instead of seeming to pick random transmissions in random vehicles. The main area to spend the money would have been on completely separate sheet metal and completely separate interiors made to the appropriate price points for each division.
Thank you for your comment. I have to disagree. If Ford would would have taken the money they had spent on these brands and used it internally to develop a newer platform on their own they would have been better off. It cost them dearly in the end and yes they gained a lot from Mazda and Volvo however there is no reason this couldn't have been handled without the those purchases and especially the other brand purchases. They seemed to distracted by these brands to focus internally.
@@TonysFordsandMustangs I will agree that it might have been possible for them to do this on their own but the question I have for you is would they do it on their own let alone would they have done as competent a job on their own? The problem that the big three struggle with is letting the bean counters make the decisions. Think about the fact that they went nearly 10 years without updating the Duratec V6 in the Ford lineup, And once they did it seems that the upgraded versions were first found in Mazda and Jaguar years before they were found in Ford. This was a problem because Ford was really falling behind compared to Toyota and Honda in power And they finally offered it It was down in power compared to their competitors. Another example was they didn't even give the 4th generation Taurus a full refresh which it really needed as it still had the door styling. It was a refresh versus revolution it needed to distance itself from the oval madness third generation. It also lacked a model that was particularly fuel efficient as the Vulcan had such poor economy compared to either its 4 cylinder rivals from Toyota Camry or Honda Accord or GM from the 3.4 powered Impala and ironically was out powered by them as well.
Part of the problem with declaring it a failure was They really didn't give it a long enough trial. Purchasing a competitor has massive up front cost and trying to make drastic changes and test out a solution takes capital and this was during a time when the economy wasn't doing quite as well. It also doesn't look at how much Ford gained by not having to develop many of these technologies but have access to them as a fringe benefit. Concerning the whole premiere Auto group failure, How much of it was Volvo versus the continued weight that Jaguar and Aston Martin added plus adding the disaster that Land Rover was which really didn't have much value outside of the name. That finally forced the company to abandon this plan? What realistically did Ford gain from their acquisition of Jaguar other than the name? The only platform that I'm aware that Ford used was the one that was developed under Ford's watch (which Ford could have probably used the Australian falcon platform in its place had they never purchased Jaguar), The AJV8 was not needed by Ford as they had their own modular V8 come out a couple years earlier than The AJ V8 did (and Ford paid for the AJV8to be built), And much of the electronics from Jaguar had to be replaced as it was so poor quality thanks to their prior owner (British Leland if I remember correctly), The V12 was putting out V8 level power so it wasn't really useful to Ford.
So far it appears that geely was able to make Volvo profitable much like Tata has been able to make Jaguar Land Rover profitable (at least on the short term).
Having a realistic picture of saying that Ford didn't need Mazda It's a hard claim to support considering how intertwined they were. Ford had been using Mazda platforms If memory serves correctly from around the early '90s. The Duratec 4 cylinder family is based off of the Mazda 4 cylinders as I understand it. The first Ford Fusion was based off of the Mazda 6. Looking at how poorly so many Ford of Europe models turned out whether it was the first generation focus or the last generation focus, the mondeo-based contour, the merkur, etc. I don't know how well Ford on its own in those classes of vehicles. I would submit that the original Mondeo might be a prime example that something is wrong with Ford that they developed a global platform at such a massive cost but the car wasn't competitive and it wasn't well liked in the United States. Considering that Mazda seemed to increase in sales and profitability after Ford no longer had an influence The problem might just be ford itself doesn't know how to manage anything other than The division of Ford. And it pains me to say that but what else does the evidence point to? Mercury is dead, Lincoln is not doing well, all these companies that they bought and sold are still in business and in the hands of the same owners that they sold them to.
Ford did refresh the Taurus and the Sable in 2006, but they called them Focus and Milan. Both great cars.
Both the 500's, Montego's and the Focus and Milan were considered Taurus replacements however the Focus and Milan are much smaller than a Taurus, The 08 Taurus was this car refreshed.
they didn't rename the Taurus and Sable - this is an odd comment.
Actually, this was a great car… when the cvt was replaced with the 6-speed. It was roomy and dependable. The 3.0 was a good motor…. the 3.5 even better. Alan Mullaly was a good CEO, I think his time there was short another 5 years would have been better - Thank you Tony ‘
Thank you sir for watching!
I'm not going to hit the like button because this was a great car , Ford should have made it and still for a few more years. My neighbor has 2005 limited and she still love the car and hardly any issues over the years
I'm glad to hear you like your car. This video ended up being more about where Ford was as a company. Volvo was one of the few companies that it didn't loose a ton of money on. That said Ford as a company would have been better off never buying ownership in any of these companies and therefore these cars would have never been built.
I bought a brand new sable. Well technically it was prior model year and it had been driven by the sister of the dealership owner. Where is the closest I'll ever get to new car I don't like throwing my money out the window as soon as I drive down the street from the dealership. Fell at work so and he came over me and said shook my hand Pat me on the back told me I did a good thing moving up to Jaguar. I know what he's talking about. Then I saw the same year jaguar. You know from 20 ft it'd be off your hard to tell which ones Jag and which one was the sable. I kept an old Taurus as a company car for a long time past its prime. One ladies in the office bought one of the first ones off the line at Ford 500 and it was junk. Just some of my thoughts. Appreciate your show and channel
Thanks for your comment and for watching!
I had a 2005 SEL. Got 194,000 out if it before it was totaled in an accident. Efficient, comfortable and very reliable.
My son and daughter-in-law had an '06 Freestyle. Was a nice car. Only issue was in 2012 (and 150K miles), is had an "intermittent" electrical issue no one could fix. Sometimes, for no reason or rhyme, it would shut off, not start, act like the ignition was just disconnected. It always solved itself within minutes, but was annoying.
Nasser got rid of a ton of great Ford products in his brief tenure. Ford Tractor was sold. Ford school buses - gone, Ford Louisville truck line- sold. He brought in the Ford contour - Mondeo. Great driving car, absolute nightmare to work on. Which led to the Focus a great little car at the right time.
I had a 2005 Ford Five Hundred Limited
This was a GREAT CAR!
I am in CA, it needed a paint job and I tinted out windows!
It was my Mafia Staff Car !
Loved the Back seat !
And passenger seat folded down...
I've had about 300 cars so far!
Very Reliable and got 20-30 mpg !
Took it on some Great Road Trips ...
Thanks for sharing!
Alan Mullally was one of the best leaders Ford ever had. It's been all downhill since he left. As for the Five Hundred, I understand the car that was originally supposed to get that name was the 427 show car. That would have been SO much better than the Five Hundred we got. An Americanized Aussie Falcon would have been great too. Almost anything would have been better than what we got.
AND YOU ARE WRONG - I AM SO HAPPY THEY *WERE* BUILT! THANKS FORD! LOVE YOU ALWAYS
Due to this video, I just went and looked on auto trader for a 2010+ Ford Taurus. VERY NICE CAR! I found multiple examples with under 40,000 miles for $15,000! I might seriously look at this as I'm due a new used car! THANK YOU!
Glad it helped! Thank you and best of luck with your search!
The Mercury version was one of the best looking American cars of the recent years....they used to say it was the best buick gm never built.....
I remember an article from the time which you touched upon about bringing the name Taurus back. The former CEO decided that all the cars should have names that match the first letter of the brand. Ford went with Freestyle and Five Hundred and Mercury with Montego and Mariner. Probably some others I can't recall. The new CEO saw this as ridiculous and brought back the nameplates Ford was known for, Taurus etc. I did drive a Five Hundred. It was a nice comfortable car. Not much excitement to it as you mentioned.
years ago, i took my car in for service at an independent shop. the loaner given to me was a Ford 500. It was a nice car but not really memorable. It was a new loaner for the shop and they asked me what I thought of it when I returned it. I said it wasn't my cup of tea but my Dad would probably really like it. A few years later, Dad was in a market for a new car and wanted something with all wheel drive...and decided to get a Subaru.
My mom bought a 500 to replace her early 90s Mercury Marquis. I liked the 500 the one time I drove it, but over a few months, she found the seat position uncomfortable. In less than a year she traded for a Ford Edge which she still drives.
The 500 and Montego were dependable, solid cars. (With the 6 speed transmission) . But they were EXTREMELY BLAND. They were just transportation. Nothing stood out. The performance was mediocre. Again, they were dependable. But nothing stood out that made a person really want them.
I will never understand the obsession today with SUV's. Bring back the LTD, Marquis, and Town Car, please!
I have not enjoyed Ford's sedans since 1995 when I turned 16, and my parents bought me an emerald green w tan leather throughout 1995 Taurus SHO. It was literally taken off of the showroom floor for me.
8:41 - This was a misstep. Ford was living off Vovlo for the Taurus & Explorer while Lincoln benefitted from Jaguar's S-Type. Meanwhile, Jaguar benefitted from some much needed QC in its manufacturing. PAG was working, even if not ideally. They could have kept the Volvo & Jaguar pieces and let the rest go.
The 2010 Taurus was built on the same chassis as the 500-which in turn came from Volvo. While I agree that the PAG should never have been formed, a few other relatively successful vehicles were spawned from the acquisition of Volvo. Today’s Explorer chassis for example is a derivative of the same chassis used for the 500. The Ford Flex is another. Both nameplates didn’t have huge success but played a part in the revitalization of Ford post-2008. Ford did not have the captial to design; test; build a suitable chassis for the Explorer in the time they had.
I'm not saying it's a bad car or platform. I'm saying Ford could have revised & modernized the Taurus and other platforms instead of purchasing companies and trying to incorporate their platforms into what they were doing. PAG was a huge mistake and one that could have cost Ford dearly.
@@TonysFordsandMustangswhile I agree, I don’t think Ford had enough capital or the time to engineer a completely new chassis during that period. PAG was a monumental failure but the use of Volvo chassis’ were a benefit imo-they made the best out of a poor situation.
It's "too many cooks spoil the broth"
My mom bought an 05 Montego with cloth seats and it was mint green inside and out.
About a year later her sister showed up with a blue one from outta state.
Anyway she liked the car and kept it till 2016 when she trade it for an Equinox.
Thanks for the memory
Stay well
Thank you for your comment and for watching!
I love your channel.
I think my family / friends and I have owned nearly every vehicle you feature.
I own 2 Five Hundreds... A 2007 "Limited" FWD that I bought in 2018, came from an estate sale of an old gal I knew from church. It hadnt ran in a couple years, only had like 47,000 miles on it at the time. Its a Limited with leather and all the bells and whistles. Was the first vehicle I ever owned with more then 2 doors and less then 3 pedals. I spent the 20ish years prior buying and buiding fox body mustangs and 1980-1997 F-series trucks, I got old and decided i needed to add a "going to town" car to the fleet 😂. It has about 60,000 miles on it now, still looks and drives like new.
In the winter of 2021 my designated winter beater 1987 F150 was down for repairs, so ended up driving the five hundred for a few days. I felt bad subjecting the car to Iowa road salt, I just so happen to be browsing the classifieds and found a 2006 SEL AWD for a thousand bucks... Its rusty, its ugly, and its now rolling around on bfg all terrain tires. I would not be afraid to go rallying racing in that car, its an absolute tank.
That's awesome, thanks for sharing your experience!
These things are tanks
In my oil change days, I saw these with rusty, rotted frames after only a few short years. I remember having to tell a customer the central cross beam on their Montego was basically gone. She said the dealers knew of the problems and Ford did nothing to address it as usual.
I have a 2005 Mercury Montego. I bought it in 2009. Spent a lot of money fixing it. One stupid thing is the dash goes black. Fortunately it was temporary. Check engine light keeps coming on. It has 168,000 miles and runs good.
I live in R.I. where Mr. Tasca has a huge dealership. I remember him talking about the Ford 500 on the radio. He had some connections to the Ford people.
I like my Mercury because the driving position is up high. And steering is tight.
I'm not saying it's a bad car, I'm saying Ford could have revised modernized the Taurus instead of purchasing these company and trying to incorporate their platforms into what they were doing.
I still have my 2008 Taurus SEL that I purchased in June of 2007. My son uses it now. My wife bought a new 2005 Freestyle Limited. It had a moon roof and the DVD player with wireless head phones. She traded that in 10 years later. My Taurus 3.5 V6 was quicker and smoother than the Freestyle due to the 263 horsepower and 249 toque upgrade.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Glad to hear the car is serving you well.
Still see them driving around looking new even...but bland styling and lack of power were the issue on an otherwise very good car.
Side curtain airbags came along pretty late for a company that talks about safety. My mother bought a brand new 2002 golf. It had six airbags standard equipment. Ford was a little late with stability control as well
I feel like Ford executives said "Oh F***" when Chrysler dropped the 300C and saw how many of them they were selling, and scrambled to come up with a competitior.
Although I think they kinda had a better car already in the Lincoln LS. They should have just made a watered down ford version of that Lincoln.
They should had name the ford one Taurus and the mercury one sable
We’ve driven a Five Hundred since 2006. It has been an excellent car. I’m 6’7” and my son is 6’6” and 300lb former college offensive lineman. Either of us fits comfortably in the back seat. The upright seating position gave a feeling of visibility and control that was missing in other sedans of the time. The platform was excellent for Ford because it was carried over to the Freestyle, Taurus, TaurusX, and Explorer. One of the best cars Ford made in the modern era.
Our only complaint was that the air conditioning was weak for a car with such a large greenhouse.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
I rather liked the Ford Five Hundred, but I wanted a bench seat, so it was the 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis for me. It was a great car.
My great aunt Rose owned one. I feel they should have not used the five hundred name. But the Taurus name right at the beginning. But also could have used the turbo 5 and 6 cylinder engines from Volvo. Would have been great to see a 300 hp twin turbo straight six in a Taurus. Great video 😊
Thanks for watching.
@@TonysFordsandMustangs
Your welcome. Really do enjoy the videos.
Considering I've driven the same camread since new 10/99 I'm not somebody that needs a cor to look like a 17-year-old punk covered it in plastic body kits or a racing dashboard but when these first 500 came out I thought they were the most blandesigned to be rental Fleet use things I had ever seen and then after driving when it felt pokey for such a big car. The updated for Taurus version helped a little with the styling but I didn't have the finish of an Avalon
Besides not watering it down with too much input, they probably should have made this a Taurus and Sable in 2005 and got rid of the existing one. There wasn't enough reason for both to exist, given they also had the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis. I rented a Taurus in 2005 on a trip in Ohio (to look an old Lincoln for sale), and it was not a good experience...maybe there was something wrong with the Taurus, possibly abused given it being a rental with God knows what tires, but it was almost scary to drive around hard turns on roads I had to keep up a moderate speed, where the limits of the car suddenly came up with almost no time for correction. If my example was anything like a Taurus of the era typically, it certainly needed replacement.
what I'm saying and what they eventually did was look at what they were doing and improve upon it instead of trying to figure out how to incorporate other companies tech into their cars.
I did like the five hundred and Montego when they came out. They were very spacious on the inside, and I liked the ride!!! I just wish that they would stop going the European route. Our roads are bigger, and our cars need to match that. Leave the girly stuff to the European manufacturers. Thank you for covering these two cars!!!
Thank you for watching!
The 2007 Interceptor concept 7:49 is a continuation of the 2003 427 concept that would have been a direct Charger/300/Magnum RWD plaform competitor. In fact, the 2003 427 concept LOOKS like a 300 with Fusion front end. Maybe you could do a episode about all the concepts that could have been.
@@frankiedeuce801 possibly but it ca be difficult to find concept car information. Thanks for watching!
Very good video, although I'm not sure there's any excuse to mispronounce Alan Mulally's name when it can be easily found on UA-cam. My mom has the next-gen version of these, a 2008 Sable, with the much more powerful 3.5 V6 and better refinement and numerous other improvements. It's been an excellent car since new, with a cavernous interior, although I wouldn't say it has the most compelling proportions from the outside, sporting a rather frumpy shape, actually.
I actually listened to an interview Mr. Mulally gave a few years back to make i got from him directly I'm pretty sure I got it correct.
@@TonysFordsandMustangs I've followed that very impressive person quite closely, and the pronunciation I have always heard is consistent and different from yours. You can Google myriad interviews (there's a great one with Jay Leno) for confirmation.
@@desertmodern7638 I'll check it out.
We STILL have our 2005 Ford Five Hundred - it has been WONDERFUL! no problems and runs like a top. (we have the AWD version with the CVT transmission). WE have NO complaints and disagree with you 1 million percent. We are HAPPY they were made on a Volvo platform....
It cost Ford 15 billions of dollars to buy and a few years later sell these brands. Ford would have been much better off if they never purchased a single brand including Volvo. I'm not sure how you can disagree with that statement.
@@TonysFordsandMustangs I disagree because (as I stated earlier) our Ford Five Hundred has been wonderful - still goes every day with no issues AND IF FORD had NOT bought all those brands - including Volvo - they would not have had them to sell when the other manufacturers had to get government money to survive. I will always love and defend Ford - no other brand even comes close to their quality and longevity IMO!
@@rockandroll4689 I understand you love your car. I have never said these were bad cars. I love Ford products as well however the company is run by people and sometime those people make mistakes. Buying those brands and selling the brands at a loss was a bad move for the Company. Had Ford not bought those brands they would have been in a substantially better position. You are never ahead when you sell something at a 15 billion dollar loss. They would have been better served putting the cash somewhere else. Volvo was the only one that saw Ford break even.
@@TonysFordsandMustangs well saying they "should never have been built" made me think you thought they are bad cars. If I misunderstood the tone on that - please accept my apologies. And all brands of everything made are made by people who make mistakes - I agree with you on that. I was so proud of Ford for not taking the government money like GM and Chrysler had to though - so even if they lost money - they still came out on top with Americans and me. Thank you for your kind comment.
@@rockandroll4689 Bringing in Mulally is s what saved Ford. He looked at all the brand purchases and realized the mistake. He righted the the ship and just in time. I too am happy that Ford was able to not take a pass on the bailout. Had Mulally not seen what the error of those that came before him it could have been a very different story. Thank you for your understanding and for looking at this rationally. As to the 500 some good can come out of a bad situation.
I should have bought a new one. My used 05 Montego was a nightmare..especially A/C and trans...great ride, good room and plenty of options... I kept it a year and traded it in on and older Grand Marquis with less miles...much better car....
We have an 06 montego premier awd. Very comfortable nice car, and very roomy but bland. Super reliable too. I still see a lot on the road of these twins. That being said, they kept taking cost out of the taurus and sable to the point they were very mediocre and not class leading like the original taurus
I remember being disappointed in 2004 when the 500 and Freestyle made their debut. The 500 was automatically an old person's car and was too big and too conservatively styled to pose any real threat to the Accord and Camry. Add in reliability issues with the CVT and the 500/Montego and Freestyle didn't really have a chance.
Great vid!
Thank you!
The money should have been spend like you said moderning the 4th gen taurus and the panther cars
agreed.
I always wondered why Ford didn't offer these as a Police Package.
They did eventually in its Taurus garb.
I own a mercury montego now it's got 180k on it still going strong all wheel drive cheap transportation
The Taurus and and mid sized cars like them to be sub par in over all comfort(head room, leg room, ride) RWD body on frame make for a better road car 99% of the time.
i remeber when this hit the sales room, had bought fords all my life was so un appealing bought my first toyota
😮 Evocative '500' (e.g. Fairlane 500, Galaxie 500) v/s blocky, all-cap 'FIVE HUNDRED' blah! Shocked me. PS the first-ever hearing of this era's Montego for me (in 🇨🇦Canada) is on this post of yours.
Ford should have put the taurus badge on the fusion. Not the 500
Why would any car company discontinue a model name that was so successful? I wonder if part of the issue was corporate brass that was so obsessed with making an egotistical mark on the company that they sacrifice success in order to be able to say, "look at what I accomplished!"
Honestly I never understood the 500 nor the Mercury M. I felt Ford found something in their freezer and had some leftovers and threw everything together. Yes the Meal came out good but it was almost like a last Minute thought. Then they got rid of those vehicles kinda quickly. Yes the Taurus was the Top Selling Sedan in the early 90s, but Ford messed up with those ugly designs for the Taurus & Sable in the mid 90s. Quite a few owners i knew of with older ones didn't care for the new designs and went to other Manufacturers.
0:32 I love the brand Jagwire. Whatever that brand is.
Thanks, Yes I know one day I'll get it correct or I'll just skip it in the video. Thanks for watching!
The Fivehundred was never planned as the replacement for the Taurus. It was the replacement for the Crown Vic. The Fusion was the replacement for the Taurus. As designed, they were comfortable large sedans suffering from a slightly dull design. Hence your argument that they were a failed replacement for the Taurus/Sable is a non-starter.
The 500 & the Fusion were both considered replacements for the Taurus however the Fusion is much smaller than a Taurus. This car renamed the Taurus in 08.
@TonysFordsandMustangs the Fusion is the size of the Taurus it replaced and was sold alongside of. The later Taurus was a reworked Fivehundred.
Volvo's problem, with Saab, was never doing it's own stuff until it had to at the very last moment, effectively removing it's industrial base. The PRV V6 Volvo decided to use killed off its abilities to make better sixes and fives..it bought engines from the VW Light Truck as well. The Volvo engined European Focus XR5T was never seen in the USA because it was so gorsh darned expensive. For Saab, the V4 60° Ford and Standard Triumph OHC with buy in Triumph 1500 front drive design were just the beginning of the end for the brands. If you don't spend money on the Means of Production, others will own it. In terms of outright cash, Ford got owned by Volvo, Jaguar and Aston Martin and Mazda. It's ironic that the same scathing reaction to the cost of the brilliant MN12 and FN10 wasn't applied to the Ford 500. What Ford used to do best, was build cars down to a price point better than anyone else. What Volvo got out of the Ford relationship was the SHO 60° Yamaha V8 under a backyard deal. And cashed up with Ford bore centre engines ( the 4.0157 bore 60° engines, the 3.78" bore four cylinder Mazda engine) no one has capitalised on the gifts given by Ford to Volvo, Jaguar, Aston Martin and Mazda. Ford's buys were previously Cologne Ford Capris, De Tomaso Panteras and especially the Cologne V6 engines and Bordeaux gearboxes that effectively made a 98 Explorer a 40% imported US made SUV..., paid for under World War II war repatriation funds for the two places those components were made. Ford just needed to return to Smart Money.
I think Ford should have focused on Ford and making the products they had better. Instead they got distracted by how they could incorporate these brands into their products and vise versa. Thanks for watching and for your comment.
So what you're really trying to say is what everybody already knew. Continuation of the Ford Taurus was a great idea and acquiring a bunch of failing European brands was not.
That's how it worked out. Thanks for watching!
I didn’t think these were bad looking cars for the time. My athletic director bought one when driving his F150 120 miles daily was to expensive with $3.25 a gallon gas. My priest owned one too. My priest had his car crushed with a tree branch at a stop sign somewhere. It was repaired. He also had a Contour SE in champagne.
I remember shopping for our 06 Fusion and the dealer tried to push a 500 for a much lower price. But it was such a bland vanilla appliance of a car.
Best FWD car I ever owned. My Montego was a BMW killer. Ford has lost its way lately but the reasonably priced, fun to drive, economical 4 door Montego/500 was a winner... Well except for the CVT, never buy a CVT.
I couldn't put this in the video but Ford promoted this right after GM's CVT failed hard. Theirs was belt driven and Ford promised their CVT would be better because it was chain driven.
So sad to see what Ford was. They could build decent vehicles back then. Now they can only build SUVs and pickup trucks that set records for recalls.
Yeah I'm going to say if the best thing about your car is "When you wreck it you won't die!" doesn't make me want to buy one.
The worse reasons but these cars were as safe as they came back then.
0:31, I love you, I subbed to you, but never for the rest of your life, ever say "JAGUIRE" again, like Mark McGuire the baseball player. JAG=WIRE really? Come on man. Surely you know how to properly pronounce that lol
Thanks for the love but my Pennsylvania shine through every once in a while. I am working on it!
@@TonysFordsandMustangs Right on brother! That's all we can ask for. Now here's to hoping you always say MARE-COOR (as it was always supposed to be in German!) if you ever review a Merkur XR4Ti :)
Don't get me started on the Fiat ABARTH or any Peugeot please
They dropped the Taurus and replaced it with the 500. Can't even count how many loyal Taurus buyers showed up at dealerships ready to upgrade their old yours with a new model. They were incredulous when there was only the 500. It might be the same car, but, since it didn't have the word Taurus on it, they always left without buying. Ford REALLY screwed themselves with that
Know a guy who was in that program. Was unenthused, but gotta free 500"
😁
These things were decent, one of my family members had a 500 that thing made it to 300,000 miles then gave up.
Jack Nasser took a 💩 on Ford. These should have been called Taurus from the start. I wrote about it on my college English essay on Alan Mullay.
That would be my assessment as well.
Just a Taurus!
I always thought Ford was looking at 500 😊as the crown Vic replacement. I think it was a very good car, visibility was great tons of interior and trunk room. The head stylist came from Audi and you can see a resemblance to the big Audi sedans of the time. The greenhouse, the shoulders down the side of the car even the grill and taillights have a resemblance . The CVT made for poor driving experience which hurt the car. I think the premier auto group was a good idea poorly executed. That was an opportunity to become a larger more global company. Sadly I think Ford is not big enough to survive without merging with another larger player in the long term. My guess would be Volkswagen.
The 500 and the Fusion were both considered replacements for the Taurus. The Fusion was much smaller than the Taurus. I don't think 500 was a bad car either and I agree they were looking at Audio when they styled this car. I think Ford would have been off not acquiring any of these brands and using the funds to develop and build a better version of Ford cars and trucks. Outside of an ownership stake in Mazda & buying Volvo there was little to be gained from any of these acquisitions.
They were full of the YAWN factor. If someone told a child to drive a generic car, it would look like the 500. The 500/Montego generic factor was especially apparent when contrasted with the 2006 Dodge Charger that had some style even though it wasn’t that great mechanically. I’m a Ford guy . So I was very disappointed with the blandness of these otherwise solid vehicles. The sheet metal ruined them. If we’d gotten the 2010 Taurus in 2006, things may have turned out differently.
The Ford Fusion replaced the Ford Taurus. The Mercury Milan replaced the Mercury Sable. Both were mid sized cars like the Taurus and Sable were. Ford renamed cars then. The Ford 500 was a full size Ford car. The Mercury Montigo was a full size Mercury Car. The 500 got renamed Taurus due to sales and the Montigo to Sable due to sales. Ford just tried renaming cars that failed.
bring back the sedans.
@@christophersmith1155 I would be happy with any car really.